SARUM events updates

The SARUM event on New Year's day is at Stonedown Woods - not Vernditch as advertised in SINS. Registration at Church Farm Campsite ST996173.

Also, the SARUM event on 16th Jan is not taking place, but there is an event at Cannimore, Longleat on 23rd January.

See the SARUM website for details of both events.

November Committee Meeting Summary

A summary of the minutes of the committee meeting held on 26th November 2009 is now available.

Yoxter - Results

The results (splits only for now) of the district event at Yoxter range are available. You can also analyses you splits in Splitsbrowser and Winsplit Online. The map and courses have been uploaded to RouteGadget. You can trace your route and compare it with the other orienteers.

BOK Local Event & ASO League, Lyncombe, Somerset

The flyer is now available on the BOK website and, in hard copy, at all local events leading up to 7 February 2010.

Compass Sport Cup Qualifier 24th Jan 2010

The venue for this event is now confirmed as Godshill and Hampton Ridge in the New Forest. BOK will be up against BKO, DEVON, SOC and TVOC, so we need you all if we're to make it through to the Final. An updated entry form is available on the BOK website, entry fees are now confirmed as £6 for seniors (plus £1 for Emit hire) and £3 for juniors. Junior girls will be pleased to note a rule change that will separate the M/W classes in Orange and Light Green, which should enable junior girls to stand an equal chance of scoring. Please put the date in your diaries now and return the entry form to Chris or Helen Kelsey as soon as possible. Event information is available on the SOC website.

Headless Hill - RouteGadget, Splitsbrowser and Officials' Comments

RouteGadget and Splitsbrowser links for last Sunday's event at Headless Hill are now available.

Comments from the Organiser, Controller and Planner have also been posted.

Headless Hill Regional Event Results

Provisional results for the BOK Regional, SWOA Galoppen and ASO league event at Headless Hill have been put online. You can also find a link to Winsplits. RouteGadget and Splitsbrowser will follow later.

Tom Gibbs wins Adventure Racing World Champs

Ifor Powell has just reported that Tom Gibbs has won the Adventure Racing World Champs in Portugal. He was racing for the British team Helly Hansen Prunesco with team mates Nic MacLeod, Nick Gracie and Warren Bates. They have been racing non-stop from Monday morning till 9.30 Saturday morning, finishing with 52 Checkpoints to beat former World Champs Nike by two checkpoints. A truly amazing result.

Control Descriptions and Map Specifications

If, like me, you have trouble remembering the difference between a narrow marsh and a small erosion gully there is now a page on the BOK website with details of Control Descriptions symbols used (and a link the the full IOF specification), along with links to IOF Map specifications.

October Committee Meeting Summary

A summary of the minutes of the committee meeting held on 8th October 2009 is now available.

Overscourt Woods Results - Saturday Winter League

Results and points for the Overscourt Woods event (Saturday 24th Oct) - the first of this seasons Saturday Winter League events - are now available.

BOK Success At OMM 2009

This year's OMM was held in the Elan valley in Mid Wales, offering south west competitors unusually easy access. The weather was mixed but fairly benign, particularly after last year's severe gales and serious flooding in Borrowdale; it was breezy with showers, but we were spared the forecast heavy rain on Saturday and enjoyed some pleasant conditions on Sunday. BOK members were out in force and achieved some excellent results; it was good to see so many parent/child teams running this year, hopefully introducing a new generation to the delights of the OMM for the future. Sadly, the number of years of compatible overlap between aging parents and their athletic offspring is very limited, but we'll enjoy it while we can! Successes for BOK teams include the following (apologies if I've missed anyone):
Short Score (187 teams): Mark & John Grenfell-Shaw 13th; Ashley Cooper & Steve Darling 15th; Jonathan & Rosemary Hurford 17th; Christine Farr & Duncan Innes 23rd; Helen & Jack Kelsey 42nd; Pete Foster & Sandy Burgon 55th.
Medium Score (284 teams): Chris & Ben Kelsey 15th; Charles Daniel & Rhys Manning 30th; Pat & Louise Benjamin 178th.
C (291 teams): Sue & Gerry Ashton 39th; Roger Mann & Martin Bird 77th; Jim & Jamie Hayward 108th.
B (233 teams): Tim Britton & John Hartley 10th; Pete & Julia James 43rd; Alice Bedwell & Laura Pearson 127th.
A (67 teams): Mark Saunders & William Darby 18th (1st Vet).
Both Mark & John Grenfell-Shaw and Chris & Ben Kelsey narrowly missed winning the parent/child categories of their classes, short by just 3 points (1 place) and 5 points (3 places) respectively. Maybe next year if our youngsters are still willing and we can still keep up!

BOK 3rd in Compass Sport Cup Final

BOK finished 3rd in the Compass Sport Cup Final held at Fineshade last Sunday, beaten this year only by SYO and OD. This is an excellent result for the club and is 2 places higher than we achieved last year. We scored fairly evenly across the classes, with some well earned points from our juniors as well as our seniors. Congratulations and thank you to all BOK members who participated in this competition to give us such a good result. Hopefully everyone enjoyed the club spirit that accompanies such events, particularly as we were once again able to share coach transport. Full results are on the LEI website. Perhaps next year we can do even better!

Orienteering to the rescue in search for lost moral compass

David Parkin from BOK was responsible for prompting the last section of Brian Viner's article on the back page of the sport's section of Saturday's Independent. Very good press for the sport.

Compass Sport Cup - Start Times

A full list of start times is now on the LEI website http://www.leioc.org.uk/

Brierley - Sunday 4th October - Organiser's & Planner's comments

Officials' comments for the Brierley District and ASO event held on Sunday 4th October are now available

WOA Level 3 Planners course

The WOA is putting on a Level 3 planners course at Margam Park near Port Talbot on Saturday 21st November. If any club members are interested in attending please contact Peter Ribbans via the WOA website

Lower Prices for Coach to Compass Sport Cup Final

Your committee has approved a generous subsidy towards the cost of the coach to the Compass Sport Cup Final. The cost to members will now be just £6 for seniors and £3 for juniors. There are still spaces available on the coach, so those of you who were intending to travel separately can still take advantage of this offer and enjoy the social side of travelling to the competition with your team. Please let Chris or Helen Kelsey know as soon as possible if you would like a coach place. Pickups will be Bristol Grammar School at 0700 and the Aldi car park in Bradley Stoke at 0720.

Brierley Local Event - Results

The results for the Brierley local event and ASO league have been put online. You can also find the splits on Splitsbrowser and Winsplit. The map and courses have been added to to RouteGadget.

Brierley - Sunday 4th October - updated flyer

The flyer for the ASO and BOK District event at Brierley in the Forest of Dean this weekend (4th October 2009) has been corrected to remove reference to the availability of a 'red' course.

Long O - RouteGadget

The map and courses of Long O in the Forest of Dean have been added to RouteGadget. You can trace your route and compare it with the other competitors.

Compass Sport Cup Final - Sun 18th Oct

There are still a few days to go before final entries must be submitted and there are still some places available on the coach. If you haven't already entered and wish to do so, please let Chris or Helen Kelsey know as soon as possible and no later than Friday 2nd October.

Blaise Castle - Officials' comments

Officials' comments for the Blaise Castle event held on Sunday 13th September are now available.

Blaise Castle - RouteGadget

The map and courses of Blaise district event have been added to RouteGadget. You can trace your route and compare it with the other competitors.

The splits times have been added to Winsplit and Splitsbrowser.

Blaise Castle

Provisional results are now available. Only results and splits at present - everything else to follow.

BOK AGM/Skittles/Buffet, Ring O'Bells, Nailsea, 23 September

For those who may not have remembered, there is still time (just) to send me your replies. Deadline is this Wednesday, 9 September 2009.
Attendance at the AGM is free of charge and everyone is welcome. The Klub's informal social get-together, which follows immediately after the AGM at about 20.15hrs, consists of skittles and a substantial buffet. For your subsidised buffet (£6 for adults, £3 for children) you can email me your details and then send them together with a cheque, made out to 'BOK', to Robin Walker, 18 Mulberry Close, Backwell, Bristol, BS48 3HX, as soon as possible.
30 people have already said they are coming, so there should be lots of opportunity to socialise with other members.

'Long O' - Flyer

A flyer for the 'Long O' local event on Sunday 27th September is now available.

Blaise Castle - Flyer

A flyer for the local event at Blaise Castle on Sunday 13th September is now available.

South West Sprint Championships 5th Sept 2009

Our old friend and ex-BOK-member Gavin Clegg wishes to draw your attention to the WSX and South West Sprint Championships, to be held at the University of Bournemouth on September 5th this year. See this link for more details.

Diary Change - Training Runs

The date of this year's Crook Peak Cake Race having been confirmed as Wednesday 26th August, the Portishead training run has been moved to Tuesday 18th August.

July Committee Meeting Minutes

A summary of the minutes of the committee meeting held on 1st July 2009 is now available.

Club Championships - RouteGadget

The map and courses of the Klub Champs have been added to RouteGadget. You can trace your route and compare it with the other competitors.

The splits time have been added to Winsplit and Splitsbrowser.

Club Championships - Further Results and Comments

Championship winners, string course results and officials' comments are now available.

Club Championships - Results

Provisional results (by course and finish time) are now available. Detailed championships results to follow.

Club Championships - Start Times

John Simmons writes:
The start times are based on past results - I've trawled recent events and have tried to find a few results for each of you (and have thrown away really bad runs where I came across them). Then I have aimed at getting bunches of courses finishing at the same times. So White, Yellows and Oranges should come in around 11:30, Light green and Green at 12:00, and Blues should finish at 12:15 (or there abouts) to the applause of assembled masses.

You will need to get to the start 5mins in advance of your allocated start to be ready to go when the clock shows your time.

Kingswood School Summer Informal - Organiser report

Jackie Hallet writes:
A total of 40 people turned out for the first event on the updated map incorporating Kingswood School and Primrose Hill. Of this 18 were juniors, 15 of whom enjoyed the white course of 1 km with Lucy Tonge having the fastest time of 11 minutes. Michael Hallett was fastest on the 3 km orange course with 38.42 minutes. Mark Bown produced an amazing time of 33.31 minutes on the 5 km blue course with 170 metres of climb. I am sorry we overlooked the extra path off to the right from the public footpath did not spoil anyone’s run too much. I hope some people managed to enjoy the fantastic views across Bath in the glorious evening sunshine. The event had an international flavour with 1 girl from Finland and 5 French competitors. I must apologise for my lack of French, especially at registration as when Christophe was mentioned I thought they meant our summer evening coordinator who just happened to arrive at that very moment, but it turned out that he didn’t actually know him but that the man registering was called Christophe also. C’est la vie!!
Thanks to all the helpers: John, Sandy, Clive and Michael.

Lost properties: a thumb compass, a whistle (Contact the series coordinator, Christophe Mutricy)

Club Championship - Entry deadline and buffet

A reminder that the entry date for the Klub Champs (to be held at Stock Hill on Saturday 18th July) is Sunday 12th July. Please send an email with the course that you wish to run, and your age class, to bok_champs2009@btinternet.com.

Quantock Orienteering Club (QO) is holding its Club Championships alongsidethe BOK Klub Champs. Afterwards they are gathering at the Castle of Comfort for a buffet lunch. We are all welcome to join in the buffet at the pub - £5 per head, but numbers are needed in advance. Please let John Simmons (email bok_champs2009@btinternet.com) know by 12th July if you plan to come along.

Adams Avery & ASO Relays - Results

Provisional results and photos (courtesy of Dudley Budden) are now available.

Overscourt Wood - Organiser report

Dudley Budden writes:
The inaugural event on Overscourt Wood on a hot and balmy evening attracted 24 competitors. 19 of whom were, or are, BOK members. 16 tackled the Short Blue with Paul Gebbett completing it in a fastest time of 45 minutes, for 5.6k, 110m climb. The other eight participants were, white (2), Yellow (3), and Orange(3); which was a little disappointing as the area is ideal for beginners and novices. Most BOK members were in agreement the area should be used for an ASO event. The long grass though at this time of year did not reflect the area at its best.
Some people were glad of the extra water which was on offer with temperatures well up into the mid twenties.
Thanks to Anne, Katy, and Laurence for their help during and after the event.

Adams Avery & ASO Relays - Details

Competition day details are now available.

Harvester Relay - RouteGadget

The map and courses of the Harvester Relay have been added to RouteGadget. You can draw your course and compare with others'. You can also look at the different gaffles.

The splits times are also on Winsplit Online.

Harvester Trophy Relay - Results

Results (A Race; B Race) are now available.

May Committee Meeting Minutes

A summary of the minutes of the committee meeting held on 14th May 2009 is now available.

Club Championships - Flyer

A flyer is now available for the BOK Club Championships that take place on Saturday 18th July at Stock Hill (in combination with an open Local Event and the QO Club Championships). Entries for the BOK Club Championships must be submitted by Sunday 12th July. Entry on the day will be available as usual for the Local Event.

Oldbury Court - Organiser report

Caroline Potter writes:
Oldbury Court attracted 33 (groups of) participants, with a 50/50 split between regulars and newcomers. One brave lady ran her course in bare feet! The majority of people chose the longer Light Green and Blue courses (16 and 14 respectively) with only 3 groups tackling the Yellow.
The heavy downpour halfway through the evening caused a few delayed starts and not all were able to complete their runs. One control went missing early in the evening but was successfully retrieved the following day by Dave on his bike!
Many thanks to Christophe Mutricy and Anne Donnell for their help. Adam and I thoroughly enjoyed planning our first event and look forward to more planning in the future!

Warmley Forest Park - Comments

Comments from the organiser/planner are now available.

Victoria Park - Organiser report

Phil Murray writes:
Thanks to all who turned up and braved the wind & rain at last night's Summer Informal in Victoria Park.
We had about 25 competitors in the end, which was reasonable, but sadly a group of Brownies decided against it at the last minute due to the weather. We suffered some control vandalism early on, but managed to get through the event without major loss - two kites went missing and one was partially eaten by a dog.
The courses were well received, with no-one getting lost, and the fastest performance was by Adam Potter on the Light Green, taking just 23 minutes to find 23 controls in 3.6km!
A big thank you to all my helpers, especially Dudley, Karen Hall, and Richard & Anne from UBOC, all of whom turned up at 3pm and got thoroughly soaked for their efforts!

Warmley Forest Park - RouteGadget

The map and courses of the Warmley & Siston Sprint O have been added to RouteGadget. You can trace your route and compare it with the other competitors.

Victoria Park summer informals next wednesday

Phil Murray writes:
This Wednesday's Summer informal is in Victoria Park, near Windmill Hill,
on a recently updated map. As usual, start times will be between 6 & 7pm.
Please note that, due to the limitations of the small area (1:5000), I am
providing only a White, Yellow and Light Green course - the latter being in
more of a "Sprint-O" style - many controls in a short distance (less than
4km). The event will be self-timing and suitable for complete beginners. I
look forward to seeing you there. For further details see the fixtures
page.

Warmley Forest Park - Splits

Provisional results in the form of WinSplits and Splitsbrowser are now available.

Harvester Trophy Relay - Final Details

Final details for the Harvester Trophy Relay (20th/21st June) are now available.

Klub Weekend 26th-28th June

For this year's Klub Weekend, we are once again taking advantage of the Mid Summer on Gower events to get together with Swansea Bay Orienteering Club on the weekend of 26th-28th June. There are 3 events planned for the weekend, a Friday evening event, a Welsh league event on Saturday at Whiteford Burrows (which will also be used by SBOC for their club championships) and the popular 2x2 relay event on Sunday at Broughton Burrows. We aim to share camping with SBOC at Kennexstone Camping Park http://www.gowercamping.co.uk/, with the traditional socialising activities including a barbecue and rounders on Saturday evening. So that we can give SBOC an idea of numbers and ensure adequate camping space together, please contact Chris or Helen Kelsey as soon as possible to indicate an interest. Please note also that the 2x2 relay is pre-entry only – for further details of this and the other events visit the SBOC website: http://www.sboc.fsnet.co.uk/

Greyfield Wood - Comments

Officials' comments are now available.

Bristol's Cancer Research 'Race for Life' - 13th/14th June 2009

Not orienteering anywhere this weekend? Not competing in Bristol Orienteering Klub's Sprint-O at Warmley Forest Park on Saturday 13th June? Or nothing planned for Sunday 14th June? Then Bristol's Cancer Research 'Race for Life' urgently needs volunteer ‘Race Wardens’ to register online immediately for either day. Click here for further details.

Greyfield Wood - RouteGadget and Splits Time

The map and courses of the Greyfield Wood local event have been added to RouteGadget. You can trace your route and compare it with the other competitors. There is some help and a test event if you'd like to practice before drawing today's route.

The splits time have been added to Winsplit and Splitsbrowser. You can use these websites to analyse where you have made errors (if any).

Greyfield Wood - Provisional Results

Provisional results are now available. Only the basic results at present - everything else to follow.

Adams Avery & ASO Relays - Flyer

A flyer for the Adams Avery & ASO Relays at Bushey Norwood, University of Bath, on Sunday 5th July is now available.

Warmley Forest Park - Flyer

A flyer for the Summer Sprint-O at Warmley Forest Park on Saturday 13th June is now available.

Mountain Bike Orienteering - Sunday 12th July

Anne Draper has contacted us about a mountain bike orienteering (Trailquest) event being staged on Sunday 12th July by Hogweed Trotters:

"Competitors will be supplied with a pre-printed OS map showing around 30 checkpoints. The checkpoints will have varying points values depending on how hard they are to reach. For example checkpoints involving a steep hill will tend to be worth more points! "

"Competitors then have a time limit of four hours to cycle to as many checkpoints as they can to score as many points as possible. Exceeding the time limit results in the deduction of some of your hard earned points. " [more details ...]

New BOF Ranking Scheme

The working party reviewing the ranking scheme has issued an interim report for consultation. This report is available on the BOFwebsite and your views on it are sought.
You are asked to send replies to the questions asked, before 10th July, to rankings@britishorienteering.org.uk (or by post to the BOF office).
In particular, if you like the existing ranking scheme and are concerned about what may happen to it, you should take this opportunity to say what you think about the new developments. Of course, if you think the new scheme is an improvement, you should say that too.

Annual Dinner and Awards - Photos

A full report on this event appeared in the recent issue of BOK News.

Photos on PicasaWeb: album; slideshow.

BOK Army Championships 2009

Tony Noot writes:
The BOK Army, otherwise known as the Coffin Dodgers Society, held what has become its annual end of term jamboree in the Forest of Dean on the 20th May. Centred on the Rising Sun Inn at Mosely Green, a one hour score event was organised to discover who would rise to the top of the cake. A handicap format was used which appeared to benefit the senior members, resulting in Robin Walker, with a fine run, being crowned BOK Army Champion - 2009.

An excellent Rising Sun lunch followed and Mark Blackstone oversaw the presentation of prizes awarded to selected members as well as the Champion. An outstanding speech was given by John Parker. Translations are available on request.

Photos on PicasaWeb: album; slideshow

Leigh Woods Summer Informal - Organiser's Report

Jonathan Hurford writes:
The afternoon drizzle cleared for a fine sultry evening, Man U were playing Barcelona on the box, therefore 53 participants was a good turn-out and made the effort worthwhile.

Four new families saw our publicity on the National Family Week web site, we also had 5 scouts from the 1st Nailsea troop.

It was good to see experienced orienteers using Leigh Woods for training, and as the fastest only just broke the hour for the 6km, this shows the physical challenge of the terrain.

Overall we had 12 short courses, 11 medium courses, and 11 long courses.

Hopefully Ashton court will prove popular next Wed. Don’t forget we’re meeting at the lower car-park, turn left just before the Dovecote pub.

Triple O Severn - RouteGadget for M21E

At long last, I 've managed to produce splits correct for RouteGadget for the second part of the M21E course.
You can draw you route here.

Ticks and Lyme Disease - Information for Orienteers

Jane Hodgson of Physiobench writes:
As we get to the summer orienteering events we all could perhaps all do with reminding ourselves about Lyme disease, ticks and how best to remove them if you do pick one up. I've written an article on ticks and Lyme disease - read it here on the Physiobench website.

Triple O Severn - Day 2 Ranking List Scores

British Orienteering Ranking List scores for Day 2 (The Mike Nelson BOKTrot National Event) are now available.

Dorset Coast Path Relay - 11th July

Tim Britton writes:
This is a call-out for volunteers to run for BOK in this year’s coast path relay. It is an annual relay race held between orienteering clubs in the south-west along the beautiful and hilly Dorset Coast Path. Last year BOK finished in 2nd place overall in just over 8 hours and 10 minutes, but won the handicap competition. This year we want to win both! Please have a look at the event website for more info and get in touch with Tim Britton if you would like to be part of this year’s team.

Event Cancelled

The Rodway Common sprint event scheduled for 30th May has been cancelled.

Klub Weekend 26th-28th June

For this year's Klub Weekend, we are once again taking advantage of the Mid Summer on Gower events to get together with Swansea Bay Orienteering Club on the weekend of 27th-28th June. There are 3 events planned for the weekend, a Friday evening event, a Welsh league event on Saturday at Whiteford Burrows (which will also be used by SBOC for their club championships) and the popular 2x2 relay event on Sunday at Broughton Burrows. We aim to share camping with SBOC at Kennexstone Camping Park http://www.gowercamping.co.uk/, with the traditional socialising activities including a barbecue and rounders on Saturday evening. So that we can give SBOC an idea of numbers and ensure adequate camping space together, please contact Chris or Helen Kelsey as soon as possible to indicate an interest. Please note also that the 2x2 relay is pre-entry only – for further details of this and the other events visit the SBOC website: http://www.sboc.fsnet.co.uk/

Harvester Relays 20th/21st June

This year’s Harvester relays will be held on the complex open limestone terrain of Merthyr Common in South Wales. The Harvester is a multi-leg night/day team event, commencing late on the Saturday evening and continuing into the early part of Sunday morning. There is a 7-leg A course and a 5-leg B course, with various classes available including a handicap. Please let Chris or Helen Kelsey know if you’d like to enter so that they can co-ordinate the team entries. It would be good to get a Junior team together this year, so all you Juniors who may have finished exams by then, please make yourselves known. Further details are available on the SWOC website http://www.swoc.org.uk/. For those fit enough, there will also be a warm-up event on the Saturday afternoon at Clydach Terrace, as used for the final day of Croeso 2008.

Triple O Severn - Day 2 Badge Times

Badge times for Day 2 (The Mike Nelson BOKTrot National Event) are now available.

Triple O Severn - More RouteGadget

RouteGadget for the BEOC courses (Mallards Pike and New Beechenhurst) and for the Day 3 Score are now available.

I initially intended to have a combined map for the BEOC courses but, possibly due to the size of the map, RouteGadget wouldn't let me align the controls correctly. So I had to split by maps. The first split times on the New Beechenhurst map are wrong.

More BOKTrot Photos

David Olivant (NOC) has kindly provided more photos (many featuring BOK members) taken at last Sunday's BOKTrot. Take a look on PicasaWeb [album; slideshow] to see if you are featured.

Triple O Severn - Day 2 Comments

Officials' comments for Day 2 (The Mike Nelson BOKTrot National Event) are now available.

Triple O Severn - Day 2 String Results

Day 2 string course results are now available.

Triple O Severn - Day 3 Provisional Results

Provisional results are now available.

Message of Thanks from Howard Thomas

Dear BOK Members,

I am writing to record my warmest thanks and appreciation to all of you whose help enabled us to stage a memorable National Event yesterday at Speech House/New Beechenhurst. When we undertook to include the BEOC Elite National Championship and the final of the Future Champions Cup in our Mike Nelson BOKTROT, the complexity of the event increased considerably and placed an enormous strain on the club's resources. The work beforehand involved us in long discussions regarding access permissions, highly demanding course planning, special attention to the Elite/FCC aspect of the event, a very complex entry procedure, months of liaison with other clubs regarding technical and assembly equipment, website publicity, and very high levels of squad recruitment. On the day itself, however, our Event Squads delivered the event magnificently.

Overall, Dave Urch's coordination of the whole 0007 weekend and unfailing enthusiasm on the one hand, and Mark and Katy Dyer's much complimented courses on the other, were fundamental to the success of the BOKTROT. However our planning efforts would have been in vain without your support and input on the day. Our sincere thanks once again to you all.

Howard Thomas, Mike Nelson BOKTROT Organiser

Greyfield Wood - Flyer

A flyer for the local event at Greyfield Wood, North Somerset, on Sunday 7th June 2009 is now available.

Triple O Severn - RouteGadget

The map and courses of the National event have been uploaded to RouteGadget. You can trace your route and compare it with the other competitors. There is some help and a test event if you'd like to practice before drawing yesterday's route.

There are 4 pairs of courses which differ only by one control and the scale: 7-8, 9-10, 11-12 and 13-14.

BEOC and and FCC Long courses needs further processing due to the map exchange and should appear tomorrow in the evening.

Triple O Severn - Day 2 Provisional Results

Provisional results (including WinSplits and Splitsbrowser) are now available. RouteGadget to follow.

FCC Long - Start times

The start times for the FCC Long on Sunday 3rd are available here.

Triple O Severn Weekend - Entry on the Day

Dave Urch writes:
The online entries for the Day 1 Regional, Day 2 National and Day 3 Score events have now closed. It will however be possible to enter a limited range of courses (White, Yellow, Orange and Light Green) on each of the first two Days and both the 60 minute and 45 minute score events on Day 3. All are subject to map availability.

The fees for Day 1 are £14 for seniors (£12 for BOF National or SWOA members) and £5 for juniors and students. The fees for Day 2 are £7 for seniors (net of any discount) and £3 for juniors and students. The fees for the Score events are £10 for seniors (£8 for BOF National or local SWOA/WOA members) and £3 for juniors and students.

Triple O Severn - Late entries and start times

Entries will close completely tomorrow Tuesday 28th at midnight. On the busy courses, available start times are very few and late entrant are very likely to have a very late start.

FCC Middle start times will be online later tonight.

Triple O Severn - Start times

The start times are now available online at Fabian4 except for the FCC and BEOC.

Start times for FCC and BEOC are awaiting latest checking and confirmation and should be available soon.

The times quoted for Saturday Regional and Open Middle courses are the start of an half-hour block.

Some start time for the ASO championship have been modified from previous start time posted on Fabian4.

JK - Northumberland

After last year’s snow in the south east, we were treated to a weekend of sunshine and warmth in the north east. The cool, overcast start at the Sprint changed dramatically overnight and the good weather persisted until the end of the relays. The sunshine was complemented by some excellent terrain and courses, marred only slightly by the logistical nightmare of bussing everyone in and out for the relays.

The Day 1 Sprint was certainly fast, technically less challenging than last year but with some interesting route choice provided by the central motorways dividing the competition area. Alice Bedwell and Dave Parkin won their classes (W45 and M75), with Mark Saunders 2^nd (M50).

Days 2 and 3 at Kyloe and Cockenheugh offered a mix of woodland and open moorland, with the added bonus (for climbers) of passing very close to some well known crags and enticing boulders – quite tempting to stop and have a closer look. Alice Bedwell excelled herself by adding the overall W45 JK title to her Sprint win and there were some notable performances from other BOK runners too. Mark Saunders was 3^rd in M50; Jackie Hallett, Alison Simmons and Jo Foster 4^th, 5^th and 7^th in W50 (Alison having won Day 2); Clive Hallett 7^th M45; Dudley Budden 3^rd M60; Dave Parkin 2^nd M75; Anne Donnell 2^nd W75 and Pat Grenfell 1^st W80. Our juniors too enjoyed some good results – Isla Simmons finished a very creditable 14^th in W18E (before going off to the World Schools in Spain); Rosemary Hurford was 1^st in W18L; David Maliphant, Jamie Hayward and Ben Kelsey 3^rd, 5^th and 6^th in M18L; Ben Maliphant 10^th M16A; and Adam Potter 12^th M14A.

The Relay courses at Dipton Woods were themselves excellent, although the 90 minute wait for a bus in each direction was somewhat disappointing! The BOK To Front team of Clive Hallett, Phil Murray and Mark Saunders finished 3^rd in M120+, while Jackie ‘n’ The BOKs (Jackie Hallett, Jo Foster and Alice Bedwell) were 6^th in W120+. In the M48- class, our BOK To The Future team of Jamie Hayward, Adam Potter and Ben Maliphant finished 12^th and the Assorted BOKs juniors (Rosemary Hurford, Abigail Kerr and Jack Kelsey) did well to finish 20^th in the Mixed AdHoc class.

So an excellent JK weekend all round. Many thanks to the organising clubs, and also to the weather for holding long enough – Tuesday saw a return to cloud and a cold north easterly wind and on Wednesday several BOK families were treated to thick fog on Lindisfarne.

Reminder - Annual Dinner & Awards

Remember to book your places for BOK's Annual Dinner & Award Ceremony on May 15th, always a good evening. Time's running out as the deadline is next Monday 27th April. If you have missed this deadline, please either phone the Organiser or email the Webmaster.

Triple O Severn - Final Details

Final Details of the Triple O Severn Weekend are now available. It is hoped to have start times available on Saturday (25th April).

Stock Hill - Final Results

Colour standard times have been added and the results declared 'final'. Details of the SWOA Colour-coded Award Scheme can be found on the SWOA website - to qualify for an award you must achieve the standard time on the same colour course at three events in a two year period.

Triple O Severn - Late entries

Online entries remain open.

Orders for the Day 2 National maps go off today with a small additional margin per course. Fabian4 will continue to accept entries until that margin has been reached at which point the course will automatically be closed.

Entries for the Day 1 Regional courses will continue to be accepted up until Wednesday 29 April on all courses apart from the Blue course where the ceiling of 160 has almost been reached. The Men’s Open Middle Distance course is also close to capacity.

Entries on the day will now be restricted to White, Yellow, Orange and Light Green courses only and subject to map availability.

Entries for the Day 3 Score events will continue to be accepted up until Wednesday 29 April and there will also be entry on the day subject to map availability.

(Note the entries might look closed until the proper number of remaining maps is set in the system).

Triple O Severn Weekend - Closing Date Reminder

Entries for the Triple O Severn Weekend (2nd-4th May) are scheduled to close on Sunday 19th April (although FCC and BEOC competitors have until Monday 20th April). Enter online via Fabian4.

Summer Informals 2009 - Publicity

Jonathan Hurford writes:
BOK are organising an full programme of Summer Informal Events to be launched on Wednesday 27th May at Leigh Woods, which coincides with National Family Week. We hope to get some good publicity by featuring these events on the web sites of National Family Week and also Bristol City Council. The poster/leaflet files are in the publicity section found in "The Klub" area of this web site. Please help if at all possible by printing off these documents and distributing to friends, colleagues, local sports clubs, scouts, cadets, libraries etc, etc. We have a large Klub membership with a wide geographic spread, if everyone managed just a couple of posters we really could increase awareness of our sport and participation at our events. If anyone would like me to send coloured copies of the posters and leaflets please let me know via the web site or the membership list.

Springtime in Shropshire - 23rd to 25th May

Jonathan Hurford writes:
Don't forget standard entries for the Springtime in Shropshire weekend need to be in by 23rd April. Also, I'm trying to coordinate a camp site for BOK members, so please contact me soon if you're interested.

Stock Hill - Officials' Comments

Officials' comments are now available. String course results have also been added.

Stock Hill - Provisional Results

Provisional results (including Splitsbrowser, WinSplits and RouteGadget) are now available.

JK Relay Teams

Proposed BOK teams for the JK relays are now available on this website, accessible from the Hot Links. It would be helpful if at least some teams could declare their running order in advance of the JK weekend, so please can you try to contact other members of your team to sort this out. If you let your Klub Captains know by Wednesday 8th April, we can declare teams online. Late changes will be possible if necessary during the event weekend.

Triple O Severn - Entry Deadline

Entry fees for the Triple O Severn weekend (2nd-4th May) are set to increase after the first closing date of Tuesday 31st March. Thereafter, entries will be accepted until 12th April (post) or 19th April (online), although FCC and BEOC entries must be received by 4th April.

Lyncombe Vale - Final Results

Colour standard times have been added and the results declared 'final'. String course results have also been added. Details of the SWOA Colour-coded Award Scheme can be found on the SWOA website - to qualify for an award you must achieve the standard time on the same colour course at three events in a two year period.

Annual Dinner & Awards - 15th May

The guest speaker at the Annual Dinner & Awards on Friday 15th May will be Ian Kevan from Ultrasport. A wine list and order form is now available - please note that discounts are only available when ordering in advance.

Compass Sport Cup - BOK Through to Final

BOK are through to the final of the Compass Sport Cup, narrowly beating DEVON by a margin of only 12 points: BOK 2390, DEVON 2378, NGOC 1357. The change of date and clash of fixtures meant that we had a reduced turnout, but DEVON gave us a good run for our money, so many thanks to the 56 BOK runners who were able to run. The Final is on 18th October at Fineshade near Corby in Northamptonshre - so please put the date in your diaries now. Congratulations also to Wimborne for winning the Trophy qualifying round. Full results here.

Cotswold Way Relay - 27 June 2009

In a rash moment last year I offered to take over from Ashley Cooper the organising of a BOK team (teams?) for this year’s Cotswold Way Relay, which takes place on Saturday 27 June. The relay runs from Chipping Campden through to Bath Abbey using the waymarked route of the Cotswold Way. The race comprises 10 back-to-back races starting each stage with a mass start at the expected arrival time of the 1st runner from the previous stage (or considerably earlier than some of us finish the previous stage!) The route is over 90% off-road, taking in many hills, woodlands, fields and tracks, all offering spectacular views of the countryside around. The stages vary in length (from between 7 to 13 miles) and ascent to offer a differing flavour for each runner in the team. There are no marshals on the route, so route finding is all part of the spirit of the event. We only managed one BOK team last year but in previous years we have had 2 teams, so hopefully we can do so again this year. To get an idea of the event, take a look at http://www.cotswoldwayrelay.co.uk/. If you would like to take part, put the date in your diary and let me know, either by e-mail or on 0117 9654287, and let me know if you have any preference for running a particular stage.

Course for Planners

Pat Grenfell writes:
A course for would-be planners will be held on the afternoon of Saturday 28th March. Please phone me on 0117 9683881 for details.

January Committee Meeting Minutes

A summary of the minutes of the committee meeting held on 22nd January 2009 is now available.

Compass Sport Cup - Start Times

Start Times for each Course are now available on the DEVON website, together with final details for the event. Start Times listed by Club will also be available shortly on this website via the Hot Links. If you have any queries, please contact Chris or Helen Kelsey. Please also remind others to look at the website. Good luck for Sunday.

Lyncombe Vale - Officials' Comments

Officials' comments are now available. There are also some photos, courtesy of Josie Turner and Nick Ajderian.

Lyncombe Vale - RouteGadget

The map and courses of the Lyncombe Vale district event have been uploaded to RouteGadget. You can trace your route and compare it with the other competitors. There is some help and a test event if you'd like to practice before drawing yesterday's route.

Course 1 corresponds to the White Course and Course 7 to the Brown.

BOK Success At British Champs

Congratulations to our class winners at the British Championships: Mark Saunders 1st in M50L, Dave Parkin 1st in M75L, Isla Simmons 1st in W18L and Pat Grenfell 1st in W80. There were also a number of other highly placed BOK runners across the classes, including Anne Donnell 2nd in W75L, Clive Hallett 3rd in M45L, Dudley Budden 3rd in M65L, David Maliphant 4th in M18L, Alice Bedwell 7th in W45L, Jo Foster 8th in W50L and Michael Hallett 8th in M12A. In the FCC/UK Cup, Tim Britton finished 20th and Mark Bown 23rd. BOK also had success at the relays, with 2nd places for both our M40 team (Ifor Powell, Phil Murray and Clive Hallett) and our W40 team (Jackie Hallett, Jo Foster and Alice Bedwell). Not to be outdone, our Junior Adhoc team of Shona Simmons, Jess Benjamin and Ella Milne also gained a podium place in 3rd. Photos to follow shortly.

Lyncombe Vale - Provisional Results

Provisional results (including Splitsbrowser, WinSplits) are now available. RouteGadget to follow.

Silk Wood - Final Results

Colour standard times have been added and the results declared 'final'. Details of the SWOA Colour-coded Award Scheme can be found on the SWOA website - to qualify for an award you must achieve the standard time on the same colour course at three events in a two year period.

Compass Sport Cup Qualifier - Sunday 15th March

Date and venue now confirmed as 15th March at Bullers Hill, Exeter. Event details are on the DEVON website. Start times for BOK runners will be available via the BOK website shortly.

If anyone else wants to run (particularly juniors), please let Chris or Helen Kelsey know as soon as possible. We can't guarantee a late entry, but we can ask.

Stock Hill - Flyer

A flyer for the local event at Stock Hill, Mendips, on Sunday 5th April 2009 is now available.

Purdown - Results and Comments

Results and organiser's comments are now available, together with the final BOK Saturday League tables.

Annual Dinner & Awards - 15th May

This year's BOK Annual Dinner & Awards Ceremony will take place on Friday 15th May at the Hilton Hotel, Bradley Stoke. Further details and booking form (will also appear in the next BOK News).

SWOA News - Committee Meeting Minutes

The minutes of the SWOA committee meetings held on 1st October 2008 and 3rd December 2008 are now available on the SWOA website. The latter includes a copy of the SWOA Development Plan.

BOK Teams for British Relays - Provisional

Provisional BOK teams for the British relays will be available via the Hot Links shortly. Let your Klub Captains know if there are any problems or you have suggestions for amendments.

Orienteering Participation Survey - Email

Club members who have received an email from Ipsos MORI about a participation survey on behalf of Sport England can rest assured that the communication has been authorised by British Orienteering. Read more.

Compass Sport Cup Qualifying Round - 15th March

After some debate following the change of date of the SWOA fixture from 29th March to 15th March, it has been decided to nominate the SWOA (DEVON) event at Bullers Hill near Exeter on 15th March as our first choice. Although this date clashes with some other running events in the region, there are also club member commitments on the 29th March. While the date and venue are still provisional subject to confirmation by the CSC co-ordinating team, it is likely that we will be given our choice. So please get your entry forms back to your Klub Captains as soon as possible, but also keep an eye on this website for any changed information. The entry form will be available shortly from the Hot Links.

Events Cancelled - 7th/8th February

The DEVON, KERNO, NGOC and TVOC events scheduled for 7th/8th February have been cancelled.

Silk Wood - Officials' Comments

Officials' comments and string course results are now available.

Silk Wood - Provisional Results

Provisional results (including Splitsbrowser, WinSplits and RouteGadget) are now available. On RouteGadget you can trace your route and compare it with those of the other competitors. There is some help and a test event if you'd like to practise before drawing today's route.

NGOC Event at Kidnalls - Saturday 14th March

Dave Hartley of NGOC has asked us to point out that the NGOC Local Event at Kidnalls is being held on Saturday 14th March (i.e. NOT Saturday 21st March as stated in the recent issue of SINS).

Welcome to Squad Liaison

Having handed over the task of Squad Liaison to Nick Ajderian late last year, I have written a short article to explain how the squad system came into being and what it sets out to do. You can read this article 'Welcome to Squad Liaison' via this blog and also via a link on the BOK website under The Klub.

Triple O Severn Weekend - Flyer and Entries

Dave Urch writes:
A flyer for the Triple O Severn Weekend is now available. Entries have opened on the Fabian4 website.

Blaise Castle - Results and Comments

Results and organiser's comments are now available, together with updated BOK Saturday League scores.

Triple O Severn Weekend - Entries

Dave Urch writes:
We anticipate that online entries for the Triple O Severn Weekend, including the Mike Nelson BOK Trot, will be possible on the Fabian4 website from Thursday 22nd January.

Reminder - First closing date for British Relays

If you want to enter the British Relays before the first closing date, you must e-mail your Klub Captains (Chris & Helen Kelsey) before 5pm on Sunday 11th January. The next closing date is 23rd January, which will cost you an extra £1.

Please remember also that the first closing date for the JK Relays is 23rd January.

Entry forms for both of these events are available from the Hot Links on this website.

Leigh Woods - Results and Comments

Results and organiser's comments are now available.