Blackamoor - 29-30 November 2003
Night Event 29/11/03 - RESULTS
Regional Event 30/11/03 - RESULTS - SPLITS - Winsplits
Planner's Comment - Martin Ward SYO
I've now planned three badge events on Blacka in the last 14 years, and it was from this one that I got the most positive feedback, thanks! Everyone I spoke to seemed to have enjoyed themselves, though the weather probably played a large part in that. When I was hanging controls on Saturday in the wind and rain I wondered if we'd have to make cagoules compulsory for the event, but in the end the sun shone all day on Sunday.
I think course lengths were about right, given the physical nature of the terrain, with perhaps one or two courses being slightly too short. It's difficult to just apply the standard BOF guidelines for course length ratios when the running speed in different parts of the area varies so much.
Andrew's input as controller was excellent, suggesting course improvements when I'd run out of ideas, and bringing years of experience to some of the event logistics. I spent most of the three months prior to the event working in America, which added an extra challenge to the planning process, but thanks to OCAD 8 software, over 200 emails and some high-speed internet connections, this wasn't a problem!
So thanks very much to Andrew, but also thanks to my control hanging and collecting assistants (Colin, Nick, Richard and Rob) and the rest of the SYO team led by Alan for making it a successful event.
Controller's Comment - Andrew Tarr DEE
Blacka Moor is a classic example of how difficult it can be to get all the course lengths right. Having planned there twice before, Martin knows the terrain well, but the scarcity and distribution of control features largely determine the shape of nearly all courses. The longer ones must visit the NW and NE extremities, where the amount of heather, bracken and bramble dictates that only the fittest will approach the planner's target times. Fortunately SYO and its neighbours have many fit orienteers (natural selection perhaps?) and it was gratifying for me to see a good competition in M21L. Similarly Martin's chosen start and finish meant that courses under 4k had a lot of path running, so several Women's classes were too short on the day. However it might have been raining ... or foggy ...
Saturday morning's nasty weather followed by a miraculous Sunday was a mixed blessing, as the car park approached saturation and our 30% margin for e-o-d was exceeded slightly on a few courses. I hope this inconvenience for a few was more than offset by Martin's courses and the fine views as you ran down to the Finish.
This event would have been impossible without the internet - all the preliminary work was done between Cheshire, Yorkshire, the eastern USA and the Maldives. I must thank Martin for his expertise with OCAD and his attention to detail, which meant that the only problem with Sunday's competition involved a control-box which failed to wake up. The misplacement of night control 72 occurred because the event was run on a surrogate basis due to the absence of planner and controller. I corrected the control on my Sunday round, but by then it was unused and did not matter.
Many thanks to Alan Goddard and his expert helpers, who ran every aspect of the event with precision and good humour. It was a pleasure to be one of the team.
Badge Times
Men Women
Gold Silver Gold Silver
24.00 J 1 25.00
25.00 30.00 J 2 25.00 30.00
30.00 36.00 J 3 32.00 38.25
39.05 46.50 J 4 42.00 50.25
43.10 51.50 J 5 S 53.15 63.57
59.55 71.50 J 5 M ---- ----
68.10 81.45 J 5 L 73.50 88.40
84.58 101.57 21 L 72.23 86.52
61.24 73.40 21 S 51.52 62.12
83.00 99.35 35 L 70.56 85.12
61.20 73.35 35 S 51.10 61.22
88.00 105.35 40 L 79.50 95.45
63.27 76.10 40 S 57.33 69.05
76.28 91.45 45 L 59.30 71.25
54.45 65.42 45 S 39.10 47.00
79.08 94.58 50 L 62.34 75.05
56.40 68.00 50 S 41.10 49.25
64.38 77.33 55 L 54.32 65.27
46.35 55.55 55 S ---- 41.36
68.09 81.46 60 L 60.00 72.00
49.10 59.00 60 S ---- ----
65.30 78.36 65 L 58.00 69.36
60.55 73.03 70 L 64.00
38.45 46.30 70 S ----
43.20 52.00 75 S ----
String course results
Name Age Club Time
(minutes)
Martha Robinson 4 21
Sasha Mackenzie 7 CLARO 11
John Mackenzie 5 CLARO 16
Aidan Smith 8 SYO 6
Joanna Smith 5 SYO 16
Jack Greensmith 4 EPOC 28
Aidan Smith 8 SYO 5
Louise Adams 5 SYO 13
Michael Adams 7 SYO 9
Sarah Chaffey 2 DVO 20
Philip Wiegand 5 SYO 24
Adam Wiegand 2 SYO 25
Beth Woodley 9 AIRE 8
Heather Cordon 3 28
Siarlot Lloyd 9 EPOC 11
Jessica Beresford 6 DVO 9
Ben Beresford 8 DVO 5
Joanna Smith 5 SYO 18
Yasmin Field 4 MDOC 31
Joe Field 2 MDOC 31
Tim Martin 12 NOC 6
Sean Martin 7 NOC 7
Jamie Martin 9 NOC 6
Daniel Calvert 7 AIRE 7
Naomi Calvert 4 AIRE 19
Eve Conway 1 AIRE 28
Holly Pownall 11 EPOC 5
Brendan Ward O'Brien 7 EPOC 7
Niall Ward O'Brien 9 EPOC 6
Louise Adams 5 SYO 8
Michael Adams 7 SYO 5
Claudia Smith 8 NOC 12