Results: Ken Hill: 20/05/2018

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Organiser’s Comments

TICK CHECK TIME – just a reminder, there were a lot of small ticks around today.
 
We were very short of helpers today, and so special thanks go to those who helped with more than their planned tasks; they know who they are.  Peter and Roger gave you the info sheets; Jamie and Leanne did the first shift on Registration, followed by Kim and Tim (someone commented on how noisy the tent was today!).  Kevin and Pauline are always the first to volunteer, so they get their first choice – to do the starts, followed by Alan S and Rob.  Michael, our coach, helped our several newcomers.  Daniel and Jonathan manned the SI download station. Control collecting was again short on volunteers – they even got me to collect some! Phil, the Planner, went out collecting, as well as Alan S (almost straight after finishing a Brown course!), Mike and Patrick.  Just one more volunteer would have made a difference, and been greatly appreciated.
 
Please remember these are events run BY members, FOR members.  Please play your part by volunteering – and of course the more people volunteer, the shorter the shifts, and the smoother it all runs.
 
Special thank you to the WAOC member who loaned some gaiters to a young lady who didn’t have any leg cover and wanted to do a tough course!  It saved her getting her legs shredded.
 
Finally thank you all for coming, I didn’t expect such a good turnout, and thanks to the Ken Hill Estate who are so accommodating.
 
Julia Paul.

Planner’s Comments

Firstly, thank you all for coming, and bringing my courses to life.

Ken Hill is generally speaking a great bit of land from the planner’s perspective, it is relatively easy to plan courses that are mentally and physically challenging. Most competitors’ comments confirmed that that was the outcome. Peter Leverington’s excellent map update from 2015 was still generally accurate, apart from some inevitable vegetation changes, which were only corrected where essential.

On a quick skim through the results, there doesn’t seem to be any consistent pattern of problem legs on the more technical courses, which is reassuring.

The biggest planning problem was perhaps fitting in a decent length Brown course without the shape becoming overly contrived. This admittedly led to some lack of quality in the latter part of the course.

The planner/controller relationship is vital to the success of any event. Thanks are due to Mike Capper (WAOC) for helping NOR with this event. Having worked with Mike before, I was confident that we would make a good team, and that proved to be the case. I am very grateful for his support.

Well done to Julia and helpers for the smooth running of the event. Thanks also to the few who stayed on after a hard run on a warm day to help me with control collecting, and for the support of Alan and Pat Bedder in the background as always.

Phil Brown.

Controller’s Comments

It was a lovely day for a run around an increasingly tough Ken Hill. The good bits are still great, but some of the formerly greats bit are less so now. The growth of brambles and other grot makes the northern fen area pretty unpleasant and Phil managed to keep all but the Brown course out of there – hopefully the trek around the ditches wasn’t too gratuitous for the Brown course runners ?
 
Courses were slightly shorter than the last event at Ken Hill, but winning times were longer this time. A reflection, maybe, on the weather and the changed conditions? Certainly the map is due another vegetation and path update.
 
Phil had to make a few compromises on courses to avoid brambles or bits of the map where the thickets had changed too much. Other than that, only a few tweaks were needed, and I hope everyone enjoyed their run. Ken Hill really is quite technical so well done to less experienced orienteers who finished their courses – hopefully we’ll see you at another event in the future!
 
Despite a shortage of volunteers, the organisation ran really smoothly. Well done to Julia for this, a great effort!

Mike.

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