Esssex Stragglers' Chairman Mark Johnson congratulates the winning team - "Western Front"

Team Results

Individual Results

The decision to go ahead with the event was only taken at the SOS committee meeting in May. At that stage we had no event officials as there had been no enthusiasm for arranging these earlier in the year. I was willing to organise but unavailable on the original date so the committee immediately decided to change the date! Chris and Martin stepped in to the breach and we had an event. I was particularly pleased to see a junior prepared to have a go and to take it on given his other extensive commitments most notably GCSEs. If our sport is to survive we need to encourage the next generation to take an active role in the organisational side. Constructive criticism is accepted by us all and helpful in the learning process. Outright condemnation of anyone's efforts is demoralising and only succeeds in discouraging them from volunteering again.

The main problem with organising the relays is the difficulty in getting helpers. Everyone wants to run and while this can be accommodated in other events, the format of the relays makes it difficult. Thank you to all the Stragglers who helped set up and pack away and who helped on the finish before, between and after their runs. A special thank you to Jack Isbester and Hilary Sellens. Jack E-mailed me to volunteer as soon he knew the event was happening. It is good to have him involved with orienteering even though he has hung up his 'O' shoes. Hilary had to cope with living in the same house as the planner and controller (always stressful). She helped with drawing up the maps and then got press ganged into running the finish for much of the day.

Thank goodness for electronic communication. All publicity was done electonically. I had organised the relays two years ago and had E-mail contacts for all those teams. The turnout was perhaps slight down but 17 teams made it a worthwhile event. I can only apologise to people who do not have access to E-mail and the web and who may not have heard that the event was on.

The location for the start/finish was perfect and the weather added to the occasion. I enjoyed my yellow course. Thank you all for coming and perhaps I should apologise for winning!

Lyn West

The planning for the SOS novelty relays started on the aeroplane to the European Youth Orienteering Champs just after my GCSEs. The intention was to make the courses long as the handicaps given were very generous towards the younger age categories. However, due to the type of vegetation in High Woods the original courses involved a lot of dead running. Therefore the course lengths were cut down and legs became shorter and more varied, to discourage path running, (yet the path route was advisable for leg 8 - 9 on the Orange). Admittedly the Yellow course was a bit too difficult but this was partly due to cutting the course shorter.

Those of you who did the Light Green may be glad to know 1km was cut off the length of the course, but this meant you missed one of the nicest parts of the park. New control sites were found for the Orange and Light Green and I like to think these resulted in interesting courses. I think you will agree the legs along the stream were very pleasant. I apologise for the seemingly difficult Yellow course, however you may have found it hard as you are out of practice!

See you at the event next year. Hopefully, I will be running not planning.

Chris Sellens

This was only the second event that Chris (M16) has planned and he did an excellent job given the constraints of the area and the limited amount of time between the end of GCSEs and the rescheduled date. His idea of a start and finish overlooking the open valley and giving the opportunity for some spectator legs, worked extremely well. A long walk from either of the usual parking areas was avoided by exploiting the anticipated small entry to pioneer the use of the Chantrelle car park. I don't think the regular Sunday morning dog walkers were unduly inconvenienced and I expect you enjoyed the challenge of navigating to it through the High Woods suburban maze. It used all to be ancient woodland, but at least that which was left by the developer is now open to the public and the occasional band of Orienteers.

Perhaps we were all a little orienteering rusty, including the controller. Critical comments about the difficulty of the yellow were quite justified, though my personal feeling is that the first leg was the only one that should have caused any real problems. The taped route would have helped a bit more if we had planned it beforehand and written it on the control description sheet! In mitigation, I think Chris and I were too focussed on the expected composition of the relay teams and not enough on BOF guidelines and the overriding needs of beginners, particularly on the colour coded courses. Anyway, apologies to those M45s who found it a bit hard. Incidentally, a good way to ensure that apprentice planners, who have given up hours of their time to provide us all with our fix of orienteering, are terminally discouraged, is to criticise their efforts without sugaring the pill with a few words of thanks. Those of you who have done your bit for the sport by planning will know how a couple of well aimed "thank you"s can make the effort seem worthwhile.

Notwithstanding the yellow with blue tinges, I thought Chris's courses were imaginatively designed and used the more attractive parts of the park. The run along the stream north of the lake was particularly lovely for those who resisted the path option. On the other hand the thrash along the earth wall from 8-9 on the orange was dire and an option we should have found a way to discourage.

Thanks to Lyn West and the small and somewhat over-stretched band of helpers for holding it all together. I hope the rest of you enjoyed the weather we had arranged as well as the opportunity to get into the woods again after the unwelcome restrictions of foot and mouth. Thank you all for coming.

Martin Sellens

Lyn West 01206 322905 or lynwest.ghh@tesco.net

The n^th running of the Stragglers' Relays will take place on Sunday July 15^th at Highwoods Country Park, Colchester.

The usual handicap system will be used with allowance for age and sex. Rumour has it that it is roughly based on the expected minutes per km used as par speeds by the SE League (at some stage in the past) but as far as I'm concerned it is handed down from one organiser to the next!

Start times will be according to handicap with a base time of 12 noon for scratch teams.

Enquiries to Lyn West: Phone: 01206 322905 E-mail: lynwest.ghh@tesco.net

Rules :

1. Teams of four runners must complete four short (yellow), three medium (orange) and two long (light green) courses.
2. Each team member must complete at least one course and no-one may run the same course twice. At the start, each team will receive a set of maps, one for each course. The fourth runner will not be able to start until another team member returns.
3. Scratch teams will start at 12 noon. Handicap will determine start time of all other teams. Handicap as follows:

HANDICAPS IN MINUTES


Age	10	12	14	16	18	20	21	35	40	45	50	55	60	65	70+
M	20	16	13	9	5	2	0	2	4	6	8	10	12	14	18
F	20	18	16	13	9	6	4	9	11	13	16	18	20	20	20


Thus a team made up of W21+M40+M50+W55 will have a handicap of 4+4+8+18 = 34 minutes. Start time will be at 11.26. Easy really!
4. My decision is final.

Entries should be made on the form below (or a copy) E-mailed to lynwest.ghh@tesco.net

Or by post to Lyn West, Grove Hill House, Dedham, Essex CO7 6DX

Entry fees: £3 seniors, £1.50 juniors. Cheques payable to Essex Stragglers.

Closing date for entries: 13 July 2001 Limited e.o.d. depending on availability of maps.

Final details will be issued on the day. Registration will open at 10 a.m. Please arrive with sufficient time to prepare for your start.