Essex Stragglers Orienteering Society (SOS)

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Ultrasprint Event – (Level C)
Maldon Promenade Park
Saturday 20th May 2017
Results

Officials' Comments

Organiser - Lyn West, lynwestghh@gmail.com

I hope you all enjoyed the format of the Ultrasprint. Having run the last 2 LOK Ultrasprints, I am a convert to this challenging and frustrating format. When it was suggested that SOS put on an Ultrasprint as part of the Essex Weekend, I was enthusiastic so finished up as the organiser of a family affair. Maldon Promenade Park is perfect for the event and Eleanor produced some good courses.

All seemed to run relatively smoothly although there were a few glitches that I don’t think detracted from the enjoyment of the event. The weather was kind to us apart from the one downpour. I did have a shelter tent but on the day the weather seemed so good that we didn’t erect it. I should have known better! There were a lot of positive comments and some constructive suggestions for improvement both on the day and at the Urban event the next day. Many thanks to my team of helpers particularly the significant number of non-running volunteers without whom it would have been impossible to stage the event.

Planner - Eleanor Evans

Having never run an Ultrasprint before, the planning role posed a bit of a challenge but an enjoyable one nevertheless, and one which allowed me to see Maldon Prom Park in a new light. The area certainly lent itself to this format, with plenty of interesting control sites in a small area and lots of similar features to provide some trickiness. It was good to hear plenty of people having enjoyed the courses and thank you also for the feedback "for next time" (note to the fixtures secretary: this is not a commitment that there will be any such thing). I am keen now to run an ultrasprint as a competitor - it was hard enough counting trees when stood still so hats off to all of you who managed error free runs at speed. Major thanks must go to Kevin Machin for his sterling work updating the map in the level of detail required. Thank you also to the band of helpers on the day who rescued controller and planner from a woeful attempt at setting out a 10x10 grid of stakes for the maze.

Controller - Colin West

The Ultrasprint format needs a canny planner to set the challenges and pitfalls that featured at Maldon and which provided material for discussions between runs from those who had made punching errors. Eleanor quickly understood how to use the terrain at the Prom Park to advantage, and a fine set of courses emerged. The change of pace needed between parkland and woodland and maze was enough to give the brain some work to do, in addition to similarly placed controls which gave an element of the precision needed by Trail-O to selecting a particular control feature and the correct side of it.

There was one mistake in loading courses for the final into the computer, so everyone was recorded as mispunching control number 214 - that may be a relief to some runners who were otherwise error free, and may answer the puzzle of an unexplained mispunch.

The fine weather, except for ten minutes drenching of the two helpers converting the maze for the final, contributed to the relaxed atmosphere and an enjoyable day.

Thanks to the organiser Lyn and her band of helpers for making the event run so smoothly, with a special mention to Andrew for harnessing the technology of the event software to deliver results for the heats and final so promptly.

Elite Finals

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Prologue results by Class

Prologue - all classes combined