Street Orienteering

Once the dark nights draw in the head torch running begins and with it the Street Orienteering (Street-O). Hosted by South Ribble Orienteering Club (SROC) the events normally take place every couple of weeks from November to March.

The idea with Street-O is that you get a control sheet, when you register, listing controls such as LP (Lampposts), TP (Telegraph Poles), GB (Green  Boxes) or other types of street furniture including telephone numbers on the front of shops or maybe the number garages on a house, but as yet you don’t know the location of these items. Each control is worth 10,20,30,40,50 or 60 points (normally).

It’s worth pointing out that a street-O map contains very little detail in comparison to a normal O type map. The Street O map contains no contour lines and doesn’t always show wooded areas or open land. It basically shows Roads and footpaths/tracks and controls are marks on with a red dot which should be accurately placed at the correct point and the correct side of the street to allow you to find, for example, the correct lamppost number.

Once you start the map is given to you. You now have up to 75 mins to visit as many control sites, in any order, as you can ensuring that you return WITHIN your chosen time frame to avoid penalties. Penalties are accrued at something like 1 point lost for every 2 SECONDS you are late, so if you are 2 1/2 minutes over you will lose 75 of your hard earned points, but if you come back in too early you have wasted your valuable minutes that could have been spent getting that extra 50 point control.

I think it involves quick thinking and route planning plus good time management. I normally find that running along the roads/pavements is pretty boring but when doing this the time flies by. I also think that I run harder too with all the stopping to note controls on the sheet and route planning. I find the speed I run between controls feels faster than if I had run the same route continually. Ultimately I feel pretty tired by the end of the 75 minutes.

If anybody has a spare evening and heads out occasionally for a road run, then I would recommend you try at least one, especially at the bargain price of £2. Don’t forget to bring along a torch, pencil and reflective clothing.

Not blogged for ages

Chris reminded me today that I hadn’t blogged for ages. I had only reminded myself about that a few days ago so it was a bit of a co-incidence really. I’ve not really blogged much as I haven’t done much that (I thought) was worth writing about.

There has been quite a bit of Orienteering on the cards of late though and the smaller Orienteering events are normally pretty much same old same old to write about even if running in them is another matter altogether. With Orienteering I find it far better browsing your routes and looking at your split times than writing about each event and this can be done using Routegadget. This is a great little tool that allows competitors to draw the route they took at an event and then compare (up to 10 at a time) their route to others that have drawn theirs.

I also joined the committee for SELOC and took on the SELOC and NWOA websites which has also taken up a little of my time over these past few months.

Once the dark nights draw in the head torch running begins. It started with some Wednesday night runs with Lostock AC over Winter hill but then the Street-Orienteering (Street-O) started (normally every two weeks)  which runs until the start of march. Also there are 5 Night Orienteering events held over the winter period which are typically (but not always) held in local country parks and take the normal daytime events that one step further. A good head torch is key for these events and I find them very challenging.

The beginning of this year has too been busy with O too as we had a regional level event at Watergrove (Near Rochdale) which attracted over 400 runners and despite a couple of hiccoughs on the day with the IT the event seemed to go OK (if not a little stressful at times). I was hoping to get out for a run but this didn’t happen. The weekend after saw another busy time as we also had a Day and Night event on at Haigh Hall. The day event being an easier event to try and attract some new potential members and the night being the final event of the Night League calendar. Again, a couple of little issues but on the whole I think they were a success.

I have managed the odd Fell race too. The Dave Staff race was a cold one but it’s always a nice race and very fresh. I had also planned to enter Whinberry Naze Fell Race on Boxing day and intended to go in Fancy dress but by the time the day came I still had no fancy dress so just did the event as a runner (boring!). A good turn out with the snow and ice on the ground which made for some tiring running on the way up but I collected my Smarties from Santa and then made my way back. Then off home to fill up on more Xmas food.

Although there’s a shortage of Fell races under the belt of the last couple of months I have managed a few of LDWA events too. Back in October Chris, Lisa and I entered the Bottoms Up (Short route) which took us around Houghton Bottoms and the outskirts of Blackburn. Then a couple of weeks later Chris, Albert and I entered the John Knox Challenge in Staffordshire. December brought the Christmas Charity Walk which is a 12 mile route from Wigan Rugby Union Club going round Redrock, Worthington Lakes, Blackrod and Haigh Hall.

The Future

So what are my plans for this year. Well I want the emphasis to be on increasing my distance and trying to lose some more weight (including the Xmas podge). The beginning of the year has already been taken up with Orienteering which has consumed quite a bit of my time, especially the Haigh day event in which I had agreed to plan the courses for the event and have also taken on the role of map printer.

But February starts to bring in the Fell races and LDWA events too. This coming weekend I am entered in the BRITISH night orienteering championships in Atherstone. I don’t expect to do well but I’ll give it a go and set the benchmark for next year. The Winter Hill Fell Race follows the weekend after which I have been hoping to enter for about 2 years now (I did offer to marshal but as yet am not needed). The weekend after Winter Hill is the Beacon Bash (LDWA) event. This (bash) is a 22 mile only event travelling around Ashurst Beacon and Parbold but I’m not sure about making the distance but will give it a go.

Further forward I have plans to enter the Two Crosses (LDWA) event again, this time on the longer route and I am considering the Anniversary Waltz although I haven’t been to the Lakes in ages, in fact I think the Borrowdale Fell Race was the last time I was there, which is another race I want to enter this year but actually complete it this time. There is also the Harvester Relays (orienteering) that I wouldn’t mind entering to. These involve a team competing over several night legs (I believe). Ben Nevis - My entry has already been sent off for the Ben Nevis Race again, this is an epic race and I hope I get in again.

I was thinking to myself the other day about making a few trips to the lakes soon, but was quickly drawn back by the fact that with fuel prices increasing as they have been doing, travelling anywhere is just getting too expensive. It cost my £87 to fill the car the other day.

Mark

Snow.

In a moment of madness a month or so ago I entered 'Le Tour De Helvellyn - En Hiver' and have spent the rest of the time leading up to the event fretting over weather, kit and my fitness! In the end it wasn't to be, the weather beat me.

We were very lucky to arrive back home in Wigan Friday night during a blizzard, an hour later and we would have been stuck on the M6. There was no way I was going to try and head further North early Saturday. It turns out they had a successful event and I was a bit disappointed not to have been there.

So Saturday afternoon I went for a trot up Winter Hill, it was a bit of a struggle to just get there in the car the roads were so bad. I was glad I did though; I took the camera and shot a few pictures.

The cafe at the Lower Barn, where I was going to park, was closed. I took this from up near the other barn as I turned the car round.

On the way up to the Pike there were some lads snowboarding, something I have not seen before up there.

It was getting quite hazy near the top with the wind whipping up the dry snow.

There were still a few people out on the hill enjoying the snow, one bloke was wearing a pair of snowshoes the size of tennis rackets. On my way back down I was breaking the path down from the mast and almost broke my leg, the snow had drifted over a culvert which my right leg fell into banging my shin on the concrete cover over the stream. I dread to think what may have happened if I was moving that bit faster and it served to remind me about the importance of taking proper kit and a means of alerting people when you are in danger.

An LDWA hat-trick.

The Long Distance Walker's Association run many events throughout the year and I find them a great way of getting a long run in during the weekend.

I recently managed to do 3 on consecutive weekends, the first one being: 'Bottom's Up' from Hoghton Village Hall near Blackburn. This took you through Samlesbury and Hoghton Bottoms and followed the Witton Weaver's Way for a while. I did the short route since my wife was 'encouraged' to enter (by me of course), it was the furthest she has ever travelled on foot and I was really impressed with her for completing it on just 3 weeks of preparation. I'm not sure she enjoyed the mud, hills and lane of cow slurry we had to negotiate though.

The weekend after I was back down south for the 1st Roding's Romp which is a new event (obviously) organised by the essex trail-running club Mid Essex Casuals. The route took you through 'The Rodings', a collection of villages in Essex around the River Roding, a tributary of the River Thames. This time I opted for the long route (full marathon) since I was by myself and had a really good run, though crossing freshly ploughed fields became a bit of a struggle after 20+ miles; I swear some of the farmers had been out deliberately beforehand just to make it harder. We ran past many ancient Norman churches and also past the only surviving windmill in the area:

I was pleased with the way the run went, taking my time since it was the furthest I had run in over a year.

Finally the weekend after me, Mark and Albert made our way to Hollinsclough in the Peak District for the John Knox Challenge Walks. We did the short route partly due to the state of the weather when we got there, a bit of a shame since the long route goes over the Roaches and I haven't been that way before but I just couldn't gather any enthusiasm to be out in the mist and rain for that long. Thankfully it cleared up while we were out but the first few miles were a bit grim, and the whole route was very muddy. Here's a picture Mark took on the last track down to the finish:

You can't beat these ldwa events for value and laid-back atmosphere. Invariably there are many checkpoints all with food and drink then a hot meal at the finish, all for the price of a couple of pints. I plan to do as many as I can between now and Spring next year when hopefully I will start getting out to do some fell races again.

Cami De Cavalls

The 'Cami De Cavalls' (route GR223) is the recently re-opened medieval coastal 'Path of the Horses' around Menorca and when we spent our holidays there in early August it was an ideal opportunity to go and explore some of it.



Being marked all along its 140 or so miles by posts such as these it's easy to follow, my first run was South-East to the next resort down the coast at dawn. I took this picture after the climb up onto the small cliffs behind the hotel we were staying in:



The best routes were North-West of where we stayed, heading past Binigaus (leaving at dawn meant I didn't have to avert my eyes at this secluded nudist spot). Not wanting to cover the same ground twice I stuck to the coast one day then headed inland on the main GR223 route another. The coastal path was very rocky in places with many hidden coves and I didn't see another soul apart from those just waking up on their yachts by this lovely hidden beach at the northern-most point I reached. On the way back I saw a bunch of people who were still asleep under the trees who I hadn't noticed on the way out and I was a bit jealous, it looked a cracking place to spend a night in the open. There are some pictures of the walk here that give you an good idea of the terrain.

The GR223 route was hillier, though remember this is Menorca so there were no big climbs to contend with. You head inland up a small wooded valley where there was plenty shade in the trees...


Just South of the hotel, half hidden slightly off the path there was a large entrance to a staircase that seemed to head underground. Just over the other side of the hill I noticed some steps cut into the rocks...


I couldn't resist exploring so headed down into the darkness being really careful since it was a tunnel built through the rock with lots of loose boulders on the ground and I couldn't see anything apart from the room at the other end. It lead to this small room:

You can see the entrance/exit on the left where I came from then the other hole in the back wall that seemed to have been added sometime after the original construction. This led to a 20ft drop to a cave...
this cave led out to sea by the steps I mentioned earlier. I never found out what the purpose of this construction was but I can only assume it was used during some of the many military campaigns the island has seen over the centuries. In the next picture, taken from the main beach you can see the two slits cut out through the rock that afforded a view from the room a long way up the coastline (just to the left of the car at the same level as the boat on its roof). It really did seem a very well chosen defensive position.


I had a great stay on the island, being so flat it was hardly the best preparation for Ben Nevis but there was still plenty of good running to be had though I will think twice before going and doing hill reps up the few hundred foot climb up the ridge behind the hotel again in the midday heat.