Results for NOC District Event, Walesby Forest, 17/12/2006

Organiser

Thanks to everybody who came to the event, which was helped considerably by the good weather. There were more favourable comments than unfavourable! and overall people seemed to enjoy Steve's courses.

Thanks to all those who helped, with a special thanks to Pauline Olivant who both organised the scout championship which ran alongside the District event, as well as organising the soup and mince pies afterwards (helped by Angela Lucking and Yuko Martin).

Helen O'Neil

Planner

This was my first try at planning which was greatly helped by been allowed to use the Northern area, so only the Brown and last bit of the Blue had to experience the bramble infested southern area.

The ground at Walsby is fast, very fast with winning times of around 5 min/k�s on the Brown and 6 min/k�s on the Blue so the course only appear on the long side. Walsby is not the most technical of areas so my idea was to use the open areas to cause maximum confusion by clustering the controls and putting in lots of changes in direction. Also by planning that most courses visited almost all of the controls in the cluster but in different orders resulted in lots of people running in different directions. Normally control flow would not allow this, but in the open areas of Walsby there is little risk of running into each other. Viewing the area in the middle of the event confirmed the control clustering had the desired affect, with many runners making detours to incorrect controls.

Many thanks to Keith Streb as controller he gave me a lot useful advice and assistance on the day.

Steve Martin

Controller

It's 18 years since I planned my first event at Walesby and since then I don't think I have seen such an imaginative use of the area from a first time planner. Steve's original intention was to have a butterfly section (for green and above) in the central area but the thinning of the woodland to the West and our inability to come to terms with the OCAD planning software meant that this was quickly forsaken for the inclusion of a little bit of Park O. As you are all now part of the initiated, you will appreciate that this entails short legs, rapid changes of direction and highly visible kites. Steve and myself spent 20 enjoyable minutes here watching competitors who really should know better, being drawn off line by other runners on other courses and legs. Its a shame Steve didn't have Sutton Park to play with...imagine the fun!

It was also nice to get the chance to run in the Northern section again although there certainly weren't that many brambles the last time.

I hope you did all enjoy it as I heard lots of compliments, with just a couple of dissenting voices. To these I would say "Yes we know pits in the bracken can be a bingo control if you are an early runner" but there was a decent attack point only 55m away! ...and as for discarding your poly bag and part 2 map...well words fail me! but I think you are now a candidate for your clubs sports personality of the month.

I wish I could take credit for the weather but that must have been Helen's doing...;-) Hope you enjoyed the soup & mince pies. Have a happy Christmas and see you all at the Lincolnshire Bomber.

Keith Streb

P.S Comments good and bad to the event forum