Results for NOC Robin Hood Trophy, Sherwood Pines, 28/01/2007

Organiser

Thank you all for coming to Sherwood Pines. It will never be the most technical area but most people seemed to enjoy their blast around.We were extremely lucky that we were able to go ahead with the event given the amount of damage that the previous weeks storms inflicted upon the area. Fortunately the Forestry Commission were extremely helpful and they worked very hard in the days preceding the event, clearing the area around the finish. I must thank all the NOC members who once again swung into action and made my job as Organiser extremely easy.

Janet Evans

Planner

Planning this event has been a long and interesting process which I deliberately started over 12 months ago with a series of visits to get a feel for exactly what sort of condition the bracken and brambles might be in by late January, and then to try thereafter to plan the courses to avoid the worst areas. This gave a patchwork around which to weave the 18 courses, whilst ensuring as far as possible that you experienced a variety of terrain, pace, and runnability. Months of playing around with options followed until I had a full set of courses which I felt were of a suitable length, especially bearing in mind the current unpredictability of the weather. We do get snow in January sometimes you know!

Everything seemed to be going well with just a few more days to go, with the maps being printed, bags ordered, control descriptions also being printed, and all of the kit prepared. I hadn't, however, taken into account or at that time made any contingency plans for a last minute Act of God!

The gales during mid January caused havoc across the country and shortly afterwards stories started to appear in the press and on TV about the damage to Sherwood Pines. This caused my heart to sink and as soon as I was able, with just one week to go, I dashed up there - expecting the worst. After a complete tour of the forest I returned to the car park rather less concerned, having already formed contingency plans for the areas which had suffered most damage. Discussions with the Forestry Commission about how long it would take to clear fallen trees proved a little inconclusive but they went into action, closing the park to the public on the Wednesday and Thursday before our C3 and did a brilliant job in tidying up. All access roads (except one that I found later in the far west of the area) had been cleared, the finish area re-emerged from its pile of fallen trees, and we were given the go ahead for the event. Had it been scheduled for one week earlier I suspect it would have had to be cancelled! Many thanks are due to the Forestry Commission and their contractors. Fortunately the worst of the damage was outside the courses area and as it happened the runnability seemed to improve markedly within the final week.

It's never easy in Sherwood Pines to avoid some element of path running because of the extensive path network but in conversations with some competitors afterwards I was pleased to hear that many of you realised that the direct routes were often the fastest, if you were prepared to take the risk.

The extent of the longer courses prevented course descriptions being printed on the face of the map, hence the decision was made to have unsealed bags and loose course descriptions. I hope this didn't cause too much of a problem for anyone.

As usual I would like to pass on my sincere thanks to Mike for his patience and invaluable assistance whilst controlling, to Janet for the seamless organisation, to all helpers, and to all competitors for making it a memorable and enjoyable day.

Dave Cooke

Controller

Firstly a big thank you must go to NOC for putting on the event. There were no major problems, their organisation seemed to run very smoothly, and the course planned by Dave all appeared to deliver results close to the BOF recommended times (given we did shorten them slightly based on possibility of bad November weather).

Another huge thank you must go to the Forestry Commission. As you stood in the car park and by the start you may have wondered what was left of the forest following the previous week's gales. If the event had been one week earlier the forest would have been closed, but in that week the Forestry Commission did a huge amount of clearing up. To gain some idea of the impact look at the finish and you should realise it is mapped in woodland, it ended up in a predominantly clear area. All of that area was a mess of fallen trees and was cleared in the few days before the event.

There were a few comments about control sites on the day so here is my take on them after the event:

179 - Thicket - There was some tape on another thicket near where the control was placed. Looking back this was not an ideal site as it seems there was another thicket nearby. Unfortunately as we entered from the road to place the control we crossed a lot of windblown that made us feel we had gone further. Looking back this was not ideal.

168 - Knoll - I believe the control was on the correct double knoll in the area and that it was accurate relative to the features around it. I did count the other knolls in the area and made sure it seemed the right knoll. The only minor thing is it may be slightly further North on the ground than it is shown on the map, but this is based on what folk have said afterwards.

186 - Depression - A few folk commented that they had problems finding this site. As far as I can tell it is OK from all directions. The road and vegetation boundary and it's position inside the thick are all correct.

Mike Gardner (DVO)