WSX Chat 30 May

Posted on Mon, 30th May 2022 by Jolyon Medlock
Club News, Event Reports

The WSX Chat comes from Julie, with reports from Sunny Sussex and Shepton Mallet. Looking forward to seeing some of you this weekend at the Tamar Triple. Don’t forget the next FYW event at Blandford on 11th June. Also, see Roger’s email about the SW relay events.

Sunny Sussex Weekend
 
Well, no chance of suing the organiser’s under the Trades Description Act – it was a gloriously sunny weekend! The first event was in Abbots Wood north of Eastbourne and I was determined not to continue my run of poor results due to going to wrong controls, missing controls etc. I set off a couple of minutes after Carolyn Dent and had caught up with her by control 2. So far so good. Then I saw Sue Hands, who was a minute after me, running towards me as I was going to 3 in, what I considered to be the wrong route choice to control 2. Great! Controls 5-7 went pretty well too and I was feeling much better about things. Controls 6-9 were all on shallow ditch junctions and as I was going to control 8, I glanced at my map and, for some reason, thought I hadn’t actually been to control 7 so turned back to get it (for the 2nd time, as it turned out!)  I made a few errors on numbers 10 and 13 but at least I had got all the controls this time. It was only when I looked at my splits that I realised that I had gone to 7 twice, wasting about 6 minutes or so. After the event I tried to rationalise my decision and I can sort of see what I did – I mistook control 9 for 6, saw that it was close to 7 and thought “I don’t remember doing that leg!” Needless to say, Carolyn had beaten me  – but I beat Sue Hands. But I was furious with myself for making such a stupid error. I was 32nd/58.
 
However, by the evening I had reconciled myself to the situation and was ready for a run around Sovereign Harbour in Eastbourne. It is a lovely area and the weather was cool but sunny. Some complicated routes at times and everyone had to cross the lock gates which, fortunately, were crossable when I arrived there. There was a timed control on either side so you had 3 minutes to cross, just in case the gates were open. The only control I had a slight blip on was one on a fence corner on the harbour’s edge (control 6) but I went up the steps to a wall corner which was just above it. It was difficult to tell the difference from the position of the circle but I should have checked the control description more closely. I think several people had an issue with that one. But overall I was pleased with my result (3rd/8 WUV) and some of us ended the evening with an Italian meal nearby.
The following day’s event was in Friston Wood. Again, a glorious day and the wild flowers in the field near assembly were fabulous. Quite a climb up to the start but soon after the start there was a steep slope down and I had 3 controls along the slope, the first 2 of which (a platform and a shallow depression) I didn’t get cleanly. But after that I had no real issues and in fact there was some lovely runnable forest which was really enjoyable. The undergrowth wasn’t too bad apart from towards the end – control 15 – 17 – where it was pretty grotty and impossible for me to run at all. I was 27th/57,about par for the course. So, hopefully, I’ve ended my bad spell of messing up controls. 
 
 
Shepton Mallet Urban
 
A bit of a long way to go but there were 3 of us in the car so didn’t feel so guilty! The start was is in a pretty park and my course took me past a bandstand and a lake into the nearby streets. It seemed to be fairly new housing with some lovely patches of open and several alleyways. I had a fairly decent run (8th/24) but I lost at least a minute on control 4 because I wasn’t sure if the wall marked on the map near it was crossable or not – it was mapped like the walls on a non-urban map. So I took a longer route there to find that the wall was sort-of crossable – it had vertical slabs on the top which had to be negotiated. Not easy, apparently, according to the Branfords! But it was an enjoyable event with Ian having a storming run, coming 6th/43. Sheila and Rob were also there with decent results.
 
 
 
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Orienteering Club