BARNOLDSWICK TOWN & COUNTRY SCORE ORIENTEERING EVENT 16th April 2011
Start and finish at West Craven Leisure Centre, Barnoldswick.
If you are reading this and you weren't there, you missed a belter! Warm sunshine, dry underfoot and overhead, but with a cooling breeze. Perfect running conditions!
Whilst the turnout was small, the competition was intense with some excellent scores. A lot of ground was covered and every control was visited by some competitors. The only downside for competitors was lack of time to stop and admire the views. Many of the controls were sited where the views are best - Letcliffe, Folly Lane, Weets, Duck Pond, Copy Nook and others. I believe the view from Weets is better than the view from Pendle!
In the 120 minute course Steve Lang of MDOC crossed the finish line with only 5 seconds to spare and a score of 415 points before penalty points would have begun racking up. He edged out Adrian Pickles of AIRE & Settle who scored more but took a tumble on penalties, finishing with 370 points. Adrian admits that he got 'lost' in the streets of Barlick. One lady helpfully pointed out that this was Manchester Road. Third place went to Jackie and Phil Scarfe EPOC who ran as a team notching up 360 points whilst keeping to the lower slopes and easier running. First local was John Ashton PFO with 315 points.
A special mention should be given to Roger Slater of JOK who travelled from Sheffield to take part. His reason for the long journey? He was born and raised in Barnoldswick, but hasn't lived here for 30 years, and couldn't pass up the opportunity to run on his home territory. He thoroughly enjoyed the experience. For my part, if Roger had been the only competitor, it would have all been worth the time and effort of putting on the event.
In the 90 minute class David Neville ran in 275 points to finish first, with Catherine Wilson of PFO finishing second on 245, and her team mate Paul Wright PFO in 3rd with 225.
The 60 minute class was under subscribed with Bill Griffiths PFO being the only competitor and therefore winner.
From the planning point of view it requires a lot of effort to stage an event over such a large area (5km x 6km). Local knowledge is essential and permission from land owners, not for running on PROWs but for hanging kites on their fences, is also essential. Every land owner was most helpful and we owe thanks to them for being so accommodating. I don't think our passing disrupted any other country or town activity, but it did generate considerable interest.
In parallel with the main event PFO also held a normal orienteering event in
and around the West Craven school fields. Our thanks are due to
Silentnight for permission to use Long Ings plantation for the
event also. If you look at the results you will see that Jack Cryer
M12 put in the fastest time on all three classes though necessarily
he was declared non-comp on all but his first Orange course. Well done.
I trust that everyone who took part enjoyed the day. We look forward to next year's event centred, perhaps, on a different town. I'll be running.
This
was a low manpower event matching the approx 40 total entries. All
helpers worked hard and our thanks are due to Jim Mitchell for controlling and
placing controls, Steve Wilson for entry set-up, Shirley Kinder for managing
registration with Sophie CS, Bill Griffiths for car park and welcoming duties
and Wendy CS for start and kite collecting.
Finally a big thank you to all competitors. You arrived from all
points of the compass and I trust you were pleased with your run, the
terrain, the weather and the views. Come back any time!
George Crawford-Smith
Planner.