A busy Weekend of Orienteering

 Saturday - Wycoller, the fundraising event for 'Help for Heroes'

After having such lovely sunny days all last week it was so upsetting to see the heavy rainfall on Saturday morning.  The amount of time given to putting on any event is enormous, especially for the planner, organiser and controller.  I had volunteered to be the organiser for Wycoller, but it appeared there was very little for me to do.  Gillian had the mammoth task of visiting the area and checking out control sites, before planning her courses.  Jim then visited again in his role as controller and again on the morning of the event to put out the controls with Gillian and Helen.  A very early 7am start in pouring rain was not ideal.

When I arrived at 9.30am my only job was to tape the route from the car park to the barn and from the barn up to the start.   Not very taxing!!

The turn out on the day proved better than some of us had expected.  It was slow to begin with but picked up with some of the newcomers from SELOC's club night travelling over from Bury and beyond.  At one point there were more helpers than competitors, which was good to see.  Mark Jesson seems to be doing a very good job in recruiting helpers for the various on the day tasks and this meant those who wanted a run could do so.

I managed to push the pram up and down from the car park to the barn several times in order to get Daniel to sleep and to direct the competitors to registration.  I felt I should show willing as organiser.

I wasn't in the mood for having a run when John said the stiles and rocks were extremely slippery, but decided as I was already wet I might as well walk around the orange course.  I quite enjoyed myself and thought I had done quite well and stood chatting at the finish to Gillian for a good ten minutes before I spotted a control which I knew I had missed!!!  So my finish time of over 40 minutes could have been reduced to maybe a winning time of just around 30!!!!   I was very cross with my stupid mistake. I decided the least I could do was offer to collect in controls. 

 So if you are thinking of offering to do a job at one of the Saturday morning events might I suggest the organiser's job is a good one!!

p.s.  I have my name down for Sunnyhurst Woods in May!!

p.p.s jut over £80 was taken on the day for the charity, not a brilliant amount, but considering the weather.....

Sunday - PFO Success at Frodsham Hill

This was mainly due to the Wallis family, both Mike and David achieving second place on their respective courses. Terrific results for them both on what was described as 'undulating terrain with a long steep slope.'

Mike was first M50 on the Brown course, and just about 5 minutes down on the winner, a young M21. Steve Wilson finished in 7th place, but 9 mins. slower than Mike.   Maybe the run at Wycoller the day before affected Steve?   Maybe Daniel waking up in the night is a more likely excuse.

David was less than 3 minutes down on the winner on the blue course, followed by John Ashton in 11th place.  John came home feeling very tired and said he couldn't run on the steep slopes at all.  He found it difficult enough just to walk up the hills, he does keep reminding me he is an 'old man' now.

Kath Wallis was the only other PFO member running at Frodsham and she finished the Green course in 16th position.  Well done to you all for turning out and representing the club. 

At Gowbarrow, Border Liners had an event and I spotted Kevin booth on the Brown course.  Kevin used to be a member of PFO and maybe he still is, but the results didn't show it.

Well done anyway Kevin.

Further afield, at the Cleveland Event at Cringle and Cold Moor, I spotted Jim Mitchell and Mike Fairburn battling it out for ranking points. They  both ran the Green course and this time Jim finished a good 6 minutes ahead of Mike and no mis-punching!!  Jim was 11th and Mike 26th, and both of them were second in their respective age classes.  Well done to you both.

p.s. Maybe, someone who actually goes to these events could manage to write a short report afterwards for the news page.   It would save me some time and maybe give a better insight to the days outing.  Think about it.  No experience necessary.................