Event round-up from the planner.

With all the wet weather we’ve had recently I was fearing a bit of a mud fest, but with the exception of the track just below control 114, the woods seemed to have held up remarkably well.

The weather for both the night and day events thankfully turned out much better than expected after a rather damp start on Saturday morning.

It was great to have such a good turnout for both events and thank you for the positive comments on the courses. I tried to get as much route choice in as the area allowed and it was very interesting hearing the post race discussions at download. Looking at the spread of finish times I think the course lengths were about right. The short green course is definitely becoming more popular.

Whilst Newmillerdam is fairly familiar, the area is gradually changing as some areas become more accessible whilst others fall victim to the encroaching brambles. The extensive clearance of the rhododendrons on the slopes above the boathouse will open up potential new sites in the future but for this event, several of the control sites were nearly obliterated by the earthmoving equipment which wasn’t helpful. Apologies for those who were distracted by a string course kite near the finish which was an oversight and I note the need to have a slightly longer run in from the last control to the finish.

Thank you to everyone who helped out over the weekend but in particular David and Juliet for controlling and map updating, the Elliott family for organising and Jean for all her help in troubleshooting, sorting and fixing.
Thanks also to whoever placed the stake I’d dropped on Saturday by control 111 for me pick up.

Regards
Alistair