Seaside Scramble

Day 1: British Elite Sprint

The town was Scarborough and the discipline was a sprint. The map had been drawn by ex-ShUOC member Neil Northrop, who had spent countless hours creating his masterpiece – which was AWESOME – and the planner was Steve Whitehead.

Heats

The course was great, took you into the North Bay along the coastal parks then into the city. The gaffles were huge on the 4 heats for the Men's Elite Class. I was on Heat C, probably one of the easier heats – with Heat B being named 'The heat of Death'.

Heat C went then to the cathedral and through to town, before descending off the top parks past the funicular through the underground passages and onto the sea front!

Fast running was the key, and I hesitated at controls where I had checked the wrong code for the leg I was doing. I finished in a time of 14.16, 1 second off the qualifying time for the Men's A Final! Rubbish!!!!

Finals

The final was a completely different kettle of fish, with a wholly technical emphasis to tax and test the best runners. I was off 3rd from last, as I failed to make the A final – but was ranked high enough to be at the back of the B Final. (top 20 positions and points were out of the window!!)

The course started off near the funicular again and this time used to top part of the parks to give access to the massive footbridge which dominated the seafront. Competitors had to keep their wits about them with slippy bluebell patches, twisting paths and huge gains and losses in height. Tricky control orders and crossovers were in abundance and it was really hard to concentrate when you were moving that fast. I lost lots of time and in the end, decided it was better to stop and look at my map for 5 seconds rather than lose time by going the wrong way.

The run along the sea front was spectacular with a choice to run along the promenade or cut down the steps and along the beach, wading through the sea to finish. I decided on the sea route, and also mispunched the finish point to lose me a second or too.

Thoughts

Overall the first race in the heats was my best. The weather was great, the image of Orienteering strengthened and my technical capabilities at speed thoroughly questioned.

Results of the sprints: here.