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Manchester and District Orienteering Club

invite you to

Twin Peak 2011 in the Lake District

Saturday / Sunday February 26th/27th 2011

Two NW Orienteering League Level B Events

Saturday: Middle Distance race at Bleathwaite - a UK Masters Cup event
Sunday: Long Distance race at Torver Back Common

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Index

Organisers' Comments

The logistical problems of organizing an event 100 miles from home were more than compensated for by the excellent facilities available at the Priestley Centre. Accommodation for helpers, mains electricity, toilets and very helpful staff all contributed to the ease of running the event. In spite of wet conditions underfoot, competitors seemed to enjoy themselves. The good weather certainly helped and, to our relief, dried out the car parking field on Sunday. Hopefully you had the chance to enjoy the beautiful views on Sunday, particularly the sprinkling of snow on Coniston Old Man.

Bleathwaite had been used in 1995 for a Badge Event, when the longer courses started in Bleathwaite and then crossed the road, followed by a run across the fields to Torver Back Common for the second part of the course. The development of Middle Distance events led to the idea of using Bleathwaite on its own, followed by Torver Back Common the following day.

We had initially expected fewer competitors for Bleathwaite on the Saturday, but the inclusion of the day in the UK Masters' Cup series led to a significant increase in interest. With the smaller number of courses recommended by the Guidelines for Middle Distance events, several courses became over-subscribed, particularly Blue. We extended the start times to cover the problem, but there were still very few vacant slots on Blue for entries on the day. In future for Middle Distance events likely to be popular we would recommend putting on the same range of courses as for a Long Distance event. This would also have had the advantage for us of competitors running the same colour course on each day.

Our thanks to the enthusiastic team of MDOC helpers who worked very hard. Thanks also to our two controllers, Andy Quickfall and John Bettinson, who were full of helpful advice, and to John in particular for constructing the stile between the Finish and Download on Sunday

Thanks to Andy Llewellyn and to Ann Smith for interrupting their runs on Sunday to assist a competitor with a badly sprained ankle and take her down to the lakeside path where she was picked up by the St John Landrover.

Thanks to:
Birmingham University for the use of the Priestley Centre
Ulverston St John Ambulance
National Trust for permission to use Hoathwaite for parking and Bleathwaite
Tenant farmers: Sam Inman of Hoathwaite and Alan Wilson for Bleathwaite
Arnold Lancaster and the Torver Commoners' Association for permission to run on Torver Back Common.

Margaret and Andrew Gregory

Planners Comments

Day 1 - Bleathwaite

Firstly, my apologies to Blue and Green for the incorrect position of control 108. It was 40m higher up the re-entrant than it should have been. Location of the control was made more difficult from below because of a lip in the re-entrant and the kite falling to the ground. The only saving grace was that, unlike Friday, the visibility was good.

Overall I was pleased with the positive feedback I received.

Thanks to Andy Quickfall for ensuring I kept on schedule (not my strong point!).
Also to JB, JK & SB for assisting with the control collection.

Eddie Speak

Day 2 - Torver Back Common

Torver is an interesting area with the contrasting fast running moorland and the more intricate woodland area. Making the adjustment to running speed and keeping in touch with the map is always a challenge.

Torver has been used many times before and is familiar to many orienteers so trying do something different is not easy! Added to that there are the constraints of the many walls and path network in the woodland area. The start, finish and assembly I felt should be close together due to the time of the year. From the comments I heard most orienteers enjoyed the courses and the fast running that the area provided. Possible the best part of the planning was the good weather!

Many thanks to John Bettinson as controller and the MDOC team in particular Eddie Speak, Margaret and Andrew Gregory.

Cliff Etherden

Controllers Comments

Day 1 - Bleathwaite

I’d like to add my apologies to Eddie’s about control 108. Several people lost time, and others entered the re-entrant early and high up and lost nothing. Sensibly, none of you made a formal complaint, so the results can stand. After discussion with various people I now realise that the map in that localised area has some imperfections, and no control should have been allowed near there at all. I hope my errors did not spoil your enjoyment of the rest of the weekend.

By it’s very nature the wooded area at Bleathwaite is steep, rough or slippery underfoot, with bad visibility in places. This made for an increased technical and physical challenge – but we seem to have made the courses about the right lengths. Some of these same factors also make the area prone to elephant trails – you just had to be sure not to follow the wrong trail. The size of the entry was quite a surprise, and with hindsight we should probably have planned duplicate courses for Blue and Green, or added “short” variations. More courses would have resulted in more but smaller trails, and less advantage for later starters. Future Masters Cup competition organisers please note!

Andy Quickfall

Day 2 - Torver Back Common

I only wish to say that initially I doubted that Torver Back Common could provide the quality for this standard of event. All credit to Cliff for coming up with such excellent courses. Everyone I spoke to felt they had been seriously challenged and that's what we are all about.

John Bettinson


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