Last updated: October 3rd, 2001

Twin Peak 2001 Saturday - National Event Sunday - Badge Event (Incorporating the Veteran Home International and the NW round of the 2001 Masters Cup) Macclesfield Forest September 8th and 9th 2001

Results

• Full results (Final)
• Weekend Organiser's thoughts - Sue Birkinshaw
• Planners comments - Ian Watson and Dave Mawdsley
• Day Organiser's comments - Vicky Thornton
• Controller's comments - Doug Peel
• String Course Results
• Twin Peak Quiz Answers
• Things left at the event
• Acknowledgements
• Event Officials

Weekend Organiser's thoughts - Sue Birkinshaw

Unusually the printed results are provisional. They are correct for at least 95% of competitors and we thought you would prefer to have them now than to wait for the final version. The final results will depend on those who consider their results to be wrong letting us know (and those without Internet access can only do that after they have seen them!) In particular the Controller is prepared to be lenient to people who started late at the National Event. We have a note of when you started, but no reasons were recorded. So send me your stories (like the one we have had of an accident on the M6) and they will be considered sympathetically. The final version is the one that will be used for Rankings and the Badge Scheme, and to award the Trophies. The final version will be available on the Net by the end of September: I will send the individual class list to anyone asking me for it.

Twin Peak Trophies and certificates.

The trophies are fragile so cannot easily be posted. I shall be setting up a Twin Peak Prize Point at Newborough - so come along there and collect your mushrooms. Certificates will be sent out with these results to those for whom we have an envelope: others at the Prize Point. If you aren't coming to Newborough, contact me to arrange collection

Maps for people who didn't run

We would be very pleased to send you your maps if you want them. Just ring, write or e-mail me and you will get them (post free of course)

Help given

We have been asked to record thanks to people who helped fellow competitors out of bogs or bramble patches, to the detriment of their runs.

The map

As you probably know the map was produced using the MDOC A3 colour laser printer. Each map is individually printed with a course on it. This allows us to accept entries until just 3 days before the event as we can print the correct number at the last minute. We want to thank Phil Colville for willingly undertaking the time-consuming task of printing more than 2500 maps. We are happy to receive any comments about this method of printing. It has already been pointed out that the point features on the 1:15000 version of the map are hard to read and we think that this may be a limitation of the printing method (resolution, dpi etc) Perhaps everyone will have to use 1:10000 maps in future.

Internet Entry System

We were very pleased that 80% of entries were made on the Internet. This reduces the work load of the entry-taker enormously. There is a cost involved in that the security company and the merchant bank each take a percentage (which is lower for debit cards than for credit cards and we thank the many people who used their debit cards). A few people were worried about giving their card numbers but we can asssure you that we have to use the Barclays Bank approved full encryption system (yellow padlock on screen) and that this is vastly more secure than giving your card number over the phone or in an e-mail.

The allocation of Start Times is done by a separate program and is not perfect. The specific requests of later entries can often not be met as the courses fill up. We are working on the system and apologise to those who were inconvenienced.

Thanks

We thank you all for coming to Twin Peak 2001, and for keeping your opinions of Macclesfield Forest to yourselves. We hope you enjoyed the superb blackberries if not the brambles! And nobody has even mentioned the long walks each day. We're glad we managed to get the event to happen despite all the problems - orienteering needed a big weekend event after the last 6 months of cancellations.

Planners comments - Ian Watson and Dave Mawdsley

Reason should have dictated that we abandoned this event at the end of July when we lost the assembly/car park field at the Eastern end of the forest (I hesitate to say that 'reason' is not a word in the MDOC vocabulary!). We had already worked under severe constraints of inadequate access to produce courses starting from there. When they had to be thrown away there was virtually no time to do anything. I had heavy work commitments and Dave as assistant planner shouldered most of the responsibility and Dan & Karen Parker took on the planning of a number of courses to ease our load. Even so, we were unable to do any real testing 'in the terrain' and the over-long courses on Day 1 were the result. However, in spite of the imperfections, I hope you thought it was worth it.

Many thanks to Dave, Dan & Karen. Also particularly Doug Peel who, as controller, was enormously flexible in coping with our compromises.

To top it all, we had two serious electronic problems on day 2 which caused us to have to abandon on the day results and the prizegiving. I'm glad its over, but I'm glad we persevered!

Day Organiser's comments - Vicky Thornton

As the on-the-day(s) organizer it was great to be working with such an experienced team, - I learnt a lot! Deadlines were tight right up to the morning of the event and all the club helpers worked very hard on both days, despite set backs, to ensure that the event was a success.

Buxton Mountain Rescue Team proved themselves to be invaluable and I am happy to report that the injured competitors taken to the hospital are fine. Thanks also to Lorraine Porter who abandoned her run to assist one of the injured.

It was unfortunate that the computer crashed on Day 2, but Ian Watson has done us proud since. I hope you all enjoyed yourselves it was great to have such a good turn out at such short notice, and the weather was so kind!

Controller's Comments - Doug Peel

The Twin Peaks nearly didn't happen. Losing the assembly field forced a complete replanning of forty courses plus many organisational changes. The planners and myself were asked whether we could manage to replan in the four weeks available. It was 50/50 as to whether we did. Fortunately MDOC went ahead and the changes were rushed through.

Of course with haste comes added danger: an increased risk of mistakes, a lack of time to fine tune, and compromises. Better that than no event MDOC thought. A primary concern was to avoid incorrect controls (155 of them), and that we did do. In effect the first effort at replanning the new courses had to more or less suffice; there was little time to modify them. In the end most of the courses were about 10% too long, certainly for the National Event. We underestimated the slowness of the terrain.

Dave Mawdsley and Ian Watson thankfully increased their planning team with Dan and Karen Parker, and produced two good events, with challenging courses. The forest was tough, and, for some, unpleasant, but that is how it has always been. Despite the difficulties of the widespread sites the organisation coped very well.

For me it was a heavy workload, one that I would not like to repeat. I tried to find an assistant controller without success. My family came good and helped me considerably over the weekend, Helen, Dave, Sarah, Andy, and Jenny all acted in a controlling capacity for which I am very grateful.

String Course Results

Twin Peak Quiz Answers

It was a difficult quiz this year and we only had 13 entries. Presumably many people got a few of the answers but didn't get to the 15 needed for a memento. Hope you enjoy seeing the answers - we can hear your groans!

Two full solutions were received from Gerri Burgess and Cliff Ford of LOC and Richard and Shirley Moss of SOC. We've decided to give each of them a Macclesfield Mushroom Trophy. All other entrants will get something trivial! Collect from the Twin Peak Prize Point at Newborough or contact Sue Birkinshaw.

Paul Taunton must get a special mention for giving Biggin as the answer to 9. Everyone else had Wetton and Dan and Karen conceded that it was acceptable.

The other high scorers (22+) were Roger Thetford, Alan Beardsley, Matthew Crane and Alison Sloman

Things left at the event

Can be collected at Newborough (or contact Sue Birkinshaw)
Items will be only be retained until the end of October

Long sleeve t-shirt Ultrasport light blue size M
HH long sleeve top Navy size XL
Fleece hat Black
Pink welly size 24 or 7
Blue hairbrush
Navy fleece glove, childs
Brown velour(?) glove, childs
Control Desc. Holder
Black Casio watch
Whistle, comb, shoe lace
Green Sprayway jacket VHI
Black Stanley cap VHI

Acknowledgements

United Utilities, the landowners, and Peter Sharples in particular
Trevor Greenhalgh, the UU Forester, and the others at the Forestry Office
The owners of the Reiter Scragg factory, and caretaker Maurice Speke
Peak District National Park
Buxton Mountain Rescue and Raynet

Event Officials