Manchester and District Orienteering Club
Twin Peak 2009
in the Lake District
Two Regional Events on Place Fell and
Angle Tarn Pikes, beside Ullswater
Saturday / Sunday May 30th/31st 2009
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Manchester and District Orienteering Club Twin Peak 2009in the Lake DistrictTwo Regional Events on Place Fell and Saturday / Sunday May 30th/31st 2009
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Just one thing needs a bit of explaining. We wanted to comply with the recommended colour-coded courses, but also to use age classes (with prizes) in the well-established Twin Peak format. We also wanted to double-up a lot of the courses to avoid streams of people on the open areas.
Our details said that we offered courses for Age Classes, but that you were welcome to enter the colour of your choice. Much to our surprise a lot of people chose to enter by colour - and later had to be changed to their Age Class. What a muddle!
Interestingly we did not put full "flyers" out at events, suggesting instead that the event details were available on the web. Only one request was received for a paper version. Perhaps this, in part, explains the above muddle - but it saved a lot of paper.
I hope you liked getting the results by age class. We would be glad to receive any comments on the dual system, sent to Enquiries as below.
My sincere thanks to Jan Ellis who did all the organising on the day, leaving me to enjoy the sunshine and the mountain views - glorious weren't they.
Sue Birkinshaw, Event Co-ordinator
Certificates
If you came 1st, 2nd, or 3rd on ANY course we would be pleased to send you a certificate.
Just contact Enquiries.
And any junior who completed the White or Yellow course on both days is also welcome
to ask for a certificate.
Prizes
New Balance gave us T-shirts, as well as their discount offer. We decided to use
them as Spot Prizes, and awarded them to the people finishing nearest to 1.30,
2.00 etc on Saturday.
There are 4 shirts still available for:
Andrew Reynolds M40
Debbie Warren W45
William Rigg M14
Julian Warren M45
Contact Enquiries to arrange collection.
Lost Property
We have several items of lost property - 1 grey cardigan, 1 blue/white headband,
1 pair sunglasses (blue frame) and 1 Decathlon heart monitor.
Maps
Anyone who entered but did not run is welcome to ask for their maps. Contact Enquiries
and we will post them to you.
Twin Peak Quiz
Many thanks to Dan and Karen Parker for another challenging quiz. You can
find the Clues and
Answers on the website,
if you are interested.
Enquiries
To claim any of the above, or for other queries, please email
or ring Sue Birkinshaw on 0161-980-5068
5 trips were made to Place Fell to plan the courses on Place Fell and Silver point, starting in January. The area has very few paths, with one large path passing from Boredale Hause, over the Summit heading Northwards and a smaller one heading from the summit to the start area. During planning, a number of other much smaller paths were found and added to the map. The most notable is one going to the hill at the far North of the area, from where excellent views up and down Ullswater are possible. During my trips I met about 10 people who strayed from the main path - amazing.
The area has many potential control sites but many would be visible from a great distance. I know some controls were still visible but I believe this was kept to a minimum. The general flow was in an anticlockwise direction, with the longer courses having at least 1 over or round decision at the summit of Place Fell, most went round. For me, the nicest area was the Northern sector approaching the finish and unfortunately for you this was where I decided to place quite a few controls.
From the feedback at the finish and in assembly the courses were well received with the comment that the stated climb was a bit low, a point I accept.
Thanks are due to Tony Richardson for his patience and advice as controller, it was much appreciated.
Dave McCann
This area presented a number of significant challenges to a novice planner. My intention was to provide courses that visited the pikes, tarn and more interesting parts to the south of the area. Unfortunately significant (some may say excessive!) climb was required to achieve this. I was very keen to keep the distance to the start to a minimum, but on reflection a slightly longer walk would have enabled more acceptable courses to be provided on the shorter courses.
I tried to provide courses with options around the tarn and was pleased to see that different routes were taken. I would be delighted to hear if anyone took the direct, straight line route across the tarn and see if this saved you any time!
I very much appreciated the advice and support provided by the controller, Roger Smith. His input was key and his interventions always timely and appropriate.
Also, thanks to my mentor (John B) for his support, my fellow Place Fell planner (Dave M) for his companionship and provision of accommodation on our visits to the Lakes. Special thanks go to the team who helped me out at the last minute on the morning of the event (Thomas, Alice, Steve B and Steve L) and finally the team who willingly returned to the area to collect controls at the end of the day.
Judging from the feedback, I believe most of you enjoyed your runs and also took time to enjoy the fantastic weather and stunning scenery.
Steve Fellbaum
(when available)
Angle Tarn Pikes is not the easiest area on which to plan.
If this sounds like criticism, it isn't. Just reflections with hindsight. I think Steve did an excellent job. He was patient and always positive when I made suggestions. He put a tremendous number of hours into the task. This was the biggest event he has yet planned, and living in Macclesfield only increased the challenges that he faced. Very well done, Steve.
Points to Ponder.
These are questions for you, dear readers to think about - I don't have a clear view either way. (When one makes a change for the better in one place, it often has a detrimental effect in another place)
Roger Smith
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Saturday
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Sunday
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