Controller

In late March, we were asked to consider upgrading the Rowney Warren UK Cup race to a World Ranking Event.  The area is ideal for Middle Distance racing and I was confident that WAOC would cope with the additional demands of a WRE.

However, I placed a further demand on the team by suffering a stroke 12 days before the event despite being classed as a "zero risk factor" for such an occurrence.  This meant that contact from me became sporadic as Ronan delivered e-mails and phone messages to my hospital bed.

Despite this, the following people coped admirably in the circumstances:

Bruce Marshall, Entries Secretary:  With a high number of late entries and specific requirements from  IOF making it difficult to accept these, we did our best to accommodate competitors up to a reasonable date.  I was disappointed to hear that some disgruntled comments had appeared on Nopesport but I would ask those concerned to remember that this was a WRE and therefore governed by different rules that we could not simply ignore.

Peter Woods, Organiser: We had discussed all elements of the event well in advance and Peter simply fine-tuned these as the event approached.  I believe that the start team were a little under pressure at the beginning of the day slightly inconveniencing some pre- and club runners but things were quickly sorted out.

Mike Capper, Co-ordinator: While not obvious to competitors, Mike was always in the background providing support and advice to the other key officials.  And it is thanks to him that many of you left with customised bottles of beer!

Neil Humphries, Planner: Our final meeting to confirm everything to do with the courses was held just a week before the event in my hospital room, and at that stage I was justifiably confident that Neil's attention to detail would cover everything.  The winning times were as predicted although the weather and bracken will have slowed you a little.  Neil certainly set the challenges required in Middle distance racing and he can be very satisfied with his WRE planning, as evidenced by the many complimentary comments from competitors.

My thanks to the above, to all the WAOC/CUOC members who helped on the day, to the jurors (Hedley Calderbank, Tim Denton and Andy Kelly) who thankfully were not required and especially to Simon Errington who stepped in as on-the-day Assistant Controller despite being Controller for the British Sprint Championships the previous day.

However, the greatest burden was placed on my husband and Assistant Controller/Assistant IOF EA Ronan, who was also having to cope with the trauma of my "bit of a turn" as he called it!  We have always worked as a team when controlling, planning and organising, and the value of this became obvious as he seamlessly took over from me, though at all stages keeping me informed of and asking my opinion on developing issues.  Thank you Ro, for all your love and help over the last 12 horrible days!

I was very pleased to get an "afternoon pass" to attend the event for a couple of hours (and thanks to Karen and Graham for being my carers!) and hear from many of you how you had enjoyed the races.  I envied all of you being able to simply get out and run, and I look forward to joining you again soon.  If good wishes and support from family and friends can contribute to my recovery, it won't be long before I'm back.

Julie Cleary (LOK)

Planner

When I agreed to plan this event it was going to be a Chasing Sprint and, as I had not planned one of these before, I thought it would be a new challenge for me.  Little did I know that in January this year it would become a UKCup Middle Race and then in March be elevated to WRE status after the cancellation of the Whitbarrow National Event.

Rowney Warren has been well used over the years as it is well contoured (EA does not have much of these!) but even with the strong path network it is still able to catch out competitors who loose contact with the map, even those who know the area well (and that included me when I was pre-running one of the courses!).

The map had been looking tired for some years after many different planners had updated it.  It was also the only map that I had come across that had 4m contours!  Thanks to Dave Peel for updating it so quickly so that the contours are a more standard 5m.

The courses were designed to maximise the use of the many re-entrants and spurs with route choice between the top, middle or bottom route.  This meant that the courses were out-and-back in the NW section but it seems that many people did not recognise the area they had just run through on the way back.  Although the bracken had started to grow it did not have a large impact on the times…but just 4 weeks ago there was none and pre-running the courses in the sunshine in an all runable wood was a real joy.

Many thanks to my controllers, Julie and Ronan Cleary, who ensured that everything was as up to the standard that would be expected from an event of this status whilst providing a lot of support and encouragement.  Although Julie suffered a stroke before the event she was still able to make a significant contribution to ensure that all the courses were correct.  I would also like to thank Simon Errington for agreeing at short notice to help on the day and give up his competitive run even though he had controlled the previous days Sprint Championships.

It was very pleasing to hear the many comments from happy competitors who had enjoyed their runs.  I am pleased that I was able to provide the courses for you on such a well suited area for a Middle race.  I hope that this has shown that EA can make a contribution to the major event calendar and hope that in the future we will have more opportunities to show what we can provide.

It was also nice to see that many of you had stayed for the prizegiving…or was it that you had found out what the prizes were!

Finally, I would like to thank my family for putting up with me doing the many tasks that need to be completed in the weeks leading up to the event and to the many people who have contributed to the success of the event.

Neil Humphries (WAOC)

Organiser

It is hard to find a way of adding to Julie's eloquent summary of the event.

I found I had exactly the right tools for embarking on organising an event of this nature - blissful ignorance, at the outset, of exactly what I was in for, and a coordinating team with infectious energy and enthusiasm.

Mike Capper deserves much credit for linking this event with the chasing sprints on the previous day, in a format which seems to have found favour.  It was a pleasure getting to know people in other clubs as we co-ordinated the arrangements in advance (sometimes not very far in advance).

Our overriding aim was that everyone who attended should go home glad they made the effort to come to East Anglia.  This meant an appropriate orienteering challenge, which clearly Neil provided for everyone, and making sure we had put in place all that was needed to meet the IOF and BOF requirements for the open races so there was no cause for complaint.   This itself led to one complaint that we failed to waive the rules, but I'm not aware of a single negative comment from any of the 200 participants on the day.

The success of the event is, as ever, due to the efforts of many.  In addition to those named by Julie, and of course Julie herself, I would like to thank again all those who helped on the day, especially those who were prepared to help without getting a run.   The somewhat complicated start arrangements, including a road crossing, were worthwhile in allowing best use to be made of the area.   After experiencing a terrible synching feeling at the beginning, which was quickly resolved with the help of Ronan, the.start team worked wonders.

Having prizes and a prize giving was fun to organise and I was very glad that so many of you were able to stay for this.  For me and I hope for you too, it was a great way of rounding off a very enjoyable day.

If anyone had to leave before they could collect their map and would like to have it posted on to them, please contact me.   Additionally, Neil has posted copies of the courses onto the WAOC website.

Peter Woods (WAOC)
Peter_woods@ntlworld.com

  01223 721433