Matt on Tay09, Scottish 6 Days

Having been introduced to Orienteering through EckO earlier this year, Tay 2009 was my first ‘large scale’ competition. I say this with reference to the volume of competitors and their multi cultural origins and not to the map detail, which caused me a fair few problems on my day one!

Day one for me was Day Four of the event and after a last minute reassignment of my entry class from M21L to M21S, I was keen to get started. This change of class came a little reluctantly at first, but inexperience evidently played its part in me choosing the ‘L’ in the first place.

By the end of Day Four on the combined forested and sandy terrain of Tentsmuir, I had been grateful for the change; running through dense forestation within metres of the next control, only to find myself breaking out onto a well defined track five minutes prematurely and without ‘hitting’ the control, was both tiring and time consuming, let alone frustrating!

I learned some valuable lessons in slowing down and applying the ‘traffic light’ system in order to navigate more efficiently. That said, there’s no substitute for experience and Day Five at Barry Buddon military ranges, although better than Day Four, still had me struggling over fairly tough to navigate sand dunes, whilst keeping an eye out (not literally), for any unexploded munitions en route. Maybe that was my downfall, as all eyes should have been on map, compass and terrain. I was pleased with my efforts but could still see where valuable time was lost – a whistle stop lesson in navigation by Ross Lilley after the event confirmed this. Using the fine features of re-entrants and spurs on the dunes together with terrain changes (namely light green to white), on the initial stages of the course, would have cut a great deal of my time off. Without the map, those gorse bushes all look the same! Well, even with the map, in my case. That said, there was an improvement from Day Four and I thoroughly enjoyed Barry Buddon. The weather was superb and in addition to the competition and friendly people, I thought the terrain was a fantastic challenge and set in such a beautiful area – when I had a moment to digest it.

To wrap up my Tay 2009 experience, Day Six saw us head North to Loch Ordie. I managed a much more respectable time on this day and found it extremely enjoyable, yet challenging. The going was tough at times and it certainly became evident that having a little fitness on your side combined with the map reading, was going to assist in pressing on through the sometimes thigh high heather and boggy moorland.

Zig-zagging backwards and forwards across the hillsides seemed relentless for a while and having almost lost my shoe in a bog and cut a few extra holes in my less than elegant running pants, the ground steepened and the slopes of Loch Ordie opened up. In the distance, I could see the welcoming sight of a colourful array of team tents and hear the commentary loudspeaker echoing down the valley as I drew ever nearer to the blue inflatable finish line. Any doubts about completing Day Six, subsided after crossing the finish line and receiving my Tay 2009 slate drink’s coaster, which made it all worth while!

Loch Ordie was the perfect end to what, for me, had been an excellent insight into the challenging, yet fun-filled sport of Orienteering. It was a pleasure to meet you all at Loch Eck Orienteers and thank you for making me feel welcome.

Anyone reading this whose not tried the sport of Orienteering, take my advice and give it a go – there is something for everyone and you can compete at a level to suit your ability and needs.

Here’s looking forward to more events and to Oban 2011.

Matthew Phillips

Photo of author Posted on 03rd Sep 09
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