SOL 4 - Creag Mhic Chailein
Regional Event & Future Champions Cup Final Sunday 7th May 06.
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Regional Event & Future Champions Cup Final Sunday 7th May 06.
Route Gadget is a program that allows competitors to plot their route onto a map for others to view. You can also view an animated replay of a selection of runners. I have installed it onto our web server for you to use.
Check out the latest routes added...There are 135 routes posted so far.
FCC winners
W18: 1 Anne Edwards; 2 Victoria Stevens; 3 Catherine Taylor
W20: 1. Rebecca Roberts; 2 Lizzie Adams; 3 Tessa Hill
M18: 1 Douglas Tullie; 2 John Rocke; 3 David Schorah
M20: 1 Joe Mercer; 2 James Tullie; 3 James Bennett
Planners Report
Creag Mhic is a delight for a relatively novice planner like me. Loads of scope to give folk a challenge in some extensive near natural woodland unfettered by too many manmade line features. Consequently it was not hard planning for Technical Difficulty 5. Just had to make sure course lengths and climbs were within limits. Hence the remote finish for the 4 middle distance courses maximised their use of the really nice bits.
The hardest part was finding suitable line features for the junior courses. Stirling Survey’s map update gave us some helpful features but conditions under foot were still a bit rough.
Someone suggested a few more weeks of leaf bud would have reduced visibility within the Oak wood canopy to the extent some control sites would not have been quite as obvious in places. I agree. It’s been a late cold spring…evident by the number of sheep carcasses lying around. Funny how they all seemed to be close to control sites. Honestly, they were not all there when I started planning at Christmas! But at least an early May event meant we avoided midges, ticks and bracken.
Finally, my thanks to Terry O’Brien and Ecko colleagues, Lynne Walker and Paul Frost for coaching me beyond the normal call of their event duties. I’ve learnt a lot and enjoyed myself.
Ross Lilley
Controller's Report
In 1988 I was honoured to control EckO’s 1st Badge Event at Strathlachlan near Inverary. Almost 18 years on I was offered the chance to work with Ross (he was a Top Junior back then) and control their 2nd Badge Event, which included the FCC. This was an opportunity not to be turned down.
This experience must rank very high on my list of wonderful Orienteering memories. From BOC 1996, I was aware of the quality on offer at Creag Mhic and on my two visits the weather was stunning – sunny, cold & crisp - on both occasions.
For the senior orienteer, the area presents a true Orienteering challenge both in the physical and technical dimensions and I was delighted to hear the many favourable comments about the courses.
Sheila & Janet the first finishers at the remote finish were overwhelming in their praise for the courses although they didn’t like the wee sting in the tail from the last control to the finish a great deal.
With EckO being a very small unit we had concerns about running 2 starts and 2 finishes but thanks to accessing the NE plantation, Ross was able to co-ordinate 1 Start and still retain 2 finishes. We both believe the remote finish was necessary in order to allow the shorter courses to visit the top quality terrain available.
Outwith the planning side of the event Niall was able to enlist the assistance of some of his Active School Co-ordinators to supplement the EckO members. The storms of Thursday 4th knackered the parking field but I would like to thank the many competitors who warmed up by trying to help others gain access and park there in. Once this proved too difficult Niall moved to the 3rd option for parking across at Airds Park and I believe some competitors may have enjoyed a wee minibus ride across to Assembly.
The 2 other EckO stalwarts I would like to publicly thank are Paul & Lynne.
Paul’s input to the computing side of the event was phenomenal and having a third pair of eyes to check the Condes file was invaluable.
A point worthy of note for future event officials is that when the Condes file is exported to the Sportident system, the addition of ‘m’ after the climb causes problems so omit it as you build your courses. Paul is also very much the “Route Gadget” facilitator and I have found this most interesting when looking at the routes taken and using the animation facility.
Lynne was the one who recruited Ross and Niall and mentored them through. Her faith in them was well placed and well rewarded.
On the day the other EckO members involved were Gill, Andrew, Ben, Fiona @ the Start; Alison @ parking; Julie @ the string course; Dale & Stewart @ parking. If I have missed anyone out I apologise. EckO is very much like my own Club, incredibly small – less than 10 active members- but still make an invaluable contribution to Scottish Orienteering especially at the grassroots.
Finally I have asked Niall to publish accounts with the results as I feel it is important to see how the finances worked out as we did have On line Entry; Updated Map; Laser Printing as well as the normal toilet facilities. With charges of less than £10 for a Senior I hope that EckO do not make a loss after all their hard work.
Thank-you for asking me to control what turned out to be a wonderful event.
Terry (STAG)
Organisers Report
This was the first orienteering event of this scale I have organised and it is one I will never forget- thanks to the weather leading up to the event!
The local area normally gets around 2 inches of rain a week, but in the few days leading up to the event 4 inches fell! Despite the laying of brashings in the entrance to the field, we were unable to get many cars in. The parking was probably the most challenging part of the organisation of the event. The team of volunteers who helped with squeezing in every vehicle they could, made a massive difference on the day and I must say a huge thank you to them all. Thanks must also go to the 98% of competitors who took the parking and the mud in their stride.
The dangerous junction on the main road caused some concern in the planning stages, but we were happy that the police complimented the management of the junction on the day. It was unfortunate that one driver ignored the marshal’s instructions on exiting the event and pulled out in front of fast moving vehicles almost causing a serious accident. Thanks to all other drivers for following the instructions.
A big thank you must go to Lynne Walker for her guidance throughout the lead up to the event and on the day itself. I would also like to thank Terry O’Brien for his input and prompts and Paul Frost for his advice and hard work. Ross Lilley did a fantastic job as Planner and also willingly gave advice on the organisational side.
Andrew, Gill, Fiona, Julie, Alison, Carol, Ben, Dale and Stuart all gave a huge amount on the day and I want to say a big thank you to them all for making the event what it was.
A huge thank you must also go to the Achnacloich Estate for helping us stage the event and in particular to Alex, the estate farmer, who was extremely accommodating.
Thanks also to the British Red Cross for covering the first aid at the event and to Oban Mountain Rescue Team for the use of their generator and for providing food on the day.
All in all, the event went smoothly with no major problems and everyone seemed to have an enjoyable day of first class orienteering.
Organising SOL4 and the FCC was a baptism of fire, but one I survived and at the end of the day even enjoyed (well, bits of it!). See you all in Argyll again soon for some more fantastic orienteering!
Niall Urquhart
Accounts
| Expenditure | |
| Organisational costs | £1348.49 |
| Map printing | £545.00 |
| Officials costs | £201.60 |
| BOF Levy | £502.59 |
| SOA Levy | £267.90 |
| Total Expenditure | £2865.58 |
| Income | |
| Entries | £3018.50 |
| FCC Enhancement | £400 |
| Total Income | £3418.50 |
| Profit | £552.92 |
Notes:
1. Over 50% of the organisational costs came from toilet hire due to the number needed and the remote location.
2. Despite the entry fees for SOL4 being some of the lowest this year, and the large expense on toilet hire, the event still made a profit.
3. Not included in the above is the cost of updating the map ( £686), as it was felt this should not be charged to the event.
Posted on 07th Jun 06
by Paul Frost - Website, Membership, Publicity
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