Minor Event - The Farm
A report on the day from Setter Sam Howe
Since this was a minor event, I was aiming for challenging courses for people who want to improve their skills and possibly go up a grade. The green and orange courses in particular were very challenging - especially to those who were less experienced. Some people took an extra challenge and ran without a compass (this worked well for experienced runners on red but didn't work so well for less experienced runners on orange). Denis ran without even taking a map and got one of the fastest times on long red.
We had nice weather for running on the day, but a lot of recent rain meant there was mud and wet feet in some places and a couple of leeches. There was also some lantana, lawyer vine and blackberry scrapes where people took a short-cut through greener areas (of which there was a lot). Luckily there was emergency salt, band-aids and easter eggs at the finish.
I learnt a lot about setting, most importantly that conditions change and courses need to be extensively checked on foot and during all conditions (especially flooding - which removed a couple of my intended control sites). I am happy that runners were able to consider route-choice options and it was nice to discuss strategies and navigation with runners before and after running. It was also nice to see more experienced runners taking time to help new people gain skills and confidence. I'm sorry if any new people didn't get as much help as they would have liked - please don't be afraid to ask for help at any event and try easier courses first and then build up skills to tackle harder courses.
Thanks very much for coming, I hope it was worthwhile and enjoyable and thanks also to the many people who helped on the day (sorry if I forgot anyone).
Setter: Sam Howe
My helpers were:
Gear Organiser - Peter Newton
Setting Advice - Peter Newton, Denis Lyons, Geoff Todkill, Russell & Carolyn Rigby
Vetting, Mapping and general help with everything - Denis Lyons
Set-up - Mick Kavur, Viola O'Connor, Kendall O'Connor, Peter Newton, Carolyn & Russell Rigby, Pam & Bob Montgomery
Start Desk - Carolyn Rigby
Finish - Kendall O'Connor, Peter Newton, Denis Lyons, Pam Montgomery
Control Collection - Bob & Pam Montgomery, Denis Lyons, Peter Newton, Kendall O'Connor
Pack-up - Carolyn & Russell Rigby, Bob & Pam Montgomery, Denis Lyons, Peter Newton, David Kitchener, Rob Preston
Results | Routegadget | photos