Sunday 8th June 2008

National and World Ranking Event
(incorporating a scoring event for the UK Cup and GB Selection Race for WOC2008)

Brown Clee Hill

Planner's Comments

Brown Clee changed dramatically in the couple of weeks prior to the event. Rapid growth, particularly of 'stingy' and 'scratchy' things made some areas of the map unpleasant, I particularly hope no younger runner had difficulty in finding control 90 the first control on some of the courses. I didn't get any complaints about this control - so hopefully it didn't cause anyone any serious problems.

The weather was first class which made putting the controls out very pleasant. Particular thanks go to Colin Spears for helping me with this task.

Thanks also go to Dave Peel for his advice and input on the Elite Courses. Simon Thompson for his general advice and suggestions. The fence crossing team. The control collecting teams and to Mike Farrington and Lester Hartmann for their additional help.

On some of the longer courses a 'phantom' drinks point was shown, this was my error, after discussing suitable locations with the organiser and controller this should have been removed prior to the map files being sent for printing. I hope no one was inconvenienced and that the message in the start lane was seen by the relevant competitors.

If anyone wishes to make comments about any of the courses please Email me at john.richards1@tiscali.co.uk.

John Richards (HOC)

Controller's Comments

First of all thanks to Rollo and John for the many hours they put into this event. Of course the weather always helps, but the setting and Assembly were perfect generating a really good atmosphere. I am also grateful to Dave Peel for his support and advice on the Elite courses.

In terms of course planning we did receive some feedback that the second halves on some longer courses were of low technical difficulty, this was in part due to my insistence that we did not use some areas of the map as it is in need of some updating and I did not deem those areas fair. I think also that early competitors would have suffered with the seasonal vegetation, 2 weeks certainly makes a big difference as it simply wasn't there then. We did try to ensure that controls in areas of vegetation were clearly sited and vegetation was beaten down as required. For course lengths, with Dave's advice Elite courses were longer than normal relative to other courses due to the quality of the field. In addition, we did lengthen senior courses as recent results have shown that the Guidelines are producing winning times below those recommended.

A number of Competitors raised the fact that there were no back-up punches. I had realised this early in my checking process and am aware that this is not in line with best practice and against IOF WRE Guidelines, however given the sheer number of sites at that stage it was not possible to resolve the situation. I take responsibility for not checking that these were available in advance. I have recommended that the club attaches a punch to each T bar in advance of their next large event, indeed please ensure that your own clubs do this also! We did our best to replace faulty boxes asap and all competitors visiting these sites should have been re-instated.

Thank you all for coming, it takes a good turnout to make the work worthwhile!

Simon Thompson (MDOC) IOF Advisor

Organiser's Comments

First and foremost, I wish to thank the 50 odd helpers who ran everything on the day. Without their efforts the event would not have been the success it was - yes, the weather and location helped as well. Also thanks to Simon for advice on looking after the Elite competitors interests.

Three weeks before the event, I was very concerned about the numbers who had entered the event - had it not increased above 800 we would have made a financial loss. Many of you left it to within 48 hours or less of the closing date before entering the event!

I have apologies to make on two counts, firstly we had not put punches as a back-up on the controls - a World Ranking Event requirement and secondly the confusing wording of the final details in which we said competitors must use the fence crossing points. On some courses, there were fences to cross that had no obvious crossing point and this caused confusion and possible delay.

Our thanks go to Viscount Boyne for allowing us to use his Burwarton Estate and to everyone else for turning up and making this National Event a great occasion.

Rollo Rumford (HOC)

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