Sunday 28th February 2010
Regional (Level 2) Event
Dymock Forest
Comments
Controller's Comments
John Bennison (COBOC)
Planner's Comments
The walks to the Start and Back from the Finish were unavoidable, what with the motorway and the various blocks of fight and OOB near to Assembly. Our luck with the weather meant that nobody seemed to mind too much.
I tried to keep the shorter courses in the less physical parts of the forest, but inevitably there was some low bramble to catch your feet. The White and Yellow courses were not affected by the vegetation, but after a wet couple of months the muddy paths were very bad in places.
Many thanks to John Bennison for spotting my mistakes and for his experienced advice, to Brian Hughes for the hundreds of hours of surveying which gave me an excellent map, and to Ray Beasey, the Forestry Ranger. During January and February the lake was overflowing, and 100 metres from the Start the track went through a six-inch ford! Just before our event Ray braved the icy water to clear the overflow pipe, and you were able to keep your feet dry.
Andy Hemsted (HOC)
Organiser's Comments
My job as organiser was made very easy because of the support of Team Leaders and willingness of the many helpers. Thanks to you all.
The Caravan Park provided an excellent base for Assembly but, given the amount of rainfall prior to the event, perhaps it was fortuitous that we had only 32 entries on the day since the available hard standing was sufficient to accommodate all cars.
Apologies to the first starters who found that the route to the Start, which I had prepared the previous day, had been vandalised and, following a detour, arrived at a dead-end! Once additional streamers had repaired the route, I wasn't made aware of any further mishaps.
Perhaps the most salutary lesson occurred when control collectors had to assume search and rescue roles because one participant hadn't returned to download. SI units were interrogated to establish which controls had been visited so that the search could be conducted from the last point of contact. Communication between volunteers was maintained throughout the exercise using mobile phones.
Fortunately, after walking for four and a half hours, the 'wanderer' returned to Assembly unhurt, having enjoyed her walk, so the police, who had been alerted, did not have to turn out. To those who might feel it unnecessary to go to such lengths as collecting mobile numbers of team leaders and control collectors in advance, I suggest that this certainly speeds up communication during such a scenario. Had the outcome been more serious, this and the fact that forest barriers had been unlocked to facilitate ambulance access would certainly have helped the rescue procedure.
Penny Hemsted (HOC)
LOST PROPERTY: If the owner of a navy Tshirt with '1995 Sheffield Medical Team' logo on it, would like to contact the organiser, she will return it (washed and pressed). If not claimed by the end of March it will be donated to the local Oxfam Shop!