Results at Sportident and RouteGadget
Please go to LOK’s GLOSS page for more details of the series, including the scores for each club once the handicap has been applied.
Planner’s notes, John Pickup
The Reigate Priory Park GLOSS was my first time planning a “forest O” so I was quite anxious that the courses would be up-to-scratch for the series.
The planning started back in February, and I made four visits to Priory Park during the intervening months to check out control sites, run the legs, etc. There were a few iterations to the course as I’d had a lot of guidance from Mike Elliot and Philip Gristwood, so I was reasonably confident that I’d not made the courses either way too hard or way too easy.
My last visit was only two weeks prior when I marked the control sites, so I was astonished, when putting out controls on Sunday morning, at how much the undergrowth had come up in just a fortnight – areas that had been waist-high with undergrowth now had brambles towering over my head! This meant that some of the controls on the southern edge of the course were quite hard to get to so I was worried that I’d have some angry orienteers covered in bramble scratches at the finish and that some of the younger orienteers might find it too difficult. I needn’t have worried though as Ralph (m14) got round in under 40 minutes, just 5 minutes behind the leader!
So far the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, so it seems like a did a reasonable job with the planning.
I did make one embarrassing planning error though – there was one control we put out, #183, that wasn’t used on any of the courses. I wonder if anyone came across it?
Organisers’ Report, Dawn Clifford and Jennifer Sibley
As previous co-organisers of a Winter Street O event and a Summer Series event, a level D GLOSS event seemed the next logical step. Starting the planning early and sharing the tasks relieved some of the potential stresses for an organiser and we were especially grateful to the support from experienced MV members both in advance of the event and on the day.
Following weeks of unseasonal rain we were relieved to finally see some sunshine on the day of the event. Assisting planner John Pickup to put out the controls at 7.30am we enjoyed both the light summer morning and the new lightweight fibreglass stakes. No sooner had the controls been placed then the band of MV volunteers arrived to set up the event centre. Having the start, finish and download (and café) in close proximity made for a very sociable atmosphere throughout the day.
Comments were favourable as competitors returned from their hot and hilly runs. Passers-by who stopped to see what we were doing learnt a little about orienteering and we had a good number of newcomers on the yellow course – hope to see you again soon! The day flew by and soon everything was efficiently packed up and it was time to go home – months of planning had definitely been worth it.
Our thanks go to Reigate and Banstead Borough Council for permission to use the park, and to the MV volunteers for helping the day run smoothly. It was a real team effort!
Lost property – Vapro control descriptions holder – please contact mvocevent@gmail.com