This was a day that started badly for both Garry and myself.
Leaving home at 6:40 am, one expected an easy journey, but having gone through
the Dartford Tunnel, I then found that the M25 was closed between the A13 and
the A127.
However, it was all downhill after that, because the sun shone, there were good
courses and the forest was at its best.
Nearly 200 of you turned up, and by all accounts, you all enjoyed yourselves.
Inevitably, a problem was bound to arise. Apologies to those, mainly yellow
and orange course competitors, who may have been inconvenienced by the volunteers
sawing down trees between controls 122 and 123. They taped off the area of work
with yellow and black tape, which was good, but also moved control 122 from
its path junction. The control was restored to its rightful place, and a safe
alternative route was taped as soon as this problem was discovered.
Three or four competitors thought that control 105 was deeper into the forest
than shown by the map. Could it be that competitors coming from control 104,
a short distance away, were forced to the west by vegetation and then had to
turn back north easterly to reach 105?
Despite plenty of runners having problems with various controls (that's Epping
for you) I heard plenty of praise for Garry's courses. Many of the lesser paths
are hard to follow at this time of year, although, remarkably, most of the trees
still have a lot of leaves yet to fall. There was route choice on virtually
all legs, and this was evident from my listening to the many post mortems. Barbara
had put together an excellent organisation, with plenty of helpers, despite
being a small club. There was also a string course but, disappointingly, only
11 takers. But the ladies running this were not unhappy, because all those who
took part did enjoy it.
What more can one ask?
Thanks to all members of HAVOC (and Ann from LOK) for offering
their help, turning up on time, and being flexible in taking on the various
tasks which are needed to run a successful event. The weather was lovely for
the time of year - I didn't hear any complaints about anything, so I was happy.
Thanks to Garry for his excellent courses and to Chris Baker from DFOK for controlling
the event.
1 item of lost property - a compass. Please let me know if you have lost
one.