Organiser’s
Comments
We make a great effort in this annual event
to ensure that the safety of competitors is
paramount. As well as having shortened courses
ready in case of particularly bad weather, we
also note your approximate starting time and the
times you pass through a checkpoint. We do not
rely solely on the SportIdent software to know
who is missing! All these measures came into play
when a team of three were out for a long time.
These three turned up at 1840, an hour and forty
minutes after the courses closed, after taking
nearly nine hours on the Long Course. We
were on the verge of ringing the police. They
appeared to be on another planet and thought they
would walk round slowly. We may
have to introduce some vetting of competitors
next time.
After
that little rant, may I wish all those doing the
OMM the best of luck in what looks to be
remarkably similar terrain to Saturday’s
event which seemed to be enjoyed by most in spite
of the indifferent weather.
A
memento watercolour painting will be sent by post,
to those who haven’t received one already,
to the First Man, First Lady and First Team on
the Long and Medium Courses.
Apart
from thanking the Planner and Controller, who did
all the hard work of putting out and collecting
the controls, I would like to thank Anthony Dew
for manning the Registration, Dave Livsey for
manning the Start and Peter Flick for manning the
checkpoint and later for driving around the
military roads looking for lost three man teams!
Planner’s
Comments
Dartmoor weather once again provided some
challenges for this year’s Long O, with
intermittent showers and poor visibility to add
to the strong, gusting westerly. Thank you
all for turning out to brave these conditions.
This was the first time I have planned a Long O
– I hope you found the courses interesting.
Roger Green and Steve Rose both gave me very
helpful guidance based on their previous
experience planning this event. I have
planned some Dartmoor Runners events, but these
are much less demanding than a Long O. This
year we extended the North Moor map to include
Cosdon Beacon, which the Long had the pleasure of
circumnavigating, while the Medium visited the
western slopes. Everyone had the dubious pleasure
of running back into the teeth of the westerly
wind, just to add to your sense of fatigue. This
part of the moor has an extensive network of
paths, too many to map, but the result is that
much of the area is runnable. The lack of
September rain helped in that respect. Hence
winning times of around 60, 120 and 180 minutes
were achieved for the 8, 16 and 24 km courses
respectively. Apologies to those of you who
had difficultly in locating the last control
(footbridge over the Okement) – the
map detail in this area is not clear, and the
bridge should be 70-80m further north than mapped.
I hope this did not detract from your enjoyment
of the event.
Thanks to Roger Green (Organiser)
and his team of helpers, particularly Peter Flick
who manned the checkpoint near West Mill Tor all
day. We have to balance the ‘wild
experience’ with safety, and this year
decided to use the manned control twice. A
delay to one competitor on the long course
resulted in a tie being declared between Ben
Chesters and Tim Britton. Let’s see if
they return next year to battle it out again!
Steve Rose’s advice was invaluable in
planning the courses, and his company was much
appreciated when putting out controls. And
finally, spare a thought for event organisers
when you have returned home and are soaking in
the bath – the last competitors walked into
the car park at Meldon just after 6.30 pm, and
admitted that they had been overambitious taking
on the Long course!
Rob Parkinson
Controller's Comments
The positioning of the
Dartmoor LongO and the Quantock LongO events as a
precursor to the OMM is a very workable method
for those of us in the south west to get up to
speed prior to this major event. I think that the
courses and weather that were on offer today were
very much in this spirit and as such you should
be proud of yourselves for competing in what
could be classed as some of Dartmoor’s worst.
Rob has mentioned
the last control, which baffled most, but
didn’t elude everyone and for this I
apologise. The area of the mine and quarry
workings is complex, but as you were all just
transiting through it on a fairly major path, the
map wasn’t updated.
His courses were
challenging and made good use of the terrain over
to the east of the moor without having to take
you up and over every Tor. Putting out and
collecting controls is a little easier in this
part of Dartmoor due to the ring road, but beware
future planners – the ring road is closed,
and access is only available up to a point, so
you still have to get out there the old fashioned
way! Having said that the courses that Rob
planned were reasonably easy to put out despite
the distances involved.
The number of
competitors on all courses shows that the event
is still popular, despite the damp conditions,
and it is encouraging to see so many people
running after all the hard work that went on in
the background.
The excellent team
of people that put on this event under Rogers
organising hand I think did an excellent job, and
despite the late finish everyone was safe and
accounted for. Many thanks to Graham Pring who
offered to drive around the edge of the moor
looking for our stray team of three! Thanks also
to Rob (and Elsa), Roger, David Livsey, Peter
Flick and Anthony Dew.
Finally best of
luck for those competing in the OMM.
Steve Rose
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