Last
weekend saw the first sqad weekend of the new year and the start of preparations
for the World Cup. We were based in Cranleigh, near Guildford and trained on
several areas that are close to the WC terrain. Although this style of orienteering
seems simple at first glance, it was good to be reminded that it has its own
special
set of difficulties (not least the fact that you have to run VERY fast). We
also remembered that at its best this kind of terrain is really good, with open
forest, steep slopes and pockets of vegetation and contour detail. Highlights
of the weekend included a mass-start course around Bagshot Heath and an (extended)
badge event course on
Broadstone Warren.The last few weeks have been memorable for things going wrong. Between our training group in Sheffield there has been a whole string of bad luck. Neil Northrop's house got broken into, Andrew Middleditch had a coat and wallet stolen, our car was in a crash and (I hope finally) Matt Crane's car was broken into while we were training yesterday and it was cleared out of all our kit. I hope they were pleased with my smelly thermals and Jenny's muddy trainers.
This weekend we are travelling to the Lakes to run in the Warrior O Trial and middle distance race. Check out the results here.
Check out our WOC 2005 page for some more maps and photos.