The British Night Orienteering champs was held at Egypt Woods, near Slough on Saturday evening. Six BL members made the long journey south in hope of a high quality, challenging event, and possibly the odd medal. The former was realised, but sadly not the latter.
Egypt Woods is a smallish, gently undulating area of beech woodland in the Chilterns, mostly fast going but with patches of holly and smaller trees to slow you down and push you off course. There are quite a lot of small paths but they can be tricky to spot and follow at night, and often no faster than the surrounding forest. It was all quite different to the Cumbrian night events that most of us are used to.
Parking proved a major problem. The recent wet weather meant that the field very wet; an email from the organisers on Saturday afternoon informed us that two tractors were already on site and advised everyone to make sure they knew where their towing eyes were. In reality very few cars actually made it on to the field with the majority on roadside. Other than that, everything smoothly and had a suitably “major event” feel, with a big, lit marquee for download and socialising, plus a live-tracking display for the two longest courses (but thankfully no commentary!)
Best BL result was from Ali, who was first in W50S. Dan was disappointed to discover on finishing that had missed out a control, though that did explain why he had found himself in a very unexpected block of forest. Karen chose to run W21 (10.4 km) to challenge herself; a 25 minute mistake about halfway round made it hard to maintain motivation. Keith, Christine and Alan all had good, but not spectacular runs.
There was a middle-distance event the following day, on the same area. It was interesting to get a good look at the terrain and marvel at how easy it is when you can see green patches in the distance, and pick an easy line through the woodland. But with tired legs (and brain) it was hard to make the most of the very fast going.
So, now it’s back to “normal” night orienteering – LOC’s Tarn Hows event on Wednesday offers steep slopes, crags, windblown and brambles. At least mud is the same everywhere.
See here for British Nights Results and Routegadget
Border Liners Orienteering Club 