Perhaps not the most imaginative of routes, but I wanted to make sure everyone was back before nightfall, I needed to keep away from the felling work, I wanted to find controls that we hadn’t used before, and I didn’t want you all to spend too long in neck-high bracken. It was designed to be fairly easy in terms of macro navigation, but with attention to detail required as you homed in to the controls in the last few yards. That little pit was thrown in as a bit of a teaser, and there was a notable difference between those of you who followed the experienced orienteers clockwise, and those of you had to navigate, (or not navigate), your own approach towards the end of an anti-clockwise journey. Attention to detail on the path junctions should have got you there. Thanks to you all for for turning up, and well done to those of you who managed to get everything spot-on and blaze round in less than an hour.
Five people did the whole series, and the series title went to the person who scored the fastest cumulative time. A BIG APOLOGY HERE! In the rush to get to the prize-giving, my maths went to pot and I awarded the title to Richard Hunt. If I’d bothered to get my calculator out and check properly, I would have realised that Charlie Elliott’s time of 197:42 was demonstrably faster than Richard’s 199:04. Thankfully, the two of them realised the error and redistributed the bottles of beer appropriately. The other series finishers were husband-and-wife pair Tim and Lucy Wiegand, and ace navigator Moz Musson. Well done to all.
I’ll assess the wreckage of the trees before deciding whether to go ahead in the same area next year. Anyone fancy doing a new map?
Finally, the big turnout meant that all those two quid entry fees almost filled the tin. After covering costs, I was left with a tidy surplus of £31.78, which has now been forwarded as a donation to Woodhead Mountain Rescue.
DH
