SW Sprint Championships Poundbury, Dorchester 2 October 2011
Results
Prologue Results by Course Results by Class Splits( by course)
Final Results by Course Results by Class Splits (by course)
Controller's Comments
Well done to Wimborne Orienteers for staging a successful SW Championships. Chris Branford (the planner) and Di and John Tilsley (the organisers) are to be congratulated. Imaginative use was made of Poundbury by splitting the map and generally the winning times were of the right order. Some competitors had read the competition rules and so did not go flat out in the prologue.
This was my first urban Sprint-O as a controller; I did learn a few things. Not least that motor traffic is a major concern. Poundbury has more than is welcome, which led to marshals being out on the two junior courses. And with through traffic it is a very good idea to have “Beware Runners” signs out. I did overlook the possibility of the Finish punches for the Final being hard to see, being rather unusually attached to a tree, and very close to where competitors were standing around near the Start. With hindsight it should have been away from that area, with a clear run-in. I don’t think that anyone crossed a “not to be crossed” thick black line – except where there was an open gate in it (Prologue, the fence near 140; Final, near 160). It just does not work to continue the line across the Gate symbol when the gate is open during the event; the temptation to go through it is bound to prove too much for some. Future planners and controllers take note, and avoid having legs which give this as a sensible route choice.
Arthur Vince, KERNO