Sal's Ultra Blog

I volunteered to coordinate the Middles on Stanton Moor about 18 months before the event and by then DVO had been negotiating with various landowners for 6 months, partly to try and include Hill Carr Wood in the competition area. DVO had hosted the 2011 CompassSport Cup Final at Longshaw and the Club gained a lot from the experience, including having the same Safety Officer for the Middles.

Hill Carr was not to be and by 12 months before the event, John Duckworth (the Planner) and I had identified the Assembly and ‘final’ parking. Something to work with in conversations with DVO Team Leaders, British Orienteering, English Heritage and local groups. The coordinator’s role is really to keep track of what’s happening as briefed by Team Leaders!

My husband Dave was Assistant Coordinator and we competed in the 2012 Sprint and Middles, both hosted by EBOR, to get a feel for the size of the event and pick up some tips.

I met the Sprints team at the BO Event Officials Conference in September and this was useful as we had to liaise over equipment and bibs etc. The Conference also made me think about what makes for a user-friendly event. It was around this time that fees were agreed and entries went live on Fabian – a major milestone!

The track to Assembly in early April. Competitors’ cars were parking elsewhere, but traders vans, Portaloos, commentary and officials’ cars needed to drive through here

The 8 months of rain followed by 2 months of snow meant that we ‘lost’ the parking field in January and made other arrangements for parking and bussing. The BO mini-site was a great tool for letting people know about this. Then, on the Wednesday before the event, the farmer phoned and said we could use the original field – so yet more changes but well worth it! I dread to think of the chaos this would have caused in the days before email.

Time definitely passes quicker on the weekend of the event. A dozen club members made-ready the Assembly area on the Saturday, catching occasional glimpses of John and Tony Carlyle (Controller, AIRE) disappearing into the forest. And at 7:15 on Sunday the traders began to arrive, followed quickly by competitors.

A lot of thought had gone into the arena start and the requirements for running a timed start while accommodating EOD runners. On the day, everything went very smoothly and I know that John and Tony were as relieved as I was when the first finishers came through. There were 1105 runners across the 13 courses, with anticipation building as the Open classes started in the second half of the start window.

It was great to finally relax chat with old friends at the event – as well as to my brother who had driven over from the Lake District to ferry equipment in his van. There were a couple of issues to talk through with the Controller and it was great to have someone as experienced as Tony to advise me. Soon it was time to set up for the Prize Giving and again DVO helpers (see photo) and the commentary team did a great job.

Just some of the 96 DVO members who helped on the day and before

It was amazing how quickly everything was dismantled and put away before the first drops of rain. I really enjoyed working with everyone to put on a successful and safe event that finally came into being after so much emailing! I also got a good insight into the usefulness of the Rules, which I’d not really considered much in 25 years of orienteering!

(This was written for Orienteering Focus shortly after the event.)