Captain’s Blog – April 2008
British Individual Championships
April was a busy month for British Championships with the Sprint and Middle on the 5th/6th and Long and Relay competitions on the 19th/20th. Robin and Ruby Campbell flew the CHIG flag at all four! Congratulations to Robin Campbell – British M70 Middle Distance Champion! There are no age class categories at the Sprint Championships as far as I can tell.
After all the fuss about the Culbin map, concensus seems to be that the map was excellent – accurate and, despite the complex contour detail, perfectly legible. I found the training event invaluable and learnt an important lesson – running on a rough bearing and hoping to relocate somewhere was not a viable technique in this terrain! I was hoping for a top 10 position in my first championships as an M40, but it’s a tougher class than M35 and a 5 min error on one control cost me several places (but probably not 7!) I think Robin deserves another special mention here – making a 180 degree error which cost him around 15 mins ending up with a rare double digit position.
Meanwhile, Tom Edelsten had another excellent run, following up his 4th place at the JK with a 5th place in M65L. Carol was a bit disappointed with her 8th place, but Ruby was on form achieving CHIG’s only podium result with 3rd place in W70L. Congratulations Ruby!
British Relay Championships – 2nd again!
In the Relays, our Men’s Premier team had to pull out due to injury. And for the third year running, John, Carol and Tom were pipped at the post to finish 2nd in the M/W60 class, this time by a mere 95 seconds. Congratulations and commiserations!
All CHIG results are included below:
British Middle Championships, Hopwas, 5th Apr
- Robin Campbell 1st M70
- Ruby Campbell 2nd W70
- Helen Hampton 10th W45
Individual Long Champs, Culbin East, 19th Apr
- Harold Wyber 36th M21E
- Jeff Green 17th M40L
- Pete Cheetham 26th M50S
- John Pearce 29th M60L
- Tom Edelsten 5th M65L
- Robin Campbell 15th M70L
- Alice Campbell 12th W16A
- Charlotte Cheetham 13th W45S
- Carol Pearce 8th W60L
- Ruby Campbell 3rd W70L
British Relay Champs, Culbin East, 20th Apr
- John Pearce, Carol Pearce, Tom Edelsten 2nd M/W60
- Ruby, Alice and Robin Campbell 34th Mixed Ad Hoc
SLOW Blodslitet
On 27th April, SLOW held their first (I think) Blodslitet race at Winterfold. A “Blodslitet” is a mass start long-distance race designed to challenge an individual’s endurance and mental agility. The first few controls were common to all, but then loops (rather than relay-style gaffling) are used to split the field. Everyone visits the same controls and has the same legs, but not necessarily in the same order. Have a look at the courses and routes on Routegadget and it might become a bit clearer! Mass start races always add a bit more pressure and despite leading for a time, I made a few navigational and route choice errors (e.g. 13-14!) and ended up 3rd. There was even a prize-giving ceremony with plenty of wine, beer and chocolates being distributed. The Long course may have been more exciting with a few more competitors (only 23 started) but the Medium course had double that number and looked the more interesting race with 2 M18s tying for first place and the top 4 finishing within just over a minute of each other.
Notable Performances
SROC Hampsfell Regional, 13th Apr
- Carol Pearce 2nd W60L
SO Houghton Regional, 13th Apr
- Pete Cheetham 3rd M50S
- Tom Edelsten 2nd M65L
- Jennifer Taylor 3rd W65L
E Mids Champs, Wakerley Woods, 27th Apr
- Helen Hampton 1st W45S
- Alison Curtis 1st W50S