A fellow Harrier drew my attention to a local event today, which spurred me on to get out in the mud with my compass and whistle! I chose to do the long orange course which, I think, is moderately technical navigation over a long distance which was approx 5.4km (straight line distance) today.
I always have a bit of a panic at the start and a crisis of confidence over finding the first control! Luckily, I headed in the correct direction and found the first 3 controls quite easily. There was a long run to 4 which had me hoping my strategy was correct but it all worked out fine and the control was where I had hoped it would be! The most tricky ones for me, were 6 & 8. I knew where I was going but there was a myriad of paths and lots of slippery mud to disturb your concentration. I was pleased that I found the sneakily placed 10, but wasn't sure about how to get to the finish. After a bit of indecision (should have just gone with my gut instinct) I dibbed out. Returning to registration at the Scout Hut, I handed back my dibber and was happy that it confirmed that I had visited all of the required controls! Phew, mission accomplished!
Even better, I subsequently found out that I had been fastest over the long orange course 😃
There are lots of great things about orienteering :
* it involves running, but also thinking!
* sociable - great to see my Club members in a different environment
* you are always learning something. Today I learnt that this sign ^ means a ditch and I remembered that white is the area you can run through (would have got me to 6 quicker on a bearing) and that the olive green (RHS of map) is settlement.
Can't wait for the next one!
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