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Orienteering Competition (September 2010)
![Welbeck Defence Sixth Form College (DSFC)](javascript:PopupPic("/military/images/ori10.jpg");)
After a relative lie in, a team of 8 students assembled at MGS in preparation for the short drive to Ibstock, and from that point a 5.2 km run (7 km plus if you ran around the obstacles) with only a map, symbol sheet and a compass. It was a daunting task for a few of us who had literally no experience in this field, me included! It was also an opportunity for the Upper and Lower Sixth to meet the newly appointed Vice Principal Military, Major Reid.
The start/finish line was at Ibstock Community College, and upon arrival the team were tasked with registering and attempting to decipher the jumble of symbols presented to us on the control description card (an array of symbols used to help navigating to the control point in its immediate vicinity). After some friendly advice from a keen and helpful club member we set off for the start armed with electronic ‘dibbers’ attached to our fingers. The idea was to punch the finger shaped plastic into a ‘control point’ and it would log our time.
The team was split into two groups - two Welbexians had chosen to tackle the normal 3 km ‘urban’ course with the remainder of us opting for the longer 5.2 km ‘long urban’. Orienteering around an urbanised area was new to even the more experienced runners amongst us, many of whom were more familiar with forests or the countryside.
At 1100hrs we began, and immediately ran down wrong roads, taking incorrect junctions and even failing to take the sneaky short cuts that had been irritatingly barred by impassable walls. However we gradually improved towards the end once we understood how to run and map read simultaneously!
Eventually we punched our cards into the last control point and received our times:
- Andrew Manning (37.47 - short)
- Charlotte Preston (57.00 - short)
- Alexander Steele (53.33)
- Peter Rhodes (54.30)
- Martyn Mangan (54.37)
- Alistair Robertshaw (54.30)
- James Labram (59.43)
- Hamish Cooper...?
We couldn’t see Hamish - in fact poor Hamish had got lost and eventually stumbled across the finish line with an impressive time of 92.00. However we had all survived and navigated successfully back to the finish line (eventually) with no injuries except for a chunk of glass that pierced into my shoe and ripped my sock!
James Labram, Alanbrooke 10E
