MapRun series

Have you tried any of the MapRun series, yet? If not, why not? At time of writing I've done 3 of the 4, and it has been a huge pleasure.

Thank you very much to Richard who is there at the cutting edge of O technology, and inspiring the rest of us to create our own events.

He has also provided a welcome fix for those of us (certainly me) going Cold Turkey after the BOK urban series.

It's a slightly different philosophy, doing an event at a time of your choosing rather than being constrained by standard start/finish times. To be honest, my preferred time of day for a run, or any athletic pursuit, is late afternoon (not a QOFL 11 am start!) as I find my body needs a while to wake up. Unfortunately this has not fitted very well with this summer's temperatures which have recently been peaking at around 4-5 pm.

I have always found the route planning aspect of score events a challenge, so a few events of this nature are great for practice, review and looking at the differing routes that others chose, and thereby improving your skills. I would like to share some advice that was given to me quite a few years ago by Ted: “plan your finish so if things go well you've got time to do extras, and if badly you still get back in time.” On the first event I was too committed to a circuit route, and ended up late back. On the other two, I gave myself more options in the run in, but I think they were slightly easier anyway.

I have found these events inspiring. It's a great way to get local friends to give orienteering a go at a convenient time for them, so I am hoping to offer up a few events in my neck of the woods. So who'd like to pay a visit to say Cheddar, Axbridge, Wells?

- Graham Hartley

The series / results

• Read about the series