November Classic weekend

Last edited: Mon 4 Nov 2019

Oliver Lewis and Pete Shirvington had fine runs at Sunday's classic in the New Forest. With some running in the urban and night events on the preceding days, QO had a good representation in Hampshire and Sussex.

Results - Bramshaw (Classic), Chichester (urban)

Pete Shirvington ran the ultra-long Black course for the first time on Sunday - and why not? If you don't step up and try, you'll never know! Considering the trickiness of the area - lots of small valleys radiating downwards from a western plateau plus windblown trees and bracken restricting visibility - he did well to keep his mistakes to a minimum. Several more experienced heads struggled on that score this year. Pete reports...

Black course at Bramshaw

I don't think my run was that impressive but it was enjoyable. I expected the step up black to be challenging, especially after racing the previous two days [Chichester urban and Southsea night event], so I deliberately set out with the intention of slowing down and trying not to make any mistakes. I was certainly feeling the tiredness on route to control 14 [see link below] which resulted in a fair amount of confusion! From then on I tried to keep the Orienteering as simple as possible by using as many line features as I could find but failed to achieve this on my way to control 29. Luckily I happened to land on control 30 eventually, allowing me to relocate. A great event and very pleased with the nice weather after the soggy Urban events.

- Pete Shirvington

Link: Pete's route on Black (Routegadget)

Oliver Lewis was 18/53 on Orange, where no fewer than 15 runners mispunched or retired.

The other events Pete refers to were during a series of five events over successive days, clustered around the main event in Hampshire and Sussex. Pete was 7/28 on the Men's Vets at the Chichester Urban on Saturday, with three others in attendance. The Western Night League event at Southsea on the Friday, was Pete's warm-up run and he finished 22/78.

More

A viewpoint from Jason Falconer of Wessex OC on the weekend

QO's history at the November Classic

Ultrasport

Ian Kevan's clothing and equipment stall has been a near ever present at large events throughout the past two decades but according to British Army OC, Sunday may have been one of the last chances for punters to pay a visit.

Link: Ultrasport Story on British Army OC website

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