WCOC Peter Palmer Junior Team Relay report
Credit: WCOC
Earlier this year we gave a grant to West Cumberland Orienteering Club to enhance the Peter Palmer Junior Team Relay with live commentary, GPS trackers, and radio controls (see award). Here we have their report from the event.
Activity at the event venue started on the Friday evening when we joined a group of Cockermouth Scouts to help them pitch the tents that we were borrowing from them. Everyone mucked in and the job was done before nightfall!
More tents were put up early on Saturday afternoon – these ones on loan from Cockermouth Guides. Jamie and Charlie arrived to put out the controls, and various items of equipment also turned up – the commentary caravan, fencing stakes and tape for the changeover lanes and the run-in, the PA system and the computer equipment, together with all the volunteers for the Saturday jobs.
The first teams arrived at 5:30, followed closely by the Fish and Chip van which had been booked for the evening’s dinner. Competitors were shown to their accommodation, more tents erected, and the juniors gathered to catch up on the gossip. An ad hoc game of football was played, stopping only when the ball could no longer be seen. The gamet could be heard up on the hill by those volunteers setting up the arena and doing a dry run of all the technical equipment.
On Sunday morning the first volunteers were up on the arena hill from 3:30, seeing to all the last-minute tasks. To our dismay we discovered that three of the controls has been moved overnight. Quickly they were replaced but it delayed the start of the race by 20 mins.
In the main Peter Palmer relay AIRE took the lead after the 1st leg, SYO taking over as leaders after the 2nd, and WCOC after the 3rd, before it went back to SYO who went into the final leg with a lead of just under a minute. Exciting commentary described the different route choices taken during the final leg, and at one point used drone footage to provide updates. WCOC came through the spectator control with a narrow lead over SYO. There was a tense wait while the final controls were negotiated, WCOC keeping the lead to finish in first place, SYO were 2nd and LOC 3rd. SYO dominated both the Joan George (1st and 3rd) and the Daybreak bowl (1st and 2nd) with FVO taking 2nd place in the Joan George, and AIRE coming 3rd in the Daybreak bowl. SUFFOC won the Norwich Anniversary trophy.
From 7:00 runners, volunteers and spectators were able to enjoy a buffet breakfast with tea/coffee and a bacon buttie. Prize giving took place at 9:30.
One of the features made possible by the Orienteering Foundation grant was the use of the Scottish Orienteering Association’s GPS trackers. By allocating 2 trackers to each team and by employing a relay system for the trackers themselves, every junior (with the exception of the extra runners on the yellow leg) was able to run with a tracker. This added to the excitement of the competition with juniors made to feel ‘elite’ and spectators able to follow the progress of the relay on arena screens and mobile phones throughout the morning. The trackers complemented the commentary, which too was made possible by the Orienteering Foundation grant. The set up of the trackers beforehand and the administration of them on the day was expertly handled by Ted and Steve from FVO and Ben from WCOC; commentary provided by Emma and Issy.
A really big thank you goes to all the volunteers who put in a lot of time in the runup to the event and over the weekend. It couldn’t have happened without them.
Thank you also to the Orientation Foundation for their support; and to Kong Adventure for the race numbers, and the landowners for access to the area.