Berkshire Orienteers hope you enjoyed the event!
Final results are here .
BOF ranking points (Will be calculated Monday evening)/
Controllers comments
My first night event controlling experience, and I enjoyed it. Thank you to Bo and the BKO team for giving their time during the holiday season to hold this hastily rescheduled event. Not a breath of wind this week, and a lovely evening to be out in the woods.
Mark's courses were largely unchanged from their very first iteration. The same could not be said of the forest which was being thinned and felled before our eyes in the weeks leading up to the event. Simon updated the map to reflect the most significant changes and BML did a last minute reprint - preferable to a load of notes on maps in the start lanes.
We were very conscious of avoiding annoying bingo controls in the dark, but with bracken lying low, many trees removed from the forest, and the use of shiny new kites with reflective stripes, some controls were far more visible than intended. Sorry if it felt too easy for some.
Congratulations to all the 2024 (just in time!) southern night champions, and I hope everyone enjoyed their evening out.
Paul Fox SN, Controller
Organisers comments
Congratulations to the 2024 Southern Nights Champions! You've earned the bragging rights for an entire year and have a trophy to display proudly. Please engrave the trophy with your name. For those winners who had to leave before the prize ceremony, I will be in touch shortly to arrange a handover of the trophy.
This year's event was not without challenges to organise. We found out rather late that there were going be to extensive forest operations at Star Posts which made the course planning and mapping extra challenging. Storm Darragh threw a final wrench in our original plans, leading to the cancellation the day before the event was due to go ahead. It quickly became clear that there would not be a perfect new date for the event due to clashes with other events and Christmas holidays. But I am pleased we managed to reschedule, and we were happy to welcome over 50 new entries who entered after the initial event date. Sadly, we also lost a similar number of entries who had to withdraw due to the date change clashing with Christmas plans.
A special thank you goes out to our Planner (Mark), Controller (Paul), and Mapper (Simon). Excellent work despite the changes and challenges caused by ongoing forestry work and updated event date.
I am also thankful to the club volunteers who stepped up on the day of the event. As a small club, we rely heavily on the willingness of members to lend a hand, and once again, you did not disappoint. The assembly’s proximity to the start and finish, along with convenient parking in car park, allowed us to run smoothly with just a few helpers.
An extra thank you goes to Mark Saunders from TVOC (M35 champion) who volunteered to be one of the control collectors. Mark lost his map halfway during the collection run (easily done when dark and focusing on collecting and bagging up kites, stakes and SI units). Made his way back to assembly (with no map!), fuelled up on a mince pie, collected a new map and went out again to collect the remaining controls on his route.
Thank you to all participants for your enthusiasm, returning on time and injury free from your run. Only one lost item was found. An aluminium thermos flask, branded contigo. Contact organiser on events@bko.org.uk to arrange return.
Looking ahead, we welcome you all to Berkshire Orienteers' next event which is our biggest of the year: the Concorde Chase weekend. Taking place on January 25-26. We have two events using fantastic orienteering areas lined up. A Regional urban event at Wildridings/Great Holland in Bracknell followed by a National forest event at Cold Ash, the site of the 2023 British Championships. RaceSignUp entries open very soon.
Bo Oqvist, Event Organiser
