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A new area (for me): the army training camp at Swynnerton. Nice and flat, so I managed 10 minute k’s, even though my knee was a bit dodgy towards the end. Running round, it was fascinating to imagine what a hive of activity this place had been 65 years ago.
I managed to underestimate how long it would take to get there, and then I took a wrong turning, so thanks to Jean for kindly letting me register and run.
I intended to take part in the radio-O competition at Hay Wood today but some idiot at the Department for Transport decided it might be fun to close M42 junction 6 for a couple of hours, thereby creating a massive tailback and making me an hour late to the wood. So I ran a standard Green course instead – a small disappointment but Hay Wood is a good, challenging little area so I got a lot out of my substitute run. This was one of the first areas I wrote about when I started blogging early last year. My compass work has improved but I still made a couple of mistakes today, and – horror of horrors – I mispunched…
Just after I crossed the track on the way to #10 I could see a control in the distance, seemingly in the right place. When I got there I saw 137, thought that was right, punched and turned away to head for #11. Oops. 137 was on the path, a few metres north of the depression, which was control 138.
This was a very rare occurence for me. I can’t remember mispunching before, but I’m sure I must have. Even so, I’m sure I’ve mispunched no more than 3 times in 15 years. It’s not as if I wasn’t aware that one can come across several wrong controls on a course – I’d already bumped into a couple today, including one of the radio-O controls! The mistake I made was to start thinking about the next control without concentrating enough to notice that this one was only approximately the right code in approximately the right place…
Onwards and upwards. 
And I look forward to getting another go at Radio-O in the not too distant future!
I was late getting to the Chase today for the Brindley league event, and made myself later by parking in the wrong car park, meaning I had an extra climb up to registration… Then I nearly put the kibosh on my run altogether by somehow losing my hired dibber by the time I got back to the car on the way to the start. But, weirder still, my own dibber, which I thought I’d lost, suddenly turned up, so I ran using that!
Like Fineshade a couple of weeks back, Brindley Heath is somewhere you stick to the paths, and it wasn’t surprising that my attempt to run direct through the heather to the sixth control (#171) ended in tears. Still, I ended up 8th out of 48 on Green. I chose a shorter course because my left knee is a bit iffy and I need it for next Sunday’s run at Titterstone Clee. Looking forward to it.
A common complaint or comment from runners after the short race at Himley last month was that there was something amiss with #42 (south part of copse):
Certainly quite a few people lost time on it, some claiming that it was in the wrong place or that the map was wrong. But I was happy with it, and so was Alison, who mapped it and checked it, and Richard, who controlled it. John Embrey went and had a look afterwards and confirmed that the control was in the right place but something doesn’t seem quite right – I wonder if we’ll ever get to the bottom of it?
Took Catherine to the Droobers event at Brueton Park on Saturday morning. As you can see it was a bit damp, but not dispiritingly so. By the evening I was feeling quite ill though, so wasn’t up to the trip to Fownhope yesterday. 
1. Simon Errington’s blogged nicely about our plinthing efforts. In the end it all came and went so fast; I managed to forget most of Roger’s tips but I still had a great time. The sun shone, and I felt fine. I nearly tripped a couple of times on the stakes though, which I had to lay vertical (and all the bending down and leaning out over the edge gave me aching legs for the City Race next day). Thanks to everyone who helped beforehand and on the day.
2. It was a bit manic chez Bailey when I got home – the Himley event was just a few hours away. Come the morning, the sun shone again, the courses were good (even if I say so myself) and it was a pity that there were so few people there. I’m beginning to think that the Black Country is more like a Black Hole… My publicising efforts seem largely to be a waste of time, and I think I’ll go back to taking a back seat and/or organising things bog-standardly.
3. Yet another sunny day on Sunday for OD’s league event at Oakley Wood, with its mysterious “fort”. I thought I ran well, with only a couple of mistakes, and was disappointed to be so far down the results. I think the truth is that I haven’t got my speed (such as it was) back from before my injury. Also, of course, in most of the events I’ve been entering lately he average ability of the competitors has been quite high, making me look (even) worse!
Warwick Council bought Oakley Wood last year and is now consulting about its future.
Himley and Baggeridge are nextdoor to one another so I thought it’d be a good idea to have an event with two races, a sprint around the parkland and woods of Himley Hall followed by a normal (or “Middle”) race around Baggeridge Country Park. Thus next weekend’s Black Country Championships were born. It’s clearly a bit more complicated to organise than a single competition, but in effect it’s only about an hour longer than a normal event would be. The Sprint starts are between 10 and 11, and the Middle ones between 12 and 1.30. The event details are here. For the sake of the championships aspect, the courses are organised according to age class, but people can treat it just like a normal colour-coded event if they like.
Paul Basher is planning the Middle race on Baggeridge, and Alison Sloman, as well as doing an excellent job updating the maps, has been out for us checking the controls. Updating the Himley map is a continuous process – trees keep disappearing!
I’ve been over there a couple of times this week and one of these mild days we’ve been having of sunshine and showers would be perfect. Poster
Twenty-four hours till our event in Wales. I’m having severe computer problems, meaning among other things that I’ve had trouble getting the revised event details up, but you can read the first version here. New information is:
1. There’s no White course, but there is a string course.
2. The Green course is longer than shown.
3. Despite the recent rain, the car park field is useable.
4. The start and the finish are up on the hill, about 500m from assembly.
5. There won’t be a remote drinks station, but if it’s sunny there will be water at the finish.
See you there!
Managed to squeeze in a visit to the Harlequins’ event at Uffmoor Wood on the 14th. The Whites have been busy, organising and planning the Sandwell Valley event, running the weekly sessions there, and organising here!
I was looking forward to trying my first proper run for a while, but Marti asked me to take Catherine, so we did the Yellow. Well done to C for being so positive: not minding the longish walks to the start and from the finish, running quite a bit of the way round the course, and waiting for me while I went to check on the Hungarian mother and son we’d given a lift to. As it happened, I picked a good moment to go and check: they were having trouble finding the “clearing – North side” control that was a bit hard to access!
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