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It’ll be a kind of orienteering relay. There’ll be six “controls” on the plinth and six in the Square. I’ll do a course on the plinth, then a group of orienteers and members of the public will do the same course on the ground. Then I’ll do the next course on the plinth, and so on… The courses will spell out letters of the alphabet, and after the hour we’ll be able to use Routegadget and GPS tracking to see what we’ve been spelling out (if you can’t guess). I wonder how many letters we’ll get through? It rather depends on how fast you guys are round the Square. (I might end up doing my courses on my hands and knees but even so they should only take one minute each.) In the bits where I’m not “racing”, people in the Square can ring me on my mobile and see if they’re any good at following directions…
RUNNING IN THE AIR
I blame Twitter. I don’t think I’d heard of One & Other until one of my Facebook friends, Ben Norwood (aka mittfh), started tweeting regularly about what was going on on the plinth. Turns out artist Anthony Gormley had had the bright idea of getting the fourth, empty plinth in Trafalgar Square occupied by a different person every hour for one hundred days. And each person could do what they liked up there, within reason. Okay, fair enough, but what’s that got to do with me? Well, nothing at all to begin with; I’m no good at heights, and how could I compete with Thriller??
But then it struck me: I could use the time to promote the sport I love, orienteering. I’d have to think of an arty way to do it, but, never mind, I emailed in my application. I had a sneaky feeling that I’d be successful, even though there must be something like ten applicants for every place, but when the draw was made for September I wasn’t on the list. But then while we were away in Hungary the email came: someone had dropped out, and I was in!
You have to choose three words to describe yourself, and, being a paid-up member of the awkward squad, I chose the phrase “The unholy trinity”. This is a reference to
my being a son, husband and father (Sorry, brother, I’ve missed you out. What comes next after “trinity”?) and to my (lack of) beliefs. But apart from that I’d already made a decision to leave politics and philosophy out of my “performance”. Just as well, my appearance is on September 11th, the infamous 9/11, and I think it wise to steer well clear. I dare say some of the other “plinthers” on Friday will take a different view.
Anyway, with the help of the British Orienteering Association and several of its members in London (thanks Helen!), I’ve found a way of (sort of) turning orienteering into an artform, and anyone who’s in the Square on Friday afternoon will also be able to join in. They can also take part, like I am, in the City of London race the next morning, though doing so is leaving me a real headache: I’m organising the Black Country Championships at Himley Hall, near Dudley, on Sunday morning, so it’s not the best time to be out of town for two days!
Turns out I’m not the only orienteer to get an hour up there: Roger Williams from down Milton Keynes way orchestrated some night orienteering when he was a plinther a couple of weeks ago but I have the benefit of daylight! I hope it isn’t too windy…
If you can, tune in on Friday at oneandother.co.uk, and join me at Himley on Sunday, where you can watch the experts in action and have a go yourself.
The summer’s over and a new race season has begun. Yesterday it was the regional relay championships on the Long Mynd. For various reasons the turnout was a bit low, but Wrekin put on an excellent event in a beautiful area. Results
After a couple of days staying with friends near Lake Balaton I’m now safely ensconced at my brother-in-law’s, and contemplating the logistics of next week. I’m probably going to miss Monday’s and Tuesday’s runs in order to spend more time with the folks, and I’m probably not fit enough for six runs anyway. The start times for the Hungaria Cup races are now up, though they aren’t clock times. So my Wednesday start time (48) has to be added to the “nulla idö” (zero hour), which in this case is 4 pm (I believe, although in comparison with the world championship races, info is a bit thin on the ground) to give 4:48 pm. I’ve been in Bükkszentkereszt once before; I spent a night there when I walked across the Bükk Hills in June 2000. I’m sure of the date because we saw one of the Euro 2000 football matches on the TV in the B&B we stayed in. (Fascinating fact (!): until 1940 the village – whose name means Holy Cross – went by the rather more prosaic name Újhuta (“new mine”).)
Thursday is the sprint, and I’m looking forward to watching the elite races after I’ve had my go. Friday and Saturday I’ve got the problem of getting to Bánkút, first to watch the relays, and then for my long race. I’m pretty sure I won’t be able to tootle up to assembly in my orange Punto, so I’ll have to investigate the available alternatives. The last day is the big one: the classic race, being held in the Aggtelek National Park. I’ve got to get up there for a 9 a.m. start and afterwards I hope I can stick around to watch the elites. Unlike the Bükk and Mátra, both of which have hosted many O events over the years, getting to run in Aggtelek is something special. The area enjoys the highest level of protection, and permission for orienteering is almost never given.
I wonder if there will be (free) Wifi in the event centres?
Update: More info is now available. The event details are here. The zero hours appear to have been changed. And there does appear to be a car park at Bánkút. 
Time for a biggie. Orienteering must hold the world record for the sport with the most starts. This occurred to me way back in February of last year, at the Chasers’ event at Beaudesert, and I was reminded of it when the fact came up in conversation that it’s compulsory to run to the start kite after you’ve, er, started. I’ve been orienteering for 15 years without picking up on that rule, and I’ve never heard of anyone being disqualified for breaking it, but there you go.
Start 1: registration
Start 2: beginning of taped route away from assembly area
Start 3: big sign proclaiming “START”
Start 4: being allowed into the “start box”
Start 5: being allowed out of the “start box”
Start 6: punching the start
Start 7: getting your map
Start 8: the start kite
Some of the starts at Beaudesert
As well as being confusing, for a newcomer to the sport this profusion of starts must seem pretty ridiculous. Contrast that with informal events where there is often just one start. Okay, a big event needs more than that, but EIGHT?
A BOF leaflet (dated 1993) written by John Knight in 1983. (600 kb)
Some comments:
1. Before you start, study map and legend. I agree there are a few things it’s worth checking, e.g. special symbols; course overview; out of bounds; crossings and crossovers, but there’s hardly much time to “study” anything.
2. Don’t think of the competition as a race. But it is!
3. Never run at absolute top speed. Hmm. Too many times I’ve got to the finish with too much energy left over, which can’t be right.
4. Try not to stop. Like a lot of people, I find it hard to read the map while moving. And that’s not the end of the world. On the other hand, “try not to stop at the control” is good advice.
5. Don’t stand still if you’re lost and can’t work it out. I suggest it is a good idea to stop for a moment if you’re lost, and try to work out what’s happened.
6. Don’t run on “feel”.
7. Don’t rush off.
8. Don’t ever run without counting your paces. I’m afraid I hardly ever pace-count. It’s possible to be moderately successful without pace-counting, so though it’s an important skill I wouldn’t have it on my top tips for newcomers.
9. Don’t ever assume you are right and the map and compass are both wrong. I wonder how many newcomers know what a reentrant is?
10. Don’t forget to read contours. Fair enough.
11. Don’t kid yourself you can beat the superstars. How many superstars am I going to be competing against?
12. Don’t let them tell you fitness isn’t all that important. Fitness isn’t all that important.
Today’s event definitely had a John Foxx-theme. The tricky longer legs required a decision about which underpasses to take. I’m still not sure I made the right choices but my time was okay: 24:25, compared to the winner’s 17:something.
I’m now comfortably ensconced in Little Stainton and ready for what might be a rather muddy day in the far north.
Competition entries: thanks to those of you who entered the competition. My time was 126% of Andy and Jason’s time, so Marian White wins the bottle. Congratulations and thanks!
Just been putting together my itinerary for next weekend. It’s a lot of miles! And the tide times are going to make it tricky to fit in a visit to Lindisfarne…
In the cross-country races I’m running the short course (about 6 km) so I avoid the speed merchants, but in the 3 km sprint race I have to go head-to-head with the likes of Andy Monro and Jason Howell. I’ve decided to offer a bottle (of wine or something less alcoholic) for the most accurate estimate of my time, expressed as a percentage of the average of their times. Happy guessing!
Today was once again a very pleasant day to be out, and I came 15th out of 82 on the Green course at OD’s Pooley Fields event. The split times reveal that I managed a rare feat - I was the slowest runner on leg 3 and the fastest runner on leg 4!
I was going to run the Blue but discovered a good excuse not to when some friends of ours turned up to their first event and I helped them through registration, etc. It went well for them and they’ll be coming along to Sandwell Valley after Easter.
Last job tonight will be to stick stamps on 400 envelopes – the first edition of The WestMidlander with me as editor is (almost) ready for the post.
This month is of course dominated by the JK. And since I’ll be travelling mostly on my own I’ll be able to do almost everything: sprint; training event; the two individual cross-country races; trail-O; relay; and AGM. Well, I can do the British AGM but not the English AGM, which for non-ease of access is being held in a secure armed-forces location! Newcastle on Friday will be my first proper sprint event, and there’s an excellent opportunity for a practice run at LEI’s evening race on Tuesday…
Sun 5th: Pooley Fields, Polesworth (OD) – oops, a bit late to remind you of that one!
Tue 7th: Loughborough University (LEI)
Tue 14th: Shawbury, Shrewsbury (WRE)
Thu 16th: Castle Hill, Leicester (LEI)
Sat 18th: Frith Wood, Ledbury (MADO)
ditto: Tregynon, Newtown (POW)
Sun 19th: Sandwell Valley, West Bromwich (HOC)
Tue 21st: Stanmore, Bridgnorth (WRE)
Wed 22nd: Hillfield Park, Solihull (OD)
Thu 23rd: Brough Park, Leek (POTOC)
ditto: Callow Hill, Bewdley (HOC)
Sat 25th: West Park, Wolverhampton (HOC) – charity event
ditto: Hilltop, Handsworth (COBOC) – Sevens (change of venue)
ditto: Symonds Yat, Coleford (NGOC)
Sun 26th: Rawnsley, Cannock Chase (WCH) – West Midlands Championships
ditto: Tregynon, Newtown (POW)
ditto: Boreatton Park, Shrewsbury (WRE) – cancelled
ditto: Lickey Hills (RSGB) – radio orienteering
Tue 28th: Nesscliffe, Shrewsbury (WRE)
Wed 29th: Arley Wood, Nuneaton (OD)
Thu 30th: Brockhampton, Bromyard (HOC)
ditto: Aylestone, Leicester (LEI)
Details of all these events are available via the West Midlands website, and most of them are listed here.
It appears to be official. For the first time in its history, Harlequins has qualified for the Cup Final! We did it in style, too. We “only” had to come second in today’s heat but we came very close to winning: Droobers came first by 2399 points to 2358. Considering that the Droobers are regular winners of the Cup, this augurs well for the final in October. Time for a beer… 
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