Brockhampton POC Log

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Paul Basher, 01 Apr 2012: All controls in 53:17. 6.38 Km (by GPS) 220m climb. Map of GPS trace

Having read the comments on the HOC website I decided not to consciously follow the order of any previous attempt. I arrived on a fine sunny day with the area looking fantastic and a very warm and friendly welcome from the kiosk man. After studying the map I decided to take the controls in the following order: 6,4,5,7,13,8,9,10,24,23,15,18,22,12,20,16,11,21,17,19,14,2,3,1.

I set off to 6 with my legs feeling a bit tired from the previous days NGOC event at Symonds Yat (not a good run - with a 12 minute adventure on the way to control 4 - but that's another story, really should check my compass more often!)

6,4,5 OK - 7 OK but was drawn towards the larger re-entrant, nearly ran past 13 as can be seen from the GPS trace (if its been made available). 8, 9 OK but really should have read the clue description for 10. *Up to 24* then 23,15 OK but *what a climb up the steps to 18*. Down to 22 and then *back up to 12* legs really not to happy at the moment but recovered a little to 20, and then down to 16 (not concentrating as I started to look for the post in the stream). Along to 11 and*up yet again to 21*. Across to 17 nice run down across the grass to 19 and then over to 14. Really tired now as I start to climb *up again to 2*, across to 3 really slowly and then put a show on by running to 1. There was only one person watching who actually asked me if I was doing orienteering!

Fantastic area, thanks to Alison and all those who placed the posts.

David Nevell, 22 Aug 2011: A repeat visit and controls in the same order. Too hot for my liking but knew where I was going this time so managed 35.20, more than 4 minutes quicker than before. 18-22 is the problem leg at this time of year - I went right round on the paths which is at about 4 times further than one needs to go in the vicinity of the control. Otherwise running strongly. Makes me think sub 32 mins is possible for our speediest member (now I wonder who that might be).

Marian White, 16 Aug 2011: Opted for all controls using the David Nevell sequence - I'm useless at finding a good route even without time pressure. Took 68.25 which I'm pleased with in retrospect although after 16 controls in 38 minutes I thought I could beat the hour - another time I'd reverse the controls so that the short & easier ones came at the end when I am nicely warmed up for the final "sprint". Decided against the "All controls in numerical order" partly because that wouldn't allow for two cafe stops and a visit to the Court as well, mainly because controls 12 to 19 require more will power than I posess without SI to keep me honest! An excellent day out - thank you Alison.

Andy White, 14 Aug 2011: It didn't take much to persuade Marian that we should have a crack at the POC today - just sunshine and the promise of cake!

Having studied the various routes posted here I decided that Dave Nevell's was probably the best - 6-5-4-3-1-2-14-19-17-21-11-16-20-12-18-22-15-23-24-10-9-8-13-7. Unfortunately he's much fitter than I am so I struggled from about 17! Although by then I had already stuffed up 14-19 (I did a similar thing on the club champs - doh!), got way too low after 19 and had to cross at the water trough which made the run to 17 more uphill than it should have been. I got chased by a dog at 11. I tried to cut between the paths from 16-20 hoping to come out north of the ctrl but after much wandering around emerged onto the path south of it. I got hopelessly becalmed getting into 24 and getting out again (not to self... carry secateurs). I was almost lured into going straight from 10-9 but after an abortive attempt turmed back to the path, but then I missed the easy way into the ctrl and gingerly climbed through the brambles all the way up the reentrant - I must have been brain dead by then. And just to prove I was, I attempted to stay high from 8 rather than getting back to the road quickly. Consequently I lost a lot of time stumbling through the green bits before giving up and taking to the road anyway. The climb to 13 was torture.

Time - 53.32. I had lots of other little errors and bouts of dithering in addition to those above so I reckon I could have gone at least 5 mins quicker. Doing them in reverse order might be quicker still. We'll see!

David Nevell, 02 Aug 2011: I cycled to Brockhampton on 2nd August, a fairly warm day, just a bit too warm for running hard. I think the optimal route for all the controls is far from obvious, although I suspect there are a lot of suboptimal routes that don't lose a lot of time. I also suspect that optimality will be a function of the strengths of the runner and also the time of year. A much better challenge than Sandwell Valley.

My route was 6-5-4-3-1-2-14-19-17-21-11-16-20-12-18-22-15-23-24-10-9-8-13-7 which seems to be yet another variation on those already posted. I was fairly happy with this, apart from 18-22 which might be avoidable. I lost around 45s at 18 having missed the little path in, about 30s on 18-22 due to cutting in too late and possibly 60s by taking the horrible direct route from 10-9. So if I ran this route again I would be confident of saving about 2-3 minutes.

My time was 39.33 minutes. On this basis, I would say that the times at Brockhampton and the times at Sandwell Valley (for all controls) are pretty much directly comparable.

Dennis Mews, 31 Jul 2011: Robert and I did the permanent course at Brockhampton today.

I did the "Long" course - 4.4k with 190m climb - in 61-25 Robert did the "All Controls" course in 69-23 I will try to write something coherent in my blog tomorrow. (And indeed he has; see http://dennismews.blogspot.com/ - Webmaster)

Robert Vickers, 31 Jul 2011: I've now staked my claim for all controls in any order, run on 31 July 2011 in 69.23.

My route was broadly similar (but not identical) to others already posted, though I chose to go anti-clockwise. Most of the scope for variation is in the forest block, around 16, 20, 22, 24.

I measured my route (conventional assessment) as 5.8 km and 240m climb. This was: S - 1 - 3 - 2 - 19 - 14 - 11 - 17 - 21 - 20 - 12 - 18 - 22 - 15 - 23 - 24 - 16 - 10 - 9 - 8 - 13 - 7 - 5 - 6 - 4 - F

It was Dennis Mews (M60) who persuaded me to join him for the trip, but he did the Long course, claiming a time of 61.25 for that. We both commented that the posts were all very easy to spot, unlike some of those at Sandwell Valley (for example) which are quite tricky on first acquaintance.

Andy Batchelor, 15 Jul 2011: Not sure it’s any better when you allow for not going in a straight line, but I think we had about a 300m shorter route than John with about 25m more climb. I’ve just based this on adjustments to Peter’s route and I did it fairly quickly (the measuring, not the course!)
(1-2-3-14-19-17-21-11-16-20-12-18-22-15-23-24-10-9-8-13-7-5-4-6)

Ruth Lockley, 15 Jul 2011: My straight line comes in at roughly 5.9km. It was 6-4-5-7-13-8-9-10-24-16-22-23-15-18-12-20-21-17-11-14-19-2-3-1. I must admit I didn't give it much thought at the beginning, and had to have a speedy rethink at around 20-21 on what I was going to do next. It was around 215 m climb, with the killer one being up the steps to 18 at the far end.

John Leeson, 15 Jul 2011: My on-sight attempt at all controls was far less efficient than Peter and John - I measured my straight line route at 6.7 km but 200m of climb. I really must learn to take a minute at the start of score events to plan things out - not running the extra distance (600m) would have saved 4 or 5 minutes.

This is a great resource- I want to go back and run what I think is the optimum route.

Peter Langmaid, 13 Jul 2011: I measured my route (6-5-4-3-1-2-17-21-19-14-16-11-20-12-18-22-15-23-24-10-9-8-13-7) as 6.1km and 215m climb.

John Embrey, 10 Jul 2011: I can confirm I am still alive and kicking. Sorry I could not get the numerical one below 90 mins. I am convinced I could had I not already run once. By the end I was certainly struggling on the hills.

For the keeper of the records, I have measured my routes with a ruler (straight line distance, control to contol, with no allowance on the second run for bending to avoid OOB) and I got the following:
all controls, any order, my sequence (below): 6km, 225m
1-3-2-19-14-24-16-11-17-21-20-12-18-22-15-23-10-9-8-13-7-5-4-6
all controls, numerical order: 11.6km, 420m

Lester Evans, 10 Jul 2011: Many thanks for supporting the NT POC opening yesterday. We were blessed with good weather but only a few takers from the public. Please find the results attached. I hope John Embrey is feeling OK this morning after two very very long runs! He has certainly set the challenge bar a bit high for others. I hope you all enjoyed your runs and many thanks must go to Alison Sloman for providing the map and courses, Matthew Evans for designing the post plates, the HOC team that placed the posts a few weeks ago, and our friends at the National Trust who have always made us most welcome.

I am sure that you are all aware that this is just the start at Brockhampton. They are very keen to make orienteering a popular feature on the estate and already have a number of group visits arranged including a group of Guides on Wednesday, so this was a very important "training day" for them. We are also about to repeat the process at Croft Castle with a POC launch planned for 2012. The National Trust is an important partner for us and we are discussing a number of initiatives that would support both the Trust and our club.

 

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