FIRESTONE COPSE
13 January 2008
Planner's Report
It was encouraging to see such a good turnout at
Firestone, despite the poor weather in the days leading up to the event. It was particularly pleasing to see so
many familiar faces returning to compete after missing a few events (in some
cases, a few years!). The group of
returning runners was headed, of course, by Dave Mackett. Dave was competing for the first time
following heart surgery last year and showed that he is well on the way to
recovery with a victory on the Orange course. He assured me at the start that he wasnıt going to run, but
disappeared into the copse at a fair trot and returned to the finish at a
similar pace well done Dave and itıs great to see you back.
When Pete Bartlett and I went around the proposed control
sites the week before the event, it was quite dry and pleasant. However, heavy rain in the next few
days turned many of the paths into mud-baths and I can only apologise to those
of you who were faced with the difficult choice between deep mud and deeper
brambles. Thankfully, we were
blessed with dry weather and most of the comments at the finish were positive
and everybody seemed to enjoy their run.
Huge thanks must go to the army of helpers who shared the
load on the day. They really
proved that many hands make light work.
First of all, thanks to Pete Bartlett for help, advice and
hard work in the planning and organisation of the event. Pete knows Firestone extremely well and
this allowed us to plan the courses very efficiently.
Paul and Rose Billington worked tirelessly to put out the
string course and to wind it all back in again, while still finding the energy
to run the Orange course. At
registration, both Chrises (not quite sure if this is the correct plural) were
excellent as always. My particular
thanks to Chris Stokes who calmly altered every single one of the special white
maps just before the first competitors arrived due to my error in siting the
first control. Thanks also to my
Dad, Dave, who helped with putting out controls, road signs, start and finish
banners as well as making me a cup of tea and lending me some dry socks!
Finally, Glyn and Sue Williams kindly helped to collect in
many of the more distant controls at the end of the day and this helped to
ensure that we were all packed up and away at a respectable time. Why donıt we all make a New Year
resolution to help collecting in controls at the end of events it really
makes a difference?
Hope that you all enjoyed it I look forward to seeing you
all at Brighstone