REPORT

When we were asked to plan the event in Parkhurst we were a little concerned. We used this area for our Cub event in November and had to re-plan the course because many of the paths were overgrown and unusable.

Fortunately a new Forestry Commission Manager, Mike Pittock, has recently been appointed. One of his first actions was to open up many of the paths. Some were very wide! So, Thanks Mike.

At one time the Parkhurst map showed many clear runnable forest areas with a lot of features that could be used for planning. Over time this has changed and we found many sections that were now "slow walk" or even "fight". The new map was changed to reflect this. Sorry it looked so green!

The morning was clear and bright and we had a good turnout with 104 people taking part. Many of them were on the String Course set out by Vanessa and Kevin Allen. A reward for all their efforts. Thanks also to Glyn Williams and Dave Mackett for collecting in the string.

We were concerned that the courses would not be challenging enough because of the lack of features. But the times suggest that this was not the case. Some delay may have been caused on the Green Course because a few runners reported that a control was in the wrong place. But we checked again when we collected in the controls and are satisfied that it was findable.

Our Map Memory Course proved popular with six taking up the challenge. They found all the controls, including the one that gave some Green runners a problem. Possibly because they were approaching it from a different direction. The award for perseverance goes to Iris Fay and Sheila Howse. They took almost 3 hours to get round. Perhaps hindered by their two dogs!

For all of you who put up with the rigours of an overgrown forest, thanks for taking part. Your reward next time is clear open land at the Needles and Headon Warren. See you there!

Lesley Curran and Frank winter

Planners