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Map Memory Exercise by Marta Salek

The Plot so Far

We went on a horrific set of radio-direction-finding hunts with David and Marta last Friday evening - long drives around the Yarra/Eltham/Warrandyte area - real car-sickness terrain...eventually figuring out which dead-end road their were hidden in...only to arrive there just as time expired because somebody had guessed better earlier. Judging by the locations of some of the controls this evening, I think she must have had some hiding places left over from the weekend.

As we drove out to the event, the weather looked awful - but by 7pm it was crisp and clear - perfect weather for running.  Marta gave us all a map with 10 controls and advised that each of these locations had a snippet of the map that contained additional controls. It was only as we looked at the map that we realised that it was more than controls that were missing - she had removed most of the interior/minor roads too (is there no limit to this girl's cruelty?).

    The map we were given                                    The full map

As we headed off, it occurred to me that the logical winning strategy was "to follow Marta" - and Ian Greenwood did actually try to do this (see below).

Event Feedback

Ian's Monday Ramblings

Well, that was something different and a lot of fun! I only managed 9.5km even with the extra 15 minutes we were given! I took it easy through a number of the parks as my torch was a bit dim. I also spent a lot of time trying to remember the maps! I was happy to collect 14 controls and missed some very juicy ones like #16 just near the start/finish. My course was 19-15-10-3-17-13-1-18-6-5-12-8-20-11. I managed to remember #11 (visited last) which was on the #19 map - my first control! The hardest was running all the way from #13 to #1 and then having to go back to #18. I had the opportunity at one stage to run with Marta (she must know where all the controls are?) but lasted only a few minutes trying to keep up!

All and all, a very entertaining run - thanks Marta for your efforts!

Suzanne left the following comments on her map

Thanks Marta - Memory challenged therefore have action marked map (disability positive discrimination) - had to ignore directions and drew in missing roads :-). {But, given that she ended around the horseshoe bend in an abortive attempt to get #16, I think she can be forgiven!}

Geoff's comments

I had assumed that the maps at each control would show adjacent control sites - but this turned out not to be the case. At control #13 - the map showed control #1 in the top left corner - and it never occurred to me that there might be an invisible (#18) between 13 and 1. There was likewise an expectation that control #10, might show #7 and #14 - as these were both logical route choices from #10 - but the only control visible there was #15.

My impression was that the pace was down significantly - partly because of the need to be very, very sure of where you were going and partly because of the need to navigate a number of fairly dark parks. This was a good idea - and with a little refinement, I think it could be very entertaining in future.

Thanks to Marta for preparing such a great supper - both on Friday evening and again on Monday. This is an event that will generate a *LOT* of discussion over the next few weeks.

Marta's defence...

Some things that I learnt:

I hadn't really thought about this, but if you didn't travel around to the top first and then around roughly clockwise, then you basically had to keep retracing your steps. You still had to do this a few times when you went clockwise, but much less frequently. If I was to do this again, I would possibly have two hidden controls for each shown control, so you had an option regardless which way you went.

Louise suggested that another way of doing map memory is to show the first two controls, then at each control show the closest three, etc. She suggested not to hide both streets and controls. I personally don't agree with this, because if you show the streets, it's too easy to remember where the control is... But it's worth trying.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing! I did the course properly - first going to the visible control and then noting the position of the hidden one, but I knew the right direction to go, and I also did the hidden controls 7 and 14 together after getting 8 and 12, which probably cut off a good half km or so!

Rick's comment: Fitzel has a lot to answer for!  Tea pacifies even the most savage orienteer.

Overheard

"Fighting your way through the bushes in this driveway is a bit like something out of Sleeping Beauty".
"Yes...but are you ever going to be disappointed when you finally hack your way through all those thorns and all you find is David".

I left my my pink top in Bruce's car after the Macedon event - I wonder if he found it?
I'm sure he did - that's probably why he's not here this evening...

Results

Next Week's Event

• 28th May - Bulleen - see calendar

StreetO Emergency Number

• Having a mobile phone at every event makes a lot of sense - and provides people who are late or cannot find the start location with a means of contacting us. We may choose to delay or leave a map out for you if you call - that will be up to the folks present at the time.

• Please record the number - it's my mobile and it will be there at every event - 0407 998 240

Other News

• Please see the proposed Monday calendar - I've published the names of folks kind enough to volunteer to run an event. If the proposed dates don't work for you, please discuss with others and work out a swap - then let me know by email.

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