Monday Night Fun Running

Course-Setter - Geoff Hudson

As we arrived tonight, the lack of parking spots hinted that there might be a bumper crowd this evening - and we weren't disappointed. Recognising that it was pretty central, we had allowed for the possibility of increased numbers and printed an extra 10 maps...plus 2 or 3 that we used to get the printer alignment right. As we handed out maps, I scanned the crowd for folks that might be walking together - so we could scrounge one or two maps if we ran out. As it turned out, we left a handful of maps on a clipboard attached to the rear window of the land-cruiser...which was lucky because 3-4 folks had been delayed by traffic and turned up 5-10 minutes after we had left.

By now most folks know where the key is hidden - just retrieve the key, drop your stuff in the car, swipe your wristband to let us know that you're around and lock the car/replace the key. As much as we'd like to help you out - we must, however, insist that people that start late return by 8:05 at the latest (Keith - please take note of this) as we often have commitments after our run and may need to get away promptly.

Another possibility is that you need to get away early - for example...to attend a meeting. In such cases, please register your presence by swiping your band, ask the course-setter for a map and head off when ready - just self-time for 60 minutes and remember to swipe again on return so we know you finished safely. If you do leave keys/clothes in the land-cruiser, put them somewhere obvious...like in the front of the car.

Every course-setter's worst nightmare - running out of maps!!  (File photo)

The controls were close-spaced this evening - with a total course length of about 10.5 - 11 Km. In contrast to many of our recent events, participants were treated to a completely new set of street lights - never before used on a training event. As much as possible, none of them were down dead-end courts or in the middle of long streets with one way in and one way out and most of the walkers could reach the majority of the big ones. Recognising that it's now cheaper to produce high-quality laser originals than it is to take your chances with photocopying at commercial places like OfficeWorks - even the map contrast was right (Mike cheers...).

Please, if you are setting a course - whether it be a Monday Training event or a scheduled street-O event - recognise that you're primary responsibility is to entertain people ...and that most folks will be pretty happy if you follow the basic principles laid out above (I can't remember how many times I've heard course-setters say that they wanted to "challenge the A-grade runners...." ...and subsequently set a ridiculously long course. In winter, they excuse themselves with the excuse that "it's a score course...so people determine how far they will go themselves"...without recognising that as they set longer and longer courses to "challenge" the top 3-4 runners, they reduce the enjoyment of the other 96 people taking part because they all get fewer and fewer controls).

Bernie's card came back looking like a scene out of Basic Instinct - although his score card probably looked a lot better than Johnny Boz (Sharon's partner for the evening) did at the end of their evening together. Bernie disposed of the offending ballpoint pen, lest someone else share the same fate.

Welcome to Lisa Linssen who has ventured all the way over from Western regions to take part in our Monday night events - Lisa got stuck in traffic and arrived as folks were heading off. She had a blue wrist band from her participation in the Northern Series and I ran into her shortly later at control 13 - where she discovered that she had no control card on which to record the pole number. "Just touch the light pole" I said...and she looked so impressed as she replied "Oh, that's clever...it records the number". It was difficult not to grin as we explained that we hadn't reached that level of technology yet and that we were more interested in running than getting too hung up about administrative stuff like scoring".

Other newcomers this evening were Paul and Sue Waller - and you'll see that Paul dominated the power-walking category this evening. I thought he might get what-for later in the evening for racing off and leaving Sue to her own devices, but she noted afterwards that "he always does that". Finally, Andre and Cintia also took part in the training series this evening - Andre and Cintia arrived 2-3 months ago from Brazil and are working in the Dentistry profession in Melbourne. Please - if you see folks that you don't recognise at a training event - go over and introduce yourself. 

Competition in the running category was fierce this evening - while poor old Jun arrived late, the top three runners visited all controls with no more than 4 seconds between the three of them!! It's also interesting to note that most of the power walkers got 16-19 controls, with the primary difference in their scores being which ones they did. Pat Miller did particularly well in this regard.

Note that in the last week - we've now included a contact list table - so we can capture contact details for participants - please note that this information is only visible to people that know how to login to this system.

If you haven't used it yet, why not check it out now at http://street.orienteering.com.au/training/login.asp

Pat and Allan Miller

André and Cintia