Dark & White Events/Cotswold Outdoor - DW4 2010 Peak District Adventure Race Series - Round 2
Getting to Grips with Scale at Dark and White
Jeremy Sainter (Dark & White) / 14.05.2010
Round 1 of the Cotswold Dark & White Adventure Race series was always going to be a tough act to follow given the location and unseasonable good weather but Round 2 turned out to be another belter. The National Trust Longshaw Estate above Grindleford and Hathersage provided a superb event centre and some great orienteering. The weather was better than the forecast with a sunny but brisk start; well it certainly felt that way to me marshalling at the main entrance and being able to see my breath in the cold northerly wind. The registration and the transition area were positively tropical by comparison.
There was a buzz of anticipation as competitors arrived and perused the event master maps, but the atmosphere at the start was relaxed given that you could start anytime between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. to suit yourself. A point that was welcomed by a new competitor used to triathlons and the pressure of fixed start times; that said there were a good few competitors ready to go on the dot at 9.
There were two different maps for this event, mountain biking and some running controls outside the Longshaw Estate on a 1:50000 scale OS map, while the foot orienteering within the estate grounds were on a 1:10000 orienteering map, the change in scale and style between the two maps was going to catch out some of the competitors later.
So we’re off, as usual there was considerable studying of maps and head scratching as competitors tried to work out the best route once they could see the location and points value of the controls. The trick for the running was to work the two maps together to optimise distance run for the points collected. While the distances where shorter within the estate the points values were much lower so to score well you need to get out on to the 1:50000 map. But if you where short of time and needed get those 4 controls to qualify as a finisher ...
The biking was just tough. While it was possible to get the qualifying 4 control points without climbing too many hills to score well it was just up hill and down dale! There was some hard riding to get back within the four hours.See All Event Posts
