Chester Sprint weekend10/11 October 2015
Just two of ESOC’s Sprint enthusiasts competed at this excellent 4-event weekend, organised by Deeside Orienteering Club.
The first event, in the afternoon of Saturday 10 October, was a forest sprint at Eastham Country Park, near Ellesmere Port, on the W shore of the Mersey estuary. The terrain was a mix of open woodland, some fields and a complex network of paths in the remnants of the Victorian Pleasure Gardens, where there was also small man-made hills, disused fountains, and a bear pit.
Next came a night sprint, on Saturday evening, in Grosvenor Park, which is very dark although right in the centre of Chester. It is a small landscaped park, mainly grass with mature trees, flower beds and unusual features including a fenced playground, a miniature railway track, an ornamental lake, and crags at the side of a lower area. Courses covered the whole of the park, with many controls on similar features. The long course had 55 controls in 3.9 km, which was great fun. You received 3 maps (stapled together) at the start, and ran your first course, punched the finish, immediately turned over to the next map and set off on that course, and so on. Runners started at 15 second intervals, so there were people dashing in all directions, which must have been an interesting spectacle for onlookers.
On the morning of Sunday 11 October, there was an urban sprint in the centre of Chester. This is a fairly typical city centre, with added interest provided by the city walls, multi-level galleried shops, narrow alleyways, and the Roman amphitheatre. There was plenty of route choice, and the finish was in Grosvenor Park, giving an opportunity to properly see the area visited the night before.
On Sunday afternoon, the final event of the weekend was at The Dale Barracks, on the north side of Chester. This area is similar to a university campus, with many buildings and paths in landscaped surroundings, as well as clusters of older and new houses, paved areas and some larger open grassy sections.
Sally and Crawford Lindsay thoroughly enjoyed all 4 races, and the weather was fine throughout.
Full results and officials’ comments are available on the DEE website.
Some photos from the Chester Urban Sprint are in the Chester Urban Sprint album of ESOC's Google Album Archive.
The Forest Sprint was the 16th event in the 2015 UK Orienteering League, and the Urban Sprints (combined) were the 17th event.
The Urban Sprints (combined) were also the 14th event in the 2015 UK Urban League. League tables and other details about this league are on the UK Urban League website.
Other entries categorised under: Event Reports