Moray 2023
Some BASOC experiences from M2023
Just under 20 BASOC members competed at M2023 - some ran every day (there were 5 x Forest event and 1 x 'Rest' day when you coudl do Trail O, Sprint O and Mountain Bike O), some ran fewer days. Some ran in their age classes while others opted to do the colour-coded courses. There are results (individual days and positions overall), this year we did not manage any podiums at the end of the week.
BASOC also helped on D5 with car parking - it was a lovely flat field and had been laid out by the clubs who had been i/c parking the day before so we had a reasonably easy time, well apart from the mud at the end of the rolling road which was soon sorted with mats.
What impressions did BASOC members have of M2023?
D3 at Roseisle seemed to appeal to many - lovely arena to relax in, nice mixed course, close start and finish in the arena; great orienteering area but also atmospheric start location and ideal assembly/finish arena; what's not to like hunting sandcastles and sandpits!!
D1 was probably most people's least favourite day - not keen on a long start and remote finish, interesting first half of course, but second half not very interesting; many had blisters after the long walk to the start and back from the finish on a very stoney track in warm sun; one BASOC member was caught out by a map error "I lost a lot of time on a control here which, at the time, I put down to my own bad orienteering and so lost interest. Turns out there was a significant mapping error and the leg was voided from the results. This promoted me to 2nd place overall at this point, but I wasn’t to know."
Steve had a very good leg on D4 at Culbin - have a look at the elg and his route, very close to the red line all the way along, excellent!
Janette really enjoyed leg 3 - 4 on D3 at Roseisel "I hit it straight on reading the line and contours well. Had made
mistakes early on in courses on other days so it was good to have good concentration. Made mistakes later in the course but good to start well."
Peter felt thta the week finished well "lovely area for last Day, fast and not too difficult."
At a large event like this, there are usually orienteering equipment traders as well as food traders. Queues could be quite long, Janette managed to visit them though "Olive Tree Kitchen (they used to run the cafe at Logie Steading) the camper van coffee at Darnaway - good coffee and fabulous cakes, with cakes all day that did not run out." Lynne visited The Big Orange Catering Co, a street food van on D1 and the burger sustained her through 12km of control visiting at Darnaway that afternoon!
Looking forward, in 2024 we have the Sprint World Champs in Edinburgh 12th - 16th July with races for the public taking place in the same area over the same time - WOC Tour. The next Scottish 6 Days is in 2025 on Royal Deeside and this will be the 25th Scottish 6 Days event!
Rebecca has written about the experience of a ‘newby’ at an orienteering event x and she chose to make her first event a big one! Thanks for sharing this Rebecca, we look forward to seeing you at BASOC events and training.
“What a week to start Orienteering! M2023 was my first event, and after a couple of Tuesday evening sessions at Nethy Woods, the Lossie sand dunes were definitely a baptism of fire. After spending half an hour looking for control number 1, I eventually got my bearings and completed the rest of the course in about the same amount of time it took me to find the first flag. I learned something new on every leg, enjoyed the variety of terrain and by the end of the course was completely hooked.
My favourite day overall was Roseisle, I loved running in the forested sand dunes and experiencing the different challenges associated with the variety of terrain. I definitely ran much further than I needed to, erring on the side of caution and taking safer route choices by using paths rather than going more directly. I learned a lot from this day and was able to be a bit braver with my route choices on the following days as a result.
I found Day 4, Culbin East, by far the most challenging with some longer legs and more time spent in green areas. There was more compass work required and some less distinct features than on the other days. I made a couple of bigger errors, mainly associated with rushing and I definitely need to practise running on a bearing through the thicker forest and vegetation! I learned more on this day than any other, and despite making a number of mistakes, the level of challenge made this my favourite course of the week by far.
The atmosphere at the event was fantastic, I loved every minute of it and would like to say a huge thank you to all the lovely, friendly members of BASOC who kept me right, made me feel so welcome and answered all of my questions (particularly Lynne, who essentially gave me a crash course in Orienteering during the lead up to the event).”