I absolutely love orienteering events held at Kingston Maurward, and I love sprint events. So when I found out that Wimborne were holding a sprint event there in May I was adamant I was having the day off work to attend!!!
The weather on the day was perfect; warm but not too hot and sunny, with the threat of rain staying away. I ran the Open course; a few longer runs across the fields between the first few controls before a series of checkpoints in the formal gardens and animal park which required a lot of concentrated map-reading! No real mistakes other than a slight hesitation while I debated how to get to control 12 but luckily not too much time was lost!!!
Heading into the final the Women’s Open course was very close; only three of us but only 2 minutes and 6 seconds between first and third. With the three of us setting off only 1 minute apart, it was always going to be a sprint to the finish! My tactics were simple – concentrate so I didn’t end up making any stupid mistakes (like I’ve been known to do in the past), and run as fast as I can (which isn’t particularly fast)! By control 4 we were all together but by control 7 I found myself in-front and this stayed the same until the finish (although by then I was seriously running out of energy)!
The first male and female on each course won a medal which was presented after everyone had finished; I thought I’d grown out of winning medals having out-grown the Dorset Schools League a couple of years ago!!!
Many thanks to everyone involved in planning, controlling and organising the event, with a special mention to Neal Burton and the Kingston Maurward students who made the event so enjoyable and successful. Personally, let’s hope orienteering remains at Kingston Maurward for many years to come!!!
Lizzie Reynolds
