Points East Number 156 - September 2002

Contents

1. Editorial
2. Chairman's Chat
3. In Memory of Mark Johnson
4. Bill Stevens Trophy
5. Junior Points East:
   5.1 British Championships
   5.2 JIRC
   5.3 World Schools Championships
   5.4 BOF Tour selections
   5.5 Lagganlia
   5.6 Halden
   5.7 Sweden
   5.8 Estonia
6. September Committee Meeting
7. EA Technical Conference
8. First Aid Course
9. Prize Puzzle

Editorial

Welcome back to another formal edition of Points East, after a gap of over 18 months since number 155. Whilst the website has had a Points East page during that time, it was clear that sporadic updates, as and when articles arrived, were lacking focus and cohesion. As I think it can play an important part in our sense of regional identity, I've decided to resurrect Points East in something closer to its original form.

It's not a complete retracing of steps though; distribution will still be via the Internet, but as well as an html version to read online, there is also a pdf version for you to download and print, if you would like something more portable or simply prefer to read from paper. The content will be news, views and reviews; fixtures and club contact information will be kept separate, so that it will always be as current as possible. The contents of this edition will give you a good idea of my concept for Points East, and whether you think I'm heading in the right direction or not, please let me know your opinions.

The start of the summer saw the AGM at Santon Downham, at which new officers of the Association were elected. Thanks to the departing Chairman Tim Eden for all the hard work he's put in over the last few years, particularly since a move to Scotland made keeping in touch just that little bit harder. And welcome to the new Chairman, Lyn West, and her replacement as Treasurer John Ward, as well as Bruce Marshall, who is taking over the co-ordination of the region's SI equipment.

Mark Collis (DRONGO/WAOC)

Chairman's Chat

For those of you who missed the important event of the summer, I was elected to the eminent position of your Chairman at the AGM in June. Note the title. I am not politically correct in this respect. Chairwoman is awful. Chair is a piece of furniture and I have not been around that long yet. When I became Chairman of SOS, one of the committee did suggest Madam Chairman with the comment "Well she's a Madam anyway". Therefore, I am happy to follow Tim as Chairman.

So for those of you, who don't already know me, who am I? I am a relative newcomer to orienteering. I managed to avoid several opportunities to start including living on Havoc's Thorndon Park map and watching these mad people appearing out of the wood on the opposite side of the road and diving back in again. Finally, I was forced to try it along with other dangerous pursuits such as rock climbing on multi-activity weekends in the Lake District with friends in the early 1990's. Husband Colin and I were looking for an interest that we could share with our 3 children. So, by now living near Colchester, in 1992 we came to a SOS event at Wivenhoe, did a white course in the pouring rain, and enjoyed it! From then on, the slide to addiction was predictable. Join SOS then BOF, first disastrous badge at Roman Valley, first very muddy JK in Herefordshire, etc. The children have become very successful juniors and orienteering has given us a shared interest that is the envy of many friends outside the sport. Orienteering has taken us not only to many parts of the UK we might not otherwise have visited but also abroad. It has given and continues to give me a great deal.

As I get more prizes in the forest for perseverance rather than technical merit, I have got involved in administration and organising. I have been Treasurer and Chairman of SOS and was Treasurer of EAOA until I was promoted (?) to Chairman. I have wondered what I am taking on as Tim has been driven to moving to Scotland to escape the job. I am keen to hear the opinions of members about orienteering in general and any specific issues you might want to bend my ear about. I hope to get around the region to events later in the year so please take the opportunity to give me your views. Alternatively, you can mail me on lynwest.ghh@tesco.net. Meanwhile, please can we have some sunlit forests!

Lyn West (SOS)

In Memory of Mark Johnson

Mark Johnson, the chairman of Essex Stragglers died from a brain tumour on Saturday 27th July. Although Mark had been unwell for several months, his condition was not diagnosed until May. He had started a course of radiotherapy but this was not completed. His 40th birthday had been only a few weeks earlier. Mark had been married to Sally and leaves two children, Emma and Matthew; all members of Essex Stragglers.

Mark came to orienteering in his thirties after many years of enthusiastic soccer in the Essex amateur leagues. Orienteering very soon became a passion with Mark. Within the sport he was the genial guy who made friends quickly. He was very much respected by all because he gave respect to all: to the more senior participants, the skilled orienteers, the many of us not so skilled and the juniors in the sport.

He was the sort of chap who was always willing to volunteer to help out. He quickly became involved in the administration of the sport: planning, controlling and organising events. He also took on the tasks of treasurer and chairman of Essex Stragglers. All of which he did with competence efficiency and a humility we came to expect and respect.

But Mark's great contribution was all that he did for junior orienteering. He re-vitalised the Essex and Suffolk Schools League. He arranged, assisted and ran training events for juniors in the club and the East Anglian region. Mark made a fantastic contribution to the Essex Stragglers annual schools day when hundreds of children had the opportunity to try out orienteering. He was nearly always involved in travelling with and supporting the juniors at weekend events. As parents we have all done our bit but Mark did it as willingly and as unselfishly as anyone.

In recent years Mark found the "joys" of mountain marathons and twice successfully completed the KIMM. He was full of faith and trust in others - although often his faith in the navigation of his KIMM partner was a little misplaced!

He was often quietly determined and courageous, particularly when the going was tough - and this was particularly so in recent months. Whenever Mark was asked how he was, whether on some wet and windswept mountain or during his illness he would respond "I'm doing alright".

He had a real ability to enthuse and encourage others - although he rarely needed this himself. He was simply nothing other than enthusiastic. Even a bitingly cold wind around his knees exposed by the shorts he wore - most months of the year - would not dampen his spirit. Having achieved his goal Mark would often be exuberant in celebration and he showed a similar exuberance for the success of others.

His amazingly positive attitude was always there. After finishing day 1 of a marathon totally exhausted he would get up on day 2 as a man possessed by positive thoughts of finishing and getting home to his family. His reserves of positive charge seemed endless. During his illness we saw this characteristic time and time again. That was something Mark gave us all and something that made the lives of his friends and our club so much richer.

Already Mark is deeply missed but Mark would want us all to wake up tomorrow and treat it like day 2 of a mountain marathon - with the same enthusiasm and positive attitude that he had.

Clive Tant (SOS)

The Bill Stevens Trophy

The Bill Stevens Trophy for 2002 has been awarded to Ursula Oxburgh of WAOC. The award is made each year to a person who has worked hard for orienteering in East Anglia often in a "behind the scenes" capacity. Ursula is probably best known as the last editor of the paper edition of Points East. But she has also been involved in many other activities in the region. She has been an active member of her club including a stint as WAOC's chairman. She may be vocal on subjects on which she has strong views but it does ensure that these issues are properly debated. Ursula has been incredibly supportive of the regions juniors and the Junior Squad in particular. It is a much deserved award.

Junior Points East

We're lucky to have so many good juniors in the region at the moment, reflected in the size of this section with so many tours to report on!

East Anglian Champions return in triumph from Northern Ireland

The focus of the winter's fund-raising activities and the Squad coaching days and weekends of the last six months was BOC2002, and the outcome was success in the Championships and in the logistics of the transport of around 30 people to Derry and surrounds for the event.

The party travelled out by several routes, a few via Gatwick, Heather by car and ferry, and the largest group from Stansted at 7am on Saturday. Continuing by minibus and several cars, 30 people arrived in Derry after the training session.

This familiarisation on dunes adjacent to the competition area was most valuable, to see intricate 2.5m contour detail, to get scratched legs from the wicked thorns, to start to enjoy the blue skies and sunshine of the shores of Lough Foyle.

The hostel in Derry is not recommended for the delicate traveller, nor for those who enjoy the homely comfort of English, Scottish and Welsh youth hostels. The hostel had been sold by the NI YHA since our original booking in October 2000. It needs a refurbishment, and much better self-catering facilities. Having nowhere to eat on night two, we served dinner and all diners went over the road to sit on the city walls to eat! This, I suppose, only replicated local custom - but without the local nourishment of several pints of stout or lager followed by throwing bottles and glasses into the street. These habits had been much in evidence on Saturday after the Scottish Cup Final led to much crying into beer by the Catholics in green and white hoops.

Our individual day starts on Sunday were all between 2pm and 3pm, so we made the best of the morning with a visit to the Giant's Causeway - worth a longer visit next time.

And onto MOD land at Magilligan Point for the Championship. Your correspondent was delighted with his run, finishing in the top 70% in his class at <10mins/k - but even more delighted to finish and be greeted by an exultant Edward Louth (WAOC) who had won M12. The joys continued, with Edmund Kelleher winning M16, and Helen Gardner W16; prizes too for Blanka Sengerova 1st in W20L, Chris Sellens 2nd in M18E, Hazel Tant 3rd in W16, and close runs for Joanne West W14 and Jenny Collyer W55 both 4th.

To the event centre at Limavady Grammar school for prize giving, when we were told several times, by the mayor, the headmaster and the Chairman of NIOA, that we were welcome in Northern Ireland, that we should tell our friends about it - and I can tell you about it, and I can recommend a visit most strongly for the countryside, the coast, and the welcome.

Our Squad looked the part in uniform polo shirts, and cheered to the rafters our prizewinners. In fact we won any competition for enthusiasm!

Relay day on Monday was south of Derry at Baronscourt, fast parkland with some woods and a steep climb from the valley to the finish. Several good runs, most notably SOS W18- who came 2nd (Hazel Tant, Nicola Robertson, Suzy Robertson).

Derry flights were in the evening, so the afternoon was on a beach in the Irish Republic for most of the party. 'Is anyone travelling with children?' came the first boarding call at the airport. Well, yes, there are eighteen of us - and out we went to the plane in the vanguard of passengers. A piece of travel trivia - Derry is the only international airport where take-off and landing have to be scheduled around the train timetable, and indeed we did have to wait at the end of the runway for a train to pass before we could take off. Home around midnight, happy and tired!

Thanks - many of them - due to Lyn for administering the trip when I got too busy, Lyn for feeding the 5000 from a camping stove, several adult helpers who kept an eye on the juniors, everyone who supported the fund-raising activities through the winter, Heather who has brought the team to their current standards - and to the juniors themselves for being a pleasure to take away as a group.

Colin West (SOS)

JIRC 2002 (aka Junior Inter-regionals)

Throughout my years in the squad (EAJS) we have had varied success in this event which is the largest and by far the most important event for the junior squad in the busy Calendar. When I joined the squad as a second year M14 (just five years ago) we had a very small and relatively weak squad which showed in the JIRC we attended that year.

There are 13 regional squads that are invited to the JIRC's yet Northern Ireland rarely attend and the feeling was that EAJS would not come last if they did attend, but, they didn't, so we were last. Then the following year (98) we were last again, as Ireland again did not attend. The feeling that we had against Ireland was echoed about the other regions yet it was EAJS that were on the receiving end.

However, at the JIRC's in 99 in the SW with a squad who had more depth then previous years we managed to finish higher then last!!! We had managed to secure 7th spot, beating Yorkshire who are the only squad to have disrupted North West's winning streak of 8 years.

The following year the championships were on home territory and the squad managed to field its strongest field yet. This led to winning the individual to become only the fourth region to do so in the JIRC history of 13 years. The relays brought less success and overall the region finished 3rd. The 2001 competition unfortunately was cancelled due to the nation wide outbreak of foot and mouth.

Then this year the most successful region at the JIRC, Northwest, hosted the competition. East Anglia again fielded a strong team, who were on a high from the successes that we had at the British this year. The individual race was on a grotty area with quite a few brown lines (contours???). It was a very physical area, which resulted in several injuries for the squad. Unfortunately we had a less successful day when we did two years previously and finished third, still a good result as we were within striking distance of the overall championship.

The relays the following day proved to be the best we had over the years with the following results:

• Men's A - 4th (E. Kelleher, J. Lyne, C. Sellens)
• Men's B - 9th (L. Ball, S. Gardner, D. West)
• Women's A - 7th (H. Gardner, C. Woods, S. Robertson)
• Women's B - 8th (H. Tant, J. West, N. Robertson)

However the Women's C team had a storming last leg by guest runner Matt Speake (who finished 9th in the recent Junior World championships) to take the team into first place, unfortunately they were non-competitive as they found out that Speake was too old (and not a girl). The performances in the relay meant that we did not come home empty handed and we picked up 2nd in the relay and 3rd overall, thanks to good performances all around. However lets try to do better next year and bring home the silverware next year.

Chris Sellens (SOS)

World Schools Orienteering Championships

After being selected to run in the World Schools Champs, Helen Gardner travelled to Portugal in mid April and spent 10 days in Portugal, some of which were taken up by the competition itself, some by training and some by simply enjoying time off school (that's always got to be a plus surely) in Portugal. To make the article a bit more interesting, myself and Helen got together, chatted about the event and tried to put together a kind of interview/article type of composition so hope you like it...

Selection for the race...
...took place at the British School Orienteering Championships weekend. As Helen pointed out, it was quite fortunate that there was a special selection race for the WSOC on the Saturday before the actual BSOC event, because otherwise the selectors wouldn't necessarily look at the Year 10 results, selecting mainly from Year 11, 12, and 13 orienteers.

Preparation for the WSOC...
...involved quite a bit of fund-raising and thanks go to EAOA and WAOC for providing some of the funds, as well as all those people involved with the cake stall and the quiz sheets that were all sold to raise money for this event. Helen had planned to travel with Joanne and David West (the other two EA juniors selected for the WSOC) so had been staying in Colchester the night before the plane went - one of the things Helen remembers is that this was the first time she ever went on a train on her own...

Schedule for the week...
The trip included 10 days in Portugal, three of which were taken up by competing. The first day was taken up by travelling, followed by two days of some light training in the competition area. As most of the other national teams didn't have this opportunity to train, there was then a model event, which was followed by the classic distance race, the short race and the friendship relays. For the rest of the trip, socialising and sightseeing was planned.

Orienteering itself...
...was done on very intricate wooded sand-dune type of terrain. During the classic race, many competitors seemed to have difficulty with the map, claiming it was wrong/inaccurate in some places. Another cause of complaint was the extensive undergrowth, which seemed to make it difficult to distinguish contoured features on the ground. Nevertheless, as Helen is quite able to adapt to a variety of terrain, she didn't find this too problematic - perhaps the secret behind her success at the competition?

"Today (14th April) was the most important day, the day of the Classic distance race. This was a 5 ½ kilometre course with excess of 100m of climb. I took 48.53, placing me in third place, about two minutes behind the winner. Generally it was a good race, with only two slight mistakes which were quickly corrected and a generally fast running speed - as I went around the majority of the course in quite a large group. I caught up one of my team mates at number 5, which worried me - as she had started 12 minutes before me! Apart from my individual success, as a team, it was not a very good day, with everyone else making at least 15 minutes of mistakes. The times of the three fastest runners were added together to calculate the positions, so we were positioned 3rd."

"The short race was much shorter that the classic - about 3km. I did OK, but my legs were still tired after the classic race, and I made a few mistakes. I came 12th, which was lower than I had hoped, but as a team we did much better on this day - with the fastest three combined times for the sprint race, pushing us up to 2nd place overall."

The teams for the friendship relay were picked but all of the orienteers had to find their team colleagues by looking at their numbers and searching for others with the same respective numbers at one occasion. The relay was run as a kind of combination between a score and classic line event. The course included the start, finish, and points A and B, which were surrounded by a large number of controls. All team members must go through A and B at the same time and each has to collect their own allocated controls in the meantime - efficiency of planning (which could be done a day in advance) and estimating each other's running and navigating ability is an important aspect of success. Although Helen worried slightly about being in a team with orienteers who hadn't done so well on previous competition days (another girl and boy from Slovenia and Portugal), the team placed themselves quite well.

And the social side...
...first of all, everyone spoke English, which was great in some ways because there was no problem in understanding each other. But in some ways, it was quite difficult when you wanted to practice another language yourself. Of course there was the disco and lots of other opportunities to meet people from different countries. Perhaps, they did not quite necessarily need to speak in all of the languages at the prize giving - once you've heard it once or twice you know what first, second and third is in Portuguese...

Highlights of the week...
Well, orienteering wise this definitely has to be coming 3rd on the short race, but socially, the event disco which was on the night after the classic race. Everyone enjoyed this, although some more than others took advantage of the fact that they would never see half these people again, especially some of the Portuguese boys! Another notable moment was when Sarah Browne looked up some sand-dune and challenged one of the boys to a race to the top. Obviously meaning to go straight up the sandy bit, but remember sometimes you win by list (or is it better route choice?) In this case it had been easier to go the longer but easier way...

Getting sun-tanned had been quite obviously on the agenda though perhaps not so much on the first day...

"The day after our arrival, training was on the schedule but for the morning orienteering was happily forgotten and the time was spent on the (amazingly cold) beach. Everyone started out optimistically in shorts and t-shirts doing the equation - Portugal+Beach=Hot+Suntan, but soon realised that because of the cool breeze it was actually freezing!"

"The night after the short race there was the Culture Evening - where every country had to perform a piece which showed in some way a bit about their culture. There was a lot of traditional singing and dancing and numerous chances for audience participation. England performed some country dancing then (as a slight joke) seven of the older lot danced to S-Club7, the slight problem was that apparently no other countries knew who they were - so were not quite as amused as we were of the boys trying to dance!"

Blanka Sengerova & Helen Gardner (WAOC)

BOF Tour Selections

Congratulations to the following juniors who were selected for BOF tours this summer:

• Neil Northrop (WAOC) - under 21 tour to Modem
• Chris Sellens (SOS) - under 20 tour to Estonia & under 19 tour to Sweden
• Suzy Robertson & David West (SOS) - also on under 19 tour to Sweden
• Helen Gardner (WAOC), Hazel Tant (SOS), Laurence Ball (NOR) & Ed Kelleher (NOR) - under 17 tour to Halden
• Jo West (SOS), James Lyne (SOS), Simon Gardner (WAOC) & Nina Tant (SOS) - under 16 tour to Lagganlia

Well done to them all - and now for some reports back, covering four of the five tours:

Lagganlia 2002

In mid-May, 24 young junior orienteers from all over Great Britain received the news that they had been selected for Lagganlia 2002. It seemed like no time before the four East Anglians (Go EA) reached Peterborough station in time for their train to Aviemore. It was a long journey up the east coast but it seemed shorter as we played cards and met up with other orienteers on the way. We changed trains at Edinburgh and reached Aviemore by about 4:30 p.m. We all piled onto two minibuses and it took about another half an hour until we reached Lagganlia.

All of the boys couldn't wait to play football and basketball when they saw the facilities. We were then shown our rooms, the beds in ours looked like they were on a shelf! We were instructed to go up to the main centre for a briefing and the evening meal. After the meal we practised bearings before unpacking our things. The lot from the west coast were held up on the way and arrived three hours later than us, therefore not being able to play football.

The next morning we took team photographs before separating into three groups. Everyone had a unique number which they would use throughout the week. Our group was taken to the 'middle' section of Inshriach where we did pacing, a timed track and terrain run and a bearing exercise. We returned for lunch before going to Inshriach south for training on attack points and following a line course. Every evening groups of four were each assigned to different jobs and guess what I had to do that evening, the washing up!

After training in north Inshriach on Monday morning we went up to Strathmashie to do a 'one man relay'. I was pleased with my time of 33 mins over 2.8km, and to top off a good day we soaked Rachel in the river.

Tuesday brought knee deep marshes in Craigbui. We navigated on compass bearings and we completed a course using a map that we had re-drawn and simplified the previous night. When lunch was over we made our way to a hill in the north of Craigbui, where we did an odds and evens relay. My team was Simon, Lily and I; we did reasonably OK coming 6th out of nine.

On Wednesday morning we completed control picks, a 'long leg' course and a bearing course in a drizzly Achlean. We were lucky that the weather cleared up because in the evening we thrashed the Glenmore lot at football and rounders! After continuous drizzle from Sunday to Tuesday it was a relief that the game went ahead.

Thursday was a clear and sunny day at Anagach where did map memory and a line pick. After lunch at the minibuses we returned to the centre of Anagach to do the Lagganlia short race, both the boys and the girls race was about 3.6km but different. Douglas won the boys with a 36 min run but I was pleased to come 10th out of 15 with a 45 min run. After the short race we visited Aviemore to buy some food and have a look around. We the returned to Lagganlia loaded with magazines and snacks.

That evening we heard the news that the boys had a 5.7km classic to run, we weren't that enthusiastic, but a morning in Inshriach was better than I expected. Again I came 10th but I made many mistakes that cost me. Rhodri won and we returned hungry for our lunch. We then went back to Inshriach that afternoon for the final exercise which was a relay. I was with Simon and Matt. There were six legs each with two controls and a distance of about 1km. Simon left first and did both of his legs, he handed over to me and then I completed my legs bringing us back in 3rd. It was up to Matt and with two clean runs we maintained 3rd position.

On Friday evening we had the last briefing and the last visit to the tuck shop where we spent the rest of our money. So at 8:30 the next morning the people who weren't going to the lakes boarded the return train. It was disappointing to be going home as it was an extremely fun experience and I think that I have improved as an orienteer. On behalf of everyone who went to Lagganlia, I would like to say thank you to everyone who organised and helped run Lagganlia, Thanks!

James Lyne (SOS)

Halden Tour

When I first found out that I was going to Halden in Norway this summer, I was really excited. I had never been on tour with my age group before and I could not wait to make new friends. Although I knew it would be tough training over the two weeks, I was eager to make the most out of it. We eventually arrived at our hut late at night on Monday 22nd July after much delay at the airport and most of us without any luggage as it had been left behind at Stansted. The hut was in the middle of the Norwegian forest and included saunas.

The terrain in Scandinavia was extremely different to anything that I had experienced before. When I first saw a map I was amazed at the technical difficulty and for the first few days I often found myself wandering around trying to make sense of the number of marshes, hills and crags that would never be found in East Anglia! During the two weeks, we trained on many different areas; and practised a number of different exercises; visualisation, map memory, relocation, attack points, line courses, compass and pacing. We also raced against each other a lot to help us improve our performance under pressure.

The coaches helped us a lot by shadowing us around most of the exercises and spending time with us individually and as a group, suggesting ways in which we could progress. On one of the days, Heather Monro joined us for a training session and I found it particularly useful when she shadowed me around a compass and pacing exercise and helped me to run more accurately. At lunch time, she showed us around Halden SK which is a very good orienteering club in Norway that she is a member of.

When we weren't orienteering, we spent our time relaxing in the saunas at our hut - Venashytta - or enjoying ourselves at a nearby lake in the good weather. On one of the afternoons we went hashing which was a very new experience to me and involved following trails of flour around the forest by our hut. We finished our stay in Norway with a two day event in Modum where we joined the Sweden tour. The tour was a great inspiration and I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

Hazel Tant (SOS)

Pre Junior World Orienteering Championships Camp 1 - Polva, Estonia

After four days at home after the Start Programme tour to Gothenburg, Sweden, I was off on my travels once again, this time to Estonia with the British Junior Squad on the pre-JWOC training camp. The aim of this trip was to spend nine days training in the nearby terrain to the areas that will be used next year at the 2003 Junior World Orienteering Championships, and also to get the prospective team to bond together.

The nine-day bonding exercise began after a longish train journey to London. Around the circle line the wrong way, a two-hour wait at Victoria station, then an hour in a carriage with a young actress who was on her way to her first acting job, before arriving at London Gatwick. Having finally arrived at Gatwick the next task was to decide which terminal, North or South? The flight number began BA... so I assumed that the flight was a British Airways one, so I was off to the North terminal. Wrong! The BA amazingly stood for an Estonian airways fight, the only major airline to go to Estonia. So it was off to the South terminal to meet up with the rest of the gang and then off to our departure gate to board the flight at 18.55. After take off we were served our mid flight meal and we discovered that although customs would not allow scissors or any other remotely sharp metal object on to the plane, it was OK for the airline to supply the passengers with metal cutlery to eat their meals!???

We finally arrived at Tallinn, Estonia's capital and only airport at 23.30 to meet with our bus driver (who spoke no English). We then had a three hour journey across the country to Polva. Polva is to be the base for next year's JWOC. We arrived at the only hotel at 3am and instantly went to bed, no sleep having been gained on the bus as the road had been left unsurfaced.

The week before we turned up in Polva was the official pre JWOC week, so many other countries had a group of juniors attending, including Australia and New Zealand. On the weekend that we arrived there was a three day competition named the Kobras Cup which was three days of individual races in all categories and was as popular as a large National Event in Britain. Due to travelling on the Friday we took part on the second day of competition with starts at 11am. This meant that we had had about 5 hours sleep before having breakfast and catching the bus to assembly. The H18E (M18) class had about 40 competitors and was 8.2km, the winner did 54mins. I was 8 minutes down but first Brit. The time that I lost was mostly on running speed not totally navigational. During my run the rest of the team decided that I should be our competitor to take part in a park race that was taking place that evening in the centre of Polva. The purpose of the park race was to get the citizens of Polva into orienteering and make them aware of JWOC next year.

We raced the following day again at the Kobras cup and had a short race the day after of 6.2km. The rest of the nine days was spent on training and getting used to the terrain, which really is just like most East Anglian areas with generally poor runnability yet a dense squared path network. The time was also spent socialising and sussing out the Estonian culture, visiting the highest mountain of 312m above sea level, a museum, the Russian border and the centre point of the country, marked by a boulder. It was a truly fantastic experience and has proved inspirational to my training as I am now determined to attend JWOC next year with the Junior Squad.

Chris Sellens (SOS)

From the minutes of the September committee meeting

A sneak preview this, since I haven't actually written the minutes yet... but here are a few items of interest:

• Should the alternative junior badge courses that have been piloted in northern England be extended nationwide? We'd like to know the views of the juniors themselves in particular.
• Proposed changes to the BOF Rules & Guidelines: hoped to be ratified by Council in November. All the proposals can be read on the Event Standards Committee website. They will be discussed at the Technical Conference announced below.
• More junior success: five East Anglians have been selected for the England team for the Junior Home International in October (Helen Gardner, Ed Kelleher, Suzy Robertson, Chris Sellens, Jo West)
• For all those keen mappers out there: version 6 of OCAD is now available free of charge from ocad.com - this shares the same file format as v7, unlike v5 which has been available free for a while.

East Anglian Technical Conference

There will be a regional Technical Conference on Saturday 2nd November at Santon Downham, for all interested parties to discuss the many aspects of event standards. Attendance is free, if you'd like to come please see the full details for how to register.

BOF Approved First Aid Course

• 10-12 January 2003
• Hilltop Conference Centre,
  Old Wood, Beeston Regis, Sheringham, Norfolk.

Run by the British Red Cross to cover specific orienteering First Aid requirements, the course syllabus has been developed from the existing 'Expedition First Aid Course' and will include topics such as First Aid in remote areas, hypothermia, blisters and ankle injuries.

An ideal First Aid qualification for Organisers, Controllers and Coaches.

The course will assemble on Friday evening, run from 9am to 9pm on Saturday and from 8.30am to 4pm on Sunday. The inclusive fee, including full board, is £50, less a £10 subsidy from EAOA. You should also apply to your local club for financial support.

Numbers are limited and attendance will be strictly on a first come first served basis. Application forms are available either from BOF office or from Dick Towler, 01508 538344 or towler@acorn-p-p.co.uk.

Prize Puzzle

This crossword first appeared in JabberWAOC, but such was the response that I've decided to give it a wider audience in the hope that a few more people have a go! [the origin is worth remembering when it comes to the thematic solutions] The first correct entry, or the most complete attempt received by November 1st, will win free entry to an East Anglian colour coded event of their choice. So send those entries flooding in, by email to mwc22@cam.ac.uk, or by post to Mark Collis, Pembroke College, Cambridge CB2 1RF.

On familiar ground?

Across                                  Down

1.   Bridge built in archaic            1.   Force into the area of theatre. (5)
      fashion. (4)                      2,24 ? (3,3)
3.   Angry gesture of deference could   4,17 ? (6,6)
      be fatal. (8)                     5.   ? (9)
8.   Cloth, but not for clothing. (5)   6.   Used a sort of wide LED. (7)
9.   ? (7)                              7.   An island haven for osprey, otter
11.  A tree has twisted round. (3)            and owl. (4)
13.  ? (9)                              10.  Gangsters, to a degree, run
14.  ? (6)                                    motorsport. (5)
16.  A diverse selection. (6)           12.  Poultry consuming beer and pig
18.  ? (4,5)                                  in Midlands town. (9)
20.  Drop back to help keep the         14.  Communicate with these nursery
      heat in. (3)                            accessories. (7)
22.  Sounds like cattle have kit for    15.  Colour of fallen hero,
      steep hills. (3,4)                      approximately. (5)
23.  Thin biscuit. (5)                  17.  See 4
25.  Thinking about playing mixed       19.  Chopped - about when? (4)
      tennis with an alien. (8)         21.  King Edward's head, missing in
26.  Above an era? (4)                        a ravine. (5)
                                        24.  See 2

And finally, this issue has had plenty to read, thanks partly to our prolific junior correspondents, and partly because I spent so long putting it together that the articles cover quite a long period of time. Now that Points East is under way again, I'm hoping to produce something every two months, soon after each committee meeting, but for this to work I'll need some contributions from you (where you means everyone that's actually read this far :-) Until November then, it's goodbye from me...