Welsh Orienteering Champs

A beautiful spring day showed Bwlch Nant yr Arian off to it's finest - crystal clear blue skies and a bracing northerly wind made it hard to get a comfortable clothing choice. It must have been 20 degrees in the sun out of the wind, but felt about -20 in the windy shade!

The area was a good one for me - lots of tough tussocky open hillside with decent climbs, mixed with dark woodland areas, rough felled areas and Narnia type nobody's-ever-been-here-before areas. All of it physical, and all of it felt slow.

As it happened every else must have felt the same, as I finished first running up on the open M21 course instead of my M35 age group. I think I had about 8mins over 2nd place, but results aren't up yet and I'm going on heresay!

It was a busy day for the rest of the family too as Jenny got value for money on the W35L course, we think finishing 2nd, and Eben got to see the Red Kites being fed just before prize giving - an amazing sight as 20 or 30 huge raptors circle above the visitor centre then dive to the feeding station. Well worth a visit if you're in the area (2pm winter, 3pm summer). The bike trails looked good too, but I was babysitting so didn't get to try them.

Shoe wise I was using the old prototype Mudclaw O 340's with the metal dobs, which have had a hammering over the winter. They have been a fantastic training aid in all the ice we've had (and are still having). Jenny has been running in those Kahtoola foot spikes, which are excellent, but it's been really good to just pull on the 340's and know that I'll have traction in the worst conditions I've been training in. I can only recommend a pair of the new O shoes to anyone who regularly finds themselves running in snowy conditions, whether orienteering or not.

Next stop is the Highlander with Chris in a few weeks time. He's going like a train at the moment, and we're looking for a 3rd win there, hopefully in Torridon '08 type conditions!

Tim