YHOA Sprint Championships, University of Hull, Saturday 20th July.
Planners Report
Having run and planned at the University previously, I was aware of the potential of the area, the only problem is getting enough people there to make it worthwhile. With the YHOA Sprints, that opportunity arose, combined with the Nopesport Urban League event in Hull City Centre the day after, it was even more of an opportunity not to be missed!
In planning I tried to give as many legs as possible at least two route choices, even if they were only left or right. I firmly believe in unambiguous control descriptions, hopefully they, together with the excellent map by Brian Slater, meant that any errors were competitor failings and not organisational!
The long leg on Course A and B in Race 1 was meant to afford some fast running, the twist in the tail being that, if you hadn’t planned ahead, the oxygen debt incurred would lead to some head scratching for the next leg (and it did, as I personally observed!).
Two areas that open up the possibility of more complex route choice and navigation are the enclosed accommodation block in the south east corner of the map – only two ways in/out, and, of course, the raised walkway.
I’m guessing that many of you will have seen better alternative route choices, either utilising (or not, as the case may be!) the four sets of steps onto/off of, the raised walkway? There were other subtle choices throughout, often only noticed on more detailed analysis, which, of course, you don’t have time for during your competition run!
I hope that you enjoyed your run around the campus, next time we may have a substantial extension to the map which would make it even more interesting than it already is!
