2009 SOL3 Teviothead – Results and Comments
SOL3 Teviothead, 7 June 2009
Officials’ Comments
Organiser’s Comments
Aftter the usual last minute, early morning rush of jobs on the morning of the event I felt relatively redundant until it was time to collect in controls. This is testimony to a well-oiled team of RR helpers, ably assisted by several friends. Everyone did a tremendous job but I would like to single out three for special mention. Planner Andrew Armstrong, Controller Ian Turner and last, but by no means least, entries secretary/registration and download organiser/computer guru etc etc Lindsey Knox.
I would also like to thank my neighbours, Eric Watson from Binks Farm (SW part of area) and Ian Hepburn from Northhouse Farm (NE part of area) for allowing access to their land. Also my, and Ian’s, landlord Buccleuch Estates for their as every relaxed approach to land access. Another neighbour, Walter Douglas of Carlenrig Farm, allowed us to use his field for an excellent parking venue. Lastly I would like to thank Teviothead community for allowing us to use their village hall for registration/download/assembly. It’s just a pity it wasn’t built on the other side of the main road and we wouldn’t have to have a remote finish.
My highlight for the day has to be ESOC legend Bill Gauld’s 4th place on the green course, 4.5km in 45 minutes. I hope I am as competitive when (if) I get to M75 !
John Tullie (Organiser)
Planner’s Comments
I’ve never planned a large event in an area which is 100% open before and it does throw up a different set of challenges for the planner than a forested area. The shape of the land becomes paramount in creating interesting legs and it’s almost always necessary to guage visibility on the ground rather than plan from the comfort of the armchair ! John Tullie, farmer for most of the area, was of great assistance to me in this area.
From the comments I got on the day, most of you enjoyed your runs and particularly the last few legs through the contour detail on the top of the hill. Most of you seemed to enjoy the runnability which we don’t always enjoy in Scottish areas. I got one negative comment about the downhill finish – however I must offset that against a number of negative comments last year when I included an uphill finish on a SoSOL !
Thanks also to controller Ian Turner for his wise advice and help
Andrew Armstrong (Planner)
Controller’s comments
The open terrain of the Teviothead map was always likely to contribute to some fast winning times and this was borne out on the day. A look through current Routegadget data suggests that some runners were occasionally caught out by changes in the density of features and the temptation to increase speed on sheep grazed areas compared with the moorland stretches. One runner suggested that slightly fewer controls might have increased route choice options in certain areas, but I had generally sympathised with Andrew’s efforts to keep runners thinking hard in the more technical areas.
It has been a great pleasure to work with the Roxburgh Reivers team. John, Andrew and Lindsey with their various bands of helpers all made my task very straightforward and feedback from finishers was consistently positive.
Ian Turner (Controller)
Themocracy