Many of you will have gathered that the run-up to the event has not been entirely trouble free. The Forestry Commission had severe reservations about letting this event go ahead after a bad previous experience and the restrictions on using main cycle routes, whilst onerous, were the only way we were able to get access to the area (and there were no other reasonable alternatives to High Lodge). Clearly this could have significantly compromised planning but hopefully you enjoyed your courses that Matt planned which tried as far as possible to keep you in the best parts of the woods. I am afraid that some long track runs are unavoidable in an area like High Lodge.

To those of you who found the marshals overzealous - well, the event would have been curtailed mid-stream if the FC had seen transgressions and then we would all have suffered. Whether you agree with the restrictions or not, they are what we were given and we had to be seen following them to the letter - hopefully, everyone's 'good' behaviour this time will mean that FC will impose 'not-quite-as-ridiculous' restrictions next time.

A few thoughts for the next time High Lodge is used by CUOC

• The map is in need of urgent remapping - there are many new paths and some of the light green areas now contain some useable features. Obviously, there have been many vegetation changes over the last four years and whilst we picked up on most of these and made amendments to the map, we failed to spot the 'gorse/brush bushes' which hindered some runners around 104.
• Next time, may be, the event should use a more conventional car park away from the Forest Centre - this would lessen the impact of car parking fees and allow access to a different part of the woods. (Moving the car park to the west would allow access to relatively new areas and move shorter courses away from the main cycle routes).
• Next time, the event should be a Level C event - the conversion to Level B was automatic this time as the change in types of events came mid-registration, but really High Lodge cannot sustain the technical requirements of a Level B event and I am aware that one or two of the criteria for a Level B event were not met (and we had never intended to meet them).

So, thank you all for coming. Well done again to Ben, Matt and the rest of the team - it has been a pleasure to work with you!

As my first attempt at organising a public event I can’t say I was totally confident that everything would run well, or that I hadn’t forgotten some essential piece of equipment. I imagine like many past CUOC organisers, I was learning on the job, so thanks to Ursula who gave me lots of advice on how to get started and helped to find a controller, and then to Mike during the organising progress. After CUOC’s disaster at High Lodge in 2006 I hope High Lodge will be more willing to accommodate us in the future with less ridiculous cycle restrictions.

We were very lucky to have Mike Capper controlling us – he kept us to deadlines, made sure everything was being done well in advance, and was very efficient at replying to emails and getting things done. Thanks Mike. Matt, with Mike’s controlling, got some good courses out of the area, despite being banned from the nice area of depressions in the NW. I think Matt must have run around High Lodge three or four times checking control sites, and while he has a lot of other sport going on still managed to find time to do this, so good work.

Finally a thanks to two other CUOC members: Adam who drove us out to High Lodge the day before the event at late notice to start putting out controls, and Mairead who bought 28 packed lunches and had to carry them back from the shop by herself! Looking forwards to the city race on 22nd October!