Over 28th/29th May Mark & I took part in the OMM Lite Adventure Race in Grasmere. A little different to classic orienteering but we did see a few people with their club shirts on out there!

Day 1 was a 5-hour score challenge. The map was Ordnance Survey 1:25,000. It took an hour or so to get used to that and the terrain, but after that and a quick snack, we made better progress. Mark was the main navigator, but I did also come up with a couple of route choice suggestions too. One control on a small island in a boggy tarn was impossible for me to reach. We were able to contest it afterwards as Mark had also been issued with a GPS tracker. We opted for an additional 30 pointer near the end expecting to lose a few points for being over time but ended up getting back with just under 2 mins to spare.

Day 2 was a 4-hour score. We spent more time planning a route, with Mark using his skills to keep it a flatter one. We ended on a fairly speedy charge up and over a saddle between 2 fells towards the end. Thanks to both my laces coming undone while running through Grasmere we ended 21 seconds over time, although made for good comedy at the finish line.

The challenge was hard for me and at one point said I hated it and never wanted to do an OMM in the Lake District again, but after a bit of re-fueling on Mark's excellent hummus & carrot wraps things seemed much better! We got back to an email confirming they're doing the event in the same place next year, so I'm already thinking maybe I will go for it again.

This is just a reminder that the Romsey maprun social is tonight, due to the bank holiday tomorrow.

Meet at 6.30 pm for the run at Abbotswood Sports Ground, SO51 0BG.

The social afterwards is at the Dog and Crook pub, Braishfield, SO51 0QB

As discussed recently at the AGM, the club typically tries to break even on Level D events, relying on larger events like the November Classic to cover the club's running costs. Julian had previously suggested that it would be interesting to see a breakdown of the accounts for a recent event: Farley Mount on 10 April.

First up, income. The event had 51 seniors and 13 juniors with the entry fees set at £9 and £4.50 respectively. Helpers also pay half price and one person used £3 credit (e.g. from a refund due to Covid related non-attendance at a previous event). As a consequence, the total income was £516.

Now the expenditure, with the most expensive first:

• £144 for one portaloo! Our agreement with Forest England requires us to provide toilets if there are none on site. The toilet itself is £60, but then it's another £60 for collection/delivery + VAT.
• £115 to Forestry England for land access. In 2023, this is the minimal levy payable to Forestry England and covers events with 1 to 150 senior participants. If you're wondering why the courses did not use the open hillside, this is owned by Hampshire Country Council and would have required payment of an additional levy.
• £88.70 for printing. 82 maps @ 65p, 175 control descriptions @ 12p, £12 for delivery and £2.40 VAT. Whilst pre-entry has helped greatly with estimating map numbers we try to allow a few for last minute entries and, of course, maps are needed for control hanging/collection on the day. We used to collect the maps from BML in Romsey but sadly they are no longer based locally hence the delivery charge.
• £82.50 to British Orienteering for the levy. The levy is currently £1.50 per senior with juniors counting as one-third of a senior (rounded down). SCOA levy only applies to Level C events and above
• £53.55 for Planner/Organiser expenses. The Planner lives local to the area so did not claim for trips to the area for planning and mapping but claimed mileage to collect/return equipment from the club store in Southampton. The Organiser also only claimed mileage for a single trip to the area via the club store.
• £24.44 to RaceSignup to cover entry processing fees.

If you're keeping track, the total expenditure comes to £508.19 i.e. the event had a surplus of £7.81. Oh, except that doesn't take into account that, to thank the Planner/Organiser, the club credits these officials with the cost of a run that they can use against a future event (i.e. £9 each).

Hopefully, this goes some way to explaining why entry fees are as they are. You'll see that the majority of the costs are actually fixed so, if we can increase attendance, the cost per competitor will decrease. You'll also see why events that are not on Forestry England land and already have a toilet on site are often significantly cheaper.