SO Local Event: Park-O Sprint Goffs Park
This event was very local to me, so I was there early to help with car parking and instead of my usual practice of setting off in the early part of the field, I went out in the middle. This, and the small size of a park compared with a normal venue, meant that I could always see other orienteers – quite an unusual experience.
I enjoyed this run. Goffs Park 
in Crawley is a pleasant mixture of grass, trees and paths with enough complexity to be interesting. With the use of St Wilfrid’s school grounds today, it was ideal for a sprint event.
I set off steadily, aiming to run the whole way rather than “bomb out” towards the end. It went well until I lost a minute on the way to control 9: going the shorter way through trees rather than the faster way around on the grass. I went to 10 easily enough then lost over 5 minutes on the way to 11. I did not trust the obvious path and went along the edge of the trees – but did not see them turn. I ended up as far from the control as where I started and confused to boot. After that, it was hard to keep pushing and later analysis shows the error cost me ten places!
Still, I felt good. The injury still nags, but was better than last week and I felt fitter.