SOG Local Event – Millennium Wood, Haywards Heath
Interesting navigation before even reaching the event today. We were parked at a College fairly near the town centre in Haywards’ Heath and had a walk across a road into the College sports field, which adjoined “Millennium Wood” which was a mixture of mostly open and rough open areas, with some complex woodlands, further complicated by being frequently visited by the townsfolk, so there was rubbish in a few places, broken trees and branches and lots of paths. The area also has some fast-running streams with deep valleys.
I enjoyed this course. It made sense to me, so I always knew were I was, even if I could not keep up the high speed that some long, very simple legs deserved. The weather was great – with hazy sunshine and a cooling breeze. Seeing the very first bluebell in one of the woods, along with lots of white anemones and a few hedges where the leaves had burst also added to the sense that spring is arriving.
I had my cleanest run for a long time – with no real variation across controls – but was not fast enough across the ground so quite a few people came past me. Seventeenth overall in 52 minutes is a little more respectable than some recent results, so I was happy enough.