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Gary M6GLP
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Sunday 15th September 2024
Multi-Tx
DF
Copford, Nr. Marks
Tey, Colchester.
Event format
If you are viewing on a phone use
landscape mode
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10 Txs and associated triffids provide the
amusement.
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On arrival, first impressions of the site were very positive,
convenient car park and pub for later, then the above was spotted.
Had DFers been here before? Could this set have
belonged to the di di dah dah di
di ?
Gary told us that this
could be an interesting event ..... hmmmmm ......... di di
dah dah di di
We all took a few paces back, some more than others !
Results
| Pos |
Competitor |
Hcap |
Joker |
A |
B |
C |
F |
G |
H |
K |
L |
M |
? |
Score |
Raw
% |
Total |
| 1 |
Philip
C |
40 |
L |
26 |
26 |
32 |
20 |
17 |
20 |
32 |
64 |
32 |
26 |
295 |
91 |
255 |
| 2 |
Roy
E |
54 |
M |
15 |
15 |
17 |
15 |
23 |
26 |
40 |
26 |
80 |
40 |
297 |
92 |
243 |
| 3 |
Tim
P |
81 |
B |
40 |
80 |
40 |
23 |
20 |
23 |
20 |
17 |
26 |
32 |
321 |
100 |
240 |
| 4 |
Chris
I |
45 |
G |
23 |
23 |
26 |
32 |
80 |
15 |
26 |
20 |
23 |
0 |
268 |
83 |
223 |
| 5 |
Richard
S |
40 |
H |
20 |
20 |
20 |
40 |
26 |
64 |
17 |
15 |
17 |
0 |
239 |
74 |
199 |
| 6 |
Colin
F |
113 |
C |
17 |
17 |
46 |
26 |
32 |
40 |
23 |
23 |
20 |
23 |
267 |
83 |
154 |
| 7 |
George
F |
79 |
A |
64 |
32 |
15 |
17 |
15 |
17 |
15 |
40 |
0 |
0 |
215 |
66 |
136 |
| Competitor |
Joker |
A |
B |
C |
F |
G |
H |
K |
L |
M |
? |
Validation |
| Chris
I |
G |
14:42:15 |
14:51:42 |
15:12:15 |
13:52:43 |
13:46:44 |
15:26:55 |
14:05:35 |
14:10:55 |
14:24:02 |
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15:34:22 |
| Colin
F |
C |
15:05:56 |
15:11:09 |
15:23:29 |
13:59:29 |
13:52:58 |
13:46:44 |
14:10:17 |
14:07:29 |
14:24:16 |
14:45:37 |
15:23:29 |
| George
F |
A |
13:57:52 |
14:10:03 |
15:50:27 |
15:02:59 |
15:19:09 |
15:14:41 |
14:49:58 |
13:40:28 |
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15:54:40 |
| Philip
C |
L |
14:28:32 |
14:21:26 |
14:18:12 |
14:52:52 |
14:59:03 |
15:02:46 |
13:50:33 |
13:44:35 |
14:01:23 |
14:45:25 |
15:13:26 |
| Richard
S |
H |
14:59:43 |
15:08:57 |
15:23:41 |
13:48:11 |
14:10:35 |
14:22:29 |
14:31:52 |
14:35:16 |
14:43:46 |
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15:50:05 |
| Roy
E |
M |
15:22:58 |
15:16:03 |
15:32:00 |
15:03:23 |
14:42:37 |
14:53:22 |
13:44:56 |
13:54:35 |
14:01:13 |
14:24:27 |
15:40:09 |
| Tim
P |
B |
13:46:17 |
13:51:47 |
13:58:54 |
14:49:59 |
14:56:22 |
15:02:31 |
14:20:40 |
14:17:21 |
14:08:02 |
14:35:02 |
15:13:53 |
Mu lti-Star
100%
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Reflections from a star:
Copford Mudbath 15th
September 2024
Whilst
the weather had an autumnal feel to it,
the thorns were as sharp as ever!
Gary was not
giving much away at the start and clearly had some tricks
up his sleeve, but reassured everyone that the event was going to be
do-able.
The start was
just over the footpath from the village hall car park
frequented by a series of dog walkers that came and went all the time
we were there.
Good three
signals at the start, ‘A’ sounded a bit weaker than usual, F
was very strong and K in between. As L was my joker I set off for this
first, unfortunately I did not take the best path and when it came up
again I had to try and cross the wood and struggled. Whilst waiting for
it to come up again I caught a glimpse of George disappearing into the
distance and disappointed when I found L behind a bench/seat that he
had beaten me to it.
Backtracking for
K just off the same path, again missed out on the full
points. F,G &H all seemed very close by but I decided to stick with
the running order and set off for M which seemed much weaker and was in
fact much further off on the other side of the path/ come road that
divided the site. |
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As I
ran down the side of the meadow I saw Roy at the corner of the
field and a small stream known as Roman River. This I decided to cross
at the wrong spot, using a steep plank to keep my feet dry. Whilst it
looked like good Gary territory, there was not much on the other side
and no sign of anyone having been in there, so I tried to cross back
out, only to find the plank slippery and I fell to the side getting wet
feet from the stream and mud from the bank.
The other crossing of the
ditch just a bit further back, looked like it had seen traffic so I
tried this next, picking up more mud. Roy tried to follow me and I
turned back to help him up the muddy bank. He repaid this generosity by
dibbing into M before me, so another second place – but it clearly was
his joker.
My thought then was to assume all the action had been going on around
FG&H and having identified the wood to the south as being a ways
off where AB&C were, thought it to have the best pickings, so ran
up the main path/track only to meet Tim running the other way followed
by Gary acting as cameraman.
Assumed that the three TX would be set out either side of the main
track, but they all seem to be the same side.
B was a bit tricky, then whilst waiting on the path for A to come up,
another dog walker come runner, held off coming too close with her wild
dog who I encouraged she put on a lead, which she eventually did.
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Fortunately
when the TX came up it was in the opposite direction to
where she had headed off. It took me down to the end of the wood past
another dog walking team, and another track into the trees and right
through to the other side of the wood. Having found A it looked
easier to run down the meadow back to join the
main path by the large concrete bollard designed to keep out the
vehicles of poachers.
Whilst fairly weak I decided at about 2.30 pm it was time to have a go
for the ghost and then come back for the rest. This took me right up
the main path which turned into a made up road as it ran alongside the
sewage works. Here I hesitated as it broke out into clear ground and I
thought I may have gone too far, but no it was onward and upward
towards a footpath and wood on the edge of the map.
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Running past more
dogs, Tim again came the other
way, clearly having found it. Once starting
down the footpath and hill I could see Colin in the distance at the
edge of the wood. I assumed it would be further in and went across the
bridge and when it came up crashed into the wood by the footpath sign,
only to meet Colin in the middle.
Again the
triffid was not too
difficult to spot once you got close and this time I led Colin to it.He
then gave me a bit of a race back to the main wood. Given a similar
episode in Pipers Vale wood, I was keen to get some distance, but was
clearly not fit enough!
In the event
Colin took off elsewhere and at F it was Tim who was
giving the competition and I followed him toward G and then had a race
to H which he just pipped me to. For both of us, at just gone 3.00 pm,
it was ten in the bag. I set off for the car and some drink, whilst he
set off for the longer trek back to his joker B. Made good use of the bench by L to rest
and used the water to wash the
mud off my trainers and trousers.
A good event and
a good meal in the Alma afterwards, though a bit
knackered by then.
A bit of a
surprise to find I had come first due to Roy’s handicapping
system and due to all the recent discarding I had done. No discarding
now – watch out the hero.
Philip
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The Hero League
Organiser Gary still holds the trophy, but a
few are now within range if they can grab a win, or in Colin F's case,
a second.. Will Gary be able to hold on to the Hero Trophy for
the winter. Who needs nail clippers!
A full listing of the Heroes is here.
More detail is here.
And .... even more important
...
.. watch here for
details of the next event!
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| Competitor |
Handicap |
Points
Awarded |
Discard |
New
HP |
Events
as Hero |
| Philip
C |
40 |
50 |
0 |
90 |
13 |
| Roy
E |
54 |
20 |
0 |
74 |
2 |
| Tim
P |
81 |
8 |
0 |
89 |
13 |
| Chris
I |
45 |
0 |
0 |
45 |
0 |
| Richard
S |
40 |
0 |
0 |
40 |
0 |
| Colin
F |
113 |
0 |
0 |
113 |
10 |
| George
F |
79 |
0 |
0 |
79 |
0 |
| Gary
P |
130 |
5 |
5 |
130 |
27 |
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Email from Colin F
Well done to Gary, he
made it look so easy but at the same time quite tricky to do, I set out
with the intention of being first at the ? . . however it had other
ideas, I never seemed to be getting any closer. I managed to find 6
others before it lured me in, I was completely taken in by its distance
from the start, and when I did get near, Phil just ran in and took the
higher points whilst I followed.
He was half way across the field by the time I came out, so I wasn't
expecting to be able to catch him up, but he took a couple of breathers
whilst I tried to keep a steady jog minimizing my efforts. He then
turned back into the woods whilst I continued on to the ABC wood,
fortunately I took the curve to the right that took me past B & C
and on to A before coming back to B then C my joker with Richard close
behind, so I doubled what was left of C's score and validated at the
same time. I don't recommend this method for maximum points but I
certainly got a workout, especially as I hadn't planned on so much
running.
This is what the game is about, there is a surprise around every bush,
ditch, bike, DF set, fisherman, you name it it was there somewhere.
What can Tim throw at us next, I'm on the edge of my seat just thinking
about it. The rest of the world don't know what they are missing . . or
do they..?
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