2009/2010 REPORTS

R2
Round 15 and 'Non-Champ' day

As ever the last two races came round ever so quickly and despite a few changes in the original Calendar and the occasional inconvenience caused by snow it has been an excellent season. How wonderful to have a proper winter at last, with almost 3 months of consistently cold temperatures.

We were really fortunate with the weather for our last event of the season, helping to make it a super weekend. My only complaint being that, after a very cold week, it warmed up for Saturday morning to about 5 degrees and this meant we could not run the longer trails we had planned for the 6 and 4 dog teams. It pretty much stayed at this temperature all day and by Sunday morning there was a hard frost again with the temperature down to -7 degrees C, as it had been all the preceding week.

However, with such a big entry and not enough time for trail changes we needed to keep things as simple as possible so the 6-dog ended up running the same trail as they did on the Saturday, with the 4 doing the same as the 6, about 1⁄2 a mile longer than their trail the previous day. It was still pretty cold when they went out and never went much above 4 degrees. The 3-dog and 2-dog classes ran the trail that 3 and 4 ran the first day.

The Fun Day on Sunday was a great success and was as ever a great opportunity for people to experiment, try out new leaders, different teams and team sizes and for those partners who have missed out on competing to take their dogs round a well marshalled race trail. The fancy dress was fantastic with so many amazing costumes. I am so glad I didn’t have to be involved in the decision as to who would be the winner of the highly prized R2 Day 2 Trophy.

It was a really good last day of championship racing on the Saturday with several medals going to the wire and being decided at this last event. It has been a highly competitive season in all classes with often fractions of seconds deciding the result all the way down the positions. Thank goodness for Alistair’s superb timing which deals with this degree of competition so well. The standard of team performance and therefore the level of competition just seems to keep on improving each year.

If anything and indeed if possible BSHRA competitors have been more helpful than ever this season and this makes the race organizers life so much easier.

As Steve said at the presentation, we are always on the look out for new trails so if anyone has any suggestions then please let us know. The main ingredients needed are good trail surfaces, a selection of different length of trail options and a good starting and finishing area with enough room for vans to park etc and good access for getting vans in and out. We hope to have our annual meeting in the next few weeks so let us know as soon as possible.

One subject we will be discussing is where to hold our final award presentation and meal next season. The less said about this year’s last minute venue the better but most people were really good natured and made the best of the situation, and Steve Rooke did his usual excellent job of keeping us all entertained during the presentation itself.

Wishing everyone an excellent summer and hope to see you all again next season.

Sally Leich
22/3/10

Sherwood Forest
Rounds 13 & 14

This winter has been one of the most difficult I can remember in terms of the weather affecting both training and racing, so as the rescheduled Sherwood weekend approached we checked the weather forecast with a degree of anxiety. The forecast was for cold weather, mainly dry with the odd snow shower. The wet weather leading up to the race weekend meant that trails were going to be muddier than we would have liked, but that is something we just have to put up with in a forest where a large proportion of the trails have dirt surfaces.

Due to frost on Saturday morning the start was put back by 30 minutes to allow some of the more rutted sections to soften a little.
We took the decision this year to move the start to the dirt trail that runs parallel to the one used in previous years, in order to be able to avoid the long run in to the finish on the hard forest road. Instead of being straight and fast like most race starts the first 200 yards or so of the trail wound through the trees, but the climb uphill and the soft surface meant that teams could only get up to full speed where the trail straightened and the surface became firmer. As in previous years there were several points along the trail where outgoing and incoming teams would pass quite closely, but with well trained teams and the judicious use of ski-netting in a couple of places no problems arose.

All the feedback we had on Saturday afternoon was positive and we left the race site looking forward to another enjoyable day’s racing on Sunday.

A few flakes of snow were falling as we left home at 5.30. on Sunday morning and when we reached the race site 17 miles away there was a light covering on the ground. As vans started to arrive the snow was becoming heavier, and by 7.30. the covering was a few inches deep with no sign of the snowfall easing. I took a call on my mobile from the caterers who were having difficulty getting their trailer out from where it was stored. Richard took a call from our co-organiser Leigh who was going to be later than expected as he was struggling to travel up the M1 in his 4WD. We were then made aware that most vans could no longer be driven up the hill to the parking area and were having to park at the bottom. Leigh arrived and drove round the trails, but kept getting stuck in the deep soft snow. As Leigh’s car was our marshal transport it meant that we would be unable to get marshals out on to the trail.

A discussion took place between Richard, Leigh, myself, and the other BSHRA organisers who had made it to Sherwood at that point. Safety must always be paramount, and the main factor taken into consideration was that we could not get marshals out on to the trails or get a vehicle out to rescue any team that had a problem. This, together with still-falling snow jeopardising the journey home for many people, meant that the second day’s racing had to be cancelled.

Everyone was made aware that racing could not take place, and the process of getting vans out of the forest and back on to the road began. Fortunately a few people had brought snow chains and were able to lend them to others so that vans could be driven out.
Richard and I were devastated to cancel the race, but felt that it was the only sensible course of action under the circumstances. I can only apologise to those who travelled many miles to get there and had to go home without racing.

We are very grateful to all those who helped: Roger, Sue and Reece for helping to set up the trails on Friday, also helping to clear the site on Sunday, Leigh for organising and transporting the marshals and changing the trails, Alistair for the timing, all the marshals, starters, snubbers etc. and those who were given ad hoc tasks, plus a special thank you to Jason Boler, who was coming to the race as a spectator but volunteered to help and was drafted in as a snubber. I hope you can join us again next year Jason, maybe as a competitor?

I think many of us will be glad to see the end of this winter and will look forward to some hopefully dry spring training.

Sharon Sargent
27/2/10

Elveden
Rounds 11 & 12

As it happens to be the trend this year, we had a swap around of organisers once again largely to give the poor injured Caroline and also the ever faithful Andree a break from the rigours of a race weekend. Their efforts are unstinting and they both deserved a rest quite frankly! Forstal organised the trail on the Friday aided by Brian Collins and Alan Hickmott and I took the role of Race Marshal for the actual race. (As a brief aside, Andree did keep 'checking up on me' all weekend to make sure I had everything in hand - it's in the blood now I think - thank you Andree!!)

The weather was chilly, frosty and very kind first thing Saturday but by the time the 4-dog went out, was starting to look a little bit 'too' nice with beautiful sunshine (which actually made for a glorious day!) but the trail remained heavy underfoot. All classes from there on were cut down which was a sensible option given the weather. The far cooler and cloudier weather actually made for far better running conditions on the Sunday.

All the classes demonstrated once again that competition is now so tight at these races that to make a bet on the finishing order would be a foolhardy move; the top 5 and even the top 10, just seem to get jumbled up time after time this season and now that some have completed their qualifying 11 races, the calculators start to come out as people have to start dropping races but 'it aint over till it's over' and almost everyone still has to try their level best to catch, or avoid being caught - tense times for all - but huge fun with all the banter being banded around!

Huge thanks to Sally and Ali for putting on a lovely trail, Alan and Sue for 'fly-posting' the warning signs, Andree for sorting the start sheet and marshal lists etc, Dave Windsor for his ever-dependable trail skills, the guys that helped me distribute marshals and of course trail marshals, snubbers, starters et al. And so we move to Sherwood - hopefully 2nd time lucky! See you there.

Steve Rooke
12 /2/10

Kings West
Rounds 9 & 10

I think each and every one of us who attended the race at Kings West has gone away with a memory of yellow/orange mud – largely ingrained into the undersides of vans and the coats of dogs.  Washing machines and pressure hoses (neither for the dogs!) must have been kept busy for a few days after the race but nevertheless it was a good weekend and we were lucky to have largely cool temperatures which enabled us to take advantage of many of the trails which in the past we have had to cut as the weather was too warm.  Although the sun appeared for a short period on Sunday (resulting in a slight shortening of the trails for C3 and D), the weather was mostly chilly.  Yet again we had a fantastic entry of around 140 teams – which meant that despite cutting the gaps between classes to the bare minimum we still didn’t get away until the darkness started to creep in.
 
6 dogs ran around 5 miles and the other classes were held over similarly challenging distances with even the Scooters running 1.5 miles.  The really tiring phase came at the end for each team with the slow incline at the end (through the yellow mud) proving to be a real slog but the rest of the trails were wonderful if damp in some places!
 
There were few mishaps over the weekend and everyone appeared to enjoy the trails.  Thanks are due – as ever – to all those many people who helped out but in particular to Dave Windsor for setting up and checking trails for every class and also to Hugh Sym for dropping off and collecting marshals.  Without all the helpers we are acutely aware that our races just wouldn’t run – but with them, they become world class events!

Caroline Kisko
26 /1/10

Kings East (ex Sherwood)
Rounds 7 & 8

Well……where do I begin? After many weeks of planning the Sherwood race, grooming trails, taking entries, banking cheques, booking caterer and loos etc., a few days before the race was due to be held it became apparent that it was just not going to be possible due to the access road and large parts of the trail being covered with a thick sheet of ice.

Caroline sprung into action to find an alternative venue (no easy task at a time of year when the Forestry offices were closed), recruited an army of helpers to set up the trails, and Andree and I spent New Years Eve emailing and phoning everyone who had entered Sherwood and taking late entries for the new venue, not to mention the always difficult task of finding enough helpers to ensure the race could go ahead.
So the morning of January 2nd found the stalwarts assembled at Kings Forest for the second race in succession to be held in true Siberian conditions!

All seemed to be well for the start of the B Class on Saturday, a good length trail had been marked out and marshals were in position; racing commenced. However news was soon radioed through that Caroline Kisko had taken a bad fall and been dragged along the trail. The class was immediately stopped, rescue teams and first aiders set out in Landrovers. Marshal Tim Hart managed to catch and stop the team and brought them in. Brian Collins, Hugh Sym and John Hough also took tumbles; Hugh and John were unhurt but Brian took a knock to the head and hurt a hand and leg. Caroline and Brian were taken to A & E: Brian was given the all clear but unfortunately Caroline was found to have a broken collarbone.

The falls appeared to have been caused by ruts on some corners having frozen since being made by Forestry vehicles, and the rig wheels had caught in the ruts, so alternative trails had to be found. A group of people took Landrovers out to change the trail, but this proved difficult due to the frozen ruts on some trails and vast ice-covered puddles on others. At last a smooth, safe trail of three miles was marked out and racing could re-commence with a decision made that all subsequent classes (Scooter excepted) would run the same trail.
Further drama ensued in the C4 class with both Barbara Stanier and Pauline Sirrell taking a wrong turn. Barbara managed to pick up the trail and complete the race, but Pauline became lost and also had to be rescued by Landrover, necessitating a further delay to the start times.

The C3, S, D and DM classes thankfully progressed without incident and competitors in S, D and DM all seemed to enjoy the minute start intervals.

I ended one of the most eventful days I have ever known at a race as the last team out in the courtesy class, going out in a blizzard just as daylight was fading with an amazing sunset casting a red/pink/orange glow over the trees on the west side of the forest, reflected back on the snow covering the ground. I felt like I was alone in the entire forest with the only sound the breathing of the four dogs; it was a magical experience.

After driving away from the race site with the falling snow turning to sleet, then plummeting temperatures overnight, there were fears the trail conditions may have deteriorated by Sunday morning, but in fact the fresh snow meant the trails were in lovely condition and we had bright sunshine for most of the day. Sally and Ali had found some extra distance for the B and C4 classes and had marked out the trail on Saturday evening; there were no incidents, and nearly everyone had a wonderful run on snow and in the sunshine.
It was good to see Caroline feeling well enough to return to the race on Sunday to oversee the proceedings; she was even able to take on the task of starter for a class!

Results can be found on the Results page of the website so I will not list them here, but I will just say a big Well Done to Ali Gee in C3 who achieved a first ever double win with her three girls!

At every event thanks go to all the people who help to run it, as without them there would be no event, however it was truly wonderful this weekend how so many people stepped in at short notice; heartfelt thanks go to you all. Andree tells me that that there was virtually no-one who didn’t offer help over the weekend.
 
Special thanks go to Caroline for organising the venue, and all those who gave their time setting up the trails: Dave & Debi, Brian & Julie, Tim, Rennie, Simon Atherton, Sally and Ali. Also Dave, Mark, Hugh, Peter, Rennie, Steve & Richard for all the driving, trail changing & rescuing, Andree for getting everyone organised, Craig & Rennie for transporting the injured to and from hospital, super-marshal Roger, Pauline Amphlett for providing much needed moral support, and last but not least Ali Spowart, whose patience must have been tested to the limit with all the class changes, cancellations, late entries etc.
 
We hope to be able to re-schedule the planned Sherwood event in the near future, so look out for emails; information will also be posted on the website.

Sharon Sargent
5/1/10

Rendlesham Forest Race Report
Rounds 5 & 6

"I booked the catering truck in May; on the Tuesday before the race, he pulls out..."
And so started an incredibly eventful pre-race week - not much change there then!

The trails the week before looked very wet but runnable and certainly with a couple of days dry weather would be in pretty good shape such is the Rendlesham surface; I didn't really expect the snow that was forecast but as the 'hardened freak weather' organiser, my mantle to date remains unchallenged!

Thursday night I eventually managed to nail down a burger van so things started to look better. I thought about a snow trail for all of about 3 seconds on the Friday, there simply wasn't enough, indeed, none under the trees and that made the decision simple. Brian Collins and Tim Hart, my ever-loyal wingmen, had a hell of a job picking their way over to the site on Friday due to 2 lorries 'accidentally closing' the A14 - Peter Sneasby got some good humoured stick for that poor lad!

120 teams in all on both days, freezing conditions, good weather, overhanging trees and a beautifully snowy trail quickly earned the race a new title, BSHRA Narnia Forest, really adding to the pre-Christmas feeling. From the number of people that commented on the race, all classes seemed to thoroughly enjoy the trails afforded by the conditions. Even Oulton Broad looked beautiful although it was deeper and colder than ever! The trails also showed all weekend that the top teams really can manouevre their teams through a multiple turns, some quite tight, at speed; At the last count, around 20 on the 6 dog I believe - a truly impressive feat and proving that these people's lead dogs really are worthy of the title.

This championship nevers fails to astound me; this trail is wildly different from most others we put on, and yet STILL, all the classes are so tight with no clear single leader in any class but rather a batch of people who appear in a different order at each race and are separated by a matter of a few seconds - it really is anybody's shout!

Highlight of the weekend for Sharon and I, Andree my trusty co-organiser and Rennie and also Tim and Sal, was the arrival of the first Zawkast bred puppies on the trail, all of whom brushed away the weekend's racing like old hands... I know Caroline was also very pleased with their collective performances.

So... snow, sunshine, more light snow Saturday night, a large entry, great trails and cold weather leaves such a lovely feeling in the belly. And we even had hot tea, coffee, burgers, hotdogs, chile thanks to Jo and her friend who braved the elements - it turns out they're both as mad as all of us and fitted in just great!

Huge thanks as ever to Nigel at the Forestry who is simply a delight to deal with, Alistair for his stunning job on the timing, Tim, Brian, Nick Drain for sharing the driving duties, the ever dependable Andree who just does the best job both pre and during the race, my Sharbeanie for putting up with my 'burger truck grumps' the week before, Dave Windsor for helping me clear the trail out and every marshal, snubber, starter who helped out over the weekend

HAPPY CHRISTMAS AND A GREAT 2010 TO YOU ALL

Steve Rooke
22/12/09

Pembrey COuntry Park - South Wales Race Report
Rounds 3 & 4

Cyd moe (hello), a big thank you to all who attended, we had an entry of 67 slightly up on last year although not all turned up.  The Welsh weather lived up to its reputation and was pretty poor all weekend being warm, wet and windy but this is Wales and full of wonders, as everyone had left on the Sunday the most stunning full arched rainbow filled the sky in full colour.

I would like to think the Pembrey trails along with the quality of the surfaces more than made up for the poor weather, those roller coaster sand dunes and the hard packed smooth surfaces drained really well and allowed some good racing to take place.         
This was our first attempt at putting on an event and I don’t mind admitting it was a big task, 170 mile from home, a gang of carpet soiling wee beasties, my own 6 dog team to sort out, plus the rest of them, three trails to mark up and measure (in the dark) with very little knowledge about the condition of the forest trails we would be using, but a big THANK YOU to Mick and Sue who were our troops in the drop zone and sorted us the loan of a quad from Ryan Mosses (without mud flaps, sorry Sharon), a trailer, did the warning signs for Joe public, ran marshals about and much more. A thank you to Paul and Dee for helping out on the Friday and over the weekend and doing the shopping, to all the handlers who dragged me to the start line panicking and flapping thinking, I’ll give it a miss today, to Alistair for doing a super job of the timing, to all the people who snubbed, marshalled and start timed, without who racing would not happen. Some people would do well to remember that, missing, shirking, dodging or can’t be bothered to take your turn at helping out puts other people under pressure and takes them away from their dogs just when they don’t need it.  

Panic set in when the tow ball fell off the quad somewhere out on the trail during the Saturday morning and put the trailer out of use for a while until it was chained to the quad, so you could say getting marshals out became a tad difficult and being pushed for the time and having no choice I took them out in our van, dogs and all, you could say I ran 10 dogs at 30 mph+ that morning, all be it in the van and got back with just minutes to spare, you should try harnessing six dogs as they eat the contents of their food bowls which had spilled over the floor of the van and rush them off to the start line….

Saturdays results….
The B class reads as follows, Caroline Kisko’s Polarnights team came steaming home 1st with Sally Leich’s Forstal’s team chasing hard for 2nd and with Brian Collins and his Bifrost team chasing the ladies (nothing new there) into 3rd with less than twenty seconds between the three.

The C4 class saw Ali Koops romp more Forstal dogs home for the 1st spot followed very closely by Richard Sargent and the Keriquel gang into 2nd place and Marina Mclean pulling in a good 3rd.

C3 saw Alison Gee take her three Huskome girlies to 1st and Wayne Fisher blew in on the Arcticbreeze in a well-deserved 2nd and Sharon Sargent with her Keriquel gang chased him for 3rd.

Scooter class, Julie Collins ran her Bifrost vet dog to the top spot with Steve Rooke chasing for 2nd and Katrina Nurse coming in 3rd on what was the muddiest trail of the whole weekend and all will be taking home a little bit of Wales, will they bring it back next year!  Wee Billy missed all the mud-bless!

D class saw Marina McLean put in a die hard effort to finish 1st with Tim Hart (attack) back in the two dog pulling a good 2nd and in 3rd came a surprised and pleased Dorit Fellner breaking her cursed never higher than 7th position finish.

DM class saw Wayne Mort come in a fine 1st with Roger Bellamy running his Aaktuq team coming in 2nd and Terry Bogue finishing in 3rd place.

Sunday’s results…..
B class, Sally Leich came in 1st swapping places with Caroline Kisko who came in 2nd and Brian Collins holding on to a well-deserved 3rd place.

C4 class Debbi Windsor traded a Winterdance dog from her 6-dog team to pull her into 1st place, whilst Marina McLean ran a quicker pace and pulled up into 2nd just ahead of Richard Sergant in the 3rd spot.

C3 class saw Wayne Fisher take the top spot away from Alison Gee’s all girl team by 5 seconds and Naomi Marsh hammering in only 3 seconds behind her for 3rd with her all girl team.

Scooter class had Julie Collins 1st  (again) with Steve Rooke 2nd (again) and Roger Bellamy 3rd due to Katrina having had enough mud to eat on the Saturday.

D class saw Marina McLean take the win two days running and Tim Hart hold onto his 2nd place with newcomer James Sandford take a 3rd with a flier of a run.

DM class saw no change from the Saturday’s order Wayne Mort held his own for 1st  with Roger Bellamy followed in 2nd  again Terry in 3rd  .

Well, that’s all folks, Gweld chi gyd blwyddyn nesat (see you all next year).

Pauline and Hugh (Sybasprinter.)
11/12/09

Santon Downham Race Report
Rounds 1 & 2

Welcome to another season of racing with BSHRA and apologies for the confusion over venues for our first event of the season. We actually feared we might have to cancel this first weekend of races altogether when the Forestry informed us just the week before that we could not use R2 after all and that nowhere else would be available. Thankfully as it turned out Santon was available to use after all and we were very relieved while exploring the trails to discover that the area had recovered really well from recent felling operations and that current forestry activities had done only minimal damage which we could work round fairly easily.

Despite the recession we had an excellent entry of over 100 teams and everyone seemed to thoroughly enjoy the trails. This is the first time BSHRA have held an event here and from the feedback we have had I suspect it will not be the last!

The weather forecast for the weekend was wet and mild and generally yukky so it was a great relief to at least have it mostly dry both days with just the scooter class on the Sunday getting wet. It was somewhat of a drenching that they had poor souls as the heavens opened for the whole class and then the sky cleared again for the remainder of the day. Conditions were incredibly mild and humid, especially on the Saturday and trail distances were therefore kept short for all classes. It was a few degrees cooler on the Sunday thankfully which was a relief to us all. Trail conditions were excellent despite having had a few weeks of wet weather leading up to the event and rain over night on Friday and Saturday.

Competition was really tight in all classes and I cannot remember a time when the first 3 teams in the B class were within under 5 seconds of each other as they were on day one with just one second between first and second and 0.5 of a second between these two places on day two. Thank goodness we have Alistair’s excellent beam to beam timing system. I also cannot remember a time when we have had different winners on day one and two in almost all classes. The exception this weekend being the D class which was won convincingly both days by Marina McClean.

Thanks to all the willing helpers who make these events possible and a special thankyou to Brian Collins and Alan Hickmott who helped us set up the trails on the Friday.

Sally Leich
22/12/09

2008/2009 REPORTS

R2 Forest Race Report

This was the last weekend of the season and it felt like it came round quicker than ever to me. We were back to mild conditions again so trail distances reflected this. Saturday was a Championship day for all classes while on Sunday it was just the D class, and I know it felt very strange for them going out first thing in the morning for a change.

The economic climate has not affected entries as much as it might have but it has meant some changes in our plans with the Woodland Comfort Inn closing so suddenly and thus having to put our presentation back to the Sunday afternoon. As it happened with the D class Championship running both days this probably worked out for the best.

The Sunday went very well and many thanks to Andree and Rennie who managed to look after their poorly dogs at home and put on a memorable R2, Day 2 fun day as well. I can see that title catching on! Rennie stayed at home in the end and Andree came to help Ali and myself. Having the presentation in the afternoon meant it was not quite as relaxed as usual, at least for the organisers, as we had a rather tight deadline to meet but despite this everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. The fun day is a great opportunity to try out different things and I know several people enjoyed racing a 6 dog team for the first time, while others tried out different combinations or put a youngster in lead for the first time at a race etc. The bike joring and canicross were as popular as ever with some very creative fancy dress. The new R2 Day 2 trophy was awarded to Barbara Stanier who I know could not get the red dye off for several days!
 
A Championship series such as ours needs to test as many aspects of a dog teams working ability as possible within the limitations imposed by our country and prevailing conditions at each event. While there is always room for improvement the mix this season was good with some trails testing leader obedience and others their drive, with longer straight ons. Some trails being hard work and others having faster sections where rigs roll easily and the dogs need to run flat out. The best teams will cope well in all different trail conditions. 
 
In my view a good championship requires first and foremost good trails which are safe and have surfaces which are kind to the dogs feet, good start/finish areas, good organization including reliable and instant timing (so ably provided for BSHRA by Ali Spowart) and good competition. In all classes the competition is just getting tighter each year and it is easy to lose touch if you are out of it for a season or two . With perhaps the exception of C4 where Richard Sargent has often been significantly faster than the team in second most classes have been close right through, often with just a few seconds between 1st and 5th or between 2nd and 10th so that a few seconds either way can mean several places different.

Many congratulations to all the winners but also to all our regular competitors because win or lose a great deal of effort goes in to keeping teams at the peak of condition throughout the season and our series is so competitive there are competitions all the way down the placings. To compete successfully you need to really enjoy the training and day to day care of your dogs first and foremost. The races are just a very small part of the overall picture and if your team performs well at the races it will be partly a reflection of all the effort you have put in and partly the quality of the dogs. By perform well I don't mean winning or placing well necessarily but doing their best and enjoying their running. If they do their best and you all enjoy the run this is the most important thing. Racing can be a great opportunity to learn about your dogs strengths and weaknesses and indeed your own. I have found over the years that with a sport like ours there is always more to learn!
 
As race organisers it means a lot when people and their dogs enjoy the trails we put on. Speaking personally and having missed most of last season and the first 4 events this season, due to a broken hand, it was really good to be able to compete again and my dogs and I have thoroughly enjoyed all the trails. Hopefully Ali's back will have recovered enough by next season to allow her to compete again also.
 
It was wonderful to see several new faces at our events this season and I hope they enjoyed our events and that we will see them all again next season. By the same token it was sad to lose several of our regular supporters this year and I hope that this will prove only a temporary absence and that they will all be back competing again next year.
 
We hope next year to put on an event or two further north again so lets hope this will come together.
 
I want to take this opportunity once again to thank all those who volunteer to help with all the tasks that need doing to put on our events and also to wish everyone a very good summer and happy summer training.
See you all next season.

Sally Leich
15 March 2009

Elveden Forest Race Report

A freezing cold weekend coupled with a cold build-up over Christmas, allowed for a bit more length on arguably the best trails we've seen this season. These are not quite so weather dependent as some other trails and so can be run in just about any conditions. I was able to put on some cracking trails for all classes; 4.7 mile trail for the 6, 4 for the C4, 3.3 C3, 2.7 D/DM and 1.6 for the scooters. Many turns included, 17 I think on the B class which I think makes the dogs run on their toes and keep listening and of course, tests your 'front end'! The only downside being you run out of markers fairly quickly! Fortunately, Sal and Ali had thought to stock up the Land Rover before I set the trail.

Sunday was even colder than Saturday; a 3-4mph breeze appeared to drop the temperature to something akin to the North Pole which sent everyone clutching for their warmest clothes, hats, gloves, boots etc. Funny how everyone gags for cold weather and when it comes, they all walk around commenting on how cold it is...! :-)

Caroline showed that her dogs were equally adept at taking turns as running flat out, making good both days of the B with clear victories chased by the following pack at very small intervals; Sally Leich just popping OUT of view on the first day down a wrong turn but recovering well eventually and bringing her dogs gliding home uphill and getting quicker, taking 2nd spot on day 2. Debi Scott is still in the hunt with a wonderful season not discounting Bri Collins who took a 3rd and a 4th and remember, he's only running 5 dogs!

Chris Mindham (in spite of being non championship, thoughtful fellow) gave the C4s a lesson in running dogs just days before his retirement - you can't believe it can you? Day 1 to Day 2 brought a complete reshuffle in the top 7 or so. Richard Sargent sadly came a cropper on the first day and was badly shaken but well enough to at least run dogs on the day 2; reports are he's recovering well.

Sally recovered her cool taking advantage of Sharon Sargent's mistake to take the C3 first day. the following pack , John Hough, Marina, Reece Long, Sharpy etc always around to pick up the slightest mistake to move up a place for some extra points.

Stuart 'Tutu' Parker took the scooter with Steven Sturch in hot pursuit - you never know which way round they will finish unless Pateman turns up with a Mal!

Paul Regan made an excellent effort in the D heading off Danny Slater with the usual suspects following closely behind ready to 'mop up' points. This where I make my confession... I messed up the marking of the D class trail on Day 2, an error which given the time constraints is all too easy to make but which has far-reaching implications - oh, the joys of organising a race....! Very sadly, this was the 2nd in as many races, they're like London buses, nothing for 12 years and then 2 at once, and in the same bl**dy class too - extremely upsetting all round.

Roger 'super marshal' Bellamy walked off with the DM first day, only to be pipped by our friendly man in blue, Athers on the Sunday.

My sincere thanks go to the 46 people which Andree press-ganged into helping over the weekend; you know the race isn't even thinkable without your efforts. To those who thanked me for a lovely trail, it's nice to know you appreciated the efforts, thank the weather also! Alistair for his usual high standard on the timing, Rennie and Andree, who made my life a lot easier over the weekend, my 'wing-men' on Friday and the weekend, Brian (deer dragger) Collins and Tim (pheasant stalker) Hart and also Peter Sneasby over both race days. Last but certainly not least, my Sharbean who, because our dogs were at home with kennel cough (brought to the last race by some t***) drove back and forth from home to the race site both days.

Steve Rooke
9 January 2009

Apologies for the delay in posting this report – no excuses, just Christmas got in the way!  I hope everyone had a good time and we’re all looking forward to some lovely runs in this cold weather.
 
Sadly, at Warren Wood, the weather played a trick on us and went from being cold to warm (for the weekend) and then back to cold.  The saving grace was the fact that having forecast drizzle and rain, it stayed dry.  My plans for longer trails went out of the window and we settled for 4 miles for the B class on Saturday and 3.4 on Sunday, with appropriate shorter distances for the other classes (all shown on the results pages).
 
The B class included one particularly testing turn which required lead dogs to have full confidence in the driver to believe that there truly was a trail, since from the dogs’ level it was pretty invisible.  We ‘lost’ one team towards the end of the class necessitating a short delay to the start of the C4 to ensure all teams were accounted for but Steve turned up and his dogs were fine. 
 
The other classes ran without incident until we reached the D class; a mix up over the signage on Saturday meant we had to scrap the class in terms of the Championship so the D class Championship will now be based on the best 12 results from 14.   This will also apply to the Rookie, Veteran and All Bitch Championships since the D class has competitors in all three of these.  My sincere apologies for this mistake – we are all human but BSHRA organisers do try to be as free from error as possible!   
 
It’s great to see so many new faces coming along to enjoy BSHRA events and the very large entry resulted in the Courtesy teams running into fading light. On Sunday the decision was made to reverse the seeding for the Malamute teams and run with 1 minute intervals – which thankfully they prefer! 
 
As ever we are indebted to all our helpers – those that turn up on Friday to help set up, the marshals, scrutineers, starters and snubbers – all hugely appreciated as without them we simply couldn’t run successful events.

Caroline Kisko
5 Jan 2009

The second round of the 2008-09 BSHRA series headed to Broxa Forest in North Yorkshire for the third time in as many years.
As the second rally of the series, and outside East Anglia, I was really pleased with an entry of over 90 from all over the UK.
After 2 days of work, the course was laid out and ready for inspection on Friday for those who wanted to walk it. There were the usual mix of dirt, grass, heather and forest tracks on offer and all looked in reasonable shape, if the weather would continue to be kind to us.

The weather once again proved to be my nemesis, but it was not the usual Broxa mud that would curse me this time and it would definitely prove not to be third time lucky. The week prior to our visit the course was covered in a foot of snow, which all melted and saturated the ground. A very hard frost descended on the east coast during the Friday night and froze the exposed trails solid, necessitating a shortened course to avoid harming the dogs feet on such a frozen and unforgiving surface. Not a great start to the event!

At the end of the first days racing the winners were, in the excellent entry of 16 B class runners, the reigning champion Caroline Kisko once again beat Simon Luxmoore with Debbie Scott in third. Current C4 leader, Richard Sargent, showed a clean pair of heals to his rivals, with Hugh Sym putting in a fine performance for second, and BSHRA newcomer Michael McRae, in third. In the C3, Mary Carter threw down the gauntlet to current leader Sharon Sargent by beating her, with another class favourite, Marina McLean coming home in third. The Scooter class was won by another BSHRA newcomer, Peter Kay Kujawski with Steven Sturch in second and Stuart parker in third. In the Ds, Danny Slater again proved to be strong with a dominant win over Paul Regan and Mary Carter close behind in third spot. The DM class was won by Wayne Mort, with Richard Todd in second and Roger Bellamy in third. I inspected the course at the end of the day and was pleased to see it had thawed out a lot and hoped for better conditions the next day.

Sunday morning dawned once again from a freezing night and the prospect of more frozen trails. Where the course had thawed during the first day and the rigs had rutted the mud, it was now frozen solid and rendered sections un-usable. This necessitated a delayed start and a further course change to at least have some form of a race. If I didn’t have bad luck, I would have no luck at all!

After an even shorter day 2, the winners were, in the B class, Caroline Kisko beat John Carter into second and Steven Studley in third. Richard Sargent won day 2 in C4 with Wayne Fisher in second and Caroline Kisko in Third with her veterans. In C3, Sharon Sargent got her revenge to beat Darren Oxley into second with day 1 winner Mary Carter back in third. In the Scooter class, Steven Sturch did the winning, with Stuart Parker in second ahead of Jonathan Glover in third. In the Ds, Once again Danny Slater beat Paul Regan into second with Steve Collett in third spot. The DM class was won by Richard Todd, with Wayne Mort in second and Roger Bellamy in third with a little over 4 seconds covering them all.

I can honestly say that I have never been so disappointed that the weather did so little to help during the weekend, especially as it would be the last time Broxa could be used for several years (Hurrah I hear many of you say!). There is an extensive logging programme due to start in the new-year and it will destroy a large amount of the trails with them not being reinstated for 2-3 years. It would have been nice to finish on a high and show how nice Broxa can be, but instead we all saw how torrid it can get. I was even dreaming about knee deep mud and how preferable that would have been! Oh well.

Finally, for those who stuck it out, my profound thanks to you all and all those who volunteered or were press ganged into marshalling, we thank you all for your doing your bit. The rally could not happen without you and please come and see me at Warren Wood to get your treats that are still in my van!!. A special thanks to all the friends and local mushers who gave up their time to help with organising, marking, running marshals around and clearing the course. You know who you all are and I am indebted to you all.

Alistair Spowart
03/12/08

"Post-match" comment
Those of you that have campaigned the BSHRA trails for many years will undoubtedly recall my personal adventures with the weather. When people have travelled so far simply, particularly in a credit crunch, for a few minutes on the trail, it is with huge disappointment that one has to turn them away without a run. As a seasoned veteran of the mud/ice/snow/gales scenario, my hearty congratulations go to Ali who, somehow, out of the jaws of total and utter annihalation, managed to piece together a perfectly acceptable trail for 2 days on the trot! Sterling effort...!

Steve Rooke
03/12/08

The 2008-09 BSHRA championships made a long overdue return to Pembrey Forest on the 15th & 16th November to start off the season. The course has changed little over the last 4 years, but once again would prove to be an enjoyable challenge to all those who attended. The trails were based on a mixture of sandy, grass and dirt rides that proved to be physically demanding and technically challenging working your way through the dunes. 3 different course lengths were planned and marked out for the weekend, 3.25 miles for the B and C4, 2.3 miles for C3 and D/DM and 1.2 miles for the Scooter.

As the opening rally, and with such a long distance to travel, we were really pleased with an entry of 60 from all over the UK. Unfortunately, not everyone managed to get there. Tim and Sally Hart, hit some debris on the motorway and holed their diesel tank and had to endure a transporter ride back home. The course was finally laid out and ready for inspection on Friday, after Simon Luxmoore and Chris Walker had been a huge help in making some final course preparations. As usual, all the attendees were as enthusiastic as ever and the general atmosphere was fantastic with everyone looking forward to getting their racing season underway. For Saturday the weather was miserable all day with constant drizzle and warm temperatures (11-13C) but the Pembrey sand drained well and caused no issues.

At the end of the first days racing the winners were, in the excellent entry of 13 B class runners, the reigning champion Caroline Kisko came out fighting for her first ever visit to Pembrey to narrowly beating Simon Luxmoore by 6.8 seconds with Debbie Scott half a minute back in third. Current C4 champ, Richard Sergent showed he is the man to beat again this year in C4, with Hugh Sym putting in a fine performance for second, having just recovered from a leg injury, and Caroline in Third with her Veterans. In the C3, new girl to the class, Alison Gee took her expanded D class team from last season to the win from current C3 champion, Sharon Sargent, with another class favourite, Reece long in third. The Scooter class was topped by Stuart Parker with his better half, Gemma Riley, in second, ahead of the most volunteered marshal in the series, Roger Bellamy, with his Mal Maverick in third. In the Ds, there were a few new faces moving up from the S class as well as the usual suspects. No expected first time BSHRA and adult class entrant, Danny Slater to come along and spoil the party with an emphatic win over Reece long and his pups with Paul Regan in third spot. The DM class was won by super marshal Roger Bellamy and second was taken by local Mal driver Terry Bogue.
I inspected the course at the end of the day and was really pleased with how it was holding up with the wet conditions, and hoped for better conditions the next day.

Sunday morning dawned breezy, with no signs of any rain, but it was again quite mild (12-14C).
After day 2, the winners were, in the B class, Caroline Kisco ran a blinder, going 10 seconds faster to beat Simon Luxmoore into second who ran a little slower with Debbie Scott hot on his heals in third. Richard Sargent got it all right again on day 2 to win C4 with Caroline Kisko in second and Hugh Sym in Third. In C3, poor Alison Gee had a torrid day as her run was hit by the first out in class curse, loose dogs on the trail, leaving the win to Sharon Sergent with Marina Mclean in second and Reece Long in third. In the Scooter class, 1st was repeated from Saturday with Stuart Parker winning, with apparently someone who is even older than Simon Luxmoore (which I doubt!), in second place, new Rookie Dave Windsor, was ahead of Roger Bellamy in third. In the Ds, Paul Regan took revenge to beat Danny Slater into second with Reece Long dropping to third with his youngsters.

Even tough the weather did not give us its best, I am sure the vast majority enjoyed the rally. Finally, for those who volunteered or were press ganged into marshalling, we thank you all for your doing your bit. The rally could not happen without you.
A special thanks to all the friends and local mushers who gave up their time to help with organising, marking, running marshals around and clearing the course. You know who you all are and I am indebted to you all.

Alistair Spowart
18/11/08