Graham Hardy
How and when did you get into orienteering?
I used to be a keen pothole descendant. Pam would come along with me but not go down. She would wait sometimes for many hours) until I popped up again. Eventually she decided that sitting in a field or a on a rock was positively boring so she stumbled across an O event near one of my potholes and entered. She enjoyed it and enthused about it so much I got curious to try it myself. Consequently the two of us got hooked and potholing fell by the wayside! If you want to buy the kit, I've still got it!
What is it you like about orienteering?
One would like to say winning, but that has not happened yet! I am not sure I have an answer to the question at all! Getting rained on can be fun, slopping delightfully through mud comes to mind, being hopelessly lost is a definite adrenaline flow! Finishing, and then learning you have missed out a control gives a relaxing peace of mind. Ultimately the only satisfaction that really works for me is beating a fellow WRE member running in the same class as oneself. Well, it should work for me in theory, but I have yet to find out!
What is your favourite discipline? (Forest, urban, night, score etc..)
I suppose it has to be in the forest. I can hide in there. In an urban event, even shoppers can tell by the way I am standing and turning the map, that I am lost. Someone once asked me if Tesco's supermarket was on my map! Night events are rare in my personal 'O' calendar but I have done a few. I also finished one once! Score events are OK. I can punch any control that I stumble across and witnesses think I am right on course! I, however, generally know otherwise.
What is your favourite area you've competed at?
My favourite area will be the area I can win my class on. Consequently I shall treat this question with a small element of disdain.
Who do you admire in the sport?
I am told to be very careful how I answer this question. My wife successfully orienteers a lot !
Moving on . . .
What would you change in orienteering?
The fancy dress costumes. The length and climb of my courses. Publishing my personal results. Public post mortems. The tatty bit of string that fails to hold my glasses in place. The lack of seating, tea and biscuits at control eight. Rainy event days. Queries about my route choice should be banned. Huge maps when my course only covers the bottom quarter. Two mile walks to the start. Two mile walks from the finish. The mileage traveled to get to some events. Dare I go on . . .?
Do you have any orienteering ambitions or Targets?
I would give my right arm to win my course just once! But then I would have no way of holding the next event's map.
Other interests - what do you do when you're not orienteering?
Sunday evenings and most of Monday mornings are spent doing post-mortems about the Sunday afternoon's event. The word "why" crops up a thousand times during this intensive procedure. I am a keen ski holiday addict - once I went for the whole season. Now it is just for a fortnight or so. Pam likes walking holidays, so I become Sherpa Tensing for those weeks. I quite enjoy DIY tasks around the house - but definitely not the garden. I spend more time than is sensible on the computer. I am a Culmington Village Parish Councillor. Bookings for our village hall are also my bag on the village hall committee. I have a pub night with a few mates every Wednesday without fail. Sometimes people send me questionnaires and I sit here and answer them . . .!!!
How and when did you get into orienteering?
I used to be a keen pothole descendant. Pam would come along with me but not go down. She would wait sometimes for many hours) until I popped up again. Eventually she decided that sitting in a field or a on a rock was positively boring so she stumbled across an O event near one of my potholes and entered. She enjoyed it and enthused about it so much I got curious to try it myself. Consequently the two of us got hooked and potholing fell by the wayside! If you want to buy the kit, I've still got it!
What is it you like about orienteering?
One would like to say winning, but that has not happened yet! I am not sure I have an answer to the question at all! Getting rained on can be fun, slopping delightfully through mud comes to mind, being hopelessly lost is a definite adrenaline flow! Finishing, and then learning you have missed out a control gives a relaxing peace of mind. Ultimately the only satisfaction that really works for me is beating a fellow WRE member running in the same class as oneself. Well, it should work for me in theory, but I have yet to find out!
What is your favourite discipline? (Forest, urban, night, score etc..)
I suppose it has to be in the forest. I can hide in there. In an urban event, even shoppers can tell by the way I am standing and turning the map, that I am lost. Someone once asked me if Tesco's supermarket was on my map! Night events are rare in my personal 'O' calendar but I have done a few. I also finished one once! Score events are OK. I can punch any control that I stumble across and witnesses think I am right on course! I, however, generally know otherwise.
What is your favourite area you've competed at?
My favourite area will be the area I can win my class on. Consequently I shall treat this question with a small element of disdain.
Who do you admire in the sport?
I am told to be very careful how I answer this question. My wife successfully orienteers a lot !
Moving on . . .
What would you change in orienteering?
The fancy dress costumes. The length and climb of my courses. Publishing my personal results. Public post mortems. The tatty bit of string that fails to hold my glasses in place. The lack of seating, tea and biscuits at control eight. Rainy event days. Queries about my route choice should be banned. Huge maps when my course only covers the bottom quarter. Two mile walks to the start. Two mile walks from the finish. The mileage traveled to get to some events. Dare I go on . . .?
Do you have any orienteering ambitions or Targets?
I would give my right arm to win my course just once! But then I would have no way of holding the next event's map.
Other interests - what do you do when you're not orienteering?
Sunday evenings and most of Monday mornings are spent doing post-mortems about the Sunday afternoon's event. The word "why" crops up a thousand times during this intensive procedure. I am a keen ski holiday addict - once I went for the whole season. Now it is just for a fortnight or so. Pam likes walking holidays, so I become Sherpa Tensing for those weeks. I quite enjoy DIY tasks around the house - but definitely not the garden. I spend more time than is sensible on the computer. I am a Culmington Village Parish Councillor. Bookings for our village hall are also my bag on the village hall committee. I have a pub night with a few mates every Wednesday without fail. Sometimes people send me questionnaires and I sit here and answer them . . .!!!