Relay day at the JK was just a bit of fun for us, our first as a family team, with Holly on first leg, Cath out second and me on anchor. Holly had a shadow as an orange, going on light green standard course for a 8 year old is a little over the top, still we ended up mid table which was good.
I spent most of the Relay day however in the commentary van so thought I’d give an insight into what goes on behind the scenes.
Originally I was meant to do just a few hours over the weekend joining in with a small team of invited ‘volunteers’ to provide commentary at the 4 days which make up the JK, however I ended up doing far more, due to no shows and some late arrivals of my colleagues.
The JK is slightly different than say the British Championships as although it is a UK premier event it is also a family orienteering festival with competitors ranging from 8 to 80 and abilities from Britain’s best Elites to recreational orienteers just happy to get round. Together with the commentating I also found myself acting as an MC, announcing birthdays, information, call ups and sponsors adverts.
Getting a balance between following the elite classes, the top runners in non elite classes and general commentary and MCing is difficult but I tried to strike a balance that should have kept most people happy.
Inside the commentary van we have pages of information: start lists, programmes, bios, adverts and squalking radios. We also have 6 laptops in front of us, often with two windows open per screen all showing information about the runners about to start, those punching in at ‘radio’ controls out in the terrain, both mid-course and those about to enter the finish tunnel and final positions.
At an elite only event it is fairly straight forward to follow one class at a time but the JK relays were a baptism of fire for the newbie commentator trying to follow the action and provide information to the event arena.
Imagine doing all the following on your own at the same time which I found myself doing at one point:
Keep an eye on the clock, announce call up for map issue, announce the Women’s elite relay starts, commentate on the mini relay finish, take notes from people appearing at the van door, sponsors adverts, keep an eye on the radio data for the male elites about to come into the spectator control etc etc etc…
Oh and try not to say anything daft, try to pronounce Irish names properly and don’t swear !
Eventually I got some help and things calmed down a bit but it required immense concentration.
I’m not sure I or in fact Cath and Holly are ready for me to provide full on commentary for a whole event yet, it’s a big commitment and makes competing too a little difficult, particularly on a weekend which for me was meant to be a holiday, but I enjoyed it and would consider doing it again.