Normandy raid - Friday night

This weekend will go down in the annals as one of the most tiring that I've experienced in years.

Friday afternoon saw us arrive in Orbec, a small town in the South of Normandy. As we arrived in the area from the motorway, I had a few misgivings since the land was completely flat. However, all of this was quickly forgotten as we descended a 15% slope into the town, nestled in the bottom of the valley, to find the school grounds that were to be our base for the weekend.

We set up our little "2 man" tent up for the first time in 16 years and waited for the rest of the team, Anne and Nick, to arrive for the challenge. 25 teams in total were entered for the 3 day event involving shooting, orienteering, mountain biking, canoeing and running. The winner would be decided on the basis of total points after all the events, with the team scoring the fewest points (1 for first place, 15 for 15th place, etc.) being announced as the overall winner.

First disappointment was that we had initially planned to have an evening meal in a local restaurant before starting the event but were told that we were expected at the shooting for 19:55. So instead, we purchased a few sandwiches which we gulped down and then headed towards the town hall where the event was to take place.

So what did the shooting event involve ? Previous raids had involved archery, pistols, etc. but this year we were handed competition air rifles and told to shoot a target the size of a mug end on from 10 metres. I had been watching the Olympics shooting events and was now an expert on concentrating hard; holding the rifle steady and firing in between 2 successive heart beats - well almost. I picked the rifle up and barely brushed the trigger before the shot rang out, surprising me in the process. The others were experiencing the same phenomena but since it was only the 3 best shots of the 5 we were allowed, we still had time to improve. The rifle is heavy though and hard to keep steady and just when you've aligned the sights with the target, your left arm would tire, the rifle would move and you had to start again. 5 minutes later, it was all over: 16th - slightly disappointing but this was not considered seriously by the other teams who were here for the physical events. The real competition was to start at 9:00pm with some orienteering, in the dark.

We lined up at the town hall kitted out with our running gear, headlamps, camelbaks and safety gear. 3 orienteering courses to be completed: 2 in the town and then out into the forest to complete the third. We got off to a bad start by misinterpreting the aerial photograph immediately. We lost about 15 minutes searching for a control point on a bridge in the completely wrong area of town. Once we figured out how to read the photo correctly we were off running around the town energetically trying to pass all of the control points in the shortest time by planning the routes carefully. 2 routes completed in 44 minutes and just the final route to do. This was over a far larger distance, heading into the forest above the school where we were camping.

The map detailed the control points and we also had a list of clues for each one, such as "South side of ditch" or "63m at a bearing of 25° from path intersection". Easy in theory, but when you're in the pitch black, sliding around on muddy paths, getting cut to pieces by brambles, the whole exercise becomes a lot harder. We spent minutes trying to find control points that had been hidden in holes, and then trying not to advantage other teams by telling them exactly where they were. We finished in 15th place after 2 hours 20 minutes and 15 kilometres of running later. After our initial poor start, we had done very well only to struggle with a couple of control points in the forest that need more precise bearings and measurements. Nick was bleeding from both legs from having been torn to pieces by brambles when we sent him off alone to a control point. We were all exhausted and it was 12:30am. A quick shower in the school gym facilities and then bed ready for the 7:00am start.

I'll post some photos when I download them later.