Dave Coustick
Role: Day 4 Organiser
Club: FVO
Dave’s role is to organise manpower for all non-forest activities on the day.
“[I] started in 1977 after watching TV programme on WOC 1976. Best result winning JK (M70) in the Lake District.
“[I] have had a major role in most 6 Days since 2001. The event always has a great atmosphere and opportunity to catch up with friends from distant parts.”
Klaas Wynne
Role: Planner
Club: CLYDE
“Ben and I are the planners for day 4, with Ben doing the longer courses and me the shorter “easy” ones. The “easy” courses are probably the hardest to plan, as they range from a white course for 10-years olds, through a red course for fast runners with relatively little orienteering experience, to a green course for very experienced orienteers wanting to avoid the hardest terrain. A very enjoyable challenge!
“I accidentally got into orienteering (from hill running via climbing) 10 years ago and had never heard of it before. Only did my first ever proper forest race March 2020 (Errochty Forest). When the first Covid lockdown hit a week later, I wanted to keep practicing and started looking for maps and eventually started making my own maps and my own courses.
“I still love mapping (and planning) because it incorporates three things I enjoy: tech, moving (relatively) quickly through complex terrain, and being on my own (😜). Unfortunately, I’m a rubbish runner but having fun is all that really matters.
“I’ve only been at one S6D before and this is my first time volunteering for it. It’s exciting (and a little bit scary) to be able to help organise an event that could well have a few thousand participants!”
Ben Stansfield
Role: Co-Planner
Club: FVO
Ben’s role is to plan the longer courses for Day 4 at Balfour.
“Checking that the map is a good representation of the ground and that all the points we want to use for control sites are clearly represented and can be used fairly for the competition.
“I started orienteering at about the age of 12 through a schools orienteering event in South Yorkshire. I have been orienteering on and off ever since, which means about 45 years’ experience of running in events. I won the British Orienteering Championships once (out of about 40 attempts!).
“The S6D is a great holiday event which makes use of some of the best terrain in Scotland to provide challenging courses. There is always hot competition at the event as it attracts the best competitors from the UK and often very good oversees competitors as well. I really enjoy the challenge of planning courses for the event, fitting in the best courses into the best parts of the map to make the most challenges for the competitors.”
Chris Low
Role: Assistant Controller
Club: Maroc
Chris’ role is to assist the course planners, ensuring that the courses meet the specified technical criteria and that the controls are in the right place.
“[I] stumbled into orienteering as a runner about 30 years ago.
“Being part of a major event mainly run by a huge team of dedicated and professional volunteers is very rewarding when it all comes together. I’ve volunteered for about the last 7 or 8 S6D events.”