Tag team fun

Last week, navigator and friend Nicholas Mulder comes for tea. He hadn't been to my new place so he heads in the general suburb direction. I'd sent my address on email in the morning; but he hadn't retrieved it before leaving.

My phone rings.

"So where do I go?" Nic says.

"Where are you now?" I ask

"I think the end of Rocky Street."

I can only think of Yeoville - phew, haven't been there in decades.

"What can you see in front of you?" I ask.

"A big hill. I think I passed that old observatory place."

"Does the hill have a cross-statue thing?"

"No, a red water tower."

"Cool, that's where I run. What direction are you headed?"

"South." An orienteer in everyday life too.

"OK, you've got to get over this ridge and into the valley."

A moment passes.

"Look for a park on either side of the road, in the dip."

"I can see it," he confirms.

"Ok, go up the other side. You're heading for the base of the hill with the tower. You'll see a big building at the bottom of the hill. There's a set of lights too."

A minute later.

"I've come through the dip and I'm at the lights. The building and hill are in front of me."

"Turn left on to the main road."

"I'm there," he confirms.

"Take next road left - about 300m. Then the next road, on the corner - green and white, that's me."

A minute later he arrives. We were both grinning.

"Tag team," he says emerging from his car.

Directions, navigation and orienteering are about what you can see. In orienteering you're likely to find control planted on top or at the foot of cliffs (also known as crags). These are not adventure racing-scale cliffs, they near vertical rocky areas that are a physical barrier to easy forward progression. Yes, even a one metre cliff is a physical barrier (rock climbing is not a sub-discipline of orienteering).

Details on orienteering maps, like cliffs, boulders, significant trees, man-made objects and vegetation patterns are drawn by the mapper according to what is visually significant to a human moving through the terrain. The features they indicate are features that an orienteer would notice.

When people usually phone from the road looking for direction, they shout off road names or store names. Sure, I run around the area but I really don't pay much attention to road names and I don't know every road and shop. What worked so well with Nicholas is that he gave me what I needed to direct him. A big hill with a red water tower is very visually significant to a human in a car. He also clarified the direction in which he was travelling. I gave him terrain and feature information and used what he'd already observed (go down the hill, into the dip, look for the park, get to the base of the big hill).

And, most importantly, he did as directed. He didn't say, "I'm coming up to a road, should I take it?". He didn't second guess, he didn't assume, he didn't make his own decisions; he followed my instruction. And because my instructions were confirmed at regular intervals - no long gaps between features - he had no reason to doubt.

This is a bit of what navigation within a team is like. The navigator throws out instruction and encourages team participation. "Let me know when you see a path to you left; it should be in about 500m" or "Tell me when we've done two kilometres; we should reach a road junction" or even "When the powerlines come close to the hill, we need to turn off the road and head up". And if what the navigator calls matches their instruction, their teammates will trust their directions.

Our little tag team activity was excellent fun and I'm sure we'd rock at skattejag. I've also always fancied being a rally-car navigator; but I'd get awfully car sick reading a map at pace.

Next time you give someone directions to anywhere, pay attention to what would be visually significant to them - large malls, hills, towers, deep dips, parks, dams and even rows of trees. Little signs really don't register.

Lucky draw - please whoop for joy

Tonight I attended a lovely evening, a social meet-and-mingle and movie viewing to benefit the Faces of Hope Foundation. They provide financial support for individuals with life threatening illnesses. The movie we watched was The Ultimate Gift (2007; I didn't see it back then), a lovely feel-good movie. [Is it just me or does actor Drew Fuller look like a certain adventure racer?]

David James, the bad cop from District 9, did the MC-ing. He's a super MC and a general nice guy. I haven't seen the movie but having seen him tonight it is hard to picture this likeable fellow as a sadistic mercenary.

One of the pre-movie treats was a lucky draw. I LOVE LUCKY DRAWS. It isn't the prizes that I'm after - I just dig being lucky.

At orienteering we have lucky draws at prize giving. When AR Club hosts events I do the buying of prizes. The items are low value - dried fruit, sweeties, chips, cookies, biltong, chocolate... fun treats. And I love participating, whooping when I am called, clapping for others and if a name/number is called and they are not there or they don't respond quickly I answer with, "Snooze, you lose".

So, tonight we have this lucky draw with really, really cool prizes. People's numbers are drawn - and they just sit there, slowly getting up to claim their prize like they were being led to the gallows! Since the prize is not R1-million, they couldn't possibly be shell-shocked; they're just slow and unexpressive. If your number - we had only one each - is 76 and the dude calls 76, there's no need to hire a detective. You just need to shout "Yes".

I've seen this same 'Lemme not be happy about winning a prize' attitude at every event. What is it? Shyness and inhibition? Phhhllleeezzzeee! What is so wrong with expressing a little joy at being chosen to receive a prize? People look more like dorks when they're unenthusiastic than when they dance a jig up to the stage.

The thing about lucky draws is the following:

• Generous sponsors have donated prizes - their product or services - for the lucky draw
• Someone has taken a lot of time and effort to source prizes, cut-out numbers and to make it happen so that you have a extra fun element to the event / evening

Clapping, cheering and whopping is positive affirmation for the organiser - and prize sponsors - that you like and appreciate what they have done for you.

When your name is called, shout, "That's me!" or "Yay!", leap from your seat and claim your prize with a flourish. Your energy will infuse the crowd and get more people in on the fun. Whoops and yays are infectious, like laughter. Well, they work for me ;)

Next time you're at the same lucky draw as me, I do hope you'll join me with a few expressive whoops. And if you're not at the same draw as me, I do hope you'll lead your crowd with your enthusiastic cheers. Try it.

Colours of purple... and pink, in Jo'burg

I do most of my running training on roads in and around the suburb of Kensington. At this time of year the roads are beautiful, dressed in purple jacaranda trees and deliciously pink bougainvillea. I especially love seeing the bougainvillea in the jacaranda branches.

I took some photos this afternoon (rain on the way) - yes, Jo'burg really is a pretty highveld city.

Rows of Jacarandas below Langermankop (yes, I do run here on my own, in broad daylight - fast).

Highland Road has jacaranda trees pretty much all the way along from Sovereign Rd to Jeppe Boys.

Bougainvillea on the wall of Kensington Castle

Purple & pink together and two friendly guys who agreed that this was very pretty indeed.

Run girls run!

How the World has changed! I can remember primary school days where I wasn't allowed to take part in certain running events - because I was a girl! And now girls play soccer and cricket at school...

I've been reading a number of running books recently - juggling books actually. I'm currently on Dean Karnazes' '50 Marathons, 50 Days'. Last night I read an interesting chapter that made me think back to those days where I wasn't allowed to do sports and other things because of my gender - even silly thing like whistling "Ladies don't whistle!" (despite this I can whistle a melody or stop a crowd like a trooper!).

In this chapter, Dean talks about a women-only running club; the organisation Girls on the Run, which aims to develop self-esteem and comaraderie in girls through running (he serves on its board); running as 'an almost perfectly gender-balanced sport'; and how, even in the 1960s, women were not allowed to run marathons. In line with the latter point, at the Boston Marathon in 1967, a female runner Katherine Switzer, shook free from the grasp of an official to cross the finishline. Things began to change, slowly.

In 1988, I was 12 years old and in my last year of primary school (Standard 5, now known as Grade 7). My school had an annual long distance running event. I can't remember what it was all about except that the pupils (only for grades 4 and 5 - I think) who entered would run a set number of times around the school's field. It was quite a lot of times as I recall. Girls were not allowed to enter and, as a result, no girl had ever taken part.

Sport admin and team organisation has evidently always been my destiny; at nine I was already organising sports house netball, swimming and running teams and events. So, by Standard 5, as the Captain for my sports house (Zebra - blue), I was no stranger to sports admin, events and the head master's office.

A few days before the long distance run I went to see Mr Johnstone, our head master. I explained that I thought girls should be allowed to run in this event and that it was not right that we be excluded just because we are girls. To his credit, he thought about it and gave me the go ahead to run.

Although I remember sitting in Mr Johnstone's office, I really don't remember much about the run - how far it was, how long it took, how many people ran... I am certain that my friend Chantelle ran part of the race... And I can only just remember the poles and tape that marked out the circuit around the field.

To my knowledge the event still exists and girls have been allowed to take part since that day in 1988.

Thinking of my recent adventure at the 6-day TransRockies Run... we had loads of womens pairs in the Open and +80 categories as well as many mixed pairs. I can't confirm but I'm still sure that there were more women running than men. How the World had changed! Thank goodness!