Chris Curtis Web Site

This was certainly not going to be one of those summer events with blinding sun and heat. The heavy clouds brought the kind of moisture that is somewhere between thick mist and proper rain, with a little reminder of the real thing from time to time. At the top of the course when I looked for the sea, a couple of miles away, it was very hard to tell what was cloud, mist and water. Thankfully, the worst waited until the event was over and by the time I arrived at home, steady rain set in for the whole day.

Despite the weather I enjoyed this event. It had a great mixture. You scooted round the park as fast as you could go for the first few controls, then had to find your way into a walled garden (thankfully with low points in the wall that you could scramble over) before working round the allotments and across a meadow, where there were mown paths through metre-high herb-rich sward and into its surrounding woodland. This brought  you into a long-disused quarry which was tricky underfoot in the wet and with lots of navigational pitfalls. Finally, speeding up again to go across the meadow and its woods, round the allotments and running flat out (or as near as you could make it) to the last few controls and the finish. I was not at my best – just recovering from a tummy bug – but felt reasonably comfortable running and was reasonably clean navigating.

I am writing this and putting it on the web site using my pocket PC/mobile phone. This is possible using a natty piece of software called MobiBlogr (www.mobiblogr.com). There is a free version which only works with their site and a paid-for premium version that works with most systems.

There are a few limitations. Although you can include pictures taken or stored on the phone (see below) you cannot yet use categories or even insert a hyperlink so you have to follow up and edit later. The ability to publish instantly from anywhere is amazing.

this is a waterfall in a mobile blog post.

- Posted by MobiBlogr from mobile phone.

This event is designed to be a physical challenge in an amazing piece of landscape. The navigation is kept simple to attract runners as well as orienteers.

The weather was not helpful. It was cold and we were hit by several showers, some of which dumped impressive amounts of water on us. There was a moderate wind too and the cloud meant that it was going to be dark earlier than expected.

The mass start was an unusual experience. About 50 people all running straight down the Dyke with most holding back in fear of falling on the chalk and gravel but a few brave souls pulling ahead by almost flying down the steep slope. The kilometre to the first control went by quickly for everyone – about 6 minutes for me and I was towards the back of the field. Then the course took a sharp turn along paths to the left, uphill across a small field and then along in woodland before crossing a relatively small (but still challenging) hill and then the killer – over a kilometre of relentless uphill: never too steep but maxing out heart-rate and hurting lungs and legs. Proper runners then went across the relatively flat hilltop before dropping down again and having a punishing uphill to the finish. People like me were able to cut across the top of the Dyke after control 5 to finish the short course. I was fairly pleased with my time, though I had hoped to break 30 minutes and did not do so – I went too high in the woodland and I just could not run all the way uphill. Nick Barrable, with several runners in hot pursuit, finished about a minute after I did, only he had run the full 8km. Rather put me in my place!

What should have been a cheerful time for banter became very anxious when students I had brought from school did not arrive within the expected time. Two were found quickly but too had been determined to navigate themselves out of trouble and so took themselves out of the immediate area, though they were not in any danger  and had not left the “bounded area” formed by roads. We had to start a proper search and found them just as it was beginning to get dark. It meant a late night and lots of worry, but thankfully it was just a memorable adventure for them.

Despite the dire warnings of severe weather, the sun shone for the first of this year’s “Park-O” events, now re-branded as the Sussex Sprint series. (There were some spectacular thunderstorms later in the day, so the weathermen were not wrong)

The re-vamped format worked brilliantly. The start and finish were right next to the café and toilets, with feather flags, a run-in, an info station and even a start clock. It created a great deal of interest and there were lots of people “having a go” on the simple courses as well as real competition on the 3km sprint.

I had a reasonable run. I lost a minute through a parallel error at 4 – I was on the wrong path in the bushes. I was very hot 2/3rds of the way round and slowed down but still did the whole thing a little under 9 minutes per km for 27 minutes – the fastest event since last year’s Park-Os. I did have the gps but managed to turn it off as I was starting and on again when I finished, so no track today. It did show that my heart-rate was 183 as I stopped at the finish: very much “maxed out”.

The event is a fair barometer of how I am doing. This is the third event I have done in Hove Park. The first time it took me over 40 minutes, the second about 34, so 27 minutes today is a significant improvement. Given that it was won in a little under 14 minutes though, the summer will have to see more training.

After more than a decade using three different “Palm Pilots” I have moved to a Windows Mobile “smartphone” – a pocket pc computer which has a mobile phone built-in. I went for the O2 XDA Trion (which is a re-badged HTC Hermes).

Why change? I was due for an upgrade to my mobile phone and I had found that carrying around a phone, a PDA and various other things (like my wallet and glasses) was tedious and sometimes awkward. I wanted to combine at least two of the things. A PDA which was a phone was ideal. When I started looking, I saw that the Palm equivalents (the Treos) ran on Windows Mobile anyway. I have also felt for some time that Palm is not what it was. It changed the world with the introduction of the Palm Pilot, but has not moved on enough since. My last Palm had bugs (particularly in wi-fi access) that were acknowledged but never fixed. Not good enough.

Once it looked like Windows Mobile, I went for something that gave me what I wanted. I like the slide out keyboard, clear screen and connectivity of the Trion. It will connect seamlessly via wi-fi (including the faster 11g version), bluetooth and 3G mobile phone. It just seems to work.

What do I use it for? I carry around my diary, which automatically synchronises with the diary on my desktop computer, and with the version my PA has (including a web interface I can get anywhere). There was a time I used to have to have “diary update meetings” with my PA and colleagues – now that just happens, wherever I am.  I send and receive email, have all my contacts, write myself notes, always have an ebook on the go, plus a bible, prayer book and even some games. I could have music too, but the ipod is better for that!

UPDATE

One thing I can do with it is write on my blog from anywhere. This update is being made mobile!

- Posted by MobiBlogr from mobile phone.

Installed like a charm – all working.

I have changed the “mobile” plug-in which presents a “small-screen friendly” version of the site if you visit using your mobile phone, PDA or pocket pc. It seems to work well.