1st LONG 'A' RACE

[paulo]

KK if you think NMNC is being unfair with you I would suggest contacting the race organiser of whichever AL you fancy doing, put your case as you have in your posts, and see what they have to say. I'm certain they will tell you to go away and not enter their race until you have learned enough nav and fellcraft to be confident to run the course solo in most conditions. People aren't being harsh with you, they're setting you straight on some basic precepts of fell running and racing safety - good luck with it and I hope you enjoy your first AL

cheers, Paul

[Chris K]

KK I think you must just be a wind up merchant.

However if you are in Keswick, come and see me and I'll show you how to use a Harvey map (and explain how good they are!). Then book onto one of our courses as I mentioned earlier, backed up by NMNC in the last post, to gain confidence etc. ''Enjoying the prospect of knowing people will look for me...'' is just the perfect reason for not entering a race. Leave a route card (freely available in George Fisher) with a friend so you can practice navigating a route without being a burden to any RO. Your friend can then be your safety blanket.

[Derby Tup]

KK I think you must just be a wind up merchant.

Agreed. And a blooming good one

[Mike T]

TheGrump:" Two metres can be the difference between a trod and fresh air."

Applies to map/compass even more than to GPS, though I can see that people may be inclined to believing that GPS can be trusted to be this accurate.

[XRunner]

I personally wish the gps software would be as detailed as an OS map or car sat nav to get me safely where i want to go.

KK

No GPS or map will get you "safely where i want to go". These navigational aids will only provide you with some guidance about the route.
It is your ability to interpret the information from these guides and use your experiece of the fells that will provide the safety factor.