Rana
Well-Known Member
Well, last time I posted a volunteers report, someone made the awful mistake of saying they enjoyed it 
So you can have another one
It was another early start for me to get up to Blenheim - it was a 9.30 briefing, but I wasn't sure how the traffic would be, so got there super early (8am) to make sure I wasn't late! Had a wander, found the FJ briefing and had a natter with some of the people there. Then pottered off down to the Start, nicking some bacon rolls on my way
Met up with everyone at the Start, I know a few people but needed introducing to the others. It was a very experienced team, so I felt like a fish out of water! We decided who was doing what inside the box itself - I was Start and Finish Timekeeper, so I was recording both times and working out the penalties (thank God for crib sheets!).
It was busy, but not too stressful, as there were alternating 3-4 minute intervals between horses (at most BE events it's 90-120 seconds). We didn't miss a single time all day (we were getting 3 or 4 times for each horse, so as to make sure it was accurate). We could even see a couple of jumps, so it was nice to have something to watch.
Great to receive some acknowledgement from the riders. Francis W popped in after his round to say thank you and our hard work was appreciated - it was lovely of him to take the time out to do that. And JP Sheffield said good morning as he rode round the starting area. It really does make a difference when riders acknowledge that we exist (although I do of course understand that the XC start is not everyone's favourite place!).
There were a couple of holds on course, but nothing major, and we were easily able to catch up by dropping all intervals to 3 minutes.
The whole team did a great job - the warm up stewards kept the horses coming through regularly, the count down stewards kept everyone organised, the starters got them out on time, and the start box kept all the times in order.
Saturday was busy in the trade stands, so I headed straight home. Sunday was another early start, but we finished XC at lunchtime, so I popped up to the crew tent for some lunch, then got an ice cream and watched some of the SJ before resisting shopping temptation and going home to sort out my own horse.
Purston Manor for me next (taken a day off work to help out), then a weekend off, then SOE followed by Dauntsey, a weekend off and T'down UA finishes the season. Then I can start planning next year
So you can have another one It was another early start for me to get up to Blenheim - it was a 9.30 briefing, but I wasn't sure how the traffic would be, so got there super early (8am) to make sure I wasn't late! Had a wander, found the FJ briefing and had a natter with some of the people there. Then pottered off down to the Start, nicking some bacon rolls on my way
Met up with everyone at the Start, I know a few people but needed introducing to the others. It was a very experienced team, so I felt like a fish out of water! We decided who was doing what inside the box itself - I was Start and Finish Timekeeper, so I was recording both times and working out the penalties (thank God for crib sheets!).
It was busy, but not too stressful, as there were alternating 3-4 minute intervals between horses (at most BE events it's 90-120 seconds). We didn't miss a single time all day (we were getting 3 or 4 times for each horse, so as to make sure it was accurate). We could even see a couple of jumps, so it was nice to have something to watch.
Great to receive some acknowledgement from the riders. Francis W popped in after his round to say thank you and our hard work was appreciated - it was lovely of him to take the time out to do that. And JP Sheffield said good morning as he rode round the starting area. It really does make a difference when riders acknowledge that we exist (although I do of course understand that the XC start is not everyone's favourite place!).
There were a couple of holds on course, but nothing major, and we were easily able to catch up by dropping all intervals to 3 minutes.
The whole team did a great job - the warm up stewards kept the horses coming through regularly, the count down stewards kept everyone organised, the starters got them out on time, and the start box kept all the times in order.
Saturday was busy in the trade stands, so I headed straight home. Sunday was another early start, but we finished XC at lunchtime, so I popped up to the crew tent for some lunch, then got an ice cream and watched some of the SJ before resisting shopping temptation and going home to sort out my own horse.
Purston Manor for me next (taken a day off work to help out), then a weekend off, then SOE followed by Dauntsey, a weekend off and T'down UA finishes the season. Then I can start planning next year
