Le Jog 2009
The organisation of the 2009 running of Le Jog is well underway with Peter and
Lynn putting together the event infrastructure, John and Harriet hard at work proving the route and the Regional Co-ordinators negotiating venue usage.
As usual competitors will start from Land�s End on Saturday morning and toil away before arriving at an overnight halt in
Cheshire. They will then continue north to a second overnight halt on Sunday in
Newcastle upon Tyne. From there it is a solid run north to the finish at John O�Groats very early Tuesday morning.
There are already over 35 entrants ranging from a 1930�s Bentley 4 � Ltr, a 1950�s Landrover Series 1 to a 1980�s Porsche 928.
As always the competitors will not only be challenged by the length of the route but also by the mixture of regularities, tests and transition sections both throughout
the day , evening and night sections of the event.
Due to the navigational nature of the event, I cannot divulge details of the route but from the above you can draw your own conclusions.
To support this competition, my colleagues and I will need to find quite a number of marshals to staff the large number of controls that the event requires.
I will also need to find volunteers to complete the very necessary task of PR�ing the entire route.
Those of you who have assisted on this event in previous years will know that it has a friendly competitive nature and is good fun.
If you are able to help out this year either as a marshal, with PR�ing or hopefully both, please contact me via email with what and where you would like to assist and your contact details.
HERO's Summer Trial
HERO�s Summer Trial for 2009 went ahead under variable weather conditions but benefitted from a solid marshalling performance.
The weather did not dampen the competitors or the marshals� enthusiasm for the event and this was rewarded with sunshine for most of the final day.
The competitors� high spirits continued throughout the event, which would indicate that they had no issues with any part of the event including the marshalling � well done to all those marshals who contributed towards the overall success of the event through their diligence.
Mark & Sue Godfrey, 1st overall, praised the marshals for their good humour and spirit at the prize presentation dinner and Mark�s comments were supported by a solid round of applause from all those attending the dinner, officials and competitors alike.
What contributed to the above?
Having checked with the Course Opener, he assured me that 99% of the marshals were waiting on location and ready for them at each control.
Tony Newman, who compiled the results, also reported that the instance of �mischipping� and poor fault recording was minimal with no serious errors occurring which made his task easier and the competitor liaison job, less fraught.
So what next?
Well that will be Le Jog. Three and a bit days of endurance, for not only the competitors, but also the event organisers and the marshals.
Due to the size of this event, a very large number of marshals are required, for example on the 2008 event there were:-
28 Main Controls, 11 Tests with approximately 30 Observers in total, 100 Timing Points, 8 Passage Controls, 44 Time Controls and 3 Secret Checks.
To volunteer either contact me or your local HERO co-ordinator.
IT IS TIME FOR A CHANGE!
(A farewell message from the previous chief marshal - Harriet Wood)
Way back in 1998, immediately following the first Classic Malts, John Wood became HERO Chief Marshal.
When Peter Nedin took over from founder John Brown in 2005, John became Peter�s Deputy Clerk of the Course with a greatly increased responsibility, and so I moved into the Chief Marshal slot.
It was a logical move at the time as I had worked alongside John and knew many of the marshals and had been doing the bulk of the paperwork the job entailed.
Things have moved on in the past four years and with the introduction of events such as the Summer Trial and
Iceland appearing on the HERO calendar, I realised that my workload was just getting a bit too much!
John and I do the road-booking for
UK events, and apart from the one London-Lisbon event, have produced the tulip road-books to the print ready stage for all the HERO events under Peter�s management.
It seemed a logical move to find someone else to take on the mantle of Chief Marshal; we had one immediate suggestion for Peter and I was delighted when Chrys Worboys agreed to the proposal. It turned out that Chrys was Peter�s first choice as well, so we knew the change would work.
Chrys has been marshalling on HERO events for as long as we have been involved and thus understands exactly how HERO events are run.
He knows, and is known, by many of you; his extensive motorsport background and experience are a definite plus point, together with his undoubted enthusiasm!
Of course, it will take a little time for Chrys to feel his way into the role, but I know that you will all give him your support.
In the past 10 years or so, I�ve met a tremendous number of marshals out on HERO events (and occasionally on other events too!) and spoken to many more who�ve turned out on LE JOG to stand on dark and windswept hills in Wales and Scotland in the depths of winter.
To all of you, may I just say �Thank you� for your dedication, enthusiasm and support.
I can honestly say that those of you marshalling on HERO events are amongst the best in the
UK.
Despite the pressures that come as part of the job it has been enjoyable.
I�ve made a lot of friends, and hope that you will still stay in touch and we shall still see you out somewhere along the route.
I would like to offer a sincere welcome to Chrys as a HERO official (not forgetting Judith!) and wish him all the best in his new role.
EVENTS 2009
Chrys has already got to grips with the Summer Trial (16-18 July).
This is based again in Malvern with routes out to the east on Thursday as far as
Stowe
School, and westward into
Wales on both Friday and Saturday.
We have a number of regular crews on the event, but I am sure Chrys won�t object to any more volunteers for the odd control on any of the days!
LE JOG 5 � 8 December
Anyone who�d like to be a part of the enormous marshalling team that makes this event the most challenging in the UK please get in touch with Chrys.
He would also like to hear from any clubs available to run tests or sections between
Land�s End and John O�Groats.
Once again � thank you everyone � enjoy your motorsport!
Harriet Wood
For all marshalling enquiries please now contact the new HERO Chief Marshal:
Chrys Worboys
3 Gilling Avenue, Garforth,
Leeds LS25 2NE
Tel:
01132 868651
Mobile: 07808 596092
Email:
[email protected]
Footnotes.
From Peter
On behalf of all HERO officials and marshals I would like to thank Harriet for all the work she has put in to the role as Chief Marshal over the last few years, and to wish Chrys good luck for the future. I am sure he can call on your support.
From Chrys
After many years of hard work and I suspect troubled nights, Harriet has let go of the reins of 'Chief Marshal' and looking round for a, hopefully worthy successor, has passed the responsibility to me with Peter's blessing. I would like to thank Harriet for her years as Chief Marshal providing copious amounts of information to us, the marshals, enabling us to carry out our allotted duties correctly. I must say that I am looking forward to this new challenge enormously and I hope that time will testify that I was up to the test.
As some of you know I have been involved with many HERO events since 1999 as a marshal in the various weather conditions from blistering heat to freezing cold and all incarnations in between.
What many may not know is that I am also heavily involved with modern rallying, both organisationally (Assistant Clerk of the Course on the Trackrod Rally Yorkshire and Chief Communications and Staffing Officer for the Roger Albert Clark Rally) and with marshalling roles on various rallies across the country. In addition to the above I am an MSA Radio Communications Co-ordinator and I also sit on the MSA Rallies Committee so you could say I keep busy.
So what does this change mean? The addition of an extra HERO team member will ease the organisational pressures and widen the resources open to HERO when planning forthcoming and new events. I intend to continue the bulletins in the Marshals section of the HERO website keeping the marshalling teams up to date with news regarding events and maybe, in the future, incorporating articles from you so that experiences on events can be shared and enjoyed. As you know from the website the Summer Trial is almost upon us and my first assignment as Chief Marshal, staffing the event, has been achieved.
I will be contacting marshals in the not too distant future with regard to your availability for this year�s Le Jog 5th - 8th December 2009. In the meantime if any marshals have recently moved house, changed mobile phone numbers or changed their email address, please let me know either by email - [email protected] or give me a ring on +44 (0)1132 868651. To each marshal, thank you for your support over the years and I hope that I can call on you for your continued support.
