Essex Stragglers Orienteering Society (SOS)

accredited

From 'The Guardian' of 19th January 2010   (c) Guardian News & Media 2010

Need to jog your memory?  Start running and watch your brain grow, say scientists

Aerobic exercise triggers new cell growth - study

Region of brain affected linked to recollection

Ian Sample  Science correspondent

The health benefits of a regular run have long been known, but scientists have never understood the curious ability of exercise to boost brain power.

Now researchers think they have the answer.  Neuroscientists at Cambridge University have shown that running stimulates the brain to grow fresh grey matter and it has a big impact on mental ability.

A few days of running led to the growth of hundreds of thousands of new brain cells that improved the ability to recall memories without confusing them, a skill that is crucial for learning and other cognitive tasks, researchers said.

The new brain cells appeared in a region that is linked to the formation and recollection of memories.  The work reveals why jogging and other aerobic exercise can improve memory and learning, and potentially slow down the deterioration of mental ability that happens with old age.

"We know exercise can be good for healthy brain function, but this work provides us with a mechanism for the effect," said Timothy Bussey, a behavioural neuroscientist at Cambridge and a senior author on the study.  The research builds on a growing body of work that suggests exercise plays a vital role in keeping the brain healthy by encouraging the growth of fresh brain cells.

Previous studies have shown that "neurogenesis" is limited in people with depression, but their symptoms can improve if they exercise regularly.  Some antidepressant drugs work by encouraging the growth of new brain cells.

Scientists are unsure why exercise triggers the growth of grey matter, but it may be linked to increased blood flow or higher levels of hormones that are released while exercising.  Exercise might also reduce stress, which inhibits new brain cells through a hormone called cortisol.

The Cambridge researchers joined forces with colleagues at the US National Institute on Ageing in Maryland to investigate the effect of running.

They studies two groups of mice, one of which had unlimited access to a running wheel throughout.  The other mice formed a control group.  In a brief training session, the mice were put in front of a computer screen that displayed two identical squares side by side.  If they nudged the one on the left with their nose they received a sugar pellet reward.  If they nudged the one on the right, they got nothing.

After training the mice went on to do the memory test.  The more they nudged the correct square, the better they scored.  At the start of the test the squares were 30cm apart, but got closer and closer together until they were almost touching.  This part of the experiment was designed to test how good the mice were at separating two very similar memories.  The human equivalent could be remembering what a person had for dinner yesterday and the day before, or where they parked on different trips to the supermarket.

The running mice clocked up an average of 15 miles (24 km) a day.  Their scores in the memory test were nearly twice as high as those of the control group.  The greatest improvement was seen in the later stages of the experiment, when the two squares were so close they nearly touched, according to a report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

"At this stage of the experiment, the two memories the mice are forming of the squares are very similar.  It is when the have to distinguish between the two that these new brain cells really make a difference," Bussey said.

The sedentary mice got steadily worse at the test because their memories became too similar to separate.

The scientists also tried to wrongfoot the mice by switching the square that produced a food reward.  The running mice were quicker to catch on when scientists changed them around.

Brain tissue taken from the rodents showed that the running mice had grown fresh grey matter during the experiment.  Tissue samples from the dentate gyrus part of the brain revealed on average 6,000 new brain cells in every cubic millimetre.  The dentate gyrus is part of the hippocampus, one of the few regions of the adult brain that can grow fresh brain cells.

Contributed by Jack Isbester

Why British Orienteering Needs a 4 Level Event Structure

At the 2010 British Orienteering AGM, to be held on Saturday 3^rd April 2010 at the JK, we are tabling the following Proposal:

That the current BOF Event Structure be amended, with effect from 1^st January 2011, from a 3 tier structure to a 4 tier structure, the Levels to become:

·      Level 1 Events - British Orienteering's major events, including the British Championships (Sprint, Middle, Long, Relays) and the JK.

·      Level 2 Events - comprising a limited number of high quality events, including the best of the traditional age-class based cross country events, high profile city races and the Harvester Relays.

·      Level 3 Events - comprising a wide range of typical Sunday morning events for competitors largely from within their Region, including colour-coded cross country events (former District events), urban races, etc.

·      Level 4 Events - small scale events aimed at providing local competition (e.g. within a club) and increasing participation. e.g. introductory events, club summer evening events.

This Proposal, if carried, will have the effect of creating a 4 tier Event Structure, by the insertion of an additional Level to enable a clear distinction between those events aimed at attracting competitors primarily from within the Region, and those aimed at a wider audience.

Following the introduction of the new Event Structure, clubs are now being encouraged to register their former District Events in the new Level 2, as Regional Events, instead of in the New Level 3, as Local Events, as was initially intended. Merging the former Regional and District Events into a single tier of Events of widely differing qualities, has created a number of problems, all of which may effect the quality or cost of our orienteering, including:

• Identification of Quality Events: How is a competitor to decide which of these Events are worth travelling to if they are all now described as Regional Events?
• Entry Fees: If Clubs choose to register their former District Events as Regional Events, they may well be tempted to increase their entry fees for these Events.
• Embargoes: The requirement for a 12 month embargo on areas to be used for Regional Events has been dropped, to permit former District Events to be registered as Regional Events.
• Controllers. Level 2 Regional Events should be being controlled by Grade 2 controllers, but there aren’t enough of them for all the former District Events, so now experienced Grade 3 Controllers are being allowed to control Level 2 Events. Newly qualified Grade 3 Controllers can only control Level 3 Local Events, many of which don’t need a controller at all.

The creation of a separate Level for the best of the old Regional Events, along with other events aimed at a national audience, will enable all of these, and other, problems, which didn’t exist under the old Event Structure, to be easily resolved.

To get our Resolution adopted at the AGM, we need your support, either to attend and vote at the AGM, or to use your Proxy Vote, details of which will be sent out to you by British Orienteering. Few members of British Orienteering have yet had an opportunity to express their opinions on the current Event Structure. Use your chance to do so now.

Mike Atherton             01539 531838             mike@atherton.go-plus.net

Sue Birkinshaw           0161 980 5068            SueB@mdoc.org.uk

Roger Smith               015395 68671             roger.smith100@btinternet.com

Dick Towler                        07771 998554             dick@acorn.plus.com

SOS at the London marathon – Nicola & Suzy Robertson 

We, Nicola and Suzy Robertson, are hoping to fulfill a long held ambition of running the London Marathon on 25th April.  We are running for Marie Cure Cancer Care in memory of a great friend.  Despite having not lived in Essex since leaving for University a few years ago, we are still members of SOS - some of us will know us from our days as SOS juniors, others may have seen us appear out of the woodwork for the Compass Sport Cup or you might know our parents or brother who can still be spotted in the Essex forests.

Now based in Windsor and Putney (in London) we have squeezed some orienteering into our training programme in the form of SLOW evening events to make the miles more interesting.  We would like to ask SOS members for your support in our marathon campaign as we will be running for Marie Curie Cancer Care in memory of our good friend Toby Atkinson.  Toby was a fantastic guy and life long friend who passed away at home in May 2009, a few months short of his 25th birthday, after a 3 year battle with bone cancer.  Thanks to the work of Marie Curie, Toby spent the last few months of his life at home as he wished, surrounded by the love and support of his family and friends who visited regularly.  During his life Toby was a passionate fundraiser and he spoke very highly of his Marie Curie nurses.  We thought raising money for Marie Curie in this way would be a great way to remember him.

If anyone would like to sponsor us we would be really grateful.  Sponsoring us is really simple and won't take long, just visit our website at http://original.justgiving.com/nicolaandsuzy

Thank you.  We will let you how we get on and hope to see you at an orienteering event soon.

Snow – Jenny Collyer

A couple of weeks ago we discovered why the Swedes don’t orienteer in the winter.  Our daughter Ann dragged us reluctantly away from the local cross-country ski course to take part in the training event she had put on for her club. The area was local to her house and she had been out on two visits to hang out pink ribbons at the control sites. The furthest away sites had been left unmarked as she didn’t expect anyone to get that far!

John and I set off together in a temperature of about -7 degrees and ran along the first track of compacted snow. No problems here as we were glad to keep warm but eventually we had to leave the comfort of the track and head up the hillside in snow which was above our knees. The snow was like powder, which we were told was easier to run through than having to lift the feet right up on every step.  Every step was an effort and although the feature we were looking for was in view getting there was a challenge and we definitely did not want to take any unnecessary steps.  We found our way to paths which had been used by horse riders where we could but John was in some discomfort from bruising his ribs falling on (and bending!) his ski pole a few days earlier so we felt that after nearly an hour and finding just five pink ribbons we could justifiably return to the warmth.  We were glad Ann hadn’t taken up our offer to hang out ribbons while she was at work. I don’t think we would have got very far!

Only two club members turned up for this training – the rest were out on skis or skating along the frozen waterways.  

Kit for Sale

Bring your good quality unwanted ‘O’ kit to the enquiries point at our

events and we will display it for sale.

All items to be marked with the price and sellers name and contact number.

Please collect unsold kit before you leave as we cannot store items.

Also for sale are some club T-shirts and sweatshirts.

For New Club ‘O’ kit see Lyn West

More Success for Essex Stragglers – Jack Isbester

The individual winners of the East Anglian Orienteering League 2009 were presented with their trophies - appropriately crested mugs - at a ceremony at the Warren Wood orienteering event on Sunday 31st January 2010.  SOS had five class winners.

The photo shows (left to right) Tracey Apperley, winner of the W40-45 class; Perry Mole, winner of the M40-45; Geraldine Russell, winner of W65-70, and Jenny Collyer, winner of W60-65.  Also successful was Duncan Harrison who won the M35-40 class.

(Photo:  Jack Isbester)

Well done to all our league winners!

The role of the Controller at events – John Collyer

Last issue I mentioned the Controller’s three main roles at events and how the Club is trying to increase our available pool of officials we can call on.

For events other than the small local, it is a good idea to have a controller from another club – the more important the event, the more crucial this becomes. You need to develop a good rapport with the Planner, in particular, and also the Organiser.

It goes without saying that a Controller should have considerable experience of planning and organising before taking on an event. The Controller has three main factors to keep an eye on in the planning and organising phases of an event.

Course design:

1. Do the courses follow the relevant guidelines? Here you have to look at proposed courses, both on screen in OCAD (or paper) and on the ground, and make judgements about the relevant standards that need to be applied.

2. Usually the courses will be received from the planner several weeks ahead, allowing time for getting out into the area and all the relevant feedback discussion.

3. One problem that the controller has to remember, is that they are not the planner, they need to avoid attempting to feed their ideas too much into the process. As long as the courses fulfil the standards, then controllers should be “hands-off” advisors.

Fairness:

1. Does the map, and the siting of each control allow for fair competition?

2. The age of the map and the time of year need to be considered, it can be quite a fine call to get the state of undergrowth right. In Autumn, will the weather knock down all brambles and nettles; in Spring will the now clear areas be choked by a sudden growth spurt? The screens around control sites and along legs, need to be carefully considered.

3. The position and representation of controls on the map need examining, does the map fairly represent the ground and the proposed siting of the marker. Controllers often spend a lot of time hunting for bits of planning tape attached to twigs etc.!

Safety and Smooth Running:

1. Have the planner and organiser set themselves realistic targets? Will the maps be printed on time, will the planner have everything out in the forest in time for the controller to check, and are there enough helpers for the relevant tasks?

2. Risk Assessments need to be made and signed off by the controller as part of the overall insurance requirements, the controller needs to check if all the relevant points have been covered, including warning relevant people about the event and ensuring First Aid aspects are covered.

This all may sound rather daunting, and I would be kidding you if I pretended that everything will always go smoothly before, during and after the event. Controllers should always be available during the event for comments from competitors, feedback after you have cooled down should always be welcomed.