FINDING PUNCHES AND MR MEN
Are you tough enough to attend a Viking 4x4 Club event?
The Viking 4x4 Club is best known for running tough winch challenge events such as the Odyssey Series. However, the club has never wanted to lose touch with its roots as being friendly family and so three times a year they run a gentle, fun, orienteering event. Orienteering events are similar to challenge events but are more relaxed, no winching is allowed so competitors must find and collect the punches or clues. Orienteering events are for all classes of 4x4 vehicles and are run on a handicap scoring system, so everyone has a chance of winning, no matter how tricked up the vehicles are.
Entrants have to drive around using a site map, and find the location of 50 pin punches which have been set out on various trees around the site. There are also 20 quiz questions to find and answer. For this event, it was photos of different 4x4s, but only small sections of each vehicle. Competitors had to guess the make and model of each one. Especially for the younger passengers, 20 pages from a Mr Men book were laminated and dispersed around the site. The eagle eyed had to spot them and then copy the silly message written on each page onto the answer sheet.
Competitors headed off into the delightful Marefield site near Tilton on the Hill at 10.00 am for five hours of non-stop off-road driving to complete their challenges. You get a full spectrum of competitors on these events. Some go out hell for leather and make a determined
effort to win, while others go out for a gentle bimble around with the family and just enjoy the day.
These events are set out to be non-damaging affairs, but some take it very seriously and will not be beaten by an awkward angle or a wayward tree root. Determination is a fine thing, but on these events, it comes with seriously dented panels, and not the sort that will polish out.
Myles Whitehead was very much in the latter camp, he turned up in a fairly shiny Discovery, but by the end of the day, there was hardly a straight panel left on it. On the other end of the scale, Keith Stafford, left the event with his Disco every bit as shiny as when it arrived but he enjoyed the off-road experience as much as anyone else.
That’s the great thing about orienteering events, it has something for everyone. Overnight rain had made the steep old railway embankments at Marefield very slippery, but as the day progressed, the terrain dried out and there was considerably more grip. It was hilarious to watch competitors gingerly approach a punch on a slope early in the day, only to slide straight past with no chance of their trucks’ wheels gripping on the slimy surfaces, but by the afternoon, it was totally different with the slopes offering plenty of grip.
Competitors returned to the paddock area by the 3.00 pm deadline to hand in their punch cards and answer sheets for the scoring team to do their thing. But while this was being done, competitors had another opportunity to enjoy their off-roading experience by going out to collect all the punches and question sheets that had been set up for them.
Rhys Hutchinson took third place on 18,700 points. Second spot went to Dan Hickling on 20,000 points but the victory went to Will Baker and his partner Georgina Smith. They had cleverly split their resources, while Will was busy collecting the punches, Georgina went out on foot to collect all the quiz answers. They ended the day with 21,500 points. We hope to see everyone again next year.