Full results from today’s event are now available HERE

Smailholm was a really nice area to plan for – very compact, with four very distinct areas each providing its own wee challenges, and no fallen trees to worry about.  The downside is a fair bit of impenetrable gorse, some strategically placed bogs, and (after the recent rain) a lot of standing water with no way of knowing what lay underneath.

I tried to give everyone a taste of the whole area without taking runners into too many unpleasant bits, and think I largely succeeded . People seemed to have enjoyed their runs  – their enjoyment  helped no doubt by the glorious sunshine and super views.

Thanks to all the runners who came on the day (some from far and wide), and also to Robin as Controller, Lindsey for map updates and all the entry and download wizardry,  John Tullie for sorting out access, Rob and Robin for help with setting out, and Robin, James and Bridget for collecting in the controls.   Thanks also to Tom Stewart of Sandyknowe Farm for kind permission to use this wonderful site.

Eb Rooney, Planner/Organiser

The results from Wilton Park are HERE

Very light drizzle turned into steady rain by the end of the event but we seem to have got off lightly compared with further north. 18 people turned out for a fast birl round the lovely Wilton Park although I managed to confuse some people over which walls and fences were crossable/allowable. A few people went through a gate at the cricket pitch into and then immediately out of the tennis club car park gate (leg 9 – 10) which were marked as uncrossable and weren’t open when I put the controls out otherwise I would have been more careful with my instructions. I’ve penalised these people by 3 minutes – a bit of a guess but it’s a better option than disqualification or deleting the legs for everyone. If anyone else wants to admit to taking the gates shortcut let me know !

Thanks to Rob, Keith, Robin, Andrew J and Max for helping collect controls in at the end, that was much appreciated.

Lindsey, Planner/Organiser

The full results from Gala Policies on 16/9/23 are HERE

Planner’s Report: Maybe not the biggest turnout at Gala Policies for a Local event today, but everyone who came seemed to enjoy the challenge of this tiny area of good O terrain. Great to see the cousins Andrew and Robin – and Janey, whose dad was founder member of Roxburgh Reivers all of 54 years ago! Well done Barry for speeding round the Light Green course, and thanks to Rob, Cathy and Eb for their help – and all who came to liven up a dreich afternoon in Gala.

Robin Sloan

Ian Maxwell, Jedburgh planner, has provided some interesting route choice analysis – download the PDF here

Thank you for supporting Roxburgh Reivers Race the Abbeys event.  I hope you enjoyed your runs and enjoyed visiting the Scottish Borders.  Roxburgh Reivers are a small club so this was a significant undertaking to organise events on successive days.  Having the WRE sprint event alongside the Urban event added prestige but required an extra level of organisation.  

Jedburgh is a great place to plan urban courses with the bridges over the river and underpasses below the A68 creating route choices and the alleyways around the town centre complexity. I added in the Castle as the WRE courses were starting through it and it offered a 3-dimensional route choice to get there. Unfortunately, we lost one control inside the castle when the curator took fright at the speed that the WRE competitors were coming through.