The autumn orienteering season kicked off in glorious fashion last weekend with a double-header at Aviemore. The warm sunny weather on both days was perfect for running and on Saturday 25 teams of 11 runners raced for the Scottish 11 Person Relay trophies.
Douglas Tullie ran first leg for Roxburgh Reivers coming home in joint 2nd place but unfortunately the rest of the team couldnt maintain the position and slipped to overall 7th in the Open Class. However, with a team aged from 11 to 55+, Reivers did better in the Handicap Class, finishing a well-earned 3rd or 7th depending on which scoring system you use ! ECKO decided to use a complicated calculation for the handicap (making us 7th) but the simple version which was used for at least the past 2 years made us 3rd. The whole event has sparked off a debate which you can view on the ECKO website. The winning Open Team was Edinburgh University, consisting of several British Team members including James Tullie. EUOC came 2nd in the Handicap using both systems and consisting of only 18-21s this probably indicates that neither handicap points system is great.
The 6th round of the Scottish Orienteering League at Loch Vaa on Sunday provided another memorable day of racing on what is regarded as one of the best areas in the UK. Lots of wiggly lines, lochans and open areas of very short heather made for an enjoyable run for most people. Getting into the placings were Jim Knox 1st M55S, Rob Cranston 2nd M40S, Sarah Tullie 3rd JW4, John Tullie 3rd M45L, Lindsey Knox 3rd W45L. Other results: Douglas Henderson 4th M55L, Kirstin Maxwell 4th JW4, Karen Maxwell 5th JW3, Eileen Maxwell 5th W40S, Douglas Tullie 10th M21L, Ian Maxwell 15th M45L, Andrew Armstrong 22nd M45L.