When I volunteered to organise this event back in July I thought I would be recovered and back to running.  Alas, I have a wee while to go yet but I still enjoyed planning the first night event of the series on the Vertish Hill.

This was the first night event  I had planned and it was tricky to decide how to get the difficulty just right. My plan was to avoid having too much climb and give plenty opportunity to run on the fairways.  As this was the first event of the series I thought it was better not to make the navigation too tricky. Pleasingly there was a spread of times but with no one taking too long, and six different people having fastest leg times.   Everyone was very positive when they finished.     Well done to Barry Veitch, first home, pipping Keith Murray in an impressive time.

As ever lots of help from Reivers .  Thanks to Lindsey for setting up SI and taking entries.   Andrew took over to allow Lindsey to get a run and then the tidying up was efficiently done with Pauline, John, Barry & Robin collecting in controls.  Lindsey also produced results in quick time before heading away on a foreign trip.  Thank you. See you at Gala next week.

Results are HERE

Thank you to all who came along to support this event.   A small turnout on a bitterly cold day with the fierce wind made more ferocious by the frequent snow flurries which punctuated the morning & the afternoon. Thankfully the weather relented during the hour of the event and I hope those who came along enjoyed their runs. Orienteering & running events elsewhere reduced the usual number of participants but it was good to see a few new faces taking part. Wilton Lodge Park is not very technically demanding but it offers the opportunity for fast & pleasant running. And a few took the opportunity to try out the new Café facility over the new McLaren Bridge too.

As ever it was a RR team effort;  setting-up, running and then dismantling the event.   First Robin helped place the control flags , Lindsey worked her usual magic on the computer side for entries & results, and finally Robin, Eb & Bridget collected in controls. Thank you. The efficient clearing-up operation allowed me to get down to Mansfield Park in time for the 3pm kick-off (full-time score Hawick 38 Melrose 3). See you at the Summer Sprint Series starting in April.

Results from today are HERE

Thank you  to all those who came along to Gordon Community Woodland.  I hope you enjoyed your run.   It was good to see a few new faces and also visitors from over the border.

I enjoyed my planning trips to the woodland leading up to the event.   The flat ground and network of paths make Gordon a good area for newcomers to orienteering.  From an organisers perspective the hut is ideal too,  providing a focal point as well as warmth and shelter for registration and download.

In the wooded areas the visibility and runability are very much evolving as the plantation  becomes more mature .  I would like to thank Robin & Lindsey for their work making alterations to the map which reflect the changes.

There is good running on the paths and tracks around the plantation  but off the paths there are areas of really tough going.  On the Light Green  I tried to plan legs which offered route choice but also wanted to give the opportunity to run across some of the better ground .  Well done to Sam for leading the way on this course.

As usual,  the on the day organisation was a team effort with Robin helping to place controls and Lindsey running the computer side.   Post-run, Robin, Paul, Sam & James collected in controls, while  Max & Lindsey helped tidy up. Thank you.   See you at Bowhill in October.

4 October 2014

Thanks to all those who came along to Hawick and (I trust) enjoyed a good run around ‘The Park’.  I certainly enjoyed planning the event.   Pleasingly, after more than 24 hours of steady heavy rain, the weather faired up by the time the first starter set off and conditions were excellent for competitors.  However, the River Teviot was swollen and high after the rain, so there was no chance of Paul McGreal repeating his famous direct route river crossing of a previous event.

Although not technically challenging, the area does offer plenty of excellent, fast running. The number of competitors was a bit lower than hoped but a wide age range was represented and there was certainly hot competition at the front on the Light Green, with barely a minute between the first three.  There was also deadly rivalry on the Orange course with Calum Murray just ahead of sister Eilidh.

Earlier, Eilidh had the honour of cutting the ribbon to officially open the new Permanent Orienteering course which has just been set up in the Park.  The Permanent course is part of a number of developments, which will be seen in the next year or so, as renovations are made to the Park. Ideally, the permanent course can heighten the profile of orienteering locally and maybe give newcomers to the sport an opportunity to try it out.

As ever, I had oodles of help from Reivers club members in setting up and dismantling the event.  Lindsey did all the ‘techy’ stuff, preparing the maps and control units before the event and running registration on the day.  Robin assisted with putting out the controls while John, Sarah, Ian, Kirstin, Pauline and Paul helped collect them in.  Thank you.

Results here