After a 10 year gap orienteering returned to the shores of Loch Rannoch for the 2010 Scottish Championships and one of the most enjoyable runs of the year (for me anyway despite a mistake near the end, and the hard run-in causing havoc with my sore calf). The severe winter weather in Perthshire meant the bracken was only just appearing, and consequently the underfoot conditions were fast. Mapping had been delayed because of lingering snow and at one point, apparently, postponing the event was discussed.
Roxburgh Reivers again acquitted themselves well, especially Kirstin who won W18 and John who had an amazing and very unusual dead heat for first place, with Martin Dean, on M50 after almost an hour of running. John might be ruing the 12 seconds that Martin took off him on the long run-in ! This takes John onto 3 wins in 3 years, a tremendous achievement. Douglas T pulled out another great run to take 2nd place on the Elite Mens course, finishing just behind a Russian bloke, to take the Scottish Native trophy. Other runners making the top 5 were: Robert Cranston 3rd, Jim Knox 3rd, Sarah Tullie 4th, Lindsey Knox 5th.
Kirstin and John – 2010 winners
Jim and I had a nice meal in the Macdonald Loch Rannoch Hotel before the SOA AGM. The tea and shortbread were nice but the meeting went on a bit too long. Rob and Andrew, who were camping next to the Assembly area, ended up in the Dunalastair Hotel which helped avoid some of the heaviest rain.
Douglas Tullie – 2nd M21E
As a result of work and imminent exams the Tullie and Maxwell families headed home after the Individual Championships leaving a depleted crew for the Relay Championships but the sole Roxburgh Reivers team of Rob Cranston, Jim Knox and Andrew Armstrong excelled themselves to finish 2nd in the 15+ class. Unfortunately they had to be declared n/c because Rob took the place of an injured Lindsey and Rob’s handicap points are less than Lindsey’s.
All in all an excellent weekend of quality orienteering, a nice change from the terrain at SOLs 2 and 3.
Results are here