Results from today’s event HERE

Routegadget (draw your route)   HERE

Tales of rudimentary orienteering maps of Dundock Wood from 30 or 40 years ago had reached me so when given the chance to plan on a professionally produced brand new map in 2013,  I couldn’t resist planning a few course legs through the rhododendron maze –  I do hope that those of you doing the Light Green courses enjoyed the challenge.  It’s quite a small compact area but can provide multiple route choice options for almost any leg.  And looking at the split times for individuals is very revealing –  no less than 5 individuals recorded fastest times for individual legs in Dundock Wood on the Light Green Long course.

Leg 10-11  Fastest was Lindsey (1.05)
Leg 11-12  Fastest was Sarah (1.32)
Leg 12-13  Fastest was Ian (1.21)
Leg 13-14  Fastest was Faisal (0.47)
Leg 14-15  Fastest was John (1.12)
Leg 15-16  Fastest was John (0.53)

I think RouteGadget would be rather interesting here !

It is always exciting to plan an event on a brand new orienteering map and I hope that this event has whetted your appetite for more.  The areas of mixed woodland to the north and west of the map are quite different to Dundock Wood which formed the core of our event this time around.  The map of the whole Hirsel Estate is not quite finished yet but should be ready within the next couple of months and we are planning to use the whole area later next year with assembly and car parking adjacent to the Homestead area within the main Estate grounds. Personally I can’t wait !
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(Note from Lindsey – the timing on the last control was out by 10 seconds which meant led to some pretty fast run-in times)

Andrew

The last proper race of the current orienteering season was the East of Scotland Championships held in lovely sunshine at Duns Wood on Sunday. The map lacks a bit of detail so the scope for the technical courses was limited, but overall it was an enjoyable run and there were some nice bits of woodland.

Roxburgh Reivers had a good turnout and came away with several of the trophies.  Lindsey Knox secured the W50 trophy for a 5th time (it’s cost a fortune in engraving and replacing the too-small base !), John Tullie won M55 convincingly and Barry Veitch on M40 bagged his first ever orienteering trophy.

There were runners-up certificates for Fiona Forrest, Fiona Johnston and Pauline McAdam. Cathy Rooney and Keith Murray seem to be benefiting from the club coaching sessions and both finished 3rd on their respective classes.  The first 3 in each class were presented with a laminated “medal” in colors approximating Gold, Silver and Bronze (i.e. Yellow, Pale Blue and Orange).

Lindsey, Barry and Fiona J

Full results on the ELO website HERE

SOUL’s with mugs

Seems a long time since the first round of the Urban League in January but finally the winners were crowned on Saturday immediately after round 7 in Edinburgh.  Kirstin Maxwell had a clear win in the Womens Open while Robin Sloan had a closer result in M65+ needing to win on Saturday to make sure of victory, which he did.  Kirstin also took 1st place in the University Champs which were run as part of Saturday’s race.

Pauline McAdam took 3rd place in W55+ and Lindsey Knox was 3rd equal in the W40+ class.

The top 3 in each urban class received a special mug, and the winners also received a t-shirt.

The second-best small club in Britain has now become the best small club in Scotland after the Inter-Club Championships (SIC) at Balkello, near Dundee on Sunday.

With low entry numbers this year the rules were amended so that only 2 counters were needed for a small club team and with 3 RR’s entered we were at least sure to be in the hunt.  I was extremely surprised though when RR were announced as the winners !  I received a very nice trophy – but I’m biased as it was made in Hawick several years ago by silversmith Hamish Smith and I designed the top.

SIC trophy – 2013

In the Scottish Score Championships, which was really the main event of the day, I managed to retain my W50 title against very little opposition, Pauline finished 2nd on W55 and Bill was 5th on M60.  Balkello consists of 3 hills plus a lower section of community woodland but the hills are a bit too heathery for my liking and it was almost impossible to run apart from on the paths.

Results are HERE

What a result on Sunday – 2nd overall in the CompassSport Trophy final, our best ever result.

We kicked off the weekend with a group meal in Dr Foster’s Restaurant in Gloucester followed by a leisurely walk back to the Travelodge and an early night.

Doug flew in from Gothenberg on Saturday evening, Karen conversely had flu’ and stayed at home.

The Forest of Dean isn’t really an autumn area and there were acres of bracken and brambles, so there was quite a bit of path running as well as a few bits of nice forest to run through.  Saying that, there are hundred of paths so getting the correct one was vital.

Poor Sam had a scary experience with a wild boar in the forest and didn’t finish his course.  Bridget also saw some boar, and Amjad came across a couple of stags.

With start times spread over a long period it took until early afternoon for the scores to start looking hopeful for us but, with most clubs putting their better runners off late, it took until the last starters had finished for us to realise that we had actually, definitely, absolutely, taken 2nd place.  Brilliant.   Beaten by FVO who were winning for the 7th time in succession, but beating local club North Gloucestershire into 3rd place despite their 60 runners.

We managed to take maximum points on 5 of the 10 courses with wins for Kirstin, Lindsey, Faisal, Doug and Robin.  John was just pipped near the end and finished 2nd.

Results are HERE

The forecasted heavy rain during Sunday held off until just before prizegiving which was a shame, and we had to pack up a sodden tent.

CST prizegiving (2nd and 3rd)

Roxburgh Reivers fielded a full team in The Jamie Stevenson Trophy for the first time in a number of years at the Event in Muirward Wood on Sunday 16th June. Continue reading →