Roxburgh Reivers’ annual club championships event will take place next Saturday at Bowhill, Selkirk. The event will follow the Come and Try It event in the morning, and precede the 2008 AGM.

For more details, see the event pages:

• Come and Try It event
• Club Championships and AGM

A new orienteering map of Gordon Community Woodland had it’s first use last weekend when a healthy turnout of 26 people completed a choice of two “learn to navigate” courses. Local school pupils were joined by runners and families, and it was good to see the woodland being enjoyed by everyone despite the cool wind.

First over the line were Adam, Gavin, Matthew and Corran from Gordon Primary School who covered the course in a super-quick time.

Roxburgh Reivers are holding their next event on Saturday 9 February at Bowhill. Start times are from 11am – 12.30 with navigation instruction available at 11am. More details from Robin Sloan 01896 822548

Roxburgh Reivers held their annual Boxing Day event in Hawick’s Wilton Park much to the amusement of the many walkers in the Park on Wednesday morning.  The 19 runners had to find marked points and answer questions, with a bonus for solving a seasonal anagram.

In a close run competition it was Teviothead’s Douglas Tullie, recently crowned as the British Orienteering Federation Junior of the Year, who triumphed by just 10 points from his older brother James.  James proved just how difficult it is to solve anagrams after a hard run.  In 3rd equal place were Graham Miller from the USA who took the overseas prize and John Tullie who was first veteran.  The ladies section was also close-run but it was Jedburgh’s Karen Maxwell who came out on top with Emma Amos from Denholm scooping the youngest runner prize.

Rob had organised the use of Wilton Dean Hall again this year and we all enjoyed cups of tea etc, buns and some good banter.  Rob had also (inadvertently) organised the removal of some of the control points for their winter re-paint but at least it avoided some of the arguing about answers.

Roxburgh Reivers’ summer series kicks off next week with the first event at Bowmont Forest, near Kelso, on Wednesday evening.

The fortnightly events are ideal for newcomers and runners looking for a new challenge, with three different courses on offer (Yellow, Orange and Light Green). Starts are from 17:00 to 18:30.

For more details, please see the event details for each event:

• Summer Series 1, Bowmont Forest (2 May 2007)
• Summer Series 2, Gala Hill, Galashiels (16 May 2007)
• Summer Series 3, Eildon Hills, Melrose (30 May 2007)

For more details on RR’s summer series generally, please contact Robin Sloan.

It was a Maxwell 1-2-3 at this year’s club Championships, which took place today at a snowy Bowhill. First place went to Kirstin Maxwell, ahead of sister Karen and mum Eileen.

Planner Robin Sloan followed the now traditional handicap format, with each club member being given a set number of controls to visit and first one back being the winner. Despite the wintery conditions, 16 club members took part, and the handicapping system was just about right.

Kirstin Maxwell won with a time 32:15, 20 seconds ahead of Karen, with Eileen finishing third in a time of 35:53. First man was John Tullie, who finished fourth with a time of 36:02, narrowly beating son Douglas.

After the fun of the race, and collecting in of controls, the action moved to the education centre for soup and rolls and the Club AGM. Following a very successful year for all of Roxburgh Reivers’ juniors, Kirstin added to her trophy haul with the RR Junior Trophy. Club Achievement Award went to John Tullie for his efforts in relation to the Harvester Trophy/SOL double-headed that Roxburgh Reivers hosted last June.

• results and handicaps

Roxburgh Reivers’ Club Championships and AGM will take place at Bowhill Estate, Selkirk, on 20 February, following the come and try it event.

The Club Championships will start with a mass start at 11am, and be followed by lunch in the education centre and then the AGM. See the event page for more information.