Jim and I travelled to Spain recently to take part in the 2009 Trofeo Costa Calida which this year was held about 1 hour’s drive from my parent’s house.

The Model event/training was on an area next to a large picturesque reservoir and we had a potter round together just to get our legs moving.  Unfortunately I’d picked up a cold and wasn’t feeling great, not helped by being told I looked ropey.

Day 1 on Saturday was hot and sunny so it was full summer gear including sweatbands.  I managed to win by 6 minutes and Jim has his first run/jog since his knee operation to finish 10th.  Day 2 dawned hot again and we were all taking shade at the pre-start.  Day 2 is a chasing start which made it slightly more “exciting” when I made a couple of mistakes but as I entered the Finish arena the announcer said that I had won W50.  I only won Day 2 by 19 seconds so the second placed Spaniard will be one to watch next year.

We enjoyed the prize-giving then visited the local open-air Spa baths where we cooked for an hour or so.  All in all an enjoyable break while Scotland was a bit chilly.

Lindsey on the podium at Trofeo Costa Calida 2009

The first major orienteering event of the year isn’t usually the British Championships but, to avoid disturbing ground nesting birds, this year’s event took place last weekend.  Eight Reivers made the long trip south to the New Forest and were rewarded with a good set of results over the fast terrain.

John Tullie normally has to miss the Championships because it clashes with his lambing time, but he made the best of the opportunity this year with a storming run to take 2nd place in M50.  Lindsey Knox also had a good run to take 4th spot on W50.  The club’s three Scottish Junior Squad members all had solid runs with Sarah Tullie and Karen Maxwell both finishing 6th on their courses, and Kirstin Maxwell taking 7th in the Future Champions Cup race.  Other results: Robin Sloan 20th, Douglas Henderson 22nd, Ian Maxwell 33rd.

Only three members stayed on for the Relay Championships but the team of Robin Sloan, Douglas Henderson and Lindsey Knox managed a highly respectable 7th place in the Mixed class.

Full results here

Elsewhere a small number of members had a good day at the Edinburgh Sprint which took place at Hopetoun House, South Queensferry.  The event takes the format of a prologue then a chasing start, with the winner being the person with the fastest overall time for both legs.  In the Senior Men’s category Doug Small finished in 12th place on 36:46 mins with Andrew Armstrong not far behind in 14th place on 37:11 mins.  On the Senior Ladies course Eileen Maxwell had two good runs to finish in 3rd position. Results are here