We are the champions!

Proving that quality is better than quantity Reivers took the title of East of Scotland Club Champions for 2006 at Dalmeny Estate on Sunday. 

Photo: Lindsey accepting the trophyThe area is brand new to orienteering but, due to lambing, about half the area was out of bounds on this occasion and a lot of rest was brambly.  However, there were some nice parts and the views over the Forth were stunning.

On the Brown course James Tullie finished 2nd overall with Paul McGreal and Andrew Tullie fighting for the second counter, Paul just pipping it.  On Blue Ian Maxwell was first counter in 6th place followed by Andrew Armstrong.  Rob Cranston unfortunately mispunched on a knoll which had two controls very close together.

Photo: A trophy worth winning!On the 6.5km Green course Lindsey never got going through the brambles and finished 7th with Bill Bruce backing up in 8th.  Kirstin Maxwell, just back from Slovakia, took full points on the Light Green and Colin Ross excelled himself by finishing 5th despite having to use pictorial descriptions for the first time.

On Orange Jane and Alison McNeilly (and Judy) came out of retirement and took the top 2 places while on Red Eileen Maxwell had a breeze round the course to win by less than a minute from Bill Knox (brother of Jim).  Karen Maxwell had an easy day at the office winning Yellow comfortably and Vicky Ross showed how much she’s improved by taking 4th spot.

The final scores were RR 184, ESOC 167, INT 148, EUOC 60, KFO 49, ELO 36, TAY 8, LINOC 0.

  • Full results are here

British Champs and SoSOL9

Roxburgh Reivers were well represented at the British Orienteering Championships near Midhurst In West Sussex last Saturday with several club members putting in excellent performances over very wet and physical courses.

Douglas Tullie dropped in on his way back from competing in the Spring Cup in Denmark to finish a superb 2nd in the M18 race, only 33 seconds behind the winner and Ian Maxwell achieved his best result to date finishing 3rd in the M45S race behind two former GB internationals.

James Tullie finished in 5th place in a very competitive M20E class with Kirstin Maxwell and Sarah Tullie placed 9th and 12th respectively in the W14 race. Andrew Tullie finished 24th on M18L , John Tullie was 20th on M45L and Douglas Henderson was 72nd on M55L

Kirstin and Ian along with several other Scots competitors made the long journey back up on the Saturday evening to compete in the final SoSOL of the season at Devilla the following morning. The forest is being clear felled and thinned, and this combination with the normal long heather meant the courses were quite physical. 

Best performances from the Reivers came from Robin Sloan who finished 2nd on the Blue course and Kirstin Maxwell who was 6th on Green.  Winning the overall league titles are Karen Maxwell and Kirstin Maxwell, a tremendous achievement by both athletes and a good result for the club with two class winners from the seven available. KFO had a frustrating day – their generator broke down so the SI system couldn’t function and everyone had to make up their own control card using a quarter page A4.  And one control apparently went walkies.

Ettrick Marshes permanent orienteering course launched

The official launch of the Ettrick Marshes permanent orienteering course takes place at Ettrick Marshes on 28 April 2006 with the help of three local primary schools. The map and courses were developed for the Borders Forest Trust by Roxburgh Reiver, Lindsey Knox.

Leaflets are available from the Borders Forest Trust on 01835 830750, or locally at the nearby caravan sites and from dispensers at the two car parks at either end of the forest. The leaflet, which includes a quiz sheet on which to complete answers, suggests four different courses, ranging from a short flat course, to longer, more hilly, courses.

For more information, and the answers to the quiz sheet see Roxburgh Reivers’ Permanent orienteering courses page, which contains details of the new courses at Ettrick Marshes together with other permanent orienteering courses in the Scottish Borders.

SOL2 Mill of Fortune

Photo: Lindsey Knox on her way to victory at SOL2On a drizzly, but not cold, day there were two wins for Reivers at SOL 2 held at Mill of Fortune near Comrie on Sunday. The forest was wet and grotty in places with lots of windblow, although the longer courses visited the nicer semi open areas at each end of the map. Andrew Tullie won JM5L finishing less than a minute behind Dad John running the same course.  John finished 2nd on M45L despite leading Martin Dean in the early part of the race.  Ian Maxwell was 10th on M45L with the slow terrain probably not his favourite.

Lindsey Knox won a very physical W45L making it two in a row but the split times show how close it could have been with everyone making mistakes.  With Karen Maxwell sending in a sick note we only had two junior girls competing with Kirstin Maxwell finishing 3rd on JW4 and Sarah Tullie in 8th place on the same course.  Bill Bruce and Douglas Henderson were both 4th on their respective classes, and Fiona Forrest, up from “down south”, was 2nd on W21L.    

Robin Sloan controlled the event and was spotted lurking behind a tree taking photos so hopefully he’s got a few worth publishing on the Reivers website.