SELOC Successes
Not so many members out orienteering this weekend, but those that were out made up for it with quality. Nearest to home was Kev Latham running both days at LOC’s very attractive weekend in the SW Lakes that pulled in a lot of competition. In Saturday’s event on some steepish fellside at Caw, between Coniston and Broughton, he ran the Short Brown course, finishing in 61st spot. Sunday saw everyone move a little further away up the Duddon Valley to the technically demanding Stickle Pike where Kev ran the Blue course and placed 70th=.
Paul Turner travelled much further afield to combine a weekend break with the renowned urban event in Porto, Portugal. That also gave a golden opportunity to do a bit of reconnaissance on what’s on offer at a European Cities Tour race prior to SELOC’s own contribution to that Tour (League) at Liverpool in October, where he is planning the courses. He skipped Friday night’s sprint event but had a good run in Saturday’s daytime sprint race, taking 14th spot, before going even better to finish in 10th place in a larger field at Sunday’s full length urban race around the hilly city.
What did everyone else get up to if they weren’t orienteering?
Upcoming Events
Tomorrow (Tuesday 21 May) sees the second of SROC’s summer sprint series with an event in Salt Ayre, Lancaster or alternatively MDOC have an introductory event at Lyme Park, near Disley the same night. You could also try out PFO’s daytime introductory event at Towneley Park, Burnley, that same morning if you were looking to cram in as much as possible.
Wednesday 22nd brings another of DEE’s well-attended midweek events, this time at Bryn Alyn near Mold for forest lovers, or the penultimate race in AIRE’s Spring Sprint League in Adel Village, in urban terrain with parkland on the northern outskirts of Leeds. Or for a tougher run with a score format, there’s the final event in Warrior’s Battleaxe series near Coniston.
With another bank holiday next weekend, the West Midlands clubs have their Springtime in Shropshire weekend comprising a trio of events in a beautiful part of the country. This year’s event incorporates an urban race in Shrewsbury on Saturday followed by the Midlands Champs on Brown Clee Hill on Sunday with it all rounded off by a National event on slopes of The Wrekin, a prominent hill near Telford, on Monday. Pre-entries have closed but there is some entry on the day each day. Lovers of ancient cathedral cities may prefer Yorkshire’s usual urban offering at this time of year, firstly from CLARO in Ripon city centre on Sunday 25th followed by EBOR’s annual event around the narrow lanes and alleyways of York city centre on Bank Holiday Monday – always a good experience.
Things quieten down a bit after that, with the final of AIRE’s Spring Sprint League at Gledhow Valley, Leeds on Wednesday 29 May in a mix of wooded and urban landscapes. Early adopters of new technologies might want to join MDOC at Chorlton Water Park on Saturday 1 June where they are running another “O-on-an-App” event, using mobile ‘phone technology. There’s a range of courses on offer to develop your skills and worth a try for something different.