It has been quite a while since there was enough activity to make an edition of SELOC Snippets worth doing – over a year – but the orienteering world is rapidly coming back to life after restrictions started to be lifted at the end of March. Limited gatherings and travel are both now allowed, though not yet actively encouraged so care is still required. But with care, things are possible. The SELOC plan for getting back to orienteering is to put on some local events within easy range. Numbers might still have to be limited and pre-entry is therefore likely to be essential for some time yet but that won’t stop everyone who gets a start slot from being very glad to be back out there. Virtually all the areas we have that are suitable for such events are local parks or country parks, and local authorities who own them are still a bit hesitant about granting permission for us to use them when the general public is also keen to do so. But that will ease as time goes by. In the meantime, authorities outside Greater Manchester seem a little more relaxed so neighbouring clubs are able to stage small events, and we can still make good use of the streets.
SELOC Successes
Making good use of the streets is exactly what three of our members did as soon as they could. PFO put on a Street League type of event around Helmshore on 31 March where Matt Driver showed he’d not lost any of his speed or skill, taking 1st place. Mark Seddon wasn’t far behind in 4th with Peter Brooke in 7th. The following week, PFO dusted off another Street League event in Barnoldswick, postponed from January. Peter went several places better to claim an excellent 2nd place while Paul Turner shook off injury to take 9th. Steve Round was back in 30th spot.
This week saw the first SELOC event of 2021 after Peter Brooke pulled another Street League type event together in record time on a new area in Prestwich. It attracted 36 entries with a strong SELOC presence where Paul Turner recorded our best result, in 3rd. Michael Hood (5th), Matt Brierley (9th) and Chris Taylor (10th) made it 4 out of the top 10 places for SELOC. Interestingly, Matt was the only one of that top 10 not to incur penalty points for overrunning their allowed time – was that tactics on their part or difficulty gauging running speeds after such a long lay-off? Further down the list, Albert Sunter took 12th place – clearly not enough hills for him! We then left a bit of a gap to let other clubs have some places until Mary White came in 27th in her second event of this type, followed by close packing from Steve Round (30th), Tony Varley (31st) and Jo Treasure, also a newcomer to the Street format, 32nd.
Upcoming Events
Events are being added to the fixture list almost daily, so worth checking frequently as restrictions on numbers mean the start lists are often filling up very quickly indeed. At the time of writing, PFO have spaces at a sprint-style event in Stubbylee Park, near Bacup, on the afternoon of Saturday 24 April. LOC‘s event at Birkrigg, just beyond Ulverston, on the evening of Wednesday 28th looks nearly full. Slightly further afield, Walton Chasers have a regional event on Cannock Chase on 25 April but entries close this coming Sunday so be quick. None of the above can offer entry on the day.
SELOC has some applications with Bury Council for use of parks in early May, but no response as yet so keep an eye on the websites in case we do manage to get permission to put an event on quickly.
On the bigger event scene, entries open on Monday 19 April for the British Middle Distance Championships on 5 June, followed by the Northern Champs next day. Both are in the southern Lakes and accommodation should be back open by then, so entries will fill very fast.
Finally, don’t forget Virtual and Permanent courses, locally and with other clubs.