SELOC Successes

Biggest turnout of the week was at the SROC Street League event in Chorley on Wednesday night. No fewer than 16 members competing, so can’t list them all, but particularly good to see Paul Booth (enrolled as a partner by Catherin Oakes) for his first League run of the winter and new member Lee Ward for his first League run ever. Best run of the night came from Matt Driver, who had yet another stormer and was massively clear of all competition. Josie Greenhalgh, running with DEE’s Darren Baker, also had a good run in 4^th place with Steve Wilson 5^th and Paul Turner in 6^th, all running for 75 minutes. Mark Sammon achieved SELOC’s best result in the 60 minute class, with a close-fought 3^rd place achieved by dint of a faster time in securing the same score as Ed Mellor and Anne Speakman in 5^th place.

A brief note on the night’s results allows us space to look at current SROC Street League positions. With just one race left in the season, Matt Driver’s recent form sees him retain 1^st place on gross scores, 11 points clear of John Embrey of DEE. We then have Josie and Darren in 6^th and Paul Turner in 10^th, so SELOC dominance of the top 10 as reported a fortnight ago has slipped a bit. Once the age-adjusted handicapping kicks in, Paul Turner is our top competitor in 4^th but the battle for best pair hots up as Ed and Anne in 8^th place have narrowed the gap to Josie and Darren in 7^th to just 3 points. The handicapping bites into Matt’s score severely though, dragging him back to 9^th spot.

The great weather on Sunday enticed a good number to EPOC’s event at what old-timers will know as Royds Hall Woods, now renamed Judy Woods, and get some training in for our upcoming CompassSport Cup match. Best result of the day was Daniel Wilson’s 1^st place on the Yellow course, with sister Anna not far behind in 4^th. Mum Cath also had a good run on Short Brown, finishing 11^th overall but 2^nd woman and 5 minutes clear of husband Steve in 15^th, and Ed Mellor in 21^st. Michael Hood was our only competitor on Blue, with a strong run leaving him in 8^th spot whilst John Nuttall returned to his better form on the Green course, taking 25^th place and ahead of Steve Round in 36^th.

But it was Stephen Richards who competed in the most prestigious event of the weekend after travelling all the way up to Aberdeenshire for the British Night Championships and coming away with 8^th place on M65L, only 3 minutes off 6^th. As ever, it was one control (no. 8) that cost him dearly after having to relocate and come back in from the same attack point – doing it perfectly second time! He wasn’t the only person to hit such problems in a very tough area, physically and technically – there were some very long times and a high proportion of retirements in all classes.

Upcoming Events

On Wednesday 27^th February, AIRE have a night urban score event in Saltaire on what looks like a “proper” ISSOM map. The following night it is MDOC’s street league event at Gee Cross, near Hyde. Then to the weekend, where on Saturday 2 March DEE have both the final event in this winter’s NW Night League (with strong SELOC interest, as mentioned last week) and a schools event at the very pleasant Little Budworth. Meanwhile PFO are at Gawthorpe Hall, near Burnley, the same day.

Sunday 3 March sees AIRE celebrating their 50^th birthday with a regional event on Ilkley Moor, though our long distance aficionados will no doubt prefer the determinedly tough Tim Watkins Trophy (aka the Blodslitet or blood-letting) being held by SROC on Silver How in the Lakes – same area as used for day 1 of the summer’s Lakes 5 Day event, but hopefully a bit drier. For lovers of gentler terrain, that’s on offer from Walton Chasers on Badgerslade, Cannock Chase, the same day.

Finally, if you’ve not yet done so then don’t forget to let Cath Wilson know if you can compete for the club at the CompassSport Cup on 17^th March, as requested in her Email of 24th February.