SELOC Successes
A busy crop of events with all the midweek ones and those on Bank Holiday Monday too. Tuesday started off with 3 events and Peter Brooke getting the best result of the day with 1st place at the last of PFO’s Towneley Park series – the first outright win of his career? Then in the evening, Kev Latham was at SROC’s Summer Sprint race at Salt Ayre, Lancaster, though unfortunately he mispunched in the Final after a good run putting him 4th after the Prologue race. And finally for Tuesday, very good to see Alan Heron back out at MDOC’s Lyme Park event after a very quiet winter for him, running the Orange course and finishing 5th, only 11 seconds behind an M16. Must have been a classic of navigational experience pitched against youthful speed.
Then on to the weekend, where Paul Turner covered some miles taking in Saturday’s urban race in Shrewsbury (13th out of a crowded field of 95 in Mens SuperVets) before heading to Ripon on Sunday for CLARO’s urban race (7th on course C). It was then on to York for EBOR’s Bank Holiday Monday offering on the busy streets of the city centre to collect even more Yorkshire Urban League points with 5th place in MSV. Also good to see Matt Driver out at York for his first event of the summer, where he showed he’d lost none of his speed by gaining 3rd place in Mens Open class.
John Nuttall focused on the Springtime in Shropshire weekend, taking in all 3 days. That included Saturday’s Shrewsbury urban race where he placed 46th in Mens UltraVets, amongst another large and competitive field of 89 entrants. Sunday’s Midland Championships on the slopes of Brown Clee Hill would have seemed much quieter by comparison but a good run brought him 32nd place on M70, followed on Monday by more steep slopes on The Wrekin hill near Telford, where he rose to 18th.
Upcoming Events
It is the final event of AIRE’s Spring Sprint League at Gledhow Valley, Leeds on Wednesday 29 May, in a mix of wooded and urban terrain. Then we’re into June – already!
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.
Sunday 2 June brings an urban event from SYO in Rotherham, about the only event in easy range though plenty more on offer further afield. Any purists fancy the trip up to Moray for a run on the beautiful forested sand dunes at Culbin?
More realistic is the next in SROC’s Summer Sprint series at Astley Park, hopefully taking in the complex housing estate, or a sprint from MDOC at Torkington Park, Hazel Grove on the same Tuesday night (4 June). PFO get an Evening Series under way the following night at Marl Pits, Rawtenstall, as do LOC with a Middle Series kicking off at Bell Wood, Ulverston.
That should set everyone up nicely for a quality weekend. OD have 2 days of urban racing, first at Warwick University and then around Coventry City Centre for UK Urban League points. Alternatively, WCOC host a Cumbrian Galoppen event at Threlkeld Knotts, near Keswick, on Sunday 9th.
That’s also the date that pre-entries close for our own Horwich Festival of Racing event, this year incorporating the NWOA Sprint Champs, on Sunday 16 June. Event organisers Kev Latham and Tony Varley will be seeking helpers for that very soon, so save them the trouble of asking and volunteer your services now.