We all went down to the beach with Interlopers
The fourth and last Scottish Orienteering League event of 2025 saw us all off to the East Lothian seaside. Interlopers (INT) had timed the event to avoid the bird nesting season, updated the map and worked hard to engage with the four landowners to make sure control placing/car parking was possible.
It was great to see a planner who had never undertaken the challenge of planning a SOL before step up and undertake the challenge. He certainly provided route choice, let us scamper around and enjoy the pine woodland before sending us out to fight with the maram grass and be bamboozled by hills and the immense amount of controls he decided to put out.
With the longer Brown and Black courses using the full extent of the map the car park abounded with conversations about whether the beach was the best route choice. Which when combined in the sunshine with the Scottish Junior Orienteering Squad (ScotJOS) cake stall, the ice cream van for our BASOC contingent and even some mad people that went for a swim – it made for a cracking day out.
Provisional SOL results for 2025
Hopefully everyone (other than Loch Eck Orienteering Club (ECKO) and Kingdom of Fife (KFO) whose coaster requests will find them soon) has now been united with the coasters they might have missed at the Scottish 6 Days and in exciting news the provisional SOL results for 2025 have been prepared and can be found on the SOL page or via these links:- SOL results by Course and SOL results by Age Class.
Scottish Inter Club Championships
The event also formed the tenth event of the Scottish Inter Club Championship (SICC) with results being found on the Scottish Inter Club Championship page or via this link SICC results after 10 events. For the last few years we have seen Forth Valley Orienteers (FVO) charging ahead in the SICC large club tables but it looks like there may be a some concern brewing in the FVO camp as in the Senior Large Club table INT are leading a charge with Moravian Orienteers (MOR) consolidating their lead over their local rivals Inverness Orienteering Club (INVOC). In the Junior Large Club table FVO are still leading the pack but INVOC are perilously close to overhauling MOR for second place.
Whilst in the small clubs again it is all to play for, can EUOC bring out the big guns to displace St Andrew’s Orienteering Club of Glasgow (STAG) at the top of the Senior Small Club table in the next event at the Scottish Score event in Falkirk and even if they do will it be enough as the last event of the SICC season is the Tinto Twin on STAG’s home turf? In the Junior Small Club table Tayside Orienteers (TAY) are fending off the challenge of ECKO and Grampian Orienteers (GRAMP) and with both of the next two events being located in the central belt it may be hard for the contenders to wrestle the lead from them.
Thank you
Thank you to Ben Stevens for planning, we hope he enjoyed the challenge, Max Carcas for organising the event, Sheila Strain of East Lothian Orienteers for controlling the event and all the others who volunteered to make the event possible.