Tag: Championships

25th and 26th May saw another successful Scottish Individual and Relay Championship weekend hosted by Inverness Orienteering Club (INVOC), Badenoch and Strathspey Orienteering Club (BASOC) and Moravian Orienteering Club (MOR) on the Moray Coast.

The Scottish Individual Championships on the Saturday hosted by INVOC and BASOC saw over 400 participants travel to the hilly ridge of Craig Leach and Craig Dunain on the edge of Inverness. The sun shone and the area provided some quality Scottish orienteering where few paths meant that compass bearings were important. It was lovely underfoot with hardly any brashings to contend with and a carpet of bluebells adorned the hillocks of Craig Leach which comprised the main part of the shorter courses. Those on longer courses endured some additional climb and MTB trail maze navigation on the steep slopes of Craig Dunain. The young and old were provided with plenty of entertainment from the miniature goats, highland cows and llamas whose paddocks adjoined the arena.

 The west start Photo credit: John Davidson/johndavidsonoutdoors.com

There were lots of podium pictures which can be seen at the end of this article and the opportunity was taken to award INVOC their achievement of Bronze Certificate of Club Accreditation.

Sunday saw MOR put on the Scottish Relay Championships on the forested sand dunes of Roseisle. After the glorious weather when the Scottish 6 Days visited the forest, as part of Moray 2023, it was disappointing to have a drecht day but the intricately contoured orienteer’s paradise lived up to its reputation. Recent forest thinning had meant there were some brashings to content with towards the end of the courses but it made for a delightful run in another technical area.

Competition was the top spot on the podiums was tight with over 115 teams taking part and in many categories there were seconds between teams. The men’s open competition saw a Forth Valley Orienteering team beaten on the sprint finish by a Edinburgh University Orienteering Club team who were grateful the controller was standing on the line to judge that they crossed the line first as the final runner’s exuberance meant they ran past the last control and backtrack to the last control. It was just a shame the liquid sunshine decided that we had received out quota of actual sunshine before the call to the podium!

There were lots of podium pictures which can be seen at the end of this article and the opportunity was taken to award MOR their achievement of Silver Certificate of Club Accreditation.

Thank you to all those INVOC, BASOC and MOR volunteers who made the weekend possible. With a special mention to Saturday’s officials – David Summers (planner – INVOC), Laurence and Carolyn Cload (organisers- INVOC), Brian Bullen (controller – FVO) and Marsela McLeod (assistant controller – INVOC) and Sunday’s officials – Eddie Harwood (planner – MOR), Andrew Campbell (organiser – MOR), David Eades (controller -INT) and Sarah Dunn (assistant controller – MAROC).

Here are all the podium pics:-

After some of you may have had a few weekends away in Staffordshire and Yorkshire over the Easter holidays, this weekend provided the opportunity for members to test their skills at the Scottish Middle Distance Championships and the second Scottish Orienteering League (SOL) event of 2024.

First up on Saturday saw a clear day up on the Hill of Alyth providing some beautiful views over the Sidlaws to the south and over to the Grampian Mountains to the north. Tayside Orienteers (TAY) had picked a great arena which gave us plenty of opportunities to enjoy the views from assembly or for those that slowed down out on the hill to take in the view. There was fast and furious orienteering that some compared to Arthurs Seat and certainly had many wishing they had gone round rather not tried to make a path through the gorse!

Masterplan Adventure hosted the first Scottish Orienteering League (SOL) event of 2024 as part of their Scottish Spring Weekend. The weekend saw over 200 hardy souls test themselves against the delights of the Kintyre terrain. Masterplan Adventure provided the opportunity on Saturday for everyone to pit themselves against the knolls, boulders and crags of Torinturk for a middle distance event followed by an ultra sprint round Tarbert before the sun shone on the oak forest of Corranbuie on Sunday for the longer distance of the SOL. Sunday’s event was also the third event in the Scottish Inter-Club Championship.

Edinburgh University’s Big Weekend saw the start of this year’s Scottish Inter Club Championships at the first Scottish Orienteering Urban League (SOUL) event of 2024 in Bughtlin.

The fixtures calendar for next year has been finalised and we are very grateful to all of those clubs who have volunteered to host the key dates in the SOA calendar in 2024.Here are the dates for next year, to avoid disappointment, get them in your diary now!

Having picked the Jedburgh Race the Abbeys event as the June portion of the Inter-club Championship, we were not expecting Roxburgh Reivers to have organised the weather as well. It was a great weekend of fabulous weather, glorious backdrops to the orienteering round Kelso and Jedburgh and the planners had provided us with some amazing courses which tested how well the brain reacted when an orienteering challenge was combined with the warmth of summer.

Well what a weekend! Some great terrain, fabulous courses and amazing team spirit on show this weekend at both the Scottish Orienteering Individual and Relay Championships.

2023 was the turn of the west area clubs to host the event and the west clubs – Ayrshire Orienteering Club (AYROC), Clydeside Orienteers (CLYDE), Forth Valley Orienteering Club (FVO), Loch Eck Orienteering Club (ECKO), Solway Orienteering Club (SOLWAY), St Andrew’s Orienteering Club Glasgow (STAG) and Tinto Orienteering Club (TINTO). ECKO allowed their maps of Creag Mhic and Inverawe Country Park to be used, obtained landowner permissions whilst members of all the west area clubs acted as officials and volunteers to ensure everything went off smoothly and we all had a great event.

Sunday saw the Scottish Sprint Orienteering Championships hosted by Clydeside Orienteering Club (CLYDE) in Kirkintilloch. It was also the fourth event in the 2023 Inter-Club Championships.

For the 200 competitors who converged on Kirkintilloch, it was an event for the speedy with some quick courses and quick times!

There were lots of smiling faces among the day’s worthy winners and Easter even came early for some of the competitors with chocolate rewards!

As the fourth round of the Scottish Inter-Club Championships, all the efforts of those involved gaining points for their club. Despite a valiant effort on behalf of Edinburgh Southern Orienteering Club (ESOC) members, Forth Valley Orienteers (FVO) remain in the lead in the Large Clubs. Moravian Orienteering Club (MOR) and Inverness Orienteering Club (INVOC) lie behind those two clubs but with three events located in the north region later this year there are still plenty of opportunities to gain points.

In the Small Clubs, Edinburgh University Orienteering Club used their younger legs (?) to hold the lead with CLYDE, perhaps having a reduced number of competitors as they were hosting the event, remaining in second place.

For the Junior Large Clubs, FVO retained the lead but are not scoring at the same rate as last year and with four clubs scoring a better average run rate there is still potential for the FVO juniors to be overtaken. In the Juniors Small Clubs, it is still all to play for the and with the next event of the series being the Scottish Championships who can get the most runners to turn out for the event may have a big impact.

An updated Scottish Inter-Club Championship table can be found here

Thank you to the organiser Rachel Wilson, the planner Ian Davidson and the controller Steve Scott (FVO) and everyone in CLYDE for all your efforts hosting the event.

Well some may say that the best things come in small packages and perhaps the same could be said about this weekend as it certainly packed a big punch, with the Scottish Middle Distance Championships counting towards the Scottish Inter-Club Championships on Saturday swiftly followed by the 2nd Compass Point Scottish Orienteering League event of 2023 on Sunday. Add to that the convergence of lots of students from as far afield as Cambridge for the 2023 BUCS individuals and relay orienteering event meant lots of excitement!

Forth Valley Orienteers (FVO) held off the weather on Saturday to take us to Beecraigs Country Park near Linlithgow for the Scottish Middle Distance Championships. Full results can be found here with a full list of the Scottish Middle Distance Champions

The start may have been muddy but there was plenty of variety and the abundance of students made for a great atmosphere. The selection of cakes being sold certainly seemed to go down well with all in attendance!

The Scottish Middle Distance Championship was the third of the monthly events which form the Scottish Inter-Club Championship. This month’s results can be found on the Scottish Orienteering Championship’s page and using this link here

In Errochty on Sunday the final 2023 Scottish Night Championship Trophies found their recipients. Thank you to MAR Orienteering Club (MAROC), Balmoral Castle & Estate and Royal Lochnagar Distillery for hosting the 2023 Scottish Orienteering Night Championship in the challenging Balmoral terrain. The various headtorches made for a spectacular sight amongst the beautiful forest for those that lifted their heads from concentrating on the contour and rock details but for those out later or who strayed off course there were some very quiet bits of forest out there.