FVO Evening Event - Doune

Doune Castle and the River Teith.

Doune is a new orienteering area for Forth Valley Orienteers who also have a new website. Steve Barrett of Stirling Surveys made the map and Brad and Beccy planned the excellent courses. I ran the Long course which was 5.4k with 18 controls and which was won by Will Hensman in 36 minutes, closely followed by Roger Goddard.

Results.

Lakes 5 Day 1 - Swindale North

Lakes 5 is based on Coniston in the English Lake District.

The first event was at Swindale North and was entirely on open fell. I ran M50L which was 7.2k with 180m of climb and 13 controls, and which was won by John Tullie in 46.44.

Results.
WinSplits.
RouteGadget.

Purple Thistle - Balmacara

Purple Thistle events adopt a 'barebones' approach and provide quality orienteering in great areas. This years event was held at Balmacara in the West Highlands and gave very tough and technical orienteering and, given the great weather, fantastic views of the Isle of Skye and surrounding hills and lochs.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 14, 2010

Day 1 - Balmacara East

I ran the Mighty Thistle which was 11.7k with 21 controls. The course more than lived up to its name - with most runners out for more than 2 hours!

Results.
WinSplits.
RouteGadget.



SUNDAY, AUGUST 15, 2010

Day 2 - Balmacara West

I ran the Mighty Thistle which was 10.9k with 28 controls.

Results.
WinSplits.
RouteGadget.

Xtremor and OO Cup

This years Xtremor took place at Kranja vas in south west Slovenia and was, as usual, focused on providing really good quality orienteering (great area, map and planning!) without some of the frills associated with other events.

SATURDAY, JULY 17, 2010

Xtremor Day 1 - Kranja vas

M45 was 4.2k with 14 controls.




SUNDAY, JULY 18, 2010

Xtremor Day 2 - Kranja vas

M45 was 4.2k with 14 controls.




MONDAY, JULY 19, 2010

Xtremor Day 3 - Kranja vas

M45 was 4.1k with 13 controls.

Xtremor results.








This years OO Cup was based on Nazarje and provided varied and challenging orienteering. The last 3 races were held on the Velika planina - a fantastic area of alpine meadows and karst woodlands, as illustrated on the cover (above) of Ivan Nagy's excellent book on the area.

SATURDAY, JULY 24, 2010

OO Cup Day 1 - Vinca

M50 was 3.2k with 195m of climb and 17 controls.

Results.
Splits.
RouteGadget.




SUNDAY, JULY 25, 2010

OO Cup Day 2 - Ziferje

M50 was 4.4k with 240m of climb and 20 controls.

Results.
Splits.
RouteGadget.




MONDAY, JULY 26, 2010

OO Cup Day 3 - Gojska planina

M50 was 4.7k with 300m of climb and 14 controls.

Results.
Splits.
RouteGadget.




TUESDAY, JULY 27, 2010

OO Cup Day 4 - Mala planina

M50 was 3.5k with 170m of climb and 18 controls.

Results.
Splits.
RouteGadget.




WEDNESDAY, JULY 28, 2010

OO Cup Day 5 - Velika planina

M50 was 5.1k with 280m of climb and 16 controls.

Results.
Splits.

Overall results.

TAY Long O - Menstrie and Alva Hills

This years Tayside Orienteers Long O took place in the western Ochil Hlls and was based at the Sheriffmuir Inn - one of the best hostelries in the area! I ran the Short course which was 9.1k with 380m of climb and 7 controls.

Results.
Splits.
RouteGadget.

Jukola - Jaanankallio

SATURDAY, JUNE 20, 2010





Skotlanti 50. From left to right: John Tullie, Donald Petrie, Graham McIntyre, Rob Bloor, Steve Barrett, Roger Coombs and me.



Photo from Jukola website.

I last orienteered in Finland over 30 years ago - as part of the British team at the World Students at Jyvaskyla in 1978 and as part of the British squad preparing for the World Championships at Tampere in 1979.

This time I was back as part of Skotlanti 50 - a band of over 50 year old Scottish orienteers who fancied running in Jukola 2010 - the biggest orienteering relay in the World and a race everybody should do before they die! The 7 man team comprised of (in leg order): myself, Roger Coombs, Steve Barrett, Rob Bloor, Graham McIntyre, Donald Petrie and John Tullie.

First leg of Jukola, with 1535 other runners, was like nothing else I've ever experienced, with my main goals being to hold onto the map and not get trampled! My course was 9.8k with 20 controls, and was relentlessly tough and technical. I took 114 minutes, having made mistakes at 3, 12 and 14, and came back in 617th position. The team put together a solid set of runs and eventually finished in 408th.

Tv coverage of the start.
Video of the start on You Tube.
Another video from You Tube.
Video from You Tube showing mistakes made by some of the top teams.
Roger's account of his second leg run.
Results.
RouteGadget.



Note: We started our trip with some training at Usmi on Thursday, 17th June, (getting a rude reminder about how tough Finnish orienteering can be!), before running the M50 course (4.6k with 14 controls) at Tuusula and spectating at the first leg of the Nordic Tour.

Results.

ESOC Long O - Pentland Hills

Mike Stewart of ESOC planned 3 courses for the Long O in the Pentland Hills, to the south of Edinburgh - a Long of 20k, a Short of 10k and a 3 hour Score event. I opted for the Short which was 10k with 600m of climb and 10 controls, and which posed some good route choices on a number of legs.

Results.
Splits.

GRAMP SOL 4 - Scolty

Grampian Orienteers organised the 4th Scottish Orienteering League race of 2010 at Scolty, near Banchory. I ran M50L (Short Brown course) which was 7.0k with 190m of climb and 16 controls.

Results.
WinSplits.
RouteGadget.

FVO Evening Event - Dumyat

Roger Goddard planned tonights courses. I ran the Long course which was 4.6k with 15 controls.

Results.

Scottish Relay Championships - Rannoch Forest

The Scottish Relay Championships were held in the same forest as yesterdays individual event, with Edinburgh University winning the Mens Open and Forth Valley (pictured above) winning the Womens Open. I ran first leg on the Handicap 9 course which was 5.0k with 190m of climb and 18 controls.

Results and splits.
WinSplits.
RouteGadget.

Scottish Championships - Rannoch Forest

This years Scottish Championships took place in Rannoch Forest in the Highlands, an area last used for the JK in 2000. I ran the M50L course (which was excellently planned by WOC runner Hollie Orr, and) which was 7.0k with 255m of climb and 21 controls.

Results and splits.
WinSplits.
RouteGadget.

MAROC Local Event - Bogendreip

The weather this weekend was wonderful and it was difficult to decide what to do. I was keen on going skiing at Cairngorm, but Hazel wanted to go orienteering and so, overruled, we drove to Deeside for MAROC's Local event at Bogendreip - an area I've run on a few times before and which we felt would be good preparation for next weekends Scottish Championships. I ran the Brown course, which posed some good challenges and which was 7.7k with 255m of climb and 21 controls.

Results.
Splits.
RouteGadget.

TAY SOL 3 - Balkello Hill

Balkello Hill was the venue for the third Scottish Orienteering League race of 2010 and, whilst some found the heathery parts hard going, I enjoyed the variety of terrain and the technical challenges the area provided. I ran M50L which was 7.0k with 305m of climb and 17 controls.

Results.
WinSplits.
RouteGadget.

BOF WOC Middle Selection Race - Ardnaskie

Hollie Orr approaching the finish.

Arnaskie, near Oban, was the venue for the second (of three!) selection race for this years World Championships. Marsela McLeod planned testing and varied middle distance courses which started in open woodland, then had a few controls in a plantation with low visibility, before finishing in a tricky, bushy(rhododendrons) area. I ran the Mens course which was 5.4k with 255m of climb and 25 controls. Scott Fraser won the Mens course from Graham Gristwood and Grace Crane won the Womens course from Helen Palmer.

Results and splits.
RouteGadget.