Orienteering has returned locally after a summer break and during that break several Solway Orienteering Club members ventured south for competition, most recently to the Lake District where Dave McQuillen produced a fourth place run on a short green course at Haverigg Bent.
Bampton Long-O was another challenge where Isla O’Donoghue, Helen O’Donoghue and Katherine Elliot contested the super short and placed a respectable second, sixth and seventh while Tim O’Donoghue ran very short with a ninth place finish.
Another event was the Cumbrian Galoppen at Faulds Brow where Helen O’Donoghue recorded an eighth place finish on short green while the blue course saw Stuart Graham, Tim O’Donoghue and Ian Turner return in 16th, 17th and 28th place respectively, Stuart and Tim fast enough to claim Blue Standard.
The return to monthly competitions was heralded by a series of map-reading training sessions and last Saturday’s event attracted more than 40 people, both regulars and newcomers.
Three courses of differing difficulty were offered by planner Derek Kennedy. The novice/short course saw more than 20 runners and fastest round was Jenna Youngman, a minute faster than Tom Dunlop with Max Dunlop another minute down, keeping the major placings within the family.
Former members Paul and Aimee Kerr took first place on the medium/light green course by some 40 seconds from Jo Forsyth with Tim O’Donoghue sneaking onto a shorter course in third ahead of ever-improving Kate Dunlop who made it a family group of major placings.
The most intricate, green course saw yet another win by visitor Ian Cumpstey of Border Liners. Ian ran in almost six minutes ahead of Richard Colbeck who completed almost the same gap ahead of John Biggar. A large number of runners stayed behind for the club AGM where business was quickly concluded to the satisfaction of all.
Sunday saw another Cumbrian Galoppen, this time at High Pike. Tim O’Donoghue and Derek Kennedy competed on the green course, placing 20th and 33rd respectively out of 70 starters. Helen O’Donoghue returned 35th on short green.
The next competition in the series will be in Cally Woods, Gatehouse on October 26. Full information on this and orienteering in general can be found on the club Facebook page and website www.solwayorienteers.co.uk.