British Orienteering Championships28 February-1 March 2009
This year’s British Championships had a change of date which meant that it clashed with the ESOC Sprint O, but despite this, ESOC was represented at the event, held in the New Forest, Hampshire.
The Individual event was held on Saturday 28 February at Hampton Ridge, in the northern part of the New Forest National Park. It was an area of mostly open, runnable heathland, so fast running was expected and the courses were long. The terrain was undulating but not very steep, and the open land was mostly tussock and heather with dead bracken and some gorse. The woodland was quite open and runnable too. It was very wet underfoot, with slow marshes and treacherous deep ponds. The weather was dry, and although it was overcast at first, the sun came out later on - ideal orienteering conditions.
The best ESOC results were:
M14A – Craig Nolan 9th
M40S – Ron Nolan 6th
W16A – Rona Lindsay 7th
W65L – Eleanor Pyrah 4th
The relays were held further south the next day, at Beaulieu Estate. This was a wooded area, with a large grassy assembly area and a long uphill run-in that was challenging for the competitors but gave great views for spectators. The day dawned slightly misty and cool, and the sun broke through later.
There were 3 ESOC teams:
ESOC Kids – Rona Lindsay, Andrew Lindsay and Craig Nolan ran in the W18 class (non-competitively) and had the 2nd fastest time.
ESOC Vets – Ron Nolan, Dave Kershaw and Crawford Lindsay competed in M40, and came 24th out of 35 teams.
ESOC Super-vets – Roger Scrutton, Eleanor Pyrah and Ian Pyrah competed in M/W60 and came 14th out of 43 teams.
Everyone enjoyed the event and agreed it was worth the long journey – both days had a great atmosphere with lots of club tents and flags, giving opportunities to meet old friends and make new ones from all over the country.
Full results and officials' comments are available on the South Central Orienteering Association website.