Edinburgh Big Weekend 201030/31 January
The Edinburgh City Race took place on Saturday, followed by the JOK Chasing Sprint on Arthur’s Seat on Sunday. Many ESOC members went to one or both events, with ESOC winners on both days.
Organised by Edinburgh University Orienteering Club, the Edinburgh City Race on Saturday 30 January started from Holyrood Park, beside the Scottish Parliament, on a beautiful, crisp day. There were 2 courses – long (6.6 km) and short (3.6 km), and both led through the Old Town, up onto Calton Hill, and back down again. The short course then headed over the Royal Mile and through the Southside to the finish, while the long course took a big southwards loop, then went over the Castle Esplanade to Princes Street Gardens before returning. Most people found themselves in several places they’d never been before, with many route choice challenges through closes and over the hills of the city centre.
ESOC members in the top half of the results were:
Men’s Open (59 competitors) – Tom Ryan 6th, Ross Sanderson 22nd
Men’s Vet (57) – Mark Wood 12th, Crawford Lindsay 28th
Men’s SuperVet (24) – Les Dalgleish 4th, Bill Stevenson 9th, Alastair Lessells 12th
Men’s Junior (6) – Andrew Lindsay 1st, Craig Nolan 3rd
Women’s Open (38) – Heather Thomson 8th
Women’s Vet (33) – Helena Nolan 1st, Sally Lindsay 16th
Women’s SuperVet (16) – Margaret Dalgleish 2nd, Janice Nisbet 6th, Eleanor Pyrah 8th
Women’s Junior (10) – Rona Lindsay 1st
Children’s course (10) – Jamie Fawthrop 4th
For full results and links to other details, visit the EUOC Big Weekend page.
As usual, there was a ceilidh on Saturday night, which the ESOC contingent enjoyed.
The JOK Chasing Sprint was on Sunday 31 January, on Arthur’s Seat, with the assembly area at Dunsapie Loch. It’s an annual event, but many of the ESOC competitors had not entered it before, because it’s often way down south. The format of the event is similar to the ESOC chasing sprint the week before, with each competitor running 2 courses – your time on the first course determines your start time on the second, so that the first person home in each class is the winner. The good weather continued, though it was still quite chilly. The first start was high up the hill, so that the courses were mostly downhill, and they covered some rough terrain, causing much confusion right from the start, and also amongst the gorse thickets on Whinney Hill. The start for the Chase was lower, and the courses were no less challenging. Commentary and spectator controls made for an exciting event, followed by a prizegiving with flying pig trophies and wind-up pig torches as prizes.
ESOC competitors in the top half of the results were:
Men 40+ (29) – Mark Wood 12th
Men 55+ (19) – Alastair Lessells 4th, Les Dalgleigh 7th, Crawford Lindsay 9th, Roger Scrutton 10th
Men 16- (5) – Andrew Lindsay 3rd, Craig Nolan 4th
Women 40+ (14) – Helena Nolan 4th
Women 55+ (11) – Janice Nisbet 2nd, Margaret Dalgleish 4th, Eleanor Pyrah 6th
Women 16- (4) – Rona Lindsay 1st
Children’s course (10) – Kerry Wood 4th
For full results and other information, visit the JOK Chasing Sprint 2010 page.
Other entries categorised under: Event Reports