FCC Sprint & Northern Championships, 26/27 March 2011
NATO (Newcastle and Tyneside Orienteers) presented a great double header weekend in the NE of England, enjoyed by ESOC members, with some excellent results.
On Saturday 26 March, there was a Sprint race at Leazes Park, in the centre of Newcastle beside St James’ Park stadium. This was also a Future Champions Cup race (M/W18 and M/W20), and the FCC competitors’ start block was before the rest. A spectator area allowed a good view of the juniors as they raced around 2 loops in the park. Courses finished under the canopy of the stadium, which was very dark, with more than one level, giving an unexpected challenge at the end. The weather was chilly, but bright and dry.
ESOC competitors in the top half of the results were:
Men (156 competitors) - Andrew Lindsay 22nd, Andrew Dalgleish 24th, Craig Nolan 28th, Alastair Hindle 38th, Crawford Lindsay 73rd, Roger Scrutton 74th.
Women (100) - Rona Lindsay 12th
On Sunday 27 March, the Northern Championships was held a little further north, at Ray Demesne, Kirkwhelpington, Northumberland. This area is mainly open moorland and rough pasture, with some enclosed blocks of forest. Runnability was varied – there was some deep heather, bog, rocky areas and fallen trees, but also easier going on short grass, dead bracken and rough grassland. Intricate contour detail in places, as well as crags and man-made features, gave a wide variety of control sites. With around 100 controls in place, care was needed to avoid mispunching. Early mist gave way to warm sunshine for much of the day.
ESOC competitors in the top half of the results were:
M16A (23 competitors) – Craig Nolan 5th
M18E (16) – Andrew Lindsay 3rd
M35L (6) – Ray Ward 2nd, Alastair Hindle 3rd
M55L (27) – Crawford Lindsay 9th
M60L (34) – Dave Kershaw 8th
M75L (6) – Jim Clark 2nd
W21E (3) – Claire Ward 1st
W45L (21) – Helena Nolan 4th
W55L (18) – Margaret Dalgleish 5th, Sally Lindsay 6th, Janice Nisbet 7th
W60S (5) – Kirsteen Kershaw 3rd
W65L (7) – Eleanor Pyrah 1st
W70L (9) – Janet Clark 4th
Full results and further details for both events are on the NATO website.