JK 2016Yorkshire, 25-28 March
The 2016 Jan Kjellström Festival of Orienteering offered 4 contrasting events in various parts of Yorkshire, and over 40 ESOC members were there, with some excellent results. Although the weather was mixed, the organisation was very good and everyone enjoyed the weekend.
The JK Sprint took place on Friday (Day 1) on the campus of Leeds University. This area has complex buildings in varied styles, on surprisingly hilly ground, with multiple levels reached by steps and ramps, and confusing underpasses. There were some grassed areas, trees and hedges, though mostly the courses were on hard surfaces. There was plenty of route choice, and longer courses had double-sided maps. The weather was very pleasant – sunny and quite warm, so there was a good atmosphere in the arena as competitors gathered.
ESOC’s best results came from Eleanor Pyrah, who won W70, and Mary Williams, 3rd in W65.
Other ESOC runners who were in the top half of their class:
M21E (116) – Andrew Lindsay 51st
M40 (38) – Alistair Hindle 7th
M50 (141) – Terry Johnstone 63rd
M55 (112) – Mike Stewart 48th=
M60 (90) – Crawford Lindsay 23rd
M65 (79) – Dave Kershaw 24th=, Alastair Lessells 30th, Les Dalgleish 31st
M70 (54) – Ian Pyrah 14th
W14 (54) – Rachel Brown 11th
W16 (54) – Kerry Wood 19th
W21E (71) – Rona Lindsay 8th
W40 (40) – Heather Thomson 9th
W45 (72) – Judy Bell 28th
W50 (105) – Helena Nolan 17th
W60 (54) – Sally Lindsay 5th, Janice Nisbet 9th, Margaret Dalgleish 22nd
W65 (50) – Katy Lessells 21st
The JK Individual competition consists of 2 days, and the times are added together for the overall results. For the Elite classes (M/W18E, M/W20E, and M/W21E), the first day is a Middle Distance race.
Saturday’s event (Day 2) was at Wass Forest, near Thirsk. The forest is on the very steep and deeply-indented scarp slope of the North York Moors. Much of it was deciduous, with some conifer plantation, and it was all very rough. There were many crossings of steep-sided streams, a lot of mud, and also brambles in places, as well as some very thick scrub. Most people found it hard going, and there were some long times. The weather was cool and breezy, but dry.
Sunday’s event (Day 3) was further west, at Kilnsey, in the Yorkshire Dales near Kettlewell. The terrain was a complete contrast to the previous day, being open limestone moorland and very runnable. This is classic limestone terrain, with areas of limestone pavement, small crags, lines of sinkholes, and some high walls crossed by ladder stiles. The highest parts were quite tussocky, but had the compensation of sweeping views. Courses were on the long side, and unfortunately there were some heavy showers, especially later in the afternoon when there was a particularly fierce hailstorm which led to a lot of retirals. It was quite windy, and keeping a firm hold on your map was a major concern.
The best ESOC result came from Janice Nisbet, who was 3rd overall in W60L.
Other ESOC runners who were in the top half of their class overall:
M12B (11) – Joseph Lawlor 2nd
M21E (85) – Andrew Lindsay 33rd
M40L (34) – Alistair Hindle 11th
M45S (33) – Ronnie Nolan 9th
M50S (51) – Keith Brown 12th
M60L (75) – Crawford Lindsay 36th
M65L (74) – Alastair Lessells 23rd
M80 (14) – Jim Clark 5th
W14A (47) – Rachel Brown 20th
W21E (45) – Rona Lindsay 17th, Jo Stevenson 20th
W40S (18) – Heather Thomson 2nd
W45S (31) – Judy Bell 9th
W50L (69) – Helena Nolan 26th
W60L (34) – Margaret Dalgleish 9th, Sally Lindsay 14th
W65S (13) – Fiona Findlay 2nd
W70L (29) – Eleanor Pyrah 4th
W75 (13) – Janet Clark 6th
On Easter Monday (Day 4), it was the JK Relays, much further south at Storthes Hall near Huddersfield. This area has varied terrain including mature deciduous woodland, open fields, university accommodation buildings and surrounding parkland, with many paths throughout. There was a downhill start and uphill finish, and longer courses had a spectator control with a run-through beside sports pitches. The weather was fine, though still cool.
ESOC had 8 teams, in classes D, H, J, M, and P.
Our best team was ESOC Jedi (Jo Stevenson, Heather Thomson and Rona Lindsay), who won the Women’s Short class.
Other ESOC teams in the top half of their class were:
ESOC Ewoks (Janice Nisbet, Mary Williams, Helena Nolan) - 6th out of 20 in Veteran Women (W165+)
ESOC X-Wings (Sally Lindsay, Eleanor Pyrah, Crawford Lindsay) - 7th out of 19 in Ultraveteran class (M/W210+)
ESOC Gungans (Judy Bell, Ben Brown, Alistair Hindle) - 29th out of 76 in Mixed Ad Hoc, narrowly beating IntESOC (Kerry Wood, Mark Wood, Rachel Kirkland) who came 30th.
Full results and other details about the weekend can be found on the JK 2016 website.
Some photos from the event are available in ESOC's Google Album Archive:
Day 1 (Sprint)
Day 2 (Wass)
Day 3 (Kilnsey)
Day 4 (Relays)
There are links to many more photos on the JK 2016 website photo page.
Days 1, 2 and 3 were the 3rd, 4th and 5th events in the 2016 UK Orienteering League – more details, included the league tables, are on the UK Orienteering League page of the British Orienteering website. After these events, ESOC is lying 20th in the club competition.
All three events were also part of the UK Elite Orienteering League – see the UK Elite Orienteering League website for full details.
The JK will be in the south east of England next year, from 14 to 17 April 2017.
Other entries categorised under: Event Reports