JK 2019Southern England, 19 - 22 April
The 2019 Jan Kjellström Festival of Orienteering was in the deep south of England, and around 20 ESOC members made the long journey.
There was general agreement that this year’s JK was an excellent weekend, with comments from many competitors mentioning good planning, accurate maps, great arena and parking arrangements and glorious weather. Unfortunately there were major problems with the results, which took several days to fix, but the results have now been finalised. There were some impressive ESOC runs on all 4 days.
The JK Sprint was on Friday 19 April (Day 1) at Aldershot Garrison, Hampshire. The area has a mixture of new and old buildings, some of which are very similar to one another, set in varied parkland with many trees, hedges, gardens and structures such as bicycle sheds and fire escapes. It is mainly flat, with one steep slope in a wooded area.
There were 3 ESOC medallists – Rachel Brown, 1st in W16, Ian Pyrah, 2nd in M75, and Eleanor Pyrah, 3rd in W75.
Other ESOC runners who were in the top half of their class:
M10 (20 competitors) – Calum Robertson 4th
M18E (44) – Ben Brown 9th
M21E (89) – Richard Purkis 23rd
M45 (79) – Alistair Hindle 21st
M50 (124) – Terry Johnstone 42nd
M55 (137) – Keith Brown 22nd
M65 (95) – Les Dalgleish 45th
W12 (26) – Megan Brown 9th
W14 (43) – Maja Robertson 18th
W21E (55) – Sarah Jones 7th, Laura Robertson 8th
W45 (60) – Hanne Robertson 21st
W50 (89) – Judy Bell 42nd
W65 (40) – Margaret Dalgleish 6th, Janice Nisbet 7th
The JK Individual competition consists of 2 days (Days 2 and 3), and the times are added together for the overall results.
Day 2, on Saturday 20 April, was a Middle Distance race at Windmill Hill, which is in Surrey, east of Farnborough. Much of the area is closed to the public as it’s an army training area, surrounded by a big fence. The terrain is mainly wooded and steeply undulating, with numerous paths. The Basingstoke Canal and a railway line run across the southern part of the area, but only the very longest courses had controls on the other side.
Day 3, on Easter Sunday, was at Cold Ash, near Newbury, in Berkshire. This is mixed deciduous and coniferous woodland, with several gently sloping hills and a fairly extensive path network. The longest courses crossed into the western part of Bucklebury Common, which has some areas of thicker forest.
The best ESOC results came from Rachel Brown, who was 1st overall in W16A, and Eleanor Pyrah, 2nd in W75.
Other ESOC runners who were in the top half of their class overall:
M21E (78) – Richard Purkis 33rd
M55L (101) – Keith Brown 52nd
M70L (71) – Roger Scrutton 22nd
M75L (25) – Ian Pyrah 8th
W12A (25) – Megan Brown 11th
W14A (40) – Maja Robertson 11th
W21E (50) – Sarah Jones 7th
W50S (26) – Judy Bell 3rd
W65L (33) – Janice Nisbet 7th
On Easter Monday (Day 4), the JK Relays were held at Minley, NW of Farnborough. This area has varied terrain on a series of low ridges, with mature deciduous woodland, small areas of conifer plantation and open areas, and a network of tracks and paths.
ESOC had 3 teams, in classes B, G and J.
There was a podium place for ESOC Samson (Laura Robertson, Rona Lindsay, Sarah Jones) who came 3rd out of 21 teams in the Women’s Trophy class.
ESOC Laidlaw (Roger Scrutton, Ian Pyrah, Richard Purkis) came 42nd out of 61 teams in the Veteran Men (M165+) class.
ESOC McBeath (Janice Nisbet, Margaret Dalgleish, Les Dalgleish) came 18th out of 31 teams in the Ultraveterans class (M/W210+)
Details about the weekend, along with links to photos, can be found on the JK2019 website.
Days 1, 2 and 3 were the 5th, 6th and 7th events in the 2019 UK Orienteering League - more details about this league are on the UK Orienteering League page of the British Orienteering website. ESOC is now lying 7th in the club competition. The score for each club is calculated automatically from the 15 best club members' scores (across various age class groups) - so the club members whose scores are included will change as the year goes on.
Days 1, 2 and 3 were also part of the UK Elite Orienteering League - see the UK Elite Orienteering League website for full details. Days 1 and 2 were World Ranking Events for elite runners.
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