JK 2024Loughboro Uni / Cannock / Stanton Moor, 29 Mar - 1 Apr
Credit: Sheila Strain
An East Midlands + West Midlands collaboration for the 2024 JK saw our ESOC contingent dotting between fast and furious university campus sprinting to the mudbaths of Beaudesert for a physical Middle & Long, and finally back to the drizzly but highly enjoyable moors and mines of the Peak District for the relay finale. Standout results were the double sprint Gold for M/W80 power couple Ian & Eleanor Pyrah, and a first ESOC JK relay medal in some years with a Bronze in the Women's Veteran (W165+) class for the team of Alison Harding (W60), Mary Williams (W70) and Alison O'Neil (W35).
Credit: Wendy Carlyle
Good Friday's Sprint was on Loughborough University Campus, with full focus required to accurately wend one's way through the complex building configurations. Courses can be seen in Routegadget here.
Congratulations to Ian Pyrah (Gold in M80), Janice Nisbet & Margaret Dalgleish (Silver & Bronze in W70), and Eleanor Pyrah (Gold in W80)!
ESOC results in the top half are shown below (see also the full results here).
- M60 (92) - Keith Brown 15th
- M65 (73) - Kevin Harding 25th
- M70 (50) - Leslie Dalgleish 40th
- M80 (15) - Ian Pyrah 1st
- W16 (39) - Megan Brown 6th
- W21E (63) - Rachel Brown 4th, Helen Bridle 7th
- W55 (77) - Judith Bell 36th
- W60 (66) - Alison Harding 10th
- W70 (34) - Janice Nisbet 2nd, Margaret Dalgleish 6th
- W80 (9) - Eleanor Pyrah 1st
Credit: Fran Daley
The Middle and Long races were hosted by Walton Chasers on Cannock Chase. The theme was "brown" and "waist-high", with competitors jostling along sludge-bottomed singletracks, across steep-sided waterways, and through rain-bolstered marshes, in the brambly woods of Beaudesert. The stronger runners won out, with persistence the order of the day! Courses can be seen in Routegadget (Middle, Long).
Very well done to Janice and Margaret (Silver & Bronze in W70L) and Eleanor (Silver in W80)!
ESOC results in the top half are shown below (see also the full results here).
- M50L (68) - Alistair Hindle 24th
- M60L (116) - Keith Brown 31st
- M65L (92) - Kevin Harding 7th
- M70L (71) - Leslie Dalgleish 28th
- M80 (27) - Ian Pyrah 5th
- W12A (28) - Emma Daley 5th
- W14B (8) - Rebecca Daley 3rd
- W16A (45) - Megan Brown 20th
- W21E (46) - Rachel Brown 11th, Helen Bridle 15th, Alison O'Neil 21st
- W21S (29) - Shona McGillicuddy 8th
- W55S (25) - Judy Bell 4th
- W65L (46) - Alison Harding 9th
- W70L (37) - Janice Nisbet 2nd, Margaret Dalgleish 3rd, Mary Williams 7th
- W80 (11) - Eleanor Pyrah 2nd
Credit: Rachel Duckworth
Finally, Monday's relays were held on the DVO area of Stanton Moor. Fast-running moorland alternated with tricky intricately contoured "egg box" mining territory. ESOC's teams got a shake-up the week before the JK, after a virus wiped out the Robertson clan, and we finally had 4 teams, one a junior alliance with FVO. The maths worked out that we could sneak Alison O'Neil into a veteran team thanks to her more experienced team mates, just about making the 165 year requirement (60+70+35) and the plan worked out, with Alison H & Mary putting Alison O in contention to swipe a 3rd place with the final leg. A brilliant run also from Rachel Brown who returned in the lead after 1st leg, running for her uni club (EUOC)'s B team. Courses can be seen in Routegadget here.
Congratulations to the trio of Alison Harding, Mary Williams and Alison O'Neil who took Bronze in the Veteran Women's Relay!
ESOC team results were as follows (see also full results here).
- Women's Short (38) - Golden GeESOC (Megan Brown, Judy Bell & Rona Lindsay) in 10th
- M165+ (39) - The Bee's KneESOC (Keith Brown, Fran Daley and Kevin Harding) in 18th
- W165+ (14) - Knobby KneESOC (Alison Harding, Mary Williams and Alison O'Neil) in 3rd
- Mini-Relay (13) - FVO 21 (Emma Daley, Lucy Feltbower, Lucy Finch) in 10th
The JK Sprint, Middle & Long events were the 5th, 6th and 7th events in the 2024 UK Orienteering League. There are more details about the UKOL, including the league tables, on the UK Orienteering League website. With the scores for these events included, ESOC is lying 20th in the club league. The latest 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 may change as the year goes on and more events are included.
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