Schiehallion WeekendStirling/Perthshire, 19-21 June 2015
Featuring SOUL 4 and SOL 5 (presented by FVO), and SOL 6 (presented by TAY), this was a weekend to remember, especially since the first two events were being run in conjunction with Sprint and Middle Distance World Ranking Events for M/W21 Elites, which attracted international competitors.
On Friday 19 June, SOUL 4 took place in Bannockburn, on the south side of Stirling. This was a new area, including varied modern housing, with intricate navigation, separated by open grassy areas and with an uphill finish. Good indoor facilities at Bannockburn High School were welcome, as it was a surprisingly chilly evening.
ESOC members in the top half of the results were:
M Vet (21) – Mark Wood 11th
M SuperVet (24) – Crawford Lindsay 8th, Mike Stewart 11th, Martin Caldwell 12th
M UltraVet (13) – Alastair Lessells 2nd, Roger Scrutton 4th, Ian Pyrah 6th
W Elite (39) – Helen Bridle 7th, Bex Harding 15th
W SuperVet (15) – Maggie Scrugham 3rd, Margaret Dalgleish 5th, Sally Lindsay 6th
W Ultravet (13) – Eleanor Pyrah 4th, Katy Lessells 5th, Anne Thom 7th
SOL 5 was held on Saturday 20 June, at Tullochroisk, near Kinloch Rannoch, just below Schiehallion itself. This is classic terrain, with steep heathery moorland, birchwoods and some conifer plantation that was only visited by the Elite courses. Most found the courses physically challenging, and there were some very long times. The weather was fine and warm, with some great views.
ESOC members in the top half of the results for their course were:
Women’s Elite (54) – Helen Bridle 15th
Short Blue (56) – Alison Cunningham 5th, Alastair Lessells 9th, Roger Scrutton 14th, Dave Kershaw 19th, Jamie Cunningham 22nd
Green (58) – Mary Williams 14th, Margaret Dalgleish 25th, Maggie Scrugham 27th
Short Green (47) – Eleanor Pyrah 9th, Jim Clark 10th
Light Green (34) – Kerry Wood 16th
Orange (22) – Rachel Brown 2nd
White (9) – Megan Brown 5th
The next day saw SOL 6 at Dunalastair. This is also classic Highland terrain, a mix of rough open land, natural woodland and plantation forest, with some detailed contours and also vaguer areas. The courses were again physically challenging, and most found themselves confused at some point. There were a lot of retirals. The weather was better than expected, and again quite warm, though breezy.
ESOC members in the top half of the results for their course were:
Dark Brown (32) – Bex Harding 11th
Blue (74) – Clive Masson 23rd, Tyler Morrison 32nd, Crawford Lindsay 35th
Short Blue (48) – Alison Cunningham 2nd, Les Dalgleish 23rd, Roger Scrutton 24th
Green (61) – Maggie Scrugham 17th, Margaret Dalgleish 26th, Sally Lindsay 30th
Short Green (50) – Fiona Findlay 21st, Leonne Hutchinson 23rd
Orange (22) – Rachel Brown 5th
White (9) – Joseph Lawlor 3rd, Rowan Lawlor 4th
Full results and further details are available as follows:
SOUL 4 - Schiehallion Weekend Day 1 page of the Forth Valley Orienteers website
SOL 5 - Schiehallion Weekend Day 2 page of the Forth Valley Orienteers website
SOL 6 - SOL 6 event page of the Tayside Orienteers website
Details of all the events in the 2015 Scottish Orienteering Urban League, and the league tables, are available here.
The 2015 Scottish Orienteering League tables are on the Scottish O League Table Archive page of the Scottish Orienteering Association website.
There are a few photos from the weekend in the Schiehallion weekend album of ESOC's Google Album Archive.
Other entries categorised under: Event Reports