Scottish Championships 2025Barry Buddon, 3/4 May
Credit: Crawford Lindsay
It was the East Area clubs’ turn to organise the Scottish Championships, which were earlier than the traditional date. There were 2 Scottish champions from ESOC, plus other podium places at both Individual and Relay events.
Barry Buddon lies between Monifieth and Carnoustie, on the north shore of the Tay estuary. Access is difficult to arrange, so the area isn’t used very often; some remembered it from previous events in 2009 and 2011. It’s a military training area in a vast expanse of low-lying coastal dunes and flat tussocky grassland, with some forested areas, birch scrub and heather. The arena was the same for both days, with a short walk from the parking areas.
The Individual event took place on Saturday 3 May, coordinated by Interløpers. There were 2 starts, close together and about 3km east of the arena, approached via a rather long walk along tarmac roads, to make the most of the terrain. Courses featured some long legs across the less interesting flatter areas and short legs in the intricate contours of the dunes. The last few controls were in a flat area of shorter grass, giving faster going. The weather was fine, though windy and cool.
There were 2 trophy winners from ESOC: Sarah Crawford (W35) and Margaret Dalgleish (W70), and podium places for Helena Nolan (3rd, W55), Ian Pyrah (2nd, M80), and Eleanor Pyrah (2nd, W80).
Other ESOC members in the top half of the results for their age class were:
- M14A (16 competitors) – William Atkinson 5th
- M18L (1) – Hamish Meikle 1st
- M21L (5) – Ben Brown 2nd
- M65L (23) – Kevin Harding 8th
- M70L (14) – Crawford Lindsay 4th
- M70S (4) – Alistair Armitage 1st
- W21E (13) – Helen Bridle 5th
- W55S (9) – Judy Bell 4th
- W65L (16) – Alison Harding 4th
- W70L (7) – Mary Williams 4th
The Relay event was on Sunday 4 May, coordinated by ESOC, with courses planned by Dave Kershaw and Sarah McAdam. The start was just west of the arena and the courses led anticlockwise through an area of dunes that had not been used in the previous day’s event, before zigzagging around the terrain and returning to the arena. All of the control sites were different on the two days. The weather was mostly fine, with a couple of very short showers, and it was still windy and cool.
Helena Nolan, ESOC Club Captain, commented “It was great to see so many ESOC competitors at the Scottish Relays on Sunday. All smiling, ready to experience the fantastic courses planned by Dave Kershaw and Sarah McAdam. There was a great team spirit, all cheering each other on, along with helping to make the whole event run smoothly with Jayne MacGregor at the helm. A great weekend of orienteering.”
ESOC had 8 teams. Our best result was in Age-class 23+, where ESOC Alliance (Alison Harding, Helena Nolan, Kevin Harding) came 1st.
Other ESOC results:
- Age-class: 11+ (11 teams)
ESOC Jedi 6th (Ben Brown, Megan Brown, Helen Bridle) - Age-class: 17+ (13 teams)
ESOC Rebels 9th (Luigi Lerose, Crawford Lindsay, Fran Daley) - Age-class: 20+ (10 teams)
ESOC Stormtroopers 7th (Margaret Dalgleish, Heidi Ross, James Murdoch) - Age-class: 23+ (19 teams)
ESOC Sith 7th (Mary Williams, Finlay Ross, Keith Brown)
ESOC X-Wings 8th (Leslie Dalgleish, Maggie Scrugham, Terry Johnstone)
ESOC Lightsabers 9th (Roger Scrutton, Rachael Imrie, Katherine Kirk) - Junior 44- (8 teams)
ESOC Wookie 3rd (William Atkinson, Emma Daley, Calum Robertson)
Combination teams composed of members from different clubs are also allowed, if they don’t have enough runners to fill another team. Ewan Kerr ran 2nd leg in team “Maroc and roll”, who came 2nd in Age-class 8+, and Emma Anderson ran 3rd leg in team “ELOments Fire”, who came 7th in Age-class 11+.
Full results and Routegadget for both days of the weekend are available on the Scottish Championships 2025 results page of the Scottish Orienteering website.
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