Scottish Middle Championships 2026
Credit: Crawford Lindsay
ESOC had 7 competitors on the podium and a further 5 in the top 5 at the Scottish Middle Championships held in The Trossachs on Saturday 21st February. Well done to Calum Robertson and Mary Williams who both came 1st in their age class.
The Trossachs is a great, but tricky, area for orienteering and this middle distance competition was based at Loch Katrine Pier. The forest is a deciduous woodland with open areas, but the heather underfoot is deep and some junior courses were taped to stop them getting lost in it! There are no paths, although deer tracks could provide some easier going.
Catriona Gillespie writes:
FVO promised us 'notable physical and technical challenge with lots of rock and much intricate contour detail on steep slopes', and it's fair to say the Scottish Middles lived up to expectations.
The first challenge was making our way to the Far Start above Loch Katrine - this included a final 50 metre ascent up a steep and slippery muddy slope - a taste of things to come!
It was immediately apparent that no-one was doing a lot of running. Instead, struggling up and sliding down precipitous crags, and wading through waist deep heather or ankle deep bog were the main activities. The challenging nature of the terrain fostered a certain camaraderie between competitors (one of whom was overheard saying they would never complain about sand dunes again...). Even the Finish (a sort of muddy cliff with barbed wire features) was unusually difficult!
Some of us were extremely grateful for having practised contour exercises at the recent East of Scotland coaching event. This was certainly an opportunity to put these skills into practice.
Well done to all ESOCians who managed to complete their courses on a tough day, and especially to all the medal winners. Despite the challenges it was a fantastic experience and everyone had stories to share afterwards. Apparently this is what's known as 'type 2 fun' - the sort which is mostly fun in hindsight!
Medals were presented aboard the steamship Sir Walter Scott. ESOC results in the top half:
- M10 (3) - Luke Durnall 2nd
- M18 (2) - Calum Robertson 1st
- MSuperVet (28) - Keith Brown 13th
- MUltraVet (18) - Kevin Harding 5th
- MHyperVet (12) - Les Dalgleish 6th, Dave Kershaw 7th
- W10 (4) - Kirsten Tinsley 3rd
- W14 (6) - Emma Daley 2nd
- WO (14) - Rachel Brown 3rd
- WVet (22) - Fran Daley 4th, Hannah Durnall 11th
- WSuperVet (21) - Helena Nolan 9th, Hanne Robertson 10th
- WUltraVet (15) - Maggie Scrugham 2nd, Sally Lindsay 4th, Alison Harding 5th, Margaret Dalgleish 8th
- WHyperVet (6) - Mary Williams 1st, Eleanor Pyrah 4th
Full results, including Routegadget and Livelox, can be found here
Other entries categorised under: Event Reports