Scottish University Sprint Relay 2015Riccarton, 15 November
Entries in this Mixed Sprint Relay competition were open to all, and 5 ESOC teams competed.
This year’s Scottish University Sprint Relay was presented by Heriot-Watt University orienteers, with assistance from Interløpers, and the courses were planned by ESOC’s Helen Bridle. The Riccarton campus is on the west side of Edinburgh, and has a variety of terrain, with complex modern buildings set in parkland and woodland.
Alison Campbell, Organiser, commented: "Putting on the Scottish Uni Sprint Relays was a really fun adventure! (if not stressful at times!) Heriot-Watt doesn't actually have an official orienteering club but it is rather a team run out of the athletics/mountaineering clubs. This was probably our biggest challenge with putting on the event; no real committee to delegate or to give jobs to. Instead we all had to pull together and get volunteers in from outside the student body. Helen Bridle was amazing and stepped up to course-set and then Paul Caban (INT) joined the team as Controller. I was so fortunate to have both of them help and I've learned so much about planning a quality event. On the day there was loads of help from Heriot-Watt, Interløpers, the Strains, and others. Everyone really pulled together to make this event happen (too bad the weather didn't get the memo!) I think everyone had a fun time and the courses were probably some of the best I've seen set on campus!"
The start was on a grassy area in the western part of the campus, and unfortunately the weather was wet, so it quickly became very muddy – the mass start was a treacherous dash down a slope to the start kite. Courses led around the campus, with several loops, and quick decision-making was vital in choosing the best route around the various buildings. There were many different gaffles, and often several controls close together, which led to mispunches for the hasty.
There was a choice of courses: Long (3.2 – 3.3 km, 24 controls) or Short (2.4 – 2.6 km, 18 controls), and these were combined for the following classes:
Long – 4 long legs, W, M, M, W (M18 – M50 and W18-W40)
Short – 4 short legs, W, M, M, W (M55+ and W45+)
Mixed – Long, Short, Short, Long (any order M or W, of appropriate age)
ESOC results were:
Long (17 teams)
ESOC Legends (Laura Robertson, Andrew Dalgleish, Andrew Lindsay, Rona Lindsay) came 2nd, beating all the university teams.
ESOC Jedi (Alison Cunningham, Mark Wood, Terry Johnstone, Helena Nolan) came 5th.
Roger Scrutton ran 3rd leg in a mixed team and came 12th on his leg.
Short (2 teams)
ESOC Bs (Rachel Brown, Ben Brown, Keith Brown, Judy Bell) came 1st
ESOC Droids (Eleanor Pyrah, Alastair Lessells, Ian Pyrah, Katy Lessells) came 2nd.
Mixed (6 teams)
ESOC Rebels (Sally Lindsay, Fiona Findlay, Robert Findlay, Crawford Lindsay) came 2nd.
Maggie Scrugham ran 2nd leg in a mixed team and came 2nd on her leg.
Full results are available here.
Some photos from the event are available in the Riccarton Mixed Sprint Relay album in ESOC's Google Album Archive. More photos are available here.
Other entries categorised under: Event Reports