SOUL 4, 2025Dufftown, 25 May
Moravian Orienteers organised the fourth event in the 2025 Scottish Orienteering Urban League. Unfortunately very few ESOC members ventured north for this, despite the added attraction of an indoor event nearby on 24 May.
Dufftown is in Moray, and is known for its whisky distilleries; it’s on the whisky trail around the glens of Speyside. The event centre was at Dufftown Memorial Hall, with the start and finish close by. The Final Details promised “a compact set of streets and roads and some small sections of woodland which all have good path networks”, so it wasn’t a typical urban race - the senior courses were described as 70% urban terrain and 30% forest terrain. There was quite a lot of climb, as Dufftown is on the side of a hill sloping steeply down to the River Fiddich.
The weather was windy and mostly sunny, with a little rain later.
ESOC results:
- Course 4 (22 competitors) - Helena Nolan 5th (3rd W Supervet)
- Course 5 (17) - Ewart Scott 1st (1st M Hypervet); Rhona Fraser 8th (4th W Ultravet)
More details, officials’ comments, and full results including Routegadget (scroll to the bottom of the page) are available on the Dufftown SOUL event page of the MOR website.
Further details about the 2025 Scottish Orienteering Urban League, including a list of this year's events, and a link to the latest league tables, are on the SOUL page of the Scottish Orienteering website.
There was also an indoor event the previous day, at Kinloss Barracks. There were 4 courses, with various lengths and difficulty. The competition took place in a single building, with 2 floors and a mezzanine. This small area was enlivened by barriers, mazes and one-way systems, and there were many interlinking rooms, corridors and staircases, plus mazes to negotiate. On the Hard courses, the route to the next control often involved going to the other floor and then returning; it was a complicated 3D puzzle, reported as “fantastic” by competitors.
More details about the event plus results (scroll to the bottom of the page) are on the 24 May indoor event page on the MOR website.
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