JK, Easter Weekend, Scotland

This year's JK provided some good and not so good orienteering - the sprint billed as "probably the best urban area in Britain" wasn't - some said that the Sheffield areas were better.  What looked tricky at first sight offered little in the way of route choice as there always seemed to be a direct route through the flats.  SYO did however have some success with Aidan Smith 2nd on M18E, Oli Johnson 4th on M21E, Martin Ward 1st on M45 (although Dave Peel was non comp and was faster), Paul Bradbury (he doesn’t get a mention very often) 5th on M55 – perhaps he’s found his o’ing forte, Pete Gorvett 4th on M65, Louise 4th on W14, Jenny Peel 2nd on W40, Alex Kilcoyne 3rd on Women's Open.

The first of the main individual days on Dunalistair was good but a poor assembly field meant everyone stayed in the car park and the latter part of most courses was poor when compared to the early sections of most courses. The second day on Craig a Barns was magnificent with typical Scottish forest with plenty of contour detail and some reasonable planning – and it didn’t rain on either day! SYO successes were perhaps fewer than in previous years but notable performances were Dane Blomquist (new recruit to SYO) 1st on M16, Aidan Smith 1st by 10 mins on M18E, Oli Johnson 4th on M21E, Andy Preston 5th on M35L, Mark Chapman 5th on M45L, Pete Gorvett 1st on M65, Brian Shaw 1st on M70, Katherine 4th on W16, Amanda Leo 5th on W20E, Rachel Rothman 5th on W21E, Louise Preston 1st on W21V, Jenny Peel 2nd on W40, Wendy Billing 1st on W50S.

The Relay area was below par for Scotland and unfortunately SYO were below par too. The only notable performance being the M16s (Dane, Michael Adams and Jake Field) coming 2nd on M48-. Hopefully the British Relays in a couple of weeks will prove better for SYO.

Tim Tett, Team Captain.

ShAFF

The event was a great success. The new amphitheatre made a great arena for the event and the Park Hill complex and excellent map and planning meant the courses were as challenging as the best urban orienteering. Even the scenery was excellent, surprising even long term SYO members with views and crocuses in the Cholera Monument Park and the vibrancy of Victoria Quays with its narrow boats and cafes. (Peter Gorvett - controller)

Photos have just been addded to the event page (http://www.southyorkshireorienteers.org.uk/index.php?option=com_eventlist&;view=details&id=346:urban-event-shaff-weekend&Itemid=88). A brief report and results analysis can also be found on the page along with many praising comments by those that took part.

Urban Nights – The finale

How quickly 4 months goes by! Several hardy souls ran all 5 races and it was particularly pleasing to see several fell runners sticking it out to the end – as one was keen to say upon finishing "I haven't got a clue where I've been but it was thoroughly enjoyable" – which is what it's all about. The courses visited several industrial heritage artefacts, a preserved 'dig' beneath a glass slab, the local Tesco, the law courts and a dash through one of Sheffield's red light areas. Several runners were offered dubious substances, several were cheered on by the public and at least one was warned loudly via a speaker that he had been filmed on CCTV. Urban orienteering offers more than you would care to think!!

At the sharp end, several of the top orienteers in the country fought for the glory of 1st spot with Ralph Street, fresh from his some would say idiotic exploits of 2 weeks earlier leading the national country championships for the first ½ mile, showing the field that perhaps he does indeed have a turn of speed to respect. Others would say he was just the lucky one to pick the route to 24 which wasn't blocked by an 8ft fence! The split times (should be up on the SYO web site soon and also with the map on Routegadget) show the lead changing several times during the race.

One of the problems with planning city races is you never know when building works will come and go – one marked on the map was removed 2 days before the race, one new fence went up in the week before (spotted when hanging controls) and one previously spotted fence was moved to block the obvious route choice – not spotted when hanging the controls. Luckily it was just a fun event and everyone took it in their stride – a certain Kris Jones climbing two fences to reach the control and Oli Johnson limbo'ing under another.

For at least 4 of the orienteers, this was their first night event – hope you enjoyed it. It's a relatively safe way to begin with lots of urban glow to help. Rhys and Karl did well to get round so quickly with no light at all using street lights and map memory when it got quite dark. Several people failed to punch the finish control for some reason and one missed the penultimate – must have been the rush to get back for the beer and food. The Fat Cat rewarded us with some excellent home cooking and a fine selection of Real Ale – the event will be repeated next year.

A separate write up of the series will appear in due course.

Tim Tett – series organiser.