A busy weekend of orienteering

There were plenty of attractive events to choose from this weekend, 30/31 January. Several SROC members ventured North to take part in the Edinburgh Nopesport Urban League race on Saturday, followed by the popular JOK chasing sprint on Sunday. There was a greater number attending the Northern Championships weekend near Sheffield, where club chairman Julian Lailey was crowned M60 Northern Champion. Closer to home the penultimate NW Night League event near Stockport attracted the night-O stalwarts. Follow these links for results: Edinburgh Urban, JOK Sprint, Northern Champs, NWNL tables.

Help the NW juniors go to Norway

The North West Junior Squad, which includes a strong SROC contingent, is hoping to raise funds to assist many NWJS athletes on their Norwegian training tour. They are gathering good quality but unwanted clothes, bedding, shoes, curtains etc. "Local Agents" for SROC are the Nash family. If you have any items to donate please bring them with you to any events that the Nashes are attending. Contact them by email first to make sure they will be there!

Tim Watkins Blodslitet 2010 - Final Details

There's still time to enter this mass start long distance event which is being staged this year on Farleton Fell on Sunday 7 February. Closing date is 31 January, go to Oentries. Final details have been added to the event page, or direct from here.

Westhoughton Street League event 7 Wednesday 27 January

A cracking event, brilliant venue, excellent map, and to top it all results and RouteGadget available on the same day!

British Sprint Elite Championships 2010

SROC are hosting the 2010 British Sprint Elite Championships in Chorley on Sunday 18 April. This forms part of a weekend of high level orienteering, with The British Elite & Age Class Middle Championships the day before at Haverthwaite. Full details of the Sprint Champs may be found on the event website, and online entries are now open at Oentries.

Advance notice for the 2010 Club Dinner

The Club Dinner will be at the splendid Thurnham Hall (same venue as last year) on Friday, 12th March, 7.00 for 7.30 pm. Guest Speaker is Sports Nutritionist Abby Harman. More details may be found on the fixture list. Get this in your diary!

Handicap greater than expected!

Well, if you thought the handicapper gave you a raw deal and that you really had to do something about your lack of fitness, be relieved. You were actually running on a 1:10,000 map and not, as you thought, on a 1:7,500 map. This meant that your courses were 33% longer than stated. Originally mapped at 1:10,000, when it was realised that it could be printed on one side of A4 at 1:7,500, the Purple Pen conversion worked but the OCAD didn't.

Mapper and course planner, Julian Lailey, apologies for the extra distance, especially to those who had to retire. The courses were already longer than normal for the Handicap event to enable everyone to get into the better parts of the map, so the extra length was quite something. But there is a silver lining: you really are fitter and faster than you thought and can have no fears for the Compass Sport competition (whenever that might be). Your CSC course will be a doddle. And be relieved, says Julian, that he was dissuaded by the great and good from going ahead with the event on the original date. That would have meant everyone walking up to the start from Brookhouse and running in the snow. Last year, remember, Julian introduced an extra couple of challenges by introducing some dummy controls and others without flags! Well, he argues, it is called the Handicap for good reason and can't see why Dick should have all the fun.

Longridge Street Event results

Results from the latest Night Street League event at Longridge on 20 January have been added to the Street League page, or may be viewed here.

Prize giving and Handicap photos

Pictured are the juniors who achieved Silver, Gold or Championship standards in 2009 (plus Martyn Roome). More photos from the prize giving are in this album in the gallery, and a few shots from Traitor's Gill are in this album. Thanks to the photographers who have contributed. Any more?

Club Handicap - Traitor's Gill

Not many people would have known where Traitor's Gill was before today. Now, thanks to courses which made best use of the whole area, many SROC members know a lot more about it! The snow had gone but swirling mists added to the challenge. Congratulations to Glenys Ferguson who was home first, almost 7 minutes clear of second placed Sue Harding. The rest of the field were spread out over the next hour or so. Presentations, quizzes, and food were enjoyed afterwards in Brookhouse Church Hall. Handicap results are here, and you can add your routes on RouteGadget.

Westhoughton Street Event 27 January

Next Wednesday's street event sees a visit to the relatively new area of Westhoughton. This is readily accessible from the M61. If you would like food, it must be pre-ordered through Steve Lang before Monday 25. Note the entry fee for seniors for this event will be £2 to cover the cost of the Cricket Club. Bring your gel and towel to take advantage of the showers! Menu, travel directions and contact details on the Fixtures page.

Longridge Street Event 20 January

The postponed event at Longridge went ahead in fine style, with an excellent course and a very acceptable venue. RouteGadget is awaiting your routes, results will follow shortly.

Longridge weather set fair

Latest forecasts give great conditions for running with a light wind and temperature a few degrees above freezing. There is only a slight chance of some light rain and no snow anywhere near. Therefore the Longridge event will go ahead this evening, Wednesday 20 January.

Planners' Course at Great Tower on Saturday 6 March

Carol McNeil, Derek Allison and Iain Smith-Ward are supporting this course at the splendid Lakeland location of Great Tower. There are a few spaces available so if you would like to go contact the organisers right away. SROC will pay the course fee and travel there (for SROC members), so please do go if you are interested in doing some planning in the future, or if you have done some but want to learn more. More details here.

Longridge Night Street Event is on! (Probably)

The streets of Longridge are now free of ice and snow so we hope that the rescheduled Street League event 6 will take place as planned on Wednesday 20 January. There has been an advance warning of further snowfall that could once more affect this event, so please check the website before travelling. Details are on the fixtures page. Come and run off some of those mince pies! All welcome.

Club Handicap and Junior Training reminder

Don't forget that the rescheduled Club Handicap, on a new Julian Lailey map, will take place on Saturday 23 January. This will be followed by the annual social and prize-giving, and later by a night-O training session for the juniors. Details of the Handicap are on the fixtures page and this earlier news item, and details of the junior training are on the SRJS page.

Looking for JK accomodation Easter 2010?

For anyone just wanting to stay down in Devon from the Friday to Monday this Easter the John Fowler caravan park at Combe Martin Beach (not Sandaway) is good value and very close to Braunton Burrows. This is the SROC recommendation, and if there are enough people staying in the Braunton Burrows area the Club will be arranging to meet up for dinner one evening.

Another postponement. Longridge Street O

The Longridge Street event scheduled for Wednesday January 13 is to be postponed until the following week. Please check this site again to see if it will be able to go ahead on Wed Jan 20.

Watergrove CSC round 1 postponed

And still the adverse weather hasn't finished disrupting orienteering events. News from the organisers of the event planned for 24th January is that conditions on the area, and on the approach roads, are too bad to be sure of sufficient improvement in time. This does at least mean that anyone who missed the entry deadline may now be able to run for SROC! more . . .

Caton Moor snowbound

This is the scene that club members would have witnessed had the Club Handicap gone ahead today, Saturday 9th January. Thanks to Quentin Harding for testing the conditions last Thursday, and providing this image and more in the gallery. Quentin reports "The views were superb and worth the effort of getting there. The area to be used was about 4" deep in a light powdery snow that was quite easy to traverse. Unfortunately many of the features were under the snow but that would have been the planner's problem distinguishing a tussock from a boulder. It was a still sunny day and -2 C. Unfortunately it was a long run (3.3km) and climb from the church hall. The road up is quite icy and it would only need one incident to totally block the road. There was only limited parking space at the top of the hill. Had the wind been like the previous day there would have been a severe wind chill..." Let's hope we can get up there on 23rd January!

Last call for the Compass Sport Cup!

No doubt our esteemed Club Captain would have hounded everyone at the Handicap on Saturday, but since that opportunity has been lost, may we inform all club members that the deadline for entries is approaching. Anyone who wants to run for SROC at Watergrove on 24th January needs to contact Mark Edwards by Monday 11th January. Current list of CSC entrants here.

Club Handicap and junior training rescheduled

Access to Caton Moor is very difficult and unlikely to improve by the weekend so the Club Handicap has been postponed, and will now take place on Saturday 23rd January. The Annual Social & Prize-giving, and the junior squad night-O training session will also be put back to the same date. This will be a chance to engender some team spirit in preparation for the North West round of the Compass Sport Cup on the following day. See this news item for more on the CSC match,

Longridge Night Street Event 13 January

With no sign of thaw in sight, it is becoming increasingly likely that this event will be postponed. Check the SROC website before setting out next Wednesday.

Sad News

Older colleagues will be sad to hear of the death of Barbara Charnley, wife of one of our (and BOF's) founder members, Gerry, who tragically died in an accident on Hellvelyn in 1982. His ashes are interred at Charnley Crag Cairn, named in his memory, just below Esk Pike. Barbara's funeral is on Friday, 8th, at 11 am at St. Theresa's Church, Penwortham. Our Chairman will attend on behalf of the club, but any others members would be welcome.

Ripley session cancelled today 5th January, Club Handicap in doubt

Ripley training for Tuesday 5th January has been cancelled because of the dangerous road conditions prevailing. A decision will be made in the next couple of days whether to proceed with the Club Handicap scheduled for Saturday 9th January. It may have to be re-scheduled, possibly the social and prize-giving as well. Details will be posted here as they become available.

Night - O junior training, Saturday 9th January

Details of the next junior squad training session have been added to the junior page. Please let Quentin know if you intend to come, by email.

Interland selections - SROC well represented again!

Congratulations to Karen Nash and Zoe, Katrin and Quentin Harding who have all been selected to represent England at the annual Interland competition. More here.

More on the Club Handicap

Individual handicaps will be related to the length of courses, which range between 2.5k and 7.5k. These are considerably longer than usual so that everyone gets into the best bits of the area. Apart from the moorland around the windmills and the spectacular views of Morecambe Bay and the Lune Valley, there are a number of lovely streams, two beautiful wooded valleys and some intricate quarried areas to add to the challenge.
As always, Dick Collins (handicapper par excellence) has studied everyone's performance in microscopic detail during the year to ensure there's a mass finish as well as a mass start. However, if you think you've over-indulged over Christmas, mention it at registration. Dick's a kind-hearted soul and if accompanied by a non-returnable £10 deposit (to cover administrative costs, you understand) you might just start the year as SROC's Handicap Champion.
Please bring some food to contribute to the Jacob's Join meal at Brookhouse Church Hall afterwards.

Club Handicap Saturday 9th January

All club members are invited to attend the 2010 Club Handicap, on a newly mapped area of Caton Moor, on Saturday 9th January. Julian Lailey has planned a myriad of courses to suit all abilities. Please note that the mass start time has been moved forward to 1.45pm. Be there in plenty of time to register and be ready to run for 1.30. Social and annual prize giving afterwards. This map shows the parking location. More details are on the fixtures page.
Image Tim Cooper. Licensed under Creative Commons.

Cracker photos

Thanks to the Planner and Organiser who also managed to snap a few photos at the New Year's Day event. More in the gallery.

What a Cracker!

The novel score courses planned at very short notice by Mark Edwards at Lancaster University were enjoyed by many, with sunshine to offset the freezing temperatures. Prizes were presented to the winners of several categories by club chairman Julian Lailey, announced by Martyn Roome. Results, corrected for any controls taken out of order (i.e. 10s after 20s - it makes sense if you were there!), are now available here. RouteGadget is also available.