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DEE runners doing well after two events

published: 10/12/2013

Two events done in the North West Night League 2013-14, and DEE runners are leading M40+ and W40+

  • W40+ 1st Siân Calow
  • M40+ 1st Iain Bell
  • M40+ 2nd Chris Calow
  • M40+ 4th Pauly-D Jones

See the event results and league table.

Chris Smithard nominated for World of O Orienteering Achievement of 2013

published: 06/12/2013

Following his fantastic podium place in the Nordic Tour opening race in Oslo - which was also a World Cup race - Chris has been nominated for the World of O Orienteering Achievement of 2013 - Men. Others nominated include Thierry Gueorgiou, Matthias Kyburz and Edgars Bertuks - so you can see the sort of company that Chris is keeping!

Read more about the nominees, and of course vote for Chris here. Voting closes 11 December.

DEE M40+ shine in the dark

published: 03/12/2013

At the first night event of the North West Night League 2013-14, DEE runners claimed four out of the top six places in the hotly contested M40+ category:

  • 2nd Iain Bell
  • 3rd Chris Calow
  • 4th Pauly-D Jones
  • 6th Darren Baker

See the event results and league table.

Next event is Saturday 7 December at Dean Clough, Great Harwood, Whalley - a nice warm-up for our Bickerton Hill Level C on Sunday morning.

BSOC medals for DEEsiders

published: 17/11/2013

At the British Schools Orienteering Championships in Shipley Park, Heanor, Derbyshire organised by DVO, there were medals for DEEsiders

  • Hannah Hateley Gold Year 8 Girls
  • Katie Wilson Bronze Year 6 Girls
  • Philip Vokes Bronze Year 13 Boys

Congratulations to all of them - very well done.

Full results here.

DEE 7th in UK Orienteering League

published: 12/11/2013

From our investigative reporter Jane Mockford

The final results are in for the UK Orienteering League 2013.

In the team competition we came 7th and 39th - we had enough counting runners for both a DEE A and DEE B team. Our B team was 5th of all the B teams. It is a good competition because the counting runners have to be from across the club - 3 from M/W 16-21, 3 from M/W 35-45, 3 from M/W 50-55, 3 from M/W60+ and any 3 additional highest scores. In addition, each team must include at least 5 men and 5 women.

So the DEE A team counters were:

  • Elaine Sutton
  • Mike Smithard
  • Dave Schorah
  • Jean & Andy Payne
  • John Padget
  • Chris Owens
  • Maggie & Jon Hateley
  • Duncan Harris
  • Sara Campbell
  • Nick & Jane Campbell
  • Niall & Ciaran Allen

The B team were:

  • Olly Williams
  • Chris & Pauline Smithard
  • Philip Vokes
  • Bob Verity
  • Pat Moody
  • Liz Jackson
  • Steve & Kate Ingleby
  • Catherine Hill
  • Ruth Harris
  • John Evans
  • Paul Chavasse
  • Iain Bell
  • Mike Beasant

In the individual competition where 10 best runs count, DEEsiders finishing in the top 10 in their classes were:

  • Chris Owens (4th) & Ciaran Allen (7th), M20
  • Jon Hateley, 5th, M50
  • Jane Campbell, 4th, W55
  • Jean Payne, 6th, W60
  • Mike Smithard, 3rd, M60 (Mike was only 7 points behind the winner of his class)

Well done everyone!

The 2014 UKOL fixtures will be in the next edition of DEE News. I think that we could do better than 7th place......

Christmas goodies from NGOC

published: 23/10/2013

NGOC are offering for sale:

  • Forest Challenge - the orienteering board game
  • Urban-O Photo-O Maze-O String-O - four orienteering board games in a single package
  • A booklet of amusing orienteering reports and poems done in the style of various well-known authors

All proceeds to the Woodland Trust or SW Junior Squad.

Details here.

For Sale: night-O headlamp set

published: 23/10/2013

An ex North Glos member now no longer orienteering and living near Crewe has a rather nice night-O headlamp set that he would like to sell and is open to offers.

It is a Micah 10/20 Halogen and has been used very little due to job change – move from Gloucestershire etc. Still in very good condition and works well with battery, charger and two bulb switched adjustable headlamp.

Quick Stats...

  • Micah SL 10/20W Halogen + 4Ah 6V NiCd battery
  • Run time 1.25hr on 20W, 2.5hr on 10W
  • Weight Overall 990g
  • Lamp only 226g
  • Battery Only 764g

Contact Steve Astington() for further details on 01270 662636.

North West Night League 2013-2014

published: 19/10/2013

The North West Night League Fixtures List 2013-14 is now available. Six exciting fixtures in choice areas. Do it in the dark! Transport sharing usually available.

Welsh Championships - Newborough - 13 October 2013

published: 17/10/2013

The Welsh Championships were organised by ERYRI at Llanddwyn Bay, Newborough on fabulous forested dunes. Congratulations to:

  • Saskia Jones, Welsh W12 Champion
  • Olly Williams, Brown course winner with a storming run
  • Isabel Hill, Orange course winner

DEE provided the SI at the event, so many thanks to all those involved for delivering a professional service.

International selections

published: 18/09/2013

Club Captain Mike Smithard writes:

Congratulations to Sara Campbell for being selected for England for these in East Anglia on 5/6th October. Liz Jackson, Jane Campbell and Mike Smithard are reserves. News also that ex-member Elspeth Ingleby has been approached re availability to run for England in the SHI in Northern Ireland the week before. JHI's are next weekend in South Wales - on a very intricate relay area! Clydach Terrace.

White Rose 24-26 August 2013

published: 11/09/2013

A select band of DEEsiders competed in the White Rose weekend at Gilling Castle. Those who weren't there missed a lovely flat smooth campsite - no, honestly - with ONosh operating dawn till dusk, hot sun on the Sunday and Monday, and (OK, I have to admit it) the usual luxuriant vegetation.

Podium finishes by DEE runners were:

  • Sara Campbell 2nd W45L two-day event
  • John Padget 3rd M70L two-day event
  • Team DEE KFO SELECT (Phil, Mike and Pauline Smithard) 2nd B160+ Team event

The most remarkable DEE performance of the weekend came from Willow Moody who, having previously run unshadowed on a few Yellows and just one Orange course, found herself confronted with a 2.5km full-on TD5 course in the Monday team event. We hasten to say that the technical difficulty of the courses was not set out in the entry details for this event. Willow not only got round the course, she finished smiling - much to the relief of Pat and Bob. For this achievement Club Captain Mike Smithard awarded Willow the White Rose mug that he had received for the DEE KFO team's second place in their team class. Well done Willow!

Highslide JS
DEEsorientated

Peter Palmer Relays

published: 06/09/2013

A strong team is setting out today for the Peter Palmer Relays in the Lakes:

  • Leg 1 5.5km Red Niall Allen (starting at 4:45am!)
  • Leg 2 5.5km Red Phil Vokes
  • Leg 3 3.6km Light Green Hannah Hateley
  • Leg 4 3.1km Orange Evelyn Elmes
  • Leg 5 2.8km Yellow Willow Moody & Katie Wilson
  • Leg 6 6.3km Green Ollie Williams

Good luck to them all, plus team leader Jon Hateley, and Pat Moody and Bob Elmes accompanying adults.

JIRCS selections

published: 06/09/2013

Well done the following for their selections for the Junior Inter-Regional Competition on 28-29 September 2013:

Wales
Niall Allen and Kitty Jones
North West
Hannah Hateley, Lachlan Chavasse, Philip Vokes

International selections

updated: 06/09/2013

Congratulations on their selection for the Junior Home Internationals on 14-15 September 2013 to:

England
Hannah Hateley and Lachlan Chavasse
Wales
Niall Allen and Kitty Jones

Also to Chris Smithard, selected for the Senior Home Internationals in Northern Ireland on the 28-29 September, the weekend of the Sandstone Trail Race (for which Chris has already entered).

Club Captain Mike Smithard comments: England team looks maybe better than normal with 2 men and 4 women from the GB WOC team + GG. (Scotland often win by a mile)

Walk for Marian - the Sandstone Trail 6-7 July 2013

published: 24/07/2013

A party of DEEsiders, varying in number from 10 to 20 and in age from 14 to 79, walked the Sandstone Trail from Whitchurch to Frodsham in memory and in honour of Marian Padget. All enjoyed the sunny weather, the company, and the many refreshment stops supplied by Pauline Smithard with support from Barbara Jones. A new record was set for most cups of tea consumed on the Sandstone Trail.

The event raised £315 which was divided equally between MacMillan Cancer Support and the Hospice of the Good Shepherd near Chester.

Click on the footprint for photos.

Highslide JS
The team assemble for the start on Saturday
Along the canal
Saturday morning coffee
Peckforton Hills
Sunday morning assembly at Beeston Castle
Sunday tea stop on Commonside
Sunday tea stop on Commonside

Ted Dance

published: 19/07/2013

Ted Dance, well known mountaineer and orienteer, died on 15 May 2013. There's an obituary in the June MDOC Newsletter (page 3) which tells of his involvement in the establishment of MDOC, and his planning of a 1966 event in Delamere.

Harvester Relays

published: 30/06/2013

Many congratulations to Chris Smithard, Jon Hateley, Dave Schorah, Tom Beasant, Olly Williams, Philip Vokes and Chris Owens for their second place finish in the Harvester Relays at Longmoor, Hampshire. Starting at five minutes after midnight, they finished in 7:48:11, 3 minutes behind the winning SYO team, and only 7 seconds ahead of 3rd placed SLOW - so it sounds like it was a sprint finish after almost 8 hours of racing.

Results here.

Jon Hateley's full report here.

Sandstone Trail Walk in memory of Marian Padget

published: 07/06/2013

by Pauline Smithard

In a tribute to and in memory of Marian, and after discussion with John, I’ve agreed to organise a 2 day walk along the Sandstone Trail over the weekend of 6/7th July.

I will provide refreshments at suitable intervals for a minimum donation of £10/head (£5 for juniors), profits in aid of Macmillan Nurses and the Hospice of the Good Shepherd.

The Trail is rumoured to be 34 miles in length with Beeston Castle at its approximate mid-point. Direction of walking not yet decided but you can come along for a few hours, a day or both days as you wish. A number of people have already signed up so don’t be shy! If you want to join us, please let me know () asap with details of which/both days/part of Trail are of interest.

Officials needed for Schools League Events

published: 06/06/2013

The provisional programme for 2013-14 has been announced. There are vacancies for

  • Planners
  • Organisers
  • SI Coordinators
  • Controllers

Please look at the list of events with vacancies, think about where you can fill one of them, and contact Malcolm Irvine () tel. 0151 648 7201 with your offer.

Lost Property

published: 06/06/2013

Two compasses:

  • Small compass, with air bubble, left at Eastham.
  • Large, new, posh compass left at Little Budworth.

Claim at enquiries at next Summer Evening Event.

MDOC Countryside Score series

published: 03/06/2013

This year's Countryside Score Series kicks off on Wed 12 June at a new venue being - Ye Olde Park Gate Inn, Over Peover, WA16 8TU

With 60 minute and 90 minute runs available and using enlarged OS maps to navigate on public rights of way, these events offer an alternative form of informal low-cost orienteering suitable for newcomers and experienced navigators alike. Please bring your friends!

They also all start and finish at a pub, so there is opportunity for food, drink and post run analysis on your return!

This is the first in this year's series of 4 events:

  • Wed 12 June - Ye Olde Park Gate Inn, Over Peover, WA16 8TU
  • Wed 26 June - The Vale Inn, Adlington Rd, Bollington, SK10 5JT
  • Wed 10 July - Boddington Arms, Racecourse Road ,Wilmslow SK9 5LR
  • Wed 24 July - Venue to be confirmed

Registration from 6:30pm. Pre race briefing 7:10pm. Mass start 7:15pm.
Bring a pen/pencil and your watch.
Entry is on the night only £3 per map adult, £1.50 per map junior.

Please pre book your map in advance by emailing Andy Thornton () . preferably no later than Sunday 9 June.

More details at mdoc.org.uk

Chris Smithard 4th in Oslo Sprint

published: 02/06/2013

A fabulous result for Chris in the first event of the Nordic Tour: seeded 15th starter of 78 runners (with the highest seeds starting last), he held the lead for 48 minutes, and finished 4th. There were time bonuses on a sliding scale for the top 30 finishers, so Chris earned himself a handy 1 minute bonus which should come in useful for the overall tour result.

This is a very significant result for Chris: the tour has attracted 15 of the top 20 world ranked men and women; Chris is currently (before the sprint) ranked 162 in the world, making him the 10th-ranked Brit. There are 4 events to come in the next week:

  • Sunday Oslo Middle Distance
  • Tuesday Stockhold Knock-out Sprint
  • Friday Turku Sprint
  • Saturday Turku Chasing Start

so plenty more sprint opportunities for Chris.

You can see the tour programme, results, world rankings and more at the Nordic Tour website.

Chris and Dave selected for Euromeet

published: 09/05/2013

Congratulations to Chris and Dave on their selection for the Development Squad training camp and Euromeet competition at/around the Scottish 6 days this year. This is a week long WOC 2015 official training camp for all nations with 3 Euromeet races, sprint on Wednesday, then alongside days 4 and 6 of the 6 days so expect some very high class competitors at the 6 days. With Chris and Dave being in the BOF Dev Squad, their inclusion may not be a surprise but there are non-squad people also in the selection with others missing poss due to non-availability or wishing to compete at the 6 days.

2nd BOC podium for Chris

published: 09/05/2013

Report from Club Captain Mike Smithard

In a somewhat sparse Elite field, Chris Smithard retained last year’s podium place and improved to 2nd in this year’s British Long Distance Championships. A couple of slips on the initial 12k loop meant that Murray Strain had almost caught him 3 minutes at the run-through for the 2nd map in the Assembly field and they no doubt kept pretty much together on the 2nd 5k loop to finish together in 93/96 minutes just ahead of M20 Johnny Crickmore. Many congratulations to Chris for his 2nd 2nd place in a BOC this year. Meanwhile, sprint specialist Murray has won the middle and long BOC with 3rd in the sprint – maybe he won’t be pre-selected for WOC sprint next year!

Secondly, mucho- congratulatio to 13year old Lachlan Chavasse who added 2nd place in M14 to his win at the JK. What can’t this young man do? Not sure, he is now beating me: faster mins/k on the Saturday, he was 3 minutes faster than me in the relay (maybe a different gaffle but I’m not quibbling), running a very respectable time in the M18 relay.

And a 3rd podium place for Deeside in Jane Campbell, 3rd in W55. Great reward for our hyper-active O promoter.

Other top 10 placings:

  • Anna Harris – 4th W10
  • Mike Smithard 7th and Steve Ingleby 9th M60
  • Sara Campbell 9th W45
  • Kate Ingleby 10th W55

Relay day didn’t produce any placings for the 7 DEE teams, Ciaran, Tom and Chris finishing 5th in the Open relay but Duncan Harris did win a bottle of wine for the fastest maze run in M40+! Norman, Mike and Steve were 9th in the M60+ class.

Photos to follow.

CONDES bug planning score courses

published: 05/05/2013

Report from Jane Mockford

If you are planning a score course in Condes, there is a bug in the system associated with generating control descriptions which, if you are exporting courses to OCAD for printing, can lead to even greater problems.

For more information, read this.

.

Chris Smithard selected for Nordic tour

published: 03/05/2013

Congratulations to Chris Smithard who has been selected for the GB team to go to the Nordic Tour from June 1st to 8th with World Cup races in Norway, Sweden and Finland. A mixture of race formats with Chris no doubt hoping to do well in the Sprints. Best wishes to him.

Family Orienteering Fun Day in Birkenhead Park

updated: 03/05/2013

Weeks of hard work and planning by Malcolm Irvine and Jane Mockford with Wirral Ranger Services were rewarded by a high turnout and lots of activity on Saturday 27 April in Birkenhead Park. We have received very complimentary feedback with comments about friendly and helpful officials.

There was a wide selection of activities available:

  • Workshops for basic instruction (14 people)
  • Photo ‘O’ leaflets, one for each half of the park (80 – 100 maps distributed)
  • Mr Men string course (95 people)
  • Naughty numbers (381 runners)
  • Four different short sprint courses (160 plus multiple runs)
  • Pacing and bearing competition (16 people)
  • Exhibition (viewing all previous week)
  • Score Race (37 runners)
  • Walk around the Permanent Course (32 maps distributed)

A Special Needs Playgroup came along as did some lads from Sandbach and Merchant Taylors’ Schools; they all did a selection of activities. The Mayor graced us with his presence and he rather enjoyed starting the Score Course with a very loud hooter.

We were lucky with the weather - it helped put us all in a happy mood, and people who were in the park came and joined in the fun. The event was very ambitious: it worked extremely well on the day; we will monitor the outcome in new members over the coming season.

We will carry out an appraisal of the day to identify the lessons we learned. Those who attended felt positive about the day and it may well be something we could do again, perhaps in other locations!

Joy Irvine

Click below for pictures including photos of prizewinners.

Highslide JS
Chief Coach Noel Schorah leads a workshop
Setting out on the string course
Punching the start control on Naughty Numbers
Getting ready to do the sprint course
The Chairman chuckles
Mr Mayor sounds the klaxon to start the score event
And they're off
This man won a prize...
...and so did these runners...
...and these

Harvester 2013 - 29/30th June

published: 24/04/2013

After 3 clubs attempted and failed to gain permissions, BAOC have once more stepped in to 'rescue' a competition from cancellation. Venue is Longmoor Common in Hampshire. Expressions of interest to Mike Smithard () . Details not yet on BAOC website so no hurry at present.

British Sprint and Middle Distance Championships

published: 23/04/2013

Mike Smithard reports

Chris Smithard makes a superb effort to retain the BOC Sprint title last Saturday at Loughborough University, beating Murray Strain (pre-selected for WOC Sprint) but losing by 6 seconds to Kristian Jones in this WOC Selection race. Are his hopes of a WOC place to be dashed by this margin? Whatever, this result is a tribute to Chris’ efforts over the last few months, travelling abroad for top class competition and self arranging several sprint race sessions (with Dave S etc) at various previous sprint venues and to finish between 2 acknowledged speed merchants (Kristian has 2 medals from international junior championships and Murray was 11th at WOC last year) is a fantastic achievement. Chris needed his speed in the heat when an early 40 second error left him with something to do but he finished 3rd of the 6 qualifiers in his heat. The final was in a trickier part of the campus but a smooth run had him announced throughout as leading. Then Murray had a small slip 3 controls out and his challenge had gone but Kristian then came through to take the title. Meanwhile, Dave Schorah won his heat but the splits show that he was running just that bit slower than the leaders in the final to finish 7th, 42 seconds down over the 26 controls.

Elsewhere, Olly Williams had recovered from his illness at JK to finish one place off qualifying for the Mens Elite A final, Pat Moody and Pauline Smithard finish 1st and 2nd in the same heat in W55 to join Jane Campbell in the W55 A final, Mike Smithard wins his heat and finishes 2nd in M60, Hannah Hateley finishes 2nd in W14 and John Evans 3rd in M75. Lots of other qualifiers for A finals. Feature of prize giving is the M/W50 class where Quentin Harding wins M50 and his wife, Sue, and sister-in-law, Alison, tie for 2nd place in W50.

On to the Middle Distance Champs the next day, a mixed area, partly of almost unreadable detail in old quarry areas and smooth open and semi-open moorland. Getting through the first few controls in the quarries was paramount – in M21Elite, Dave Schorah was nearly successful in this, losing 45 seconds but then had a nearly perfect run to finish 5th running at about the same speed as Murray Strain, the eventual winner. Chris had a bit of a .... in the quarries and finished 12th. How they were expected to read a 10,000 map I do not know. Even at 7,500, I cannot make out their first control re-entrant on the map. Ciaran Allen, running M20 on the same course, emerged from the quarries in 6th place (M21, 20 and 18 combined) so his eyesight must be OK! Or perhaps he did as I did and just went on bearings and fell over them – the controls that is not the quarry faces. That tall blond girl - I think she is connected to lycra-tights man – won W14, towering over the M14’s on the podium, giving them a cool downward stare. Elsewhere, congrats to other podium placers, Isabel Hill, 3rd W12 and Ciaran Allen 3rd M20. Other top 10 finishers:

Steve Ingleby 4th M60, Mike Smithard 5th M60, Bob Verity 5th M70, Anna Harris 5th W10, Liz Jackson 5th W50, Jane Campbell 6th W55, Jon Hateley 9th M50, Dan Weaver 9th M14.

Full results:

London Marathon

published: 23/04/2013

A message from Sara Campbell

Thanks to everyone who bought cakes and sponsored me for the London Marathon. I successfully completed the race in a time of 4 hours 15 mins and 35 seconds. Over £1000 has been raised for the British Heart Foundation and I appreciate all your support.

Editor's note: Well done Sara, on a day when most DEEsiders were content with 3 or 4k in the British Middle Distance Championships.

Fun with Figures

published: 06/04/2013

Mike Smithard has been putting on his head torch & mining the BOF Ranking List.

Congrats to at least 3 DEE members now that the JK is over - to Philip Vokes who seems to be having a renaissance (has he started training?) in his first year as an M18 - counting all 3 days of the JK, he has at last overtaken me rising 52 places.

Also to Kate Ingleby and Sonia Chavasse who have both leapt up the chart by over 1,000 places!! by now having 2 more ranking events counting than before.

JK 2013

published: 03/04/2013

Club Captain Mike Smithard reports

JK results in brief:

Congrats to Lachlan Chavasse again as he wins M14. He's off to the World Schools races in Portugal in a week or so. Best wishes to him.

Other top 10 results:

  • Ciaran Allen 4th M20E
  • Sara Campbell 5th (3rd GB) W45
  • Mike Smithard 5th M60
  • Liz Jackson 6th W50
  • Jane Campbell 10th W55
  • Barbara Majumdar 10th W65
  • Ex-Deesider Elspeth Ingleby, now SELOC, back from the far north wins W21L

Sprint race results:

  • Chris Smithard and Dave Schorah finish 7th equal and 9th in M21E in field of 187
  • Mike Smithard 1st M60
  • Jane Campbell 2nd W55
  • John Evans 3rd M75
  • Olly 4th, Ciaran 5th, Sara 6th

Relays results:

  • M165+ (DEEcrepits), Mike Smithard, Steve Ingleby, Jon Hateley 6th, 56 seconds behind 3rd. All 3 accept blame and self-flagellate for 24 hours.
  • JK Relay: Dave, Tom and Chris would have been 8th but for a technical hitch but the B team finishes very creditable 19th - Ciaran and Niall Allen, Philip Vokes

For photos by Mike Smithard click here.

JK Trail O Championships

published: 03/04/2013

Top 3 in the JK Trail O Elite Championships were

  1. John Kewley MDOC
  2. Anne Straube OD
  3. Pete Owens DEE
Highslide JS
JK Elite TrailO Podium

So congratulations to JK for JK gold, and to chairman Pete for his bronze making it Daresbury 2 out of 3 on the podium.

Well done also Anna and Duncan Harris for their second place in Day 2 of the Novice TrailO. Could Duncan be planning to introduce a new sport of Ultra TrailO?

All JK2003 TrailO results here.

Virgin London Marathon 2013

published: 27/03/2013

Sara Campbell writes

On Sunday 21st April, I will be running the London Marathon for the first time. After weeks of pounding the roads, training in all weathers, avoiding injury, and dodging bikes and dogs, I'm pleased to be able to participate in this huge event. I have decided to raise money for the British Heart Foundation and would be grateful if anyone would like to sponsor me. You can donate here, or alternatively I will have a sponsorship form with me at the JK.

Thanks

Sara

Junior Snowballing Weekend 2013

published: 25/03/2013

by Mike Smithard

A re-focused junior Foxhowl weekend took place with a modicum of orienteering thrown in for good measure. The stand-in coaches threw together a medley of differing activities comprising a marathon snowballing circuit of Delamere South for most with the odd re-location stop thrown in as a diversion, a few more mobile juniors plus the as-always satorially elegant Jon H (see photo) played 'trains' round the Girls year 13 BSOC course without complaining that it was the wrong sort of snow, and a few were given the hard sell training map walk by Sara C and Pauline S broken up by the snowball fight with the snowball contingent when they met.

Orienteering games and puzzles followed dinner when logical rational thought was called into play countered by the irrational lynch mob mentality required by Jon H's 'Werewolf' game which sent all to bed growling and howling for blood! Assurances to parents on Sunday that they were all in bed and asleep by 11.30 were somewhat undermined by txt messages to parents saying how much they were enjoying themselves at a somewhat later time. Whoops!!

'Real' training took place on Sunday morning with, once again, Jon H coming up trumps with his light green group in that, on each mini-circuit, last one back got thoroughly snowballed by the others. The 'running' group disappeared into the snow and did whatever they did and the younger/less experienced ones were accompanied in pairs around a course, hopefully absorbing advice, learning new symbols and practising techniques. One commented, as even I came to realise, that there is a lot of detail on the Delamere map when you get into it - so, hopefully, these will learn and progress to at least light green standard when orienteering becomes more interesting and the chatting/texting has to stop.

Thanks to the coaches and to Janet and Zoe Vokes and Maggie Hateley who looked after the feeding of us all.

Editor's notes

A massive thank-you to Mike for organising it all, the coaches for coaching, and the helpers for making the whole weekend enjoyable and memorable for our juniors.

Photos by Mike Smithard here.

Mediterranean Championships update

published: 19/03/2013

Mike Smithard reports

Further to previous report, an interview with Chris on Platform 9¾ in London tonight whilst waiting for the Hogwarts express to Leeds reveals that, in the mass start long race, he was leading at the first control thanks to a British technique called 'running round on the path'. Thierry caught him at no 3 so Chris, using another UK technique, followed him for 20 minutes until he ran into a 'ruined' barbed wire fence (you don't get much chance to read the map when following Thierry). Both these techniques are expected to be covered at the training weekend in Delamere.

Editor's notes

Chris finished a fantastic 3rd in his class for day 3. Results for all three days here.

The weather may have been OK in Chris's part of Italy, but you have to feel sorry for the cyclists doing Milan-San Remo on Sunday.

Mediterranean Championships, Southern Italy

published: 18/03/2013

Mike Smithard reports

Chris Smithard has been sunning himself for a week taking part in an international sprint/middle distance training week then middle/long/sprint race days this weekend. Good run in the middle race, 19th, 3-4 minutes down, 5.7k in 26.5 minutes for the winner. A min/km behind the winner in the 11k long race and 2 minutes down in 15th place in the sprint behind Thierry and 9 Swiss team runners (M21 and M21 PWT on same course). All details but no maps so far on http://www.orienteering.it/macro.php?subsite=n120612_161053

North West Night League - Season Results

published: 12/03/2013

by league organiser Chris Rostron, MDOC

Click here for the provisional League Table for this year’s North West Night League.

The BrightBikeLights prize (or perhaps prizes) will be awarded to the people with the most points. The top five points totals over 100 were

Pete Kidd M35 SELOC 114 class winner
Matthew Felbaum M16 MDOC 113 class winner
Quentin Harding M50 SROC 112 class winner
Iain Bell M45 DEE 109
Pauly-D Jones M45 DEE 100

The women class winners were

Katrina Hemingway W18 WCOC
Helen Winskill W35 WCOC
Siân Calow W50 DEE

Thank you to all the clubs, their planners, controllers, organisers and helpers who put on the events sometimes in appalling conditions. Hope all the competitors enjoyed the events and I look forward to seeing everyone next winter. I hope that BrightBikeLights will be able to help again next winter, I will let you know as soon as I know.

Three clubs PFO, SROC and MDOC saw numbers drop significantly from last year, however SELOC, LOC and DEE saw a significant increase. SELOC because the NW Junior squad turned up and LOC because it was also the Northern Nights.

PS Only NWOA members in the NN scored in the North West Night League.

Yvette Baker Trophy Heat, Cartmel and Holker Woodlands

published: 10/03/2013

by John Hateley

A depleted Dee Juniors team bowed out of the YBT at a chilly Cartmel on 10th March. A minimalist team of 9 were persuaded to throw a bunch of flowers and a cup of tea at their mothers and head up to the Lake District. Team captains agonised for days over the best way to spread our meagre stock of runners over the courses, but it all became academic when 9 became 8. MDOC had deliberately nobbled Ed Calow at the night event in Macclesfield, and there was much smug chortling from the green and black team at the NWJS cake stall.

Nevertheless, it was well worth giving it a go. Cartmel is a patchwork of technical little woods separated by long track runs, and it was quite a challenge switching back on again once you left the fields. Or maybe that was just me? On the longer courses you had a great view of Morecambe Bay and snowy hills.

We had good results on the Green with Phil Vokes 4th and Niall Allen 6th. Special mention to Niall, who had to be prised out of his Spiderman pyjamas and surgically separated from his brand new laptop to run round a wood on his birthday. On the Light Green, Dan Weaver picked up a fantastic 3rd place, showing a few squaddies a clean pair of heels, with Sean P chipping in with 90 points.

Hannah H paid the price for mistaking north for south (OK ... hands up. Who hasn’t done that?) - pipped into 2nd place by 2 seconds on the Light Green girls. The ‘Evil Weevil’ enjoyed a ding-dong battle with Dan’s mum before youth prevailed over, errr ... a different sort of youth, scooping 91 points for the club. Finally on the Yellow, Anna H just beat Emma W (9th & 11th ... 184 points) despite contending with tummy problems on the way around. There is no truth in the rumour that a full-sized Cartmel sticky toffee pudding carton was found under her car seat.

So well done everybody for giving it your best shot! And thanks to the parents for sacrificing a large chunk of Mother’s Day for the cause. At least we don’t have to flog our way over to Lincolnshire for the final!

North West Night League latest after 5 events

published: 04/03/2013

The North West Night League table after five events is now available. Final event in Macclesfield Forest coming up on Saturday 9 March.

Ups and Downs in North West Night League

updated: 27/02/2013

Following the well-attended Delamere Night event, and Finnish practices in the calculation department, leading positions after four events are now:

  • Ed Calow 1st M18-
  • Lachlan Chavasse 3rd M18- after winning the Green course at Delamere
  • Prince of Darkness (Iain Bell) 1st M40+ as usual
  • Chris Calow 3rd M40+
  • Paul Jones up from 9th to 4th M40+
  • Jon Hateley lurking in 6th M40+ having only run two events so far
  • Hannah Hateley 2nd W18-
  • Lynne Merrington 2nd W19-39 on her first appearance - she could win this class
  • Siân Calow 2nd W40+ only 3 points behind Karen Nash
  • Sonia Chavasse 6th W40+ so we know where Lachlan gets it from

See the full league table.

With Great Tower Wood then Macc Forest on the next two Saturdays there's everything to play for.

Deesiders in Portugal

updated: 14/02/2013

Mike Smithard reports

Popular early year racing for elites, these muti day competitions started yesterday - in Mens Super elite, Dave Schorah finished 21st in the long race, 4th Brit with Chris Smithard in 66th. In the evening sprint, Chris got back on track with an 8th place in Super elite - well done to him - with Dave also having a good race, 3rd in the Elite race. Ciaran and Niall Allen are also running there. Middle race today, Dave 31st and Chris 65th but not everyone is running hard in all races. WRE middle race tomorrow (Monday) with sprint race in evening when prob more runners will take part.

Great runs by Chris and Dave in the 2nd sprint race of the weekend over a rocky hilltop and into a village on Monday evening. Chris was 10th/82 in the Super-Elite, less than 2 minutes behind Thierry and Dave won the Elite class/78. Thierry won all 6 races over the weekend. Over the 4 middle and long distance races, Doug Tullie and Hector Haines were 6th and 10th, Catherine Taylor was 4th in W21E, 1 and 2 minutes behind Simone Niggli on 2 of the days.

Full results at POM 2013.

Rachel Majumdar

published: 12/02/2013

Budha, Barbara, Amy, Lisa and Grace would like to thank their Deeside friends for all the lovely, comforting messages they have sent following Rachel's tragic accident. A special thank you to those who were able and took the time to come over here on the 28th. It was a very memorable though traumatic day for us and we were honoured by the tribute to Rachel paid by all those who were here.

We hope to be back in the forest before too long - just ignore the tears which will undoubtedly flow.

Duncan attacks road

published: 02/02/2013

Best wishes for a speedy recovery to Duncan Harris who has been fighting the road with his nose. The road won.

Marmot Dark Mountain Marathon

published: 29/01/2013

We can only presume that no DEE member was aware of this event taking place over Saturday night and Sunday morning this past weekend - otherwise some would surely have entered.

It was the inaugural Marmot Dark Mountain Marathon, designed to appeal of connoisseurs of mountain marathons and night orienteering. The usual mountain marathon rules applied: running in pairs; carrying tent and stove - though with no overnight camp, it isn't clear whether this was in case of emergency or just because your pack would feel too light without them; classes Elite, A, B, C and Score.

Wind, rain and snow combined to make it a little bit challenging. Control kits were shredded by the wind. The results show only 3 teams (all in Elite) completing a line course. Sounds memorable.

The question is: why was no-one from DEE man (or woman) enough to enter? Alex McCann of MDOC went out and gave it his best. Why did all the DEE marathoners and night-orienteers hide away in the comfort of SELOC's Amberswood Common night event? It is expected that the next committee meeting will seek answers to these questions.

Rachel Majumdar's funeral

published: 23/01/2013

Rachel's funeral is on Monday 28th January at 11:30 at St Agnes Church, West Kirby (CH48 5DU) and afterwards at the Majumdars' house (41 Meols Drive CH47 4AF).

Rachel Majumdar

published: 20/01/2013

We are very sorry to have to report that Rachel died in the avalanche in Glencoe on Saturday 19 January.

The club sends its deepest sympathy to Barbara, Budha, Amy, Lisa and Grace in their loss.

ERYRI event on Pen y Cloddiau postponed

updated: 19/01/2013

The ERYRI local event on Pen y Cloddiau on Sunday 20 January has been postponed due to the weather. Further information here.

North West Fixtures booklet

published: 11/01/2013

The Januuary-April 2013 North West Fixtures booklet is available to download and print here.

GB Squaddies go training

published: 09/01/2013

Chris S, Dave S and Olly W attended the latest GB squads weekend for sprint and competition atmosphere training - see news item on BOF website for report. New coach Liz Campbell (ex-Eryri) is certainly trying to raise the squad profile (and maybe more squad training w/e's?) - see her other item about how clubs are helping out - nice to see elites being 'integrated' with us normal orienteers.

Officials needed for Summer Evening Events

published: 09/01/2013

There are numerous vacancies still for

  • Planners
  • Organisers
  • SI Coordinators
  • Controllers

at this year's Summer Evening Events. Please look at the list of events with vacancies, think about where you can fill one of them, and contact Sheila Hills () tel. 01928 787122 with your offer.

Helpers required for Bickerton Level C on 24 March 2013

published: 07/01/2013

By Barry Barnes

This is the first major event in 2013 and will need substantial support by members. We have the excellent Bickerton Village Hall as the event centre and we are gearing up for 200 plus competitors. We have not offered Bickerton for open competition for many years, but now restrictions have been relaxed we can offer more than a few plastic chickens to the orienteering community, (OK, the birds do some interesting planning, but so will Bob Verity).

You are probably wondering how you can prevent me from pestering you about helping? Simple – contact me first. Some people have spotted the danger and volunteered already, but we need many more. I would particularly like to hear from first aiders.

Thanks
Barry Barnes () tel. 01606 888845.

Interland selections

updated: 07/01/2013

Mike Smithard and Pete Owens report

Second success for Lachlan Chavasse as he is selected to run for England along with Sara Campbell (such consistency from Sara!) and Chris Owens at Interland in Holland on March 10th. Selection was based on 3 selection races. Interland is a competition between England, part of France, Holland,two regional teams from Belgium and part of Germany. Drawback is that the date clashes with our juniors' probable YBT heat :-( .

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