The Edinburgh University Orienteering Club travelled up north to the forests of Deeside for the British Night Orienteering Championships Weekend, 23-24th February.
The Edinburgh University Orienteering Club travelled up north to the forests of Deeside for the British Night Orienteering Championships Weekend, 23-24th February. Night orienteering races are very difficult, where runners navigate by the light of headtorches to find reflective controls. The Weekend kicked off with an afternoon Scottish Orienteering Urban League event on the outskirts of Aberdeen, where EUOC members took top placings in both the Men’s and Women’s Open.
Later on Saturday evening, was the British Night Championships, organised by Mar Orienteering Club at the Muir of Dinnet, near Aboyne. The Championship start times were between 19:00 and 20:00 to ensure complete darkness in the forest for all competitors. The Men’s 11km and Women’s 7.5km courses over the difficult and technical terrain made for a tough competition. EUOC did extremely well; on M21 Elite, Tam Wilson achieved 3rd place and Fay Walsh came 1st on W21 Elite. Laura King and Emma Wilson came 2nd and 3rd respectively on W20, and EUOC members; Alastair Thomas, Alasdair Pedley and Joe Wright achieved the top 3 places on the M20 podium. Our newer members put in great performances, having only orienteered on a few previous occasions. The weekend cumulated in the third and final race on Sunday. Sunday’s event was the first Scottish Orienteering League race of 2019 at Birsemore Hill, near Aboyne, and EUOC again had some great results, despite the previous days efforts!
