Tayside Orienteers chart a successful season

Nov 18 2011 Perthshire Advertiser Friday

TAYSIDE Orienteers can look back on an autumn that has been notable for both individual and team success.

At the end of August Tay took the eight-person team relay prize at the Scottish Inter-club Championships at Mugdock Country Park near Glasgow. Team members were Alan Bothwell, John Anderson, Dave Prentice, Elaine Simpson, Elaine Gillies, Grahame Nicoll, Mel Nicoll and Laura Nicoll – a junior getting her first experience of this type of event.

Tay members featured across the age classes in the Scottish Orienteering League with the final positions just realised following the last event of the season at Barry Buddon. The junior members have done particularly well and at the other end of the spectrum Bill Melville distinguished himself by spurning the age handicap system which he could have used to his advantage, choosing instead to run the longer courses on several occasions.

At the end of last month several Tay members took part in the Tinto Twin event near Broughton in the Scottish Borders. Duncan Raitt brought in Tay’s best result, a great second place on the green course in the night event, followed by a very respectable result on the blue course the following day.

Taking part in the day event only, Fiona Downie and Moira Laws came second in their respective age groups.

The last weekend in October brought a high point on the outdoor calendar for many club members with the Original Mountain Marathon this year taking place on Tay’s doorstep in the hills between Loch Earn and Loch Tay.

Not surprisingly, there was therefore a strong turnout from club members.

The OMM –formerly known as the Karrimor International Mountain Marathon and now in its 43rd year– is a two day mountain marathon event for teams of two, combining careful navigation through mountainous country while carrying overnight kit. All the Tay members competing chose the score classes rather than linear.

Taking part were Dave Prentice, Davie Frame, Grant Carstairs, Fran Loots, Elaine Simpson – in her first mountain marathon – Mel Nicoll and Grahame Nicoll.

Conditions were fairly poor on both days, with low cloud, prolonged periods of rain and strong winds.

But there were very respectable performances, with the best result coming from Mel and Grahame who took sixth place overall and first mixed team out of 217 teams in the Medium Score class.

The OMM was followed by the East of Scotland Orienteering Championships on November 6 near Livingston where Davie Frame was Tay’s top performer, placing 19th out of 52 runners on the 6.3km blue course, and then a well-attended local event at Crombie Country Park in Angus on Sunday.

The orienteering year will close with a Christmas event at Kinnoull Hill on Sunday, December 11.

This will be a “Score” format and will provide challenging orienteering for those who want it, but the intention is to cater for all abilities, so there will be some added entertainment available via a mix of seasonal and non seasonal bonuses to even things up a bit.

For full details see www.taysideorienteers.org.uk.

Entries for 2012 are already being taken for a number of events, including the qualifying heats for the British Compass Sport Cup and Trophy which will be held at Faskally near Pitlochry in February, with the finals in Teviothead in the autumn. The biggest event on the calendar to date, and one in which Tay members will be heavily involved, is the JK2012 (Jan Kjellstrom International Festival of Orienteering).

For more details see www.scottish-orienteering.org/jk2012