British Orienteering

Lake District Double Championship Weekend with excellent orienteering!

9 June 2021

The British Middle Distance Championships event was organised by Lakeland Orienteering Club and took place on Saturday 5 June, at Summerhouse Knott, near Newby Bridge in the southern Lake District.

Saturday was  warm and sunny, and competitors headed for the action in the Southern Lakes for the British Middle Championships. Courses were very technically challenging, with rock and contour detail, some coniferous plantation, lovely deciduous woodland, and lots of spring flowers.

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Photo credits:  Wendy Carlyle (Airienteers)

Sunday saw the return of the Northern Championships event, organised by Manchester and District Orienteering Club, was the next day, at High Dam, on the NW side of the same valley. (The British Long-Distance Championships were held here in 2017.)  Courses were long and tough and many competitors were out for a very long time, with the heat making it even more difficult!  This is also a very technical area – mature deciduous woodland, marshes, open pasture on higher land, with intricate contours and rock detail throughout.

 

Derek Allison, Organiser for the British Middle Orienteering Championships, says: 

“I felt tired but very satisfied with what we as a team delivered.  We received lots of compliments about the courses, map, terrain, and organisation. The Covid arrangements went very well and with lots of space.  There was a gentle hum of happiness pervading the air throughout the day from people who had not seen their friends for over a year.

The event may have not had traders, prizegiving etc. but those that won their classes have earned their titles.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The full results from the British Middle Championships (5 June) can be found here.

Full results from The Northern Championships (6 June) can be found here.

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The weekend was also an important junior selection race programme. Before Saturday's and Sunday's events, there was a Junior (M/W 16-20) sprint race in Keswick town in the evening on Friday 4 June, organised by West Cumberland Orienteering Club.  Full results can be found here.

All three events were selection races for the Great Britain team for the Junior World Orienteering Championships in Turkey and the European Junior Orienteering Championships in Lithuania.

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For some members this was their first time competing in really challenging Lake’s terrain for over a year. Well done to all.

British Orienteering would like to say a huge thank you to West Cumberland Orienteering Club (WCOC), Lakeland Orienteering Club (LOC) and Manchester and District Orienteering Club (MDOC) for putting on an excellent weekend of orienteering.