Event Spotlight: Scottish 6 Days

From 30 July – 4 August, orienteers from near and far came together to compete on high-quality terrain and courses in Moray, Scotland.

Known for its forested sand dunes and mixed woodland estates, participants revelled in the challenge of the courses. Here we look at how the event went from some of the clubs who took part. 

Wessex Orienteering Club

13 WSX members attended the Scottish 6 Days. Our top orienteer, Lyra Medlock, and her sister, Eskarina, did particularly well, appearing in the top 10 on every day. Lyra came 1st on Day 1 and 3, finishing 2nd overall and Esk came 6^th overall. There were many challenges! The heat and long walk to the start on Day 1 some found quite tiring. And of course, the complex dunes were inherently challenging.

Everyone who attended thoroughly enjoyed the event and found different challenges on each day. We particularly liked the run-in to the Finish happening in assembly and would have liked it if this could happen on every day – though we appreciate that this may not always be possible. It was good having commentary too. The organisation was excellent, although not being able to take campervans to three of the events was a shame – though understandable, bearing in mind the constraints.

Our club member, Scott Elford put together some incredible professional reels from the event. He said: “I have the advantage of having access to specific software, which I have used often before, and it’s quite powerful. So, putting together the footage was easy for me. ​There are apps on phones that you might be able to do this with, but I can't really comment on it as I only use the program on my laptop.”

Look out for a list of tips on creating professional footage in the coming months as we prepare to launch our membership and club toolkit.

East Pennine Orienteering Club

28 EPOC members attended the event, with a nearly equal split of men and women covering all age ranges from 3 to 85!

We had two young juniors running and the family overall had a brilliant week and enjoyed the excellent areas. The White courses were well planned and interesting. The 5-year-old found them a good level of challenge. The 3-year-old loved the White at Darnaway, but unfortunately this was the only one with a short enough overall distance (walk to/from start/finish plus course length) that she could do. In an ideal world, shorter distances to the start and back from the finish would have been preferable for most of the junior courses.

We liked the flexible start times for colour coded courses and flexible approach if people were late for their start, which happened a few times due to the long walks. It was much simpler with everyone having a start time, but with a punching start and the grid start layouts for people to slot into a free minute to start on their course.

Overall people really enjoyed the fabulous areas, the top-quality orienteering and the smooth organisation each day.

Dartford Orienteers

Considering Dartford Orienteers is a small club from the Southeast of England, and the event being over 600 miles away from where we are based, we were well represented at this year’s Scottish 6 Days. We pride ourselves on team spirit and social media has helped us over the last 18 months to engage our members and to grow our club.

We were fortunate that two of our members were not running and therefore able to take photos and get video footage of our competing members, which enabled us to provide a well-documented story of the event on our social media.

Images: Credit to Keith Bennett of DFOK members and amazing scenery. 

The days where the start was nearby, and the finish was in the arena for all competitors (like Roseisle) proved ideal for social media coverage. However, the remote starts and finishes at Culbin were a logistical challenge, although between all of us, we still managed to get some decent shots of our members!

It was noted that the interaction between British Orienteering and other clubs created a good atmosphere, celebrating the achievements of all and the sport in general. Thank you to all volunteers and organising clubs, we look forward to Deeside 2025!

Pendle Forest Orienteers

There were 25 members from Pendle Forest Orienteers who attended the Scottish 6 Days. Here is what some of the members had to say about the event!

Max Cole M50 – “The Scottish 6 days lived up to expectations with demanding navigation on tough terrain, it’s the only reason we return to every event, can’t wait for the next one. The only downside this year was the remote finishes which took away some of the camaraderie. Love it well done S6Day team!”

Helen Ashton W40 – “Loved the few days I did – especially Roseisle and Lossie! Both really technical sand dune areas and well-planned courses.”

David Rose M70 – “2023 was my 15th Six Day so I’ve seen a few changes including the 5 Days and not the 6! Overall, the event lived up to expectation because I used it as a holiday in a superb area and not as a competitive event!”

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Well done to all our clubs who took part in the event and to all the organisers and volunteers of the Scottish 6 Days for making it happen – see you all next year! For a list of results from the event, please visit the Scottish 6 Days website, where you will also find links to the fantastic images taken by the event photographers.