Last week saw several SO members head north to Cumbria for the Lakes 5 Days event, where there were some excellent results for some.
Orienteering in the Lake District is very different to the forests and woodlands we are used to in Sussex. The organisers had chosen to stage the five events on some of the best areas available, which did result in some long walks to the start, but it was worth the effort.
Day 1 took us to Swindale North, near Haweswater Reservoir, an open moorland area with plenty of marshes. The weather was beautiful, careful navigation was required to stay in contact with the map.
Day 2 was completely different at Tarns Hows South and Guards Wood. The weather wasn’t as kind either, with some torrential rain later on ! The areas were a combination of two separate woodlands with legs across some open ground inbetween. Some of the areas were also quite steep, which became even more tricky in the rain.
Day 3 at Harrop Tarn sadly had to be cancelled quite late on due to the heavy rain - permission for the car parking field was withdrawn. This meant we all had two rest days to enjoy the Lake District though.
Competition resumed on Day 4 at Caw Fell, again we had another long walk to the start to ensure we were enjoying the best of the area. The views though were stunning all the way to the sea. The terrain again was different, technical and tough going with a lot of climb on most courses.
Finally Day 5 was held near Kendal, we were parked on the old racecourse and ran on the limestone pavement of Helsington Barrows next to it. From the parking we could see runners start and disappear over the top of the hill, before eventually reappearing to the north for the final run into the finish in Assembly.
Prizegiving was held here after the final day where the best three scores from the four days were counted - congratulations to the following:
Winner W65L - Bridget Hooper
Winner M70L - Roger Maher
Second W75 - Mary Fogo
Third W70L - Sue Parker
Full results can be found on the Lakes 5 Days website
Posted by on 29th Aug 10 Filed under: