SO Success at SE Long Distance Champs 2018

We had a very successful day at the South East Long Champs at Holmbury Hill on 11 Nov 2018.

Undulating woodland on the Surrey Hills (with the summer vegetation still prominent) made for enjoyable, if physical, courses. SO recipients were dominant at the prize giving with 23 medalists.

Ten more club members become first aider's

Ten of us attended training to either renew or gain our "Emergency first aid at work" certificate.

The training is provided by Steve Blount and he makes it an enjoyable experience by adding in many anecdotes. Training is available for any club member aged 16+ and the club pays for the training in order to increase coverage of first aid assistance at our events. Contact Steve Blount if you would like to take part in the next session.

Southwater event commemorated the end of the First World War

This event, held on 10th Nov, one day short of 100 years since the end of the First World War was held in commemoration of the First World War.

We held a collection for the Royal British Legion's Poppy Appeal to say thank you to our servicemen and women who served, sacrificed and shaped the future of the world.

SO 5th at CSC Final

Southdowns entered a team of just under 50 runners to the final of the UK inter-club competition - the CompassSport Cup final on 21st Oct 2018. The final was held on Cannock Chase which many of our members had enjoyed earlier in the year at the Easter JK festival. Unfortunately the summer vegetation was still present making progress in a straight line difficult and often hiding the controls. Despite this we came an excellent 5th - our best performance for a few years.

Tuesday evening social training

From the end of September until Easter SO will be running a series of training activities on Tuesday evenings between 7:30 and 8:30. The social aspect of these activities are just as important as the training themselves, and many of the activities will be undertaken in pairs or groups. Some participants will retire to a local hostelry afterwards for post training refreshments. Each month we will put on different types of training, see below for more details.

Running Orienteering and Camping (ROC) 2018 Mountain Marathon

On the weekend of 29/30 September 2018, small band of enthusiastic SO runners travelled to the Lake District to compete in the Running Orienteering and Camping (ROC) 2018 Mountain Marathon.

This involves running with a rucksack containing all you need for two days and one night out in the wild.

Junior Inter-Regional Championships

It was the Junior Inter-Regional Championships (JIRC's) on 29th and 30th Sept 2018 with Individual Races at Chatsworth House and Relays at Carsington Pastures. SO have a number of juniors in the South East Junior Squad (SEJS) - Amelia, Maddie, Sam, Stanley, Ffion, Scarlet & Tommy and they all helped the team to an amazing 4th place. The best result since 2006!