News

Can you help the club with Publicity?

Call-out for someone, or a couple of people to help our team publicise our SO events and come up with some new ideas on reaching out to people.

Have you got a small amount of time on a regular basis to look forward at our event plan and push messages out about events as well as publicise the sport generally? The club is also interested in the idea of publicising a series of MapRun courses to encourage participation, so this could be an alternative strand. You will be working with a friendly bunch of people who already post items. Familiarity with Instagram, Facebook and possibly Strava a bonus for the publicity help. Familiarity with MapRun a bonus if you're just able to help with that part.

Contact Anna if you think you may have some spare time to help. Any small amount of time you can give would really be appreciated! (Credit: Vectorjuice)

British Sprint Relay Champs

This year the National Sprint Relay Champs are being held relatively close to home and in conjunction with the annual London City Race over the weekend of 16th/17th September. The club captain will put together teams based on who is available and their individual preferences. If you are interested in competing for SO in this competition please add your name to this StrawPoll.

SO Juniors compete at YBT Final

Southdowns Orienteers Junior Squad travelled to Yorkshire to compete in the Yvette Baker Trophy Final on 9th July 23.

This is the annual Junior Inter Club competition where the best clubs from each region across England and Wales compete. Our Junior Squad earnt their place for the South East back in March.

Summer Trail Runs 2023

Evening trail runs are taking place again. These are social training events where you can run on your own or as a group. We meet at 6:30pm each week although you can run at any other time. A StrawPoll has been set up to allow you to sign up - particularly if you can't print your own map. It is intended that all runs will also be MapRun enabled. Runs will be added a few days beforehand each week - see below for list.

Devil's Dyke Trail Race 2023Race Report

On paper, the Midsummer Devil’s Dyke Trail Run is only 300m of climb over an 8km distance. However, the relentless hard running and the pressure of competing head-to-head can make the event feel like the club’s toughest challenge of the year.

LittleDave reports on his experience from last Wednesday’s race, and you can check out the course here.

"Did you memorise the whole route?"

An orienteering trail run in my 'back garden' with a pre-published map where the Organiser stated you would not need a compass... The potential for disaster was massive but fortunately, I know the Dyke pretty well, been adventuring there for years now.

Devil's Dyke Trail Race Maps now available

Get planning for the Devil’s Dyke Trail Race 2023! The event takes place at 19.30 on Wednesday 21 June 2023. All runners will be given a waterproof map on the evening, and courses close at 21.30. Take a look at the Long (8km) and Short (4km) courses. More details and sign up here: https://www.southdowns-oriente...

Devil’s Dyke Trail Race 19.30, Wednesday 21 June 2023

It’s back! Nothing says Midsummer more than the Devil’s Dyke Trail Race. It’s a traditional mass-start race with competitors gathering at the top of the Dyke for a 19.30 start. It’s not for the faint-hearted though. Both the long (8km) and short (4km) courses feature significant climb and the guaranteed warm summer’s evening make the event a real challenge. There are medals to be won for the 3 fastest men and women on the 2 courses.

Electronic checkpoints located around the Dyke mark the route and each runner will be given a map to make sure they keep on track.

Entries are open at RaceSignUp. See you there

Robert Lines.

Medal success at South East Sprint Champs 2023

SO won six medals at the South East Sprint Champs which took place in the Ham Estate near Kingston. The incredible heat didn't make it easy. All competitors had to run two courses - one in the morning and the other 90 minutes later. Older juniors (14 and above) and seniors had courses which zigzagged across the urban area. The younger juniors were on common land for the first part and urban for the second part. Congratulations to Emma who became South East Sprint Champion.

We came away with one Gold, three Silvers and two Bronze. Read on for the list of medal winners...

Check out their courses here.

SEOA Cloth Badges awarded to our Juniors

At the AGM we awarded a number of juniors with their SEOA Colour Coded badges. These can be won by any member of the South East Orienteering Association. The rules require that you complete three colour coded courses and come in the top 50% or have a time within 150% of the winning time. Congratulations to all the juniors who have qualified for a badge.

If you weren't there to collect it, please get in touch with Will to arrange collection.

Read on to see the list of successful juniors...

SO Annual Prize Winners 2022/2023

The Southdowns Orienteers annual prize giving took place today, congratulations to:

• Sue Crickmore - Senior Performance Shield
• Darrell High - Senior Performance Shield
• Emma Chapman - Gold Junior Performance Certificate and £30.00 Voucher
• Emily Waters - Silver Junior Performance Certificate and £20.00 Voucher
• Heather High – Bronze Junior Performance Certificate and £10.00 Voucher
• Ben Chapman - Gold Junior Performance Certificate and £30.00 Voucher
• Tommy Heap - Silver Junior Performance Certificate and £20.00 Voucher
• James Curtis - Bronze Junior Performance Certificate and £10.00 Voucher
• Ben Chapman - Ricky Wise Junior Trophy
• Joe Barrett - SOOTY Trophy

Medals at JK2023 Relays

The JK2023 relays took place at Dale Park in the Lake District. SO fielded ten, three person teams in six different relay categories. SO have a history of placing well in the Men's and Women's Short Relay category so there were several teams in each.

The teams did well with Heather High W18, Ali High W45 and Scarlet Heap W20 gaining silver in the Women's Short and the family team of Stan M21, Will M50 and Tommy Heap M18 gaining a bronze medal in the Men's Short competition.

Success at JK2023 Individual Days

This year's JK took place in the Lake District and a large contingent of Southdowners from aged 9 to over 90 took part. Day 1 was a sprint around Lancaster University and Day's 2 and 3 were individual races in the technically challenging areas of High Dam and Bigland.

Two of our youngest juniors, Lucas and Harriet, had stand out performances winning the M10B and W10B courses over the two individual days. Roger Maher became JK champion in the M85 age category and Mike Gammon got silver in M90.

Coaching at FristonNever get lost again!

The session for adults and older juniors will look at the art of relocation. It's one of the most useful skills for the odd occasion when you've lost contact with the map. The coaches have excellent tips, advice and exercises to minimise time loss even when everything isn't going to plan. Meet in the car park at 09.40. The coaching and event start are together, but 15 minutes from the car park. There will be a tarpaulin at the coaching venue where things can be left ahead of the main event. To book a place on the coaching session please let Robert Lines know (contacts page) or via Spond if you are set up on the App.

British Championship Medals

Roger put in a sterling performance at the British Champs to win back his British Champion title, winning the M85 competition by over 12 minutes. Silver medals were won by Mike Gammon in the M90 class and Ruth Rhodes in the W80 class and bronze by Scarlet Heap in the W20 Elite course. Congratulations to them all.

A large team of Southdowners took part in the British Champs at Hambledon in March. We all had some really long courses, but enjoyed the challenge and the atmosphere at the event. Some of our youngest members also ran their first white course unaccompanied at a British Champs and put in an excellent performance.

Hairless Wonders

At the British Relay Championships at Hambledon SO won gold in the Men over 50s category. Congratulations to Will, Alan and Darrell for beating off stiff opposition - particularly from perennial winners SYO. The team name (So Little Hair) has been around for many years as it accurately described the scalps of the team members that used to include Kenny Leitch. Big kudos to Will who shaved his hair the night before to make sure that he lived up to the spirit of the name.