News

SO 3rd in UK Orienteering League

Following our 5th place at the CompassSport Cup the final UK Orienteering League table has been published following the Southern night and day champs, and places SO as the 3rd best club in UK. The league is based on the performance of a club's top 15 runners (which have to be spread over a range of age classes) in a number of defined races.

Juniors dominate Southern champs

Four Southdowners were crowned Southern Champions at the steep-sided event at the Devil's Punchbowl. Congratulations to the trio of Heap children Tommy (M14), Scarlet (W16) and Stan (M18) who were joined by Roger Maher (M80). Full results and analysis can be found at https://www.southernnavigators...

SO success at Southern night champs

SO were the most successful club at the Southern Night Champs hosted by GO at Puttenham. Congratulations to our six champions: Scarlet Heap (W16), Ruth Rhodes (W75), Stan Heap (M18), Nick Jarvis (M21), Neil Crickmore (M55) and Roger Maher (M75).

SO success at SE night champs

Held on a chilly, starry November night in St Leonard's Forest near Horsham this event saw four Southdowners come away with gold medals. Congratulations to Pete Chapman (M45-50), Neil Crickmore (M55-60), Alan Williamson (M65-75) and Roger Maher (M80+) who together dominated the Men's veteran classes.

SO success at SE long distance champs

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 aiders

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!

Juniors Orienteering Activity DayWed 24 October

British Orienteering sponsored a 'youth activity day' for M/W10-14's at High Ashurst Outdoor Activity Centre near Dorking on Wednesday 24th October. Aimed at juniors from London and the South East, the day included orienteering exercises during the morning (including planning courses), as well as outdoor activities like high ropes, climbing wall and archery.

CompassSport Cup Final - Sun Oct 21st

Having qualified from the regional heat at Balcombe we are off to the final again. The final is on Cannock Chase (similar terrain to this year's JK) on Sunday Oct 21st. If there is enough interest we may hire a coach to take us up there and back on the day. I have set up an online poll at https://doodle.com/poll/8xbxs3... for members to indicate their availability and interest in a coach.

SO Success at London City Race

Congratulations to Jack Kosky who finished 2nd (but first British runner) on the Men's Elite course at the race held around the City and South Bank. Also on the podium was Ruth Rhodes 2nd in the Women's Hypervets class. Near misses for Neil Crickmore (4th in Men's Supervets), Lucy Thraves (an excellent 7th in Women's Elite) and Robin Smith (7th in Men's Ultravets). Results can be found at http://slow.org.uk/racereports...

Peter Palmer Relays

On Saturday 8th Sept 2018, a minibus containing 9 SO Juniors and 3 adults headed north to Tankersley Woods in Sheffield for the annual Peter Palmer Relays – a team race that starts in the dark at 05:00 in the morning (first alarm clock this year hit us at 3:55am!).

Stan Heap on the first leg brought the team back in an incredible 2^nd place, handing over to sister Scarlet who put in another comfortable night leg, navigating through the complex contours and twisty path network.