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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.

Interland 2023 - a junior's perspective

On 5th March three of our juniors (Ben, Tommy and Scarlet) travelled to Belgium as part of the England team for Interland 2023. England competes annually in this match against the French, the two Belgian teams: the Flemish OV and French speaking Fédération Régionale des Sports d’Orientation (FRSO), the Netherlands – Nederlandse Oriënteringsloop Bond (NOLB). This year as guests, a team for Luxembourg competed hors concours. The Interland race was staged in the Kattenbos forest by Lommel, 64km E of Antwerp. Typically Flemish terrain featured small well mapped relief, predominantly coniferous trees, some semi-open heathland, “challenging sand dune orienteering; fast in the open forest, blocks of limited visibility”.

Read on for the results and a report from Ben who was selected to join the England team for the first time.

Southdowns Juniors victorious in YBT heat at Balcombe.Well done to the junior squad. A solid effort by all our runners.

23 juniors took part in this year's heat at Balcombe. The size of the squad is really encouraging and we hope to get this number over 30 for the YBT final.

Provisional results can be found here

The final takes place in Sheffield on 9th July, and you don't need to have run in the heat to run in the final, so save the date. We will likely be traveling up by mini bus.

There will be a lot more competition at the final but it’s always a great occasion. The area is planned to be Sandall Beat Wood - a local nature reserve https://www.doncaster.gov.uk/services/culture-leisure-tourism/sandall-beat-wood The map is on routegadget here. Last used in 2020

Thanks to everyone that helped with organisation and also Mole Valley for a great event.

Will

Junior Team Manager

A busy time ahead for team SO

March and April are a busy time for SO members with the regional heats of both the CompassSport Cup and the Yvette Baker trophy taking place as well as the British Orienteering Championships and JK which both involve team relays.

Good luck to our 21 juniors taking part in YBT on 19th March

A team of 21 SO juniors are looking forward to taking part in the heat of the Yvette Baker Trophy, which takes place at Balcombe on Sunday 19th March.

This is the annual inter-club competition for M/W10's to M/W18's. It's a great opportunity for juniors to take part in competition and for those just starting out, they can run in a pair on a yellow.

The final takes place in Sheffield on 9th July, and you don't need to have run in the heat to run in the final, so save the date.