News

SE Individual League Winners

The final 2018 league results have been published and reveal that nine Southdowners won their respective age classes. Congratulations to Tommy, Liam, Will, Alan, Joe, Robin, Mike, Scarlet, Jill and Ruth. Certificates will be awarded at the DFOK Chelwood event on Jan 13th.

Newcomers welcome

Looking for a new challenge? Southdowns Orienteers welcomes people of all ages to turn up and give it a go. You can walk or run, take part as a group or on your own.

Check out our newcomers pages, contact page, come along to an event or attend one of our monthly coaching sessions.

SO win trophies at all ages

SO triumphed at the recent South East Families and Veterans competition on Ashdown Forest. Peter Chapman won the men's veteran trophy M40+, Anna Chapman won the ladies veteran W40+ trophy and Linda Hulley won the ladies super veteran trophy W60+. The Chapman family also went on to win the family competition with the help of Ben and Emma (M10 and W10).

Jack Kosky takes on Europe

Many British orienteers participate in the City Race EuroTour which saw its final event take place over the weekend of Dec 8th/9th in Funchal, Madeira. Winning the men's elite race was our very own Jack Kosky. Not far behind Jack was CompassSport editor Nick Barrable who ended up 2nd overall in the tour. The two of them race again in Brighton on the 22nd and will be joined by Jack Leitch who has been putting in some good performances recently in the Scottish cross country scene.

Junior selection races announced for 2019

All juniors M/W14+ have an opportunity to be selected for regional training camps and international competitions taking place in 2019. Do you fancy going to an orienteering camp next summer? Or perhaps you'd like to represent England at the next Junior Home International! The selection races have just been announced....

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.