The Peter Palmer Relays is the annual overnight relay competition for juniors (M/W12 and above).  The race starts in the early hours with the first 2 - 3 legs in the dark.  This year it was hosted by Southdowns Orienteers (SO) close to Brighton and they did a fantastic job.  

Because of the distance and night element we decided to just send one team this year - our experienced W18 & 16s Pippa, Yasmin and Louise, M14s Dom and Joe and making his Peter Palmer debut M12 Euan.  It was tough for the team to compete against teams with several M18s but they held their own in the competition.

Next year the relays will be in the East Midlands so we will be hoping to send several teams. Make sure you get your night oienteering practice in this winter...

We asked the team to write about the Peter Palmer Relays experience...

Preparations for this year’s Peter Palmers started early, with Dom decorating the SYO Banter-bus all night, and Pippa spending a fortune on glow-sticks in Poundland.

Unfortunately, Euan had drawn the short straw, travelling down with his Dad on the train, equipped with DVDs of Tangled and Tinkerbell (Ed - they were his sister's)

Meanwhile on the Banter-bus, the banter came to a halt as the air-con failed in the heat, and Dom’s lapse in concentration took us a on a detour north through the centre of Epsom. However, shortly after the banter was restored as Jacky (driver) made a ‘somewhat hasty getaway at a pelican crossing’, so we could get a few extra seconds at the windy beach, among the kite surfers.

Following a hard-core session on the outdoor gym, we headed to the leisure centre, our accommodation for the night. After registering for the event, we headed to show SO who was boss in a game of volleyball.

Before taking on the competition (at 6-a-side football competition), we decided to re-fuel, our pink raffle tickets coming into play, at the 5 Michelin Star Quality Burger and Hotdog Restaurant, with an ‘extensive’ menu. Ready for action, our novice SYO football team, captained by Euan, played a close match, spurred on by some extra burgers near to the end.

To round off the evening, and to get to know the team more, we had a team bonding session, in the form of the card game ‘Tongues’ (spoons... without spoons).

After all this excitement, we headed to our corner of the sports hall in our running gear, to get a good 5 ½ hours of sleep, regardless of the disco next door (that was unfortunately OOB), and the resident snorer!

The next day, we were awoken at 4:15am by a unison chorus of Garmin alarms, and the whole team turned out to see Yasmin off. Before the start, we had just enough time for the race essentials – Glow-sticks and UV facepaint.

The adrenalin was pumping as the countdown began to the mass start in the dark, and at precisely at 5am, the head torches charged off into the night, to complete their first legs.

After a valiant attempt by Yasmin to leave her torch in the terrain - and proving the need for a back-up torch - Louise set off on the second of the two Red legs.

Dom's post race debrief... 

It was a near-perfect run by Louise, with the added excitement of traversing some chalk cliffs, and a beautiful sunrise, she handed over to Dom, who ran the race of his life, bossing the Light Green, with the fastest time on the leg.

Once Euan’s pre-race preparation was complete, and due to an SI mix-up, with nano-seconds to spare, Euan set off on his PPR debut, being the youngest, and one of the fastest on his Orange leg.

Euan handed over to Joe, who provided a solid time for the yellow, and some entertainment at the spectator control, with his demonstration of ‘control-flow’.

Finally, it was Pippa’s turn to tackle the path network, with a run taking in views of the sea, small excitable dogs, and a route choice ascending the ‘unnecessary to cross’ cliffs.

Before getting back into the team bus, we enjoyed breakfast, including Pains aux Chocolat, and cereal – only then we were hit by the realisation that it was still only 9am.

So, here ended the Peter Palmer Relays for another year, with a final result of 6th, not quite matching SO’s 1st place.

On the return journey in the not-so banterous bus, we were already looking ahead to next year – when we will all be that little bit older and wiser. We will look forward to welcoming new M/W12s and above to the team (s!), as it is a great experience to orienteer in safe terrain, with fellow juniors from across the country.

Written by the whole team... minus Euan, on the return journey