Published 12th March 2012

How quickly 4 months goes by! Several hardy souls ran all 5 races and it was particularly pleasing to see several fell runners sticking it out to the end – as one was keen to say upon finishing "I haven't got a clue where I've been but it was thoroughly enjoyable" – which is what it's all about. The courses visited several industrial heritage artefacts, a preserved 'dig' beneath a glass slab, the local Tesco, the law courts and a dash through one of Sheffield's red light areas. Several runners were offered dubious substances, several were cheered on by the public and at least one was warned loudly via a speaker that he had been filmed on CCTV. Urban orienteering offers more than you would care to think!!

At the sharp end, several of the top orienteers in the country fought for the glory of 1st spot with Ralph Street, fresh from his some would say idiotic exploits of 2 weeks earlier leading the national country championships for the first ½ mile, showing the field that perhaps he does indeed have a turn of speed to respect. Others would say he was just the lucky one to pick the route to 24 which wasn't blocked by an 8ft fence! The split times (should be up on the SYO web site soon and also with the map on Routegadget) show the lead changing several times during the race.

One of the problems with planning city races is you never know when building works will come and go – one marked on the map was removed 2 days before the race, one new fence went up in the week before (spotted when hanging controls) and one previously spotted fence was moved to block the obvious route choice – not spotted when hanging the controls. Luckily it was just a fun event and everyone took it in their stride – a certain Kris Jones climbing two fences to reach the control and Oli Johnson limbo'ing under another.

For at least 4 of the orienteers, this was their first night event – hope you enjoyed it. It's a relatively safe way to begin with lots of urban glow to help. Rhys and Karl did well to get round so quickly with no light at all using street lights and map memory when it got quite dark. Several people failed to punch the finish control for some reason and one missed the penultimate – must have been the rush to get back for the beer and food. The Fat Cat rewarded us with some excellent home cooking and a fine selection of Real Ale – the event will be repeated next year.

A separate write up of the series will appear in due course.

Tim Tett – series organiser.

Published 21st February 2012

A much reduced team - it's quality that counts - together with some tactical 'running up', ensured SYO just edged out AIRE, CLOK and EBOR at the CSC Qualifier at Gilling Woods last weekend. The juniors and middle-aged members that rose to the call did their stuff on the day with 5 class wins in total - 4 by juniors. Of particular note were Aidan Smith running up on Brown and winning, relative newcomers Pippa and Dominic Dakin both scoring highly, Jenny Peel for dragging herself out of her sick bed and a number of people scoring well who usually make up numbers - well done Karl, Dean, Paul, Marcia, Richard, Guy, Beryl and Jeff - you never know when your run will be that important. Team counters can be found at http://eborienteers.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/compass_sport_cup_syo0.html

So we will be off to defend the cup on Sunday 30th September up int he boarders of Scotland. We'll probably organise accommodation and transport for such a long journey.

Published 5th February 2012

Congratulations to the 2012 Northern Night Champions:

M18 Simon Bradbury  SYO (Northern),  Adam Potter BOK

W18 Julie Emmerson OD

M21  Oli Johnson  SYO

W21 Lucy Wiegand SYO (Northern) Alice Leake EUOC

M40 Steve Watkins  AIRE

W40 Susan Skinner WCOC

M55 John Britton MDOC

W55 Jackie Barnes CLARO (Northern) Inara Gipsle TVOC

In fact congratulations to everyone who got there.  I hope everybody made it home safely.  The promised 10mm arrived before the event, but another 30 or 40 during it, so I'm afraid some had a difficult journey home.  Sorry I left the M/W18s off my earlier post.  PG

Published 11th December 2011

The Club Championships were held on Saturday 10th December at Concord Park.  It was a very cold day, but at least there wasn't snow on the ground like last year.  The format was a handicap score-type event (controls in any sequence) with each competitor given a target number of controls

The new club champions are Philip Wiegand (junior – very closely followed by his brother Adam), Gemma Tate (w) and Kevin Randall (m).  More details on the event page.

These photos just after the mass start and of Gemma finishing were taken by Ray Waight. Some more photos taken by Chris Littler can be seen on the photo page (go to the 'Members area' menu item and select 'Photos').