Nopesport

JK Relay

What a great finale to a fine weekend’s orienteering! The best day in terms of weather with the sun shining throughout, though with the assembly field under the trees this wasn’t always obvious to competitors and spectators alike. Having the assembly area in the woods meant that spotting your runner through the trees was slightly difficult, especially for those whose genes didn’t supply them with ample height, but with the positioning of a clearly visible spectator control near the end of most courses gave outgoing runners more than enough warning of when they should be going into the waiting pen.
The forest gave way for some seriously fast racing, with the fastest times approaching 5mins/km. However, large areas of dense trees meant visibility wasn’t very far, and if you lost sight of the pack, it was very difficult to get back into it. The majority of courses were greeted with this scenario very early on in their courses, splitting the relays up very early on meaning that every leg necessitated map reading and not just blindly following the line of runners in front of you.

The spectacle of the day had to be the JK Trophy event, with many teams fielding very strong teams, some comprising new line-ups from last year, but who would prevail in the first of this year’s big relays? A total of 30 teams lined up on the start line, and by the time the teams came through the spectator control it was obvious that the low visibility had split the teams up dramatically, but there were 5 runners who were still together as they went into the last loop – Matt Speake of EBOR heading a group of Allan Bogle (NWOC who were non-competitive), Rob Baker (SYO1), Stefan Andersson (EUOC1) and Andy Middleditch (SHUOC2). This group kept their lead round the final part of their course and came through the finish over a minute in front of the next group, and from then on the runners came in haphazardly. At the spectator control on the 2nd leg Mark Nixon of EUOC Legends had moved his way to the front and was in fine form extending his lead at the finish to 30 seconds in front of the trailing group of James Hargreaves (SHUOC2), James Logue (NWOC) and Mike Sprot (SYO1). Fastest 2nd leg time was from Neil Northrop of SHUOC Men Of Steel who moved the Sheffield University’s 1st team up from 14th to 7th. By the time of the 3rd leg gaps were really starting to appear as teams were mostly running by themselves rather than in packs, and Murray Strain of EUOC Legends capitalized on this by increasing Edinburgh Uni’s lead to 3 minutes from SHUOC’s 1st team after Matt Crane had a storming run to set the fastest short leg run by 1 and a half minutes, and finally overtaking their 2nd team along with 5 other teams! SYO1 were right up there, just 5 seconds behind SHUOC. Just over a minute behind was INT, with EPOC, WCH and MAROC a further 30 seconds behind. So with 7 teams heading out within 5 minutes of the leaders, how would the final placings look? Scott Fraser came through the spectator control clear of any opposition, but how long was his lead? It turned out that Oli Johnson (SHUOC) had reduced the deficit, but only by 1 and a half minutes, which was not enough, and EUOC claimed their first JK Trophy title since 1969! SHUOC finished a comfortable 2nd place, but Stephen Palmer had a great run to move his childhood club WCH team up from 6th to a podium place of 3rd. Al Buckley (SYO) held on for 4th place, Dan Marston running for INT finished in 5th, whilst Dickie Wren anchored the new look EPOC team to 6th place. Fastest long leg of the day went to Graham Gristwood of OD who pulled his team up from 8th to 7th on the last leg, just failing to catch Wren.

But the men’s race was far from being the only exciting race at the JK relays. The Women’s Trophy, despite having a slightly smaller field was just as thrilling a race. Aislinn Austin was the first runner through the spectator control, with nearly a minute lead over hot favourites SYO with Jo Stevenson. Unfortunately Austin lost a minute on the penultimate control allowing Stevenson to catch up again, but the pair of them were a minute and a half clear. Coming through in 3rd place was Lizzie Adams running for SOC just in front of Cath Wilson of OD. On the 2nd leg there was still no separating CLOK and SYO at the spectator control as Jenny Whitehead came through for SYO just in front of Karen Heppenstall, but these 2 teams had opened up quite a gap. Whitehead managed to open up a small gap whilst setting the fastest short leg of the day, and with Heppenstall losing nearly a minute on this final section it would be tough to catch the reigning champions. It was still SOC and OD in 3rd and 4th place after the short leg with Jane Morgan (SOC) battling it out with Jessica Halliday (OD), but with FVO, SLOW and EUOC close behind heading onto the final leg. And it was Helen Winskill who emerged at the spectator control clear of any threat, Hannah Wooton (CLOK) being unable to catch up the minute lead Winskill held at the start of the leg. Fastest long leg of the day went to Heather Monro, running for her childhood club SLOW and pulling them up from 7th to 3rd with an absolutely storming run of just over 6mins/km. Christine Currie (SOC) held on for a well deserved 4th place, with Lesley Ross (OD) 5th and Alison O’Neil for EUOC not quite managing to catch the teams in front and ending up in 6th place.

A rare occurrence in the Men’s Short race today, with the winning team not consisting of 3 males, but when you consider that the women in the winning team was Sarah Rollins you might not be quite so surprised. She came back in 6th place, but less than a minute down on the leaders, Chris Illman of SARUM and Rhys Manning of SWOC, and just failing to keep up with hubby Dave down the run-in! The BAOC team quickly moved to the front of the race under the steam of James Martinwho set the fastest leg time, though he couldn’t quite get away from the AC BEA team who finished just 4 seconds down, with the SARUM team still right up there after a good run from Patrick Barclay. But moving onto the last leg and BAOC ran away with it due to the performance of Richard Barrett who pulled 2 minutes clear of Ben Chesters (SARUM). Ben Roberts had a good run on last leg to pull his COBOC team up from 4th to 3rd after some good runs from Iain Embrey and David Aldridge. Fastest leg time went to GB Junior Squad Coach Jason Inman who pulled FVO up from 8th to 4th on the last leg, just beating Barrett by 4 seconds.

The Women’s Short race was another hotly contested race, although the winning margin was fairly comfortable at the end. Cerys Manning of OUOC came back with an impressive 2 minute margin over JWOC team mate Helen Gardner (WAOC), Wendy Billing (SYO), Gillian Findlay (ESOC), Rebecca Roberts (SROC) and Lucie Moseley (LOC). However, SYO’s 2nd leg runner Clare Sutherland had a great run and pulled her team up to 1st place and with a 2 minute margin over Alison Ingleby (DEE) with Helen Nolan of ESOC just behind. SYO’s margin grew to nearly 10 minutes on the last leg after a very quick leg from Jenny Peel who set the fastest long leg time by over a minute from Manning. But the battle was on for the other podium places, with 2nd-5th placed teams passing through the spectator control within 30 seconds of each other. In the end, it was FVO’s Beccy Osborn who prevailed and just pipped Oxford Uni’s Anne Osborne to the 2nd placed spot, OUOC 3rd, DEE (Sara Campbell) 4th and CLOK (Catherine Taylor) 5th.

One of the largest relays, with over 60 teams was the Mens Total Age 120+, but right from the start there were just 2 teams in it. BAOC 3 with Dave Rollins and SO Lost with Darrell High came through the spectator control with a 3 minute lead, and Rollins managed to extend his lead here to 30 seconds by the finish, High finishing nearly 3 and ahalf minutes in front of 3rd placed runner John Noblett (WCOC) who headed a group of 5 runners. On 2nd leg Vince Joyce (SO) had caught up Axel Blomquist (BAOC) by the spectator control, and the 2 of them raced round together, Joyce setting the fastest short leg and finishing just 3 seconds behind Blomquist. There was sure to be an intense battle on the last leg, with Colin Dickson (2nd on M50L) of BAOC against Alan Velecky (3rd on M35L) for SO. At the spectator control it looked as if youth had prevailed with Velecky having a 30 second lead, but a costly mistake soon into the final loop allowed Dickson to take over the lead which he kept until the finish to give BAOC victory by nearly a minute. 6 minutes behind was another great race between WCOC’s Mike Billinghurst and BOK’s Clive Hallett. It looked as if Hallett had the advantage through the spectator control, but again a mistake in the final part of the course allowed the Cumbrian club into the medal positions, Billinghurst finishing just 15 seconds ahead of Hallett.

The Women’s Total Age 120+ was another close affair with the leading 5 teams all finishing within 5 minutes of each other. Liz Clayton of WCH came home on 1st leg nearly 4 minutes clear of her nearest rival, Margaret Mackenzie (WCOC), who was just 3 seconds in fron of LOK’s Kate Brett, all of whom were faster than any of the last leg runners. However, SLOW’s Jackie Chapman soon changed things around with a very fast time on the short leg to pull the London club up from 5th to 1st, having raced round with Inara Gipsle of TVOC, and Carol Dredge keeping WCH right in contention. On the 3rd leg it was evident that it would be one of 2 teams to take honours, with Kathy Haynes of SLOW battling it out with Ianka Petrova Evans of WCH. And it was the Londoner who kept her cool by posting the fastest last leg time, finishing just over a minute in front of the West Midlands club, with Joyce Marshall of AIRE pulling the Yorkshire club up from 4th to 3rd.

In the largest field of the day, with nearly 70 teams, the Mens Total Age 165+ was always going to be a close run thing, but in the end it turned out to be yet another rather comfortable victory. Bill Hanley (SYO) was the first man back on the 1st leg, closely follwed by BL’s Andy Lewsley and BOK’s Charlie Daniel. But it was the favourites who came to the fore on 2nd leg, with SLOW’s David May moving slowly through the field helping him to get the fastest leg time and finishing just in front of WCOC’s Roger Jackson who had also moved his way up the field from 5th place, and these 2 teams were 3 minutes clear of the field. Mike Murray not only kept the lead for the London club, but propelled them to an almost 5 minute winning margin, beating people many years younger. Andy Hemsted helped his HOC club move from 4th up to 2nd, but run of the relay came from TVOC’s Neville Baker who managed the gargantuan task of moving his team up from 24th spot into 3rd place, setting the fastest leg time by over 3 minutes.

The Women’s Total Age 165+, despite being one of the smaller classes, produced the closest finish for the top spot. Gill Manning set her SWOC team off to a superb start, finishing over 2 minutes clear of Heather Fellbaum (MDOC) and Liz Godfree (DVO). But the East Midlands club were soon at the front, Helen Finlayson setting the fastest short leg of the relay, who easily overtook MDOC and SWOC. Diana McClure of LOC was close on Finlayson’s heels though, and pulled the Cumbrian team up from 4th to 2nd place, with Kate Balmond of SWOC dropping to 3rd place. But all the drama was had on the final leg, where by the 4th control Judith Powell (SWOC) had gone past both Pauline Ward (DVO) and Beryl Offley (LOC), and Powell came through the spectator control 1 minute in front of Ward and 2 minutes in front of Offley. But coming into view at the finish it was Ward and Offley neck and neck, Ward slightly in front. With a burst of speed she punched the final control and sprinted into the finish to bring victory to DVO by a final margin of 17 seconds over LOC, with SWOC a further minute behind in 3rd place.

A total of 28 teams lined up for Mens Total Age 48-, and straight away the favourites AIRE lunged for the front, Jack Wood, having opened up a 25 second gap by the 2nd control. But by the spectator control Wood had been caught by the Day 2 M16A winner from Norway, Morten Westergaard. The 2 of them raced round the final loop and finished seconds apart, helping them to both go round faster than all the 3rd leg runners. Wood finished slightly in front, and the pair were over a minute in front of 3rd placed Edward Louth (WAOC) who headed a chasing group of Alex Bedwell (MDOC), Ross Thistlethwaite (LOC) and Chris Smithard (DEE). On the 2nd leg George Stevens (AIRE) quickly got away from the Norwegian Helene Lund-Johansen and proceeded to set the fasest leg time by over a minute, and increasing AIRE’s lead to over 2minutes from LOC (Michael McIver) who finished a further minute clear of Matthew Vokes (DEE). On the last leg, M18L runner-up Ben Stevens ran a strong leg, and extended AIRE’s lead to 3 minutes thus retaining the title which the same 3 runners had won last year. DEE’s David Schorah produced the fastest last leg time and moved his team up from 3rd to 2nd, leapfrogging LOC with Andy Spain on last leg.

The Women’s Total Age 48- was the smallest relay of the day, with just 16 teams starting, but there were still some impressive performances in this class. Alice Butt set SARUM’s title retention hopes off to a great start beating team mate Julia Blomquist on a sprint finish, with 3rd placed Jo Thompson (WCH) less than 30 seconds down. Catherine Bushnell then ran the fastest leg time to move WCH up to 1st place, over 5 minutes ahead of their nearest rivals ERYRI, with Delyth Darlington running their 2nd leg. Lucy Benham kept SARUM’s hopes alive finishing just 30 seconds behind ERYRI. But no-one could catch Walton Chasers, with Emily Garside taking the team to victory by 4 minutes from a spirited run from Vicky Stevens of AIRE who posted the fastest time of the day and pulled her team up from 4th to 2nd. Rebecca Hoare (ERYRI) couldn’t quite keep up with Stevens and finished just 19 seconds behind in 3rd place.

The first relay to start, and the first relay to finish was the Mini Relay M/W12-. A furious pace was set round the paths of Hopwas, and it was SARUM’s Jack Benham who took the lead approaching the last control and was able to sprint away from BOK’s George Hurford who finished just 7 seconds behind Benham, and a further 5 seconds in front of 3rd placed runner Eoin McCullough of 3ROC. On the 2nd leg it was Ben Ross running for local club OD who produced the fastest time of the day who stole the show, moving into the lead by the 2nd control and extending his lead to nearly 2 minutes by the finish. EBOR’s Joshua Cooper came in 2nd, 30 seconds in front of DVO’s Harriet Lawson. On the final leg OD’s William Gardner didn’t need to push it with the winning margin he had, but he wasn’t to know how close behind him the next teams were so he went out hard and posted the 3rd fastest time of the day and fastest 3rd leg to help his club win by 2 and a half minutes. Thomas Clark of EBOR finished in 2nd place with a 5 and a half minute gap to the next club, SLOW, with Greg Street just managing to hold off SARUM’s Lucy Butt and TVOC’s Hannah Thetford.

In the Mixed Ad-Hoc there were just under 100 teams competing, but BAOC were clear winners with a team of Murray Cowan, John Owens and Allan Farrington, who finished 8 minutes in front of 2nd placed BT (Erland Gjestemoen, Per Harald Johansen, Mike Down) who were a further 4 minutes ahead of MEROC (Ray Hulse, Jill Cochrane, Paul Bolton).

Full Results