The British Night Championships were held at Touch Forest, just west of Stirling. It’s an area that hasn’t been used for 15 years because of permission difficulties, and rumour has it that even now it can only be used for night events. You can see the map here, and it was every bit as challenging as it looks. Most courses stayed in the lightly wooded, reasonably runnable, part of the area at the east but the M21s and W21s also used the open moorland. There are almost no paths on the map, and even the ruined walls were very easy to cross without noticing. The saving grace was that the area is small and surrounded by a high fence so when everything went very wrong relocation was never more than 400m away. But when things went well the enjoyment and sense of achievement was amazing.
The event rules say that the first start cannot be before the end of nautical twilight (about 90 minutes after sunset at the moment), and this combined with the fact that competitors are seeded meant some of us didn’t start until nearly 8pm; it felt a strange time of day to be orienteering even for those accustomed to night events.
Of the seven BL members attending three won medals – Keith first in M65, Dan second in M60 and Christine second in W70. But all of us got round our courses in respectable times, no trivial achievement given the terrain and the complications of even getting to the start (a bus ride, a river crossing and a roped scramble up a very steep muddy bank).
Sunday’s event was a total contrast – a middle distance at Plean Country Park, a relatively flat wooded area with more paths than are helpful near Bannockburn. (map here). It was generally very fast going and relatively straightforward but a number of people were caught out by the need to slow down when navigating alleyways through rhododendron patches. Best BL results came from Alan (6th on Brown) and Keith (4th on Blue).
Full results from the both events are here: British Nights, Plean Middle
Border Liners Orienteering Club 