Border Liners held their annual Long Distance orienteering event on Sunday 21st August on the fells to the west of Dockray (High Brow and Watermillock Common). The going was tough with competitors crossing much tussocky ground, made even more challenging by a strong, gusty wind to throw them off balance. After some early showers the sun came out to enable much post-race route analysis, aided by tea and cake!
The Long course was 17.3km with 725m ascent, won by West Cumberland OC runner Dan Heppell (M20) in an impressive time of 2 hours 15 minutes, running the whole race almost on the straight line. He took the lead at checkpoint 1, briefly losing it at number 4, before pulling away to win by 10 minutes from Matthew Atkinson (M21), also of West Cumberland. Just 15 seconds further back Border Liner Jack Eyre (M35) had a strong run, finishing 3rd with a time of 2:25:47. First lady was Caitlin Pearson (W35) of West Cumberland in a time of 3:31:23, finishing 7th overall. The Medium course was 12.6km with 430m of ascent, covering much the same ground as the Long course with fewer twists and turns. David Roome (M40) of South Ribble OC showed everyone a clean pair of heels to win in a time of 1:53:18, 7 minutes ahead of Michael Osborne (M45) of Lakeland OC with Cleveland runner William Blackwell (M20) a further 6 minutes behind. First lady was West Cumberland OC runner Angela Jackson (W50) in a time of 3:13:50 just 90 seconds ahead of Christine Goulding (W60) who was also first Border Liner.
The Short course (7.0km, 220m) was a close run thing with Mike Billinghurst (M65) of West Cumberland OC taking the win in a time of 71:20, just 13 seconds ahead of Jamie Osborne (M16) of Lakeland OC. Jamie had been pulling ahead of Mike in the early stages but then lost over 4 minutes getting to checkpoint 4 and couldn’t quite pull it back despite a valiant effort. Finlay Ross (M55) of Edinburgh Southern OC was 3rd and Tania Milnes (W45) was first lady and 4th overall. Top Border Liner was Raymond Wren (M75) in a great time of 86:44. The Very Short course (5.1km, 190m) was won by unattached runner Chris Barnes (M50) in a time of 55:17, well ahead of 2nd place Jo Taylor (W60) of South Ribble OC who was also first lady. Third was Jackie Chapman (W65) of Lakeland OC with top Border Liner being Jane Yates (W55) 11th in a time of 95:26. The shortest course, Super Short (3.2km, 150m), was won by Jane Barnes (W50) in a time of 54:10 with top Border Liner, Mark Peploe (M50), just 22 seconds behind and John Taylor (M75) 3rd, a further 3 minutes back.
Elsewhere, and in stark contrast to a Long Distance event in the Cumbrian fells, the British Sprint Orienteering Championships was taking place at the University of East Anglia in Norwich. Border Liner superstar Keith Tonkin won gold in the M65 class to go with his gold in the British Classic Distance Championships, gold at the British Night Championships and bronze in the Middle Distance Championships – an impressive haul for 2025.
Border Liners Orienteering Club 