Report from Dan Parker ( 8/12/25)
Border Liners Orienteering Club staged their final event of the year on Sunday 7th December around the streets of Penrith. It was also the last event in the North West Urban League for 2025. The event proved to be a great finale to a year during which BL has held 18 events throughout north east Cumbria. Ranging from parks in Carlisle to steep wooded valleys, to high mountain terrain, at day and (occasionally) at night, with participants aged 3 to 93 and with winning times from 9 minutes to 135 minutes it has been a really varied and successful year. It has also been a winning year competitively with multiple British Champions and second place in the national Compass Sport Trophy inter-club competition.
The Penrith event was based in the New Squares area and courses set off through the tricky alleyways of the main shopping area. The longer courses then headed up to Scaws before looping back down through Pategill, then joined the shorter courses with some tricky sprint-style checkpoints in Castle Park. There was the a fast downhill to the finish which most people reached before the rain arrived. Course 1 (the longest) was won by Manchester runner Mark Burley who was impressively quick round the 8.5km course, winning by 4 minutes in a time of 36:17. Second was West Cumberland runner Phill Winskill a minute ahead of third place – John Embrey from Lancashire club SROC. First lady was Border Liner star Karen Parker in 48:18, holding off Ceil Matthew of SROC, to win by just by just 17 seconds. Third lady was Border Liner Isabel Berry 3 minutes further adrift.
Course 2 (5.8km) was won by Manchester based Emma Mason in a time of 30:45, exactly 1 minute ahead of West Cumberland runner Stuart Crawford, with Trevor Hindle (also from Manchester) a further 29 seconds adrift. Top Border Liner was Dan Parker, 6th in a time of 36:56 with top BL lady Stella Lewsley 3 minutes further back. On Course 3 (3.5km), in a race where the lead changed hands multiple times, Carol Edwards of Border Liners won in a time of 23:02 just 3 seconds ahead of Louise Dunn of SROC. Third was Cheshire based Norman Hall, 2 minutes further back. Courses 4 and 5 were designed for (accompanied) junior competitors and made good use of Castle Park to keep them off busy roads as much as possible. Course 4 (3.8km) was won by Cecilia Boardman (W12) of West Cumberland in a time of 43:10, closely followed by brother Jacob (M10) a few seconds behind. Course 5 (1.5km) was won by a speedy Reuben Scott in a time of 15:45, closely followed by William Neild (M10) and Hannah Jenner (W10) with top Border Liners Harper and Sophie Arnold not far behind.
Next year promises to be another busy one for Border Liners kicking off with an event on 3rd January at Whittas Park near Bothel in support of a local charity, followed by one at Hammond’s Pond Park in Carlisle on 17th Jan. Newcomers are welcome at all the club’s events and full details are available on the club website https://borderlinersorienteering.org/
Border Liners Orienteering Club 