Even with plenty of good orienteering near home between Christmas and NewYear, four BL members, Dan, Karen, John and Julie, couldn’t resist the pull of a three-day event in central Scotland. Newly mapped areas, described as “tough orienteering of the highest standard” sounded too good to miss.
This was the 5th edition of the Christmas Cup, organised by Masterplan Adventure (who are also responsible for Coast and Islands). Previous events have been notable for floods and deep snow, but luckily all we had to cope with this year was the cold. Although it was sunny, the bracken and heather in the forest remained frost-covered all day. Unfortunately, it wasn’t cold enough to keep the marshes frozen, so regular dunking of feet in ice-cold water was inevitable. Masterplan always keep the organisation simple, so there were just 4 courses each day – Long, Medium, Short and a 45-minute Score intended for the less experienced/confident. All parking was in the public car park in Aberfoyle with walks of 3km to the starts and back from the finishes.
The forest was amazing – Day 1 used a mostly coniferous part of the forest including a complex section with low visibility but a clean forest floor. All courses went through it at least twice, but it didn’t seem any easier the second time. Days 2 and 3 were even better – areas of beautiful natural woodland separated by semi-open patches and large marshes, with detailed contours and rock features and not a path or wall to be seen. Underfoot was a mixture of heather (some very deep), dead bracken and big tussocks. To us a lot of it seemed almost unrunnable so it was amazing to watch strong, fit youngsters just ploughing through it without stumbling or deviating off course.
The first two days were both Middle distance with courses between 4.5km to 2.5km. The final day was Classic with courses from 7.5km down to 3.4km. The event details said “despite the beautiful terrain, times will be slow. 7.5 km will feel like a long way” and it certainly did. The satisfaction in getting round was huge though.
Results-wise there’s not much to report. John was 3rd and Julie 6th on the Short course on Day 2, but they were only running that course because the Medium course maps ran out. Dan got his 3rd best ranking points on Day 3 which shows he was running well, even though he was a long way down the results.
Results and Maps can be seen here (towards the bottom of the page)
Border Liners Orienteering Club 