SARUM STRIDE THROUGH THE HEAT

Compass Sport Trophy, Bere Wood.

The Compass Sport Trophy is a nationwide competition for small orienteering clubs. In the past Sarum has done well, winning the trophy or gaining a podium place, but perhaps less so in recent years. Last weekend regional qualifying rounds for the 2024 competition were held with five clubs from Wiltshire, Dorset and Somerset competing in Bere Wood, Dorset, on 10 courses for different age groups. In a closely competitive contest Sarum Orienteers beat off Quantock Orienteers and Wimborne by 9 and 15 points respectively to qualify for the national final in October, in Lancashire

A great club turnout of 40 meant that Sarum had runners in most of the age classes, the basic essential for a competitive result. Each course winner is awarded 100 points, second place 99 points etc. with the top two club scores in each event being combined to give a club score. 13 Sarum runners achieved scores of 96 points or more in every competitive class, bar one, where we had no runners. Now that’s the sort of effort that wins things. Runners scoring lower points also help by displacing other runners who might have gained high scores, so everyone’s efforts contributed, not just the top few.

Sarum’s top scorers were:

There were some great Sarum scores across the board and full results can be found here. Well worth taking a look. Joe Robertson took 3rd place in M14: whilst this didn’t count to our final score it did displace other runners from other clubs. Proof of the value of a good club turn out. Christian Corkery (M10) and Georgie Robertson (W14) came 1st and 4th on the Yellow course.

Overnight heavy rain left some minor adjustments to be made. (From WIM webpage)