Star Posts/Swinley
This event had been postponed by three weeks because of bad weather – what a surprise! Nevertheless, five Sarum stalwarts turned out on the night to navigate the complexities of the Star Posts/Swinley map along with 118 other keen night owls.


The area is a favourite one for trail bikes and some excellent trails have been set up. There are different trails, colour coded for grades of difficulty (what a good idea!). The bike trails and the Go Ape area were out of bounds but the intricate contours and even more intricate paths for orienteering were made more confusing by the network of wiggly bike trails. The bike trails were well worn and out of bounds to orienteers, in case there were night riders out. They, – the trails, not the bikers – were there to confuse, not to use. The orienteering courses were very well planned and made the bike trails not the best route choice.

Much of the area was runnable but some areas shown as runnable were covered in fresh cut brashings triggering options of clambering, change of route selection or running on the main paths.
The area is a real navigation challenge in the day and a top challenge in the dark.
The weather was kind in that the mist and drizzle stopped just before the event started so Ian’s Dumbledore glasses remained clear.
There was a fairly low turnout with 123 entrants. The rest of you who didn’t enter missed some great fun with such excellent navigational challenges.
All of our Sarum runners delivered a good result.
Kerry Corkery | W45 | 2nd. |
Michael Cooke | M45 | 3rd. |
Paul Lane | M65 | 10th. |
Charlotte Thornton | W75 | 1st. |
Ian Peirce | M80 | 1st. |
Big New Year congratulations to our two Champions, Charlotte Thornton and Ian Peirce.
Happy New Year to everyone. Hope you have great runs in 2025.
Based on report from Ian Peirce



