SARUM HOST SOUTHERN CHAMPIONSHIPS

Sarum Saunter at Great Ridge

The Sarum Saunter was held at Great Ridge this year with the kind permission of Lord Margadale and the Fonthill Estate. The event hosted the Southern Championships resulting in a large turnout. Great weather, a great team of helpers and great courses meant that some 470 orienteers from 47 clubs across the South and beyond went home happy – well, most of them.

The good weather ensured that many stayed on for the presentation ceremony at which The Honourable Mary Morrison, former Lady in Waiting to the late Queen Elizabeth II and representing the Fonthill Estate, graciously presented the prizes and mementos to those runners who made it onto the podium. Miss Morrison was thanked by Liz Yeadon on behalf of the Club.

The sunny, warmish day was quite uplifting and, for a change, there was no need to worry about having to haul out cars glued into muddy ground. Although undergrowth made things a little harder for early starters the relative lack of mud made courses much less of a drag than at other recent events. Planner Andrew Graham can be rightly proud of his courses which were widely applauded by competitors. Thanks also go to Controller Chris Kelsey (BOK).

 As with any championship event the layout and management of the Start is of great importance; Andy McGregor from BAOC and his team of Sarum helpers provided an exemplar of how this can be done, making sure the runners had a stress-free set off. Our mascot Sam made sure everything went to plan

Thanks to an on the ball SI computer team and Marc Balston’s expertise competitors were able to keep up to date with real time results displayed on a large monitor screen. My, how things have changed since the heady days of checking punch holes in control cards prior to posting out results. Dave Mullins and the car parking team did a great job as did all the helpers, especially with collecting and sorting controls and tidying up at the end. Leaving an event site neat and tidy is so important for possible future use of the forest. None of the above would have come to fruition without the meticulous organising of Liz Yeadon and Charlotte Thornton.

Five Sarum runners achieved podium places. Well done all of you.

Full results can be found here.

Finally, Sarum Orienteering Club thanks Lord Margadale for allowing access to the woods for planning and to the Forestry Team for their help.

Photos for the Gallery below were kindly provided by Mark White, Polly Jacobs and Ian Peirce. To enlarge click on the image.