Orienteering is a sport where, using a map and a compass, you have to navigate unfamiliar terrain to find checkpoints. Fell running is running that is done up in the hills, where the gradient and terrain bring great difficulty to the sport.
Last weekend (18-19 Feb), we travelled down to Saddleworth in West Yorkshire to combine these two sports and compete in the New Chew fell-based orienteering event.
This was a demanding course over rough terrain, where our members were out on a 3.5 hour scored event. This means that you have up to 3.5 hours to visit as many points as possible on the map. Visibility was very poor due to thick fog, making an already challenging race even harder. Our club enjoyed great success, with our pair of runners coming in 1st place.
“Our club enjoyed great success”
This weekend follows on from our trip to Edinburgh last month, where orienteers of every ability got the chance to compete in the Edinburgh Big Orienteering Weekend.
There was a city race on the Saturday followed by a ceilidh that evening. The Sunday was a race around Arthur’s Seat so we also managed to get out onto the fells.
We’re a small club, but try to include everybody who wants to try fell running and/or orienteering and are always ready to welcome new members!
