Moray hosts national orienteering action as Moravian club involved with Scottish night championship and league events
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
MORAVIAN Orienteering Club hosted a winter warmer weekend of activities, which involved two major national competitions.
The weekend events consisted of the Scottish Night Orienteering Championships at Findhorn and the first round of this year's Scottish Orienteering League competition the following day at Darnaway.
The events brought around 250 visitors of all ages to the area over the weekend, not only from Scotland but also many from all over England.
The British Orienteering Talent Squad came for the weekend and made use of Moray’s great orienteering areas to get some extra training in.
The Scottish Night Championships event in Findhorn saw runners ranging in age from 10 up to 75.
The competitors started in Findhorn Sands Caravan Park, then they had to use their head torch, map and compass to find controls, firstly in the town, where the many choices of passages and lanes proved a challenge, and then out in the sand dunes.
Runners really had to focus on knowing exactly where they were out on the dunes, in the dark, one sand dune looks much the same as another.
Moravian members achieved fantastic results in a wide range of age categories.
Perhaps the most impressive results were in the men’s age 65 class and women’s age 16 where all podium places were taken by Moravians.
The M65 race saw an impressive win for Alan Halliday, with Paul Furness second and Eddie Harwood third.
The W16 girls race also saw three Moravians excel on their course and achieve podium places. It was a great representation from Forres Academy with their pupils taking the top three places. Isobel Howard was first, Faith Kenyon second and Ida Oikkonen third.
Other top three finishes achieved by Moravian members included: M12 Finlay McLuckie 1st; W14 Kate McLuckie 2nd; W35 Kaisa Oikkonen 3rd; W40 Lesley Coutts 3rd; W45 Nikki Howard 1st, Morag McLuckie 2nd; W50 Liz Barr 2nd; M75 Neil McLean 1st.
After a few early morning showers, competitors in the Scottish Orienteering League races at Darnaway were blessed with winter sunshine and a fresh breeze.
This area of Darnaway was last used in the World and Scottish Championships in 2015 and is a popular area with orienteers.
Again, the club had great local support, this time from Moray Estates, who allowed the used of the walled garden too, which provided the perfect assembly and finishing area.
There was a wide choice of courses on offer, ranging from a 2K white course for young children, which is the easiest, to a 9.1K black course for the experts.
Orienteers enjoyed a lovely mix of forest, open areas and views of the spectacular Findhorn gorge. The club also put on a “follow the string course”, for the really young, which even included a mini assault course.
Again, Moravians were out in full force across all age ranges, the youngest being Anna Howard of Anderson’s Primary in the W10 race, to the oldest, Douglas Murray in the M80.
The club had course wins from Isobel Howard and Finlay McLuckie, with many others finished in the top three of their age class.
Roo Hornby, Moravian Chairman said: "I am so proud of all the great volunteers in our club bringing off a spectacular weekend of orienteering in one of the best and most sought after areas in the UK.”
Moravian’s next Saturday and Schools League events are Brodie Castle on Saturday March 21 and Quarrelwood, Elgin on Saturday April 18. Details at www.moravianorienteeringclub.org or the facebook page @MoravianOrienteering.
