Captain’s Blog – January 2008

More New Members

Since I last wrote, Gideon Felton has joined and the Andrews family (Heather, Ian, Mark and Carolyn) have rejoined after a number of years at CROC. A warm welcome to all.

JK and British Champs Relay Teams

If you’d like to run in a CHIG team at either of the JK or the British – please let me know by Sun 17th Feb for JK. Entries for British are not as urgent, but entry fees rise for the British Individual Champs on 24th Feb.

Junior Benefits

The number of active junior members has surged dramatically since this time last year which is excellent news and has already benefitted the club – see Compass Sport Trophy results below! Here are a few ways in which CHIG supports our junior orienteers:

Junior clothing discounts

Juniors get a fantastic discount on club kit – CHIG Coolmax tops (long or short sleeved) are only £15 – less than half price. Club fleece sweaters are only £10 and CHIG T-shirts only a fiver!

Junior Scholarships

A limited number of scholarships are available to juniors not part of orienteering families. The scholarship provides free membership, event entry and transport (provided by CRB-approved club members) – pretty. For further details contact Tim Pribul (01279 724482).

Training/Coaching Sessions

From May to July each year, CHIG puts on regular Wednesday evening training sessions – they’re all suitable for juniors (and seniors), all local and all free! Further details will be available nearer the time.

Compass Sport Trophy – A VERY Close 2nd!

It was always going to be a tough challenge for us and in the end SOS held us off to go through to the final, but only just!

                Totals   Brw    Bl W   Bl M   Gr W   Gr M   Gr V   Lt G   Orng   
   ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
   1.  SOS        1273     99    198    290    198      0     98    196    194
                          (1)    (2)    (3)    (2)    (0)    (1)    (2)    (2)  
   ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
   2.  CHIG       1262    295      0    189     92    198    196     98    194
                          (3)    (0)    (2)    (1)    (2)    (2)    (1)    (2)  
   ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
   3.  SUFFOC     1180    272    182    278     94      0    174     90     90
                          (3)    (2)    (3)    (1)    (0)    (2)    (1)    (1)  
   ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
   4.  LOG        1077    266    180    271    174      0      0    186      0
                          (3)    (2)    (3)    (2)    (0)    (0)    (2)    (0)  
   ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was very encouraging to see some excellent junior results in the Trophy competition this year after drawing blanks in the Light Green and Orange courses last year.
Congratulations to all our scorers:
Seniors: Jeff Green, Robert Campbell, Kostya Lutsenko, Ray Weekes, Tim Pribul, Helen Hampton, Robin Campbell, John Duffield, Carol Pearce, Ruby Campbell
Juniors: Alice Campbell, Caitlin Campbell, Rosa Hampton

Run Faster…

A reminder that Circuit Training sessions take place during term time on Thursday evenings from 7pm to 8pm at Mark Hall School, Harlow. Run by a qualified coach, they are good for aerobic exercise and building all-round fitness. £4 per session. Further details available from Tim Pribul (01279 724482).

SE League Results – 2006/7

Southdowns continue their domination of the SE League with their 10th win in a row. CHIG came 9th (one place higher than last year), though as the more runners that compete (or help) the higher a club’s score, it’s no surprise that the larger clubs tend to do better. The Mitre was the first event of the 2007/8 season and CHIG came an impressive 3rd – mainly due to the number of non-running helpers, but SO still won the match! SLOW’s Devil’s Punchbowl event was the second round where we reverted to type and came 9th, dropping to 4th place after 2 matches. No prizes for guessing who won the match, beating SLOW on their home turf.

SE Galoppen Results 2007 (Controversial Opinion of the Month)

In the SE Galoppen (which unlike the Leage, runs on calendar year basis), turning up to events seems to be the best strategy for success (not that I’m bitter about my 5th place!). With the best 6 runs to count out of 8 events (in 2007, and only 7 for 2008), even the M21L class failed to have all top three runners with 6 scores. In fact, out of 52 classes, only 13 (25%) did. So if you’re interested in who turned up to the most SE League events in 2007, have a look at the results on the SEOA website: SEOA. If you want to compare your orienteering ability with others in the SE, have a look at the Ranking Lists: BOF Ranking List Home Page (although unfortunately, not if you’re a junior).

Interland Selection

Congratulations to Robert Campbell on being selected to run in this year’s Interland competition in the M40/45 class. Ruby Campbell is also on the reserves list having run in the Interland competition last year (see last year’s blog). I’m down as an M35 reserve, but I’d have to arrange for two “unfortunate accidents” before I’d get to wear an England top!

Notable Perfomances

Compass Sport Trophy, Brandon, 13th January

Robin Campbell running in the Green Men class who scored us 100 points despite being ill!
Helen Hampton who was the highest placed CHIG runner in the Green Women class.
Rosa Hampton on Orange who scored an excellent 96 points – even more than her Mum!
Ray Weekes who came 3rd out of the Blue Trophy Men.

Concorde Chase, Burghfield Common, 27th January

  • Carolyn Andrews 2nd JW4
  • Kostya Kutsenko 1st M21S
  • Jeff Green 1st M40L
  • Carol Pearce 2nd W60L
  • Jennifer Taylor 2nd W65L

Maldon Mud Race, 30th December, 2007

Congratulations to Harold Wyber on winning the race in 3mins 38secs. The ability to run very quickly through deep mud can sometimes be a useful orienteering skill!
For a full description and pictures of the race follow this link: Maldon Mud Race.