Club News

SLOW Spring Series 2015

South London Orienteers’ third annual Spring Series kicks off at the Southern Championships on Sheepleas and White Down hosted by Mole Valley Orienteering Club, with four more carefully selected events organised by other southern clubs through February and March.

DateVenueOrganiserDetailsResults
8 February 2015Sheepleas and White DownMVOCDetails
22 February 2015Penn EstateTVOCDetails
8 March 2015Headley HeathMVOCDetails
15 March 2015Great Common and NorthparkGODetails
22 March 2015IghtamSAXDetails

The event on the 15 March is the club’s CompassSport Cup heat – attendance here may be compulsory for those hoping to win the series!

Each of the events will have a pub associated for post-race lunch and inevitably some route analysis!

The competition is open to all full members of SLOW, with three events from five counting for the competition. The spring series is a handicap based on the national ranking points. Each competitors is awarded points based on their performance relative to their expected score and variability from 2014. The highest scoring runner gets 100 points, the next 99 and so on.

As a handicap series, the competition is very open and any improving runner is in with a very good chance of winning the trophy!

StreetO

Shoreditch Street-O, Tuesday 10 February 2015

The sixth Street-O race of the 2014-15 series takes place on Tuesday 10 February 2015 in Shoreditch. This event will use electronic timing for the start and finish – please bring your SI card if you have one.

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Like all our Street-Os, this a public race – all are welcome. Please RSVP to the event via Facebook to let us know you are coming – you can also see who else is coming here and post queries. If you are not on Facebook, please let the organisers below know you are coming so that the correct number of maps are printed.

Race HQ

The race will be based at Kings Stores, 14 Widegate Street, Spitalfields, E1 7HP. Good food and drink will be available at the pub afterwards, alongside plenty of post-race analysis, so please stay for the social part of the evening!

LocationShoreditch
AddressKings Stores, 14 Widegate Street, Spitalfields, E1 7HP
Latitude/longitude51.518, -0.0779
OS grid referenceTQ335816
MapsGoogle Maps, Ordnance Survey, OpenStreetMap

Getting There

The pub is close to Liverpool Street Station on the Central, Metropolitan, Hammersmith & City and Circle lines. Shoreditch High Street (overground), Aldgate and Aldgate East (both on the District line) are quite close, about 10 minutes’ walk away. Liverpool Street is very well-served by buses as well. Parking is restricted and limited in the streets near the pub – we recommend using public transport.

Race Details

Entry fee is £1 for SLOW members, students and juniors; £2 for others.

RegistrationBetween 1815 and 1930
Start TimesBetween 1830 and 1930

The Street-O format has clues located at various points on a map. You have 60 minutes to visit as many of these as possible, in any order, and return to the finish. This guide provides general information about street orienteering.

Don’t forget to bring a pen to write down your answers to the clues as you go around, an SI card if you have one, and a watch so that you aren’t late back! You may find a torch/head-torch and compass useful too, although many don’t take one.

All competitors take part at their own risk. You MUST be over 16 to take part in this event, unless you are accompanied by a parent or guardian. This is a condition of our insurance.

Results will be available on the SLOW website shortly after the event. Check the 2014-15 series page for more information.

Organiser/Planner: Richard Jones

Event Reports

MTBO Arborfield Results

Results & splits from SLOW’s and L&SEAR’s inaugural Mountain Bike Orienteering score event held at Arborfield on Sunday 18 January 2015.

Planner’s comments

To set a MTBO course in the middle of January was going to be a challenge for obvious reasons. Having cycled and raced many areas in my home county of Surrey and Berkshire I decided on the event location Arborfield Garrison. The Bramshill Hunt pub was chosen as the event centre as it offered ample parking, access to a separate area for registration, downloads and somewhere to warm up after, with some very nice food. This location was decided upon because of the number of byways, quiet back lanes and fire trails which are ideal for winter riding.

The course was laid out to suit newcomers with a number of checkpoints close to the event centre and for advanced racers with a challenge of greater distance South of the event centre. An overall course clearance was based on a distance of just over 40km which would be a challenge for any fast rider. Having set out the course on Saturday I reported back saying that the trails were in great shape… well the deluge of rain that fell that night certainly made riding some of the byways a challenge with puddles deeper than riders expected. Everyone came back covered in mud but smiling and making comment on how they had enjoyed the event and were looking forward to the next one. A big thanks to helpers and of course the riders who came out to support this first event.
Mark Humphrey, Planner

Organiser’s comments

We were really pleased to welcome 48 people to our first MTB Score event and the first race of the 2015 series. 24 solos, 10 pairs and 1 family team completed the two hour course and there were lots of smiles at the end despite (or because of) the muddy conditions! Well done to our winners and to all those who were trying the sport for the first time – we do hope you’ll join us again next time.

Many thanks to the manager and bar staff at the Bramshill Hunt who made us all very welcome despite the muddy conditions.

Our next event is on the 12th April, with the exact location still to be confirmed but somewhere in the Ranmore Common area. Expect warmer weather and more hills!
Nicki Adams, Organiser and Series Coordinator

Event Reports

Results from the 34th Annual Box Hill Fell Race

250 runners completed the 2015 Box Hill Fell Race on a cold January Saturday. A brief snow shower threatened just before the start of the race, but the clouds parted and the race ended in glorious sunshine.

Overall results of the 2015 Box Hill Fell Race

The course was changed from previous years at the request of the Box Hill conservators to protect trampling of heathland which is of special importance to orchids, and the new course was slightly longer and with more climb than previous years.

The Men’s Race was won by Andy Greenleaf of Serpentine RC in 54:08. The fastest woman was Sarah Pemberton, also from Serpentine RC and who also won in 2014, in 1:07:36. Serpentine RC again dominated the event and took first place in the club competition.

Age Group Winners

Age Group Name Club Time
Men’s
M Andy Greenleaf Serpentine RC 00:54:08
M40 Keith MacIntosh Wimbledon Windmilers 01:00:14
M50 Kevin Harding Tring RC 01:04:46
M60 Hugh Balfour Dulwich Runners AC 01:11:31
MU23 Daniel Pinn Crystal Palace Triathletes 01:19:02
Women’s
F Sarah Pemberton Serpentine RC 01:07:36
F40 Rebecca Black Dorking & Mole Valley A.C. 01:16:36
F50 Hilary Warrell Tring RC 01:19:11
F60 Mary Matthews Tadworth AC 01:31:05

Club Competition

Teams are formed by groups of the four best-placed runners from each club. Serpentine RC fielded 38 runners, with 28 from Tring RC. The top 10 teams were placed as follows:

1 Serpentine RC 17
2 Victoria Park Harriers and Tower Hamlets AC 45
3 Tring RC 73
4 Serpentine RC 86
5 Serpentine RC 181
6 Cambridge Harriers 184
7 Dulwich Runners AC 201
8 Dorking & Mole Valley A.C. 204
9 Tring RC 242
10 Crystal Palace Triathletes 247
Event Bulletins

Oxshott Common Night-O, 3 February 2015

The third race of the five event 2014-15 Night-O Series takes place on Oxshott Common, south-west London, on Tuesday 3 February 2015 (not 27 January as originally advertised). The race centre will be Oxshott Village Sports Club, south of the common.

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The Night-O series is a public race – all are welcome. Please RSVP to the event via Facebook (link above) to let us know you are coming – you can also see who else is coming and post questions. If you are not on Facebook, please let the organiser Pete Huzan know you are coming (details below) so that the correct number of maps are printed.

Race centre

The race will be based at Oxshott Village Sports Club on Steels Lane.

LocationEsher Common
AddressOxshott Village Sports Club, Steels Lane, Oxshott
Latitude/longitude51.3304, -0.365
OS grid referenceTQ140603
MapsGoogle Maps, Ordnance Survey, OpenStreetMap

Getting there

Oxshott Village Sports Club is about 1km from Oxshott railway station, which is accessible from Waterloo, Clapham Junction and Wimbledon. Trains from Waterloo to Guildford via Cobham at 17:32, 18:02 and 18:32 (at the latest!) should get you there in time to run. Note that Oxshott is outside the Oyster fare zones. The start will be a further 400m walk from the event centre.

Race Details

The entry fee is £2 for SLOW members, students and juniors; £3 for others. The race will use SI electronic punching with SI cards available to hire on the night. Headlamps are also available for hire if you e-mail the organizer in advance to reserve one.

RegistrationBetween 1815 and 1930
Start TimesBetween 1830 and 1930

Courses will close at 20:30.

The following courses will be available:

  • Long: approximately 5km, quite challenging
  • Short: approximately 2.5km, quite challenging

All competitors take part at their own risk. You MUST be over 16 to take part in this event, unless you are accompanied by a parent or guardian. This is a condition of our insurance.

Results will be available on the SLOW website shortly after the event.

Organiser/Planner: Dmitry Adamskiy,

London's largest orienteering club. British Orienteering's Club of the Year 2013.