What Happened

The sun certainly shone on the first WEE Series event of 2007 in Lurgan Park, with just over 40 people turning up to pit themselves against planner Gavin Cairns’ courses. The ‘going’ was fast, but with one or two tricky features to contend with (where was that boulder?!), especially as the undergrowth at several of the control sites (and the nettles in particular!) had grown considerably in the two weeks prior to the event.

On looking at the results for the Long course, it was interesting to note that all four competitors who mis-punched did so at the same control – number 12 (148, Path/Stream Junction). Control 3 on the Short course (151, also a Path/Stream Junction) was located 50 metres from the Long course control, on the same stream, but at the junction of a different path. It just goes to show that, just when you think you’re ‘home and dry,’ with only one more control to go, it’s easy to make a mistake by forgetting to check the control number before punching!

With regard to punching, we apologise to competitors who may have found that punching is made slightly awkward by the presence of the security wire through the SI unit. However, without the wires we would undoubtedly have lost one, if not two, SI units on Wednesday evening. When the controls were collected, two sites were found to have been tampered with. The first, on a bridge in a very public part of the park, had the "Do Not Remove" notice ripped off and the fence post bent, but was otherwise intact. The second, in a more secluded site, was found with the SI unit and flag attached to the tree by the wire, but the post was missing.

Three newcomers to orienteering were UTV presenters Jeannie Johnston and Siobhan McGarry, and Siobhan’s son, Euan. Perhaps Siobhan’s personal trainer and the UTV cameraman should also be describes as ‘newcomers’ – they did, after all, run! Regional Development Officer, Helen Baxter, ‘showed them the ropes’ before they set off and they all made it back safely, with Euan winning the Short course overall. The short feature was aired on Thursday evening’s UTV Live at 5.30pm, providing a bit of valuable publicity for the sport.

On a final note, thankyou to everyone who participated in the event (without you there would be no competition!); to Gavin for all his hard work as planner; to Louisa for her computer and banking skills; to Hannah, Harry, Josh and Stephen for collecting the controls; and to Declan for his IT advice. I would also like to thank Leanne McShane, Lurgan Park Development Officer, for her co-operation.

See you at Palace Stables in Armagh next Wednesday!