As Night Follows Day
It was a double header on Saturday 8 November with NI Colour Series 6 at Tyrella South followed by the 2025 NI Night Championships at Castlewellan Forest Park. The results for both events are at Fixtures & Results>2025 Results.
Although the clocks have gone back it was sunny skies suitable for short-sleeves among the tricky contours of Tyrella with testing courses criss-crossing the bracken and gorse patches on the dunes. An analysis on Splitsbrowser will show hardly any straight-lines! Thanks are due to planner Brian Johnston, organiser Andrew Lenox and controller Philip Baxter. With just one event to complete the series at Gortin Forest, Co Tyrone on 21 November, some colours are still up for grabs, but as indicated on the NI Colour Series League Standings complied by Alan Gartside congratulations to the following now cannot be beaten:
- Brown Women – Moire O’Sullivan, LVO
- Blue Men – Ric Gamble, LVO
- Blue Women – Eibhlin Largey, FermO
- Green Men – David Blair, NWOC
- Green Women – Heather Cairns, LVO
- Orange Women – Joanne Graham, LVO
And then it was time to allow the sun to set in the comfort of The Well community hub in Castlewellan before donning head torches to venture into the darkness on of a dry evening in the adjacent forest park. The persistance of the officials planner Mark Earnshaw, organiser Carol Black and controller Greg McCann is appreciated They were forced to postpone the event from February after the damage caused by Storm Éowyn , resulting in some map updates and redesigned courses. Congratulations to the 2025 NI Night Champions:
- Mens Open – Dan Earnshaw, LVO
- Womens Open – Sam McNeilly, LVO
- Mens Vet – Ric Gamble, LVO
- Womens Vet – Sharon Dickenson, LVO
- Mens SuperVet – Stephen Gilmore, LVO
- Womens SuperVet – Stephanie Pruzina, LVO
- Mens UltraVet – Michael Murphy, LVO
- Womens UltraVet – Helen Baxter, LVO