Lakes 5 Days 2022

Last edited: Mon 22 Aug 2022

Nineteen members took advantage of this quadrennial opportunity to head up to The Lake DIstrict to orienteer in some of the most breathtaking (and challenging) scenery in the UK over a fantastically sunny week.

Events

Day 1 - Swindale South

An open fell with many contours, rock detail and mostly dry marsh. Despite trying in the morning, the rain held off, and the sun appeared for most runners out on the fast open fell. The marshes were very distinctive on the ground, so navigation was not too challenging with the rocks, cliffs and big contour features as long as you kept your concentration.

Results | Map and courses

Day 2 - Threlkeld Knotts and Common

Another open fell with contour detail, loose rocks and boulder fields, with a 1.5km 200m climb up to the start from the assembly but with magnificent views of Blencathra and Skiddaw. Fast terrain with fewer features to keep you on track on some of the legs than the day before.

Results | Map and courses

Switched back to rubber studded shoes for this open area .. this helped a lot and actually ran for more than half of the 64 minutes despite the climbs and marshy areas. Nav went well with only one relocation needed after straying off the bearing - Brian (M60)

Club Social

At their campsite near the assembly for day 2, Andy and Rosie hosted a cream tea after the event for QOs. It was a lovely opportunity for everyone to gather and chat about all things orienteering in the sunshine. As the photo in the gallery highlights, some cornish sympathisers are in the QO ranks!

Day 3 - Graythwaite (Dale Park)

An area of largely runnable steep oak woodland with lots of intricate rock and contour detail and an adjacent dense conifer plantation with low visibility. This middle-distance event required a much slower pace, especially in the humid dense trees and needed orienteers to stay in touch with their maps while navigating the detailed and complex terrain.

Results | Map and courses

I absolutely loved the detailed and intricate mapping. Phil (M45)

Rest Day

For the rest day, amongst other activities, Steve took part in the Penrith Urban (results & maps), Rosie and Andy went hiking, Karen and family went wild swimming, Phil went stand-up paddle boarding, Adam and Robin did a fell race and Jeff went on a scenic train journey.

Day 4 - Raven Craig (Dale Park)

On the other side of the valley from the same assembly as day 3, Raven Craig is a varied forest with a wealth of contour and rock detail (with more low visibility conifer plantations and very steep cliffs). Arguably harder than the previous day with fewer features to tick off deep in the conifers. Some seniors had courses on parts of Dale Park they did not visit the day before.

QO had late starts, and several members stayed at the end chatting about whether to help (or not) confused fellow club members and the quality of O-footwear (Rosie suffered a shoe malfunction towards the end of her run!)

Results | Map and courses

Day 5 - Helsington Barrows

A highly runnable open fell with areas of loose rock and some contour detail. On one of the hottest days of the year, it was tough.

The open moor was exposed to the full heat of the sun so despite taking a Camelbak and hat, it felt extremely hard to keep running... More toiling and less concentrating meant more relocating with the subtle features and I never felt at one with the map. Was glad to finish this one. Brian (M60)

It was not just Brian - Jeff ended up in minor injuries with a cut, and Phil also struggled:

I just could not make the terrain match the map, and I kept getting pulled offline, putting me out of position. I was done halfway round and just wanted it to end. Phil (M45)

Results | Map and course

Overall Results

M16A

17th Hamish Braine-Clarke 2102

M21L

11th Adam Fieldhouse 4760
27th Robin Fieldhouse 3795

M45L

21st Philip Sorrell 3544
27th Peter Shirvington 2632 (3 events)

M50L

22nd Jeff Pakes 3324

M55L

30th Andy Rimes 3871

M60L

14th Brian Pearson 3922

M65L

36th Steve Robertson 3201

M80

11th Roger Craddock 3762

W55L

12th Sheila Braine 4095
42nd Joanna Evans 1457 (3 events)

W55S

13th Karen Lewis 3221
25th Adele Appleby 1002 (1 event)

W65L

13th Rosie Wych 3458

W65S

15th Julia Robertson 161 (1 event)

Although there were no overall results for Orange, Oliver Lewis, Annabel Lewis and Jacob Shirvington all took part, and did well in the difficult terrain.

Overall

Overall a brilliant and well-organised event with wonderful weather, and it was worth the journey for some interesting terrain we are not used to in Somerset.

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