It was that time of year again for our Team Cymru Veterans to compete against the other Home Nations. Our hosts, Fermanagh Orienteers, delivered 2 days of high-quality orienteering plus above-par accommodation and catering at Gortin in the Sperrin Mountains near Omagh.
Teams now consist of 1 M/W40, 2 from each M/W45-65 and 1 M/W70 giving a team of 24 runners. Regrettably, we didn’t manage to secure one of our W65’s but our team of 23 put everything else aside for the weekend and either ferried or flew over on the Friday arriving at the pleasant Hostel in the heart of Gortin village. To gently warm up, Phil cycled the 80 miles from the ferry in Belfast (but nearly missed out as the ferry departed from Birkenhead, not Liverpool).
The individual race on Saturday took place in Gortin Glen Country Park. Old maps revealed plenty of contours, plenty of green. The Mappers note indicated the classic, ‘not all ditches mapped’. Driving past the area on the Friday, it certainly looked steep, mossy and not overwhelmingly welcoming. The forecast was looking windy and wet. Oh yes, there was also a 45-minute uphill walk to the start. We were therefore extremely eager to do business and set early alarms.
Thankfully, the rain decided to arrive later although the wind continued to pick up some strength and chill on the long walk to the start. Competitors arriving too early soon abandoned stretching on the track and huddled behind Christmas trees adjacent to the start. All courses were well planned utlising the less gruesome bits of forest although under-foot conditions were tough in places with copious ditch jumping and unannounced soft spots ready to trap unsuspecting feet.
Notable performances included Alun triumphing in M70, Tim storming to an impressive 2nd in M50, Mark & Andy locking out 3rd & 4th in M65 and Margaret and Alice going one better by securing 2nd & 3rd in W60. Special credit must also go to our more senior ladies, Jane and Diana for coming through the tough conditions to gain valuable points. This proved important as the scores after Day One had Wales narrowly ahead of Ireland with the English topping proceedings ahead of the Scots.
Saturday afternoon provided an opportunity to visit local attractions such as strategically located ‘giants’ on local hilltops or ancient stone circles.
Others chose the warmer option of stretching out in the comfortable Hostel the team shared with the English. The evening meal was a cut above the usual offer for such weekends in the up-market Bistro just a short walk from the Hostel.
We were greeted with the news on Sunday morning that the forest had taken its toll on Sam’s knee so we were now down to the bare 3 counting relay teams in the M/W/M and W/M/W formats with 6 teams counting overall. This meant we could not really afford any mis-punches in the dark, damp and murky Seskinore Forest where map-reading conditions were awful in the rain and gloom.
Courses were again of a high quality which made excellent use of a small area containing a good mix of features. On the first leg stampede on M/W/M, there was plenty of evidence of gaffling as runners bobbed between rhododendron clumps, ditches and different woodland blocks. Regrettably, download revealed we had a mis-punch relating to an area with numerous ditch junctions in the murk so we were then down to 5 scoring teams.
As final leg runners came home, England handsomely pulled away from the Scots. However, it was nip and tuck between Team Cymru and Ireland with the lead changing hands as the final teams were completing their last legs. Ultimately, despite some excellent individual runs, our depleted teams came up just short and Ireland duly collected the Stonewall Trophy in our own little competition within a competition.
Thanks again must go out to all of Team Cymru for making the big commitment of attending and being such good company over the weekend.
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