Kingdom of Fife Orienteers

Mark Hill – SOL3 – Kippford on the Solway Coast – 12 April 2015

What a day – a cold wind and rain put the temperature not far off freezing and unusually most folk only ventured into the terrain with waterproofs, hats and gloves.  This event was a rare opportunity to run in virtually pristine terrain, used only for the training area for JK80 and one or two small events since.  National Trust for Scotland made the area available and supported the event well.

One area of the forest is amazing and hard to believe for the UK.  The trees were covered with lichen and long, trailing light coloured greenery festooning the branches like curtains.  It would not look out of place in a tropical jungle.  I found it almost intrusive to be venturing into the area and indeed quite surprised that we were allowed to go through it.  Many found it very quiet and rather eerie.

In places, the training done at the JK in the Lake District paid off for this area on occasion, with steep sided and rocky terrain, but the wetness and roughness meant that my map in particular was rather thin and worn out by the time that the last three controls came round, so waiting to follow folk to hopefully the right ones was a risky strategy.

However, it was a good day out and an area that I would be keen to visit again – in the sunshine, but hopefully sooner than another 35 years!

Results

Heather Smithard        W65L  Short Green      4^th      77.58   3.0k     110m

John Emeleus              M45L Short Brown      3^rd        92:11   7.2k     220m

Les Smithard                M60S  Green               1st        89.35   4.2k     150m

Phil Smithard                M65L  Short Blue        3^rd        80.39   5.3k     145k   

Phil