Event Details
Club: | |
Event Name: | Pentlands Pursuit - South of Edinburgh |
Date: | 15/06/19 |
Format: | MBO Score |
Mapping: | Ordnance Survey |
Time Limit: | 3 |
National League: | - |
League: | SMBO 2019 (Round of 2) |
Electronic Punch: |
Event Report
The maps were printed, cakes baked, and the checkpoints had been distributed around the hills and reservoirs the day before. This time without any last-minute surprises, such as a JCB digging a massive hole where a path should be, or a police cordon closing off 1/3 of the area until late the night before. It was finally the day of the Pentland’s Pursuit mountain bike orienteering race.
The previous two weeks had been ridiculously wet. Day after day of torrential rain showers. Surprisingly though, the trails in the hills were mostly holding up. Concerns about having to mark off potential routes due to erosion risks were mostly unfounded except for a couple of non-essential paths. Down off the hills, in the area surrounding Balerno, the start-point, the paths weren’t holding up so well. They were pretty muddy but still rideable with care. It was clear though that whatever route a rider choose to take, it was going to be tougher and slower than normal.
On the day the sun made a surprise appearance. As did loads of competitors. More than half the total riders signed up on the day making for a good turnout.
It was good to see lots of families with kids signing up, some on tag-alongs. And lots of new faces trying their first event.
By 10:30 most of the competitors had registered, dibbed in to the start control, grabbed a map and set off into the hills.
Shortly after 12:00 the first pair returned.
New people and those with kids seemed appreciate there being a few easy checkpoints very close to the start to get them going and give them an idea of what they were doing. Some of the more experienced competitors had made it to the far reaches of the course and climbed the biggest hills.
Some came back completely clean, others returned covered in mud. One complained that a checkpoint hadn’t been in the correct place, before realising that they hadn’t been in the right place.
Some got lost, some went in unexpected directions, and some had mechanical issues. But everyone made it back with not too many people being penalised for being late.
The cakes quickly disappeared along with numerous cups of tea and coffee. And at least one cup of pure concentrate orange squash poured out by an overeager child helper (sorry whoever got that!).
Mark Rowley was the overall winner with 380 points. A good score showing how slow the course was given the 500 points available.
Rachel Fox came next overall with 330, closely followed by mixed pair Rosemary Byde/Jonathan Ellis with 320 after a small late penalty.
Thanks to Lucy, Ben, Lakshmi and Ellie for helping out on the day. Also to the other SMBO organisers for advice and help. And thanks also to those who helped collect in the checkpoints.
Event Results
Results: | Download |
Club Website: | Unavailable |