If you are a SOC member wanting to brush up your orienteering skills, do come along to our next CATI event at Itchen Valley Country Park on Saturday 9th July, 11.00-13.00. We will be waiting for you  near the cafe with FREE maps and advice if you should need it. There are three course available, Short and Medium with free maps or the long course on the app only.

It was great to see families and newcomers trying out our MapRun6 course around Southampton Common last Saturday. If you missed it, the course is still live on the MapRun6 app which is free to download and use. If you enjoyed yourself, don’t forget to come back and try one of our other free CATI events this summer round and about Southampton. See our fixtures page for details or visit our Events on the Southampton Orienteering Club Facebook page.

These events are FREE and open to all SOC members as well as members of the public.

Over 28th/29th May Mark & I took part in the OMM Lite Adventure Race in Grasmere. A little different to classic orienteering but we did see a few people with their club shirts on out there!

Day 1 was a 5-hour score challenge. The map was Ordnance Survey 1:25,000. It took an hour or so to get used to that and the terrain, but after that and a quick snack, we made better progress. Mark was the main navigator, but I did also come up with a couple of route choice suggestions too. One control on a small island in a boggy tarn was impossible for me to reach. We were able to contest it afterwards as Mark had also been issued with a GPS tracker. We opted for an additional 30 pointer near the end expecting to lose a few points for being over time but ended up getting back with just under 2 mins to spare.

Day 2 was a 4-hour score. We spent more time planning a route, with Mark using his skills to keep it a flatter one. We ended on a fairly speedy charge up and over a saddle between 2 fells towards the end. Thanks to both my laces coming undone while running through Grasmere we ended 21 seconds over time, although made for good comedy at the finish line.

The challenge was hard for me and at one point said I hated it and never wanted to do an OMM in the Lake District again, but after a bit of re-fueling on Mark's excellent hummus & carrot wraps things seemed much better! We got back to an email confirming they're doing the event in the same place next year, so I'm already thinking maybe I will go for it again.