Congratulations to everyone at AUOC, especially Charlotte and Isla, for an amazing amount of hard work planning, organising, control wrangling, co-opting parents and Marocs and Gramps etc etc to make this weekend’s competition a great experience for all. Lots of excited buzz and chatter in the car park about how it was worth the long journey to get to run in two great areas on some challenging courses.
Congratulations too to EUOC for winning the overall trophy: EUOC 499 points, GOAT 476, STUOC 403, AUOC 357
Now that the 23/24 Deeside Night Cup Series has started we’d like to point out a few things so even if you’re a seasoned Night O addict, please read on…
Night O Safety With orienteering at night comes some added enjoyment (for most) but also some additional hazards, we all need to be aware of and mitigate against as best we can. What if our headtorch fails? What happens if we injure ourself? What if, what if?
Hopefully, we’re not teaching anyone to suck eggs here but it is worth reminding ourselves that if something does happen and we are not prepared, then others may be inconvenienced or worse, because of this. So, a few items that we should all seriously consider carrying with us on our run – some should not really be for discussion!
– Primary headtorch (obvious!) – Compass (obvious!) – Spare headtorch or equivalent light source (essential)* – Whistle (essential) – Mobile phone – the organiser/planner’s number is on the map for a reason!
* NOTE: Spare battery for your main headtorch, is not a replacement for a separate spare torch, as it could be more than your battery that has runout/failed.
It is colder at night, so consider what you wear. What if you did injury yourself or maybe just weren’t up to feeling running at your usual speed – you will become cold very quickly if you are not running or going at your usual speed. We do night O through the winter, so keep that in mind and maybe take a bumbag with extra clothing.
If you are new to night orienteering be aware it may take you longer than ‘normal’ – much longer for some. Also, if you are not at TD5 level, you really should be doing this in the daylight before taking on night orienteering as the Deeside Night Cup (long) and the mini-cup (short) is planned with NO dispensation for it being dark. Maybe you are at TD5 level but never night O’d before – speak to someone about a shadowed run. Use the club member email to put a message round that you’d appreciate some mentoring and which DNC events you plan to attend and someone will respond.
Big thank you to Ian Hamilton for launching Gramp’s side of this year’s DNC with two entertaining sprint style courses and also to Tim and Dennis for control collecting.
Control 140 on the Long went walkabout so the legs either side of it have been voided. David Esson volunteered to go and have a look around in the daylight tomorrow but if he can’t find it we’ll post here and ask anyone who might be in the vicinity to keep their eyes peeled as sometimes controls mysteriously reappear even after several weeks.
Ian Hamilton spent a lot of time standing at the starts and finishes and managed to snap many of you as you squelched past. Click here to see his pics.
A big, big thank you to David Kirk, Gareth Yardley and Ian Hamilton for all your hard work bringing the GMC behemoth to life again and also to the GMC support team for control wrangling, computing, hospitality, emergency hotline duties, hill marshalling, bag handling (thanks Lizzy) and a zillion other little things in the heat of the moment. And we are indebted to the support and co-operation of The National Trust for Scotland, especially the staff at Mar Lodge for all their assistance and interest in our event, and donating NTS themed prizes.
Thanks to Maroc for the use of their Linn of Dee map, a fun little area really came into the limelight on Day 2 when weather forced the hill section to be drastically shortened thus putting the emphasis on finer detail orienteering for a change which many folk seemed to relish. For this reason there are two versions of Day 2 RG, one using the hill map for the overview and one using the forest map for the finer detail although a couple of the controls won’t align exactly with printed maps but close enough.
David is hanging up his organiser’s waterproofs this year after 6 GMCs – hope you enjoy Gramp’s token of our appreciation for a quite simply staggering amount of time, hard graft and commitment to this event over the years!
Congrats to our overall winners: C: Alasdair Jackson/Steven Banham aka Peaked2Soon, David Robertson, Ishbel and Charles Howorth aka TheHoworth’s B: Dan Gooch, Alec Keith and Jenny/Susan Blackwood aka Two be decided A: Philip Vokes, Andrew Reeve/Iain Harding aka Zoe & Iain, Jill Stephen/Oleg Chepelin
and also to all our competitors who cheerfully (?!) plodged round in all that rain!! Hope you all got home safely despite the water hazards. If I had to sum up the event in three words from what I overheard while sitting on download it would be “biblical” (amount of rain and flood water), “luxury” (the overnight facilities at Muir Cottage) and “thanks” (GMC competitors are always the very polite and understanding) – you’re welcome, it’s a pleasure watching you all having so much Type 2 fun!
River Dee behind Muir CottageDriving back towards Braemar
Some more shots below from Tim G giving a flavour of the two days:
Many thanks to Charlotte and the AUOC team for planning tonight’s final Urban Sprint for 2024, and Isla and David for helping collect controls in complete darkness on a wet and stormy night.
Well done to the 9 Gramps who went over to Anagach to compete in the Scottish Score Champs 2023 and came home with pretty much a medal each including 3 outright champions. Woohoo!!
M40 3rd David Esson M45 2nd Adrian Will M55 1st Tim Griffin and 4th Hugh Nicholson M60 2nd Iain McLeod M65 1st Bob Daly M80 1st Neil McLean W55 3rd Ros Nicholson W65 2nd Oonagh Grassie
Results RouteGadget One control wasn’t working and one missing so both were removed from the splits and don’t appear on the map on RG either to make everything all match up electronically. You know where you went and can plot/upload routes based on your original printed version of the map although anyone looking at it in 12 months time will wonder why everyone took seemingly random detours to the same places!! (Alan B – sorry but your GPS route got binned while reloading corrected course data so you’ll have to upload again.)
Thanks to Ros & Matt for planning tonight and giving you the chance to try out the updated western half of the map; Charlotte, Hugh and Jonathan for helping collect controls; David Esson for results.
Last chance to get an Urban fix at Aberdeen Uni next week – details in separate post.
Many thanks to everyone who came out to run today. Hope you all enjoyed the brain-bending start to Pete’s course? Thanks also to David E for results and Rachel, Tim G, Matthew and Hugh for control wrangling afterwards.
Bonus points up for grabs: how many cable ties did it take to encompass the big trees at no’s 8 and 12? Closest guess wins.
Many thanks to Adrian Will for tonight’s route choice challenges using the map recently updated by Donald Grassie, David Esson for results and Pete and Rachel for helping collect controls. See you all at Duthie Park next week.
Results RouteGadget (controls won’t line up exactly on RG for some reason but close enough for route choice purposes – if you upload a GPS track let me know if it comes out upside down/back to front as that’s what the controls did until I managed to turn them back upside up and East on the right etc.!!)
Many thanks to Julian for planning courses with many viable route choices! Also many thanks to Adrian & Matthew for helping collect controls and David for the results service.
Congrats to all the Gramps who have been doing battle with the Moray dunescapes this week and came out the other side relatively unscathed and successful in their own ways.
Full results can be found on the S6D results pages but special mention goes
– firstly to Paul Duley, Zoe & Tim Griffin and all our volunteers for Day3 plus those who have been involved behind the scenes for some time: David Esson 2023 Technical Guru, Kevin Reynard S6D Finance Director and Donald Grassie Mapping Coordinator 2023.
– secondly to the Gramp podium/top ten finishers:
Neil McLean M80 1st, Fergus Gallagher M10A 6th, Ros Nicholson W55S 6th, Kevin Reynard 10th M55S, Mike Greenwood 5th M60S, Peter Bellarby M75 7th (and we’re claiming Sam Griffin’s M20L 1st place as Gramp by association 😉)
Many thanks to George Esson for planning tonight’s event at Cove. And thanks to Tim & David for helping collect the controls.
That’s it for this year’s Summer Series 😦 but don’t go too far as we’re back in business Wed 30th Aug at Danestone/Bridge of Don with our Autumn Urban Sprints. ***Spoiler alert*** – sprinting is NOT compulsory and if you get a buzz out of finding controls and appreciate the diligence and attention to detail that goes into producing an urban map then we’d love to see you regardless of how fast you can run or walk. Go on, surprise yourself and give it a go!
Many thanks to David Esson for organising and the Nicholsons for staying on to help collect controls. Much appreciated!
Don’t forget to check for ticks after your run and for a few days afterwards. Remove any attached ones by simultaneously twisting and pulling gently. Turns out the wee critters may be able to hitch a ride from a surprising distance by using static electricity.
Next and final event in the Summer Series is Cove 17th July then after that there’ll be a bit of a break while we enjoy the Scottish 6 Days over in Moray before launching our Autumn Urban Sprint Series with an event at Danestone/Bridge of Don Wed 30th Aug.
*Spoiler alert* You don’t need to be able to run like the wind to enjoy Sprint O. It means a relatively short course, Orange/Medium standard, with many twists and turns and attention to map detail so concentration and accuracy is as much the name of the game. If you’ve not tried it before because you think you’re not “fast enough” then we challenge you to give it a whirl this autumn – you may find yourself pleasantly surprised at how much fun it is.
Sorry, AUOC – bit late for Pride Month (June) but I didn’t spot this until today.
Inclusivity has always been one of orienteering’s attractions and the sport has been claiming for years that anyone is welcome regardless of who they are or their capabilities. Saying that on a website or in newsletters is one thing but actively demonstrating it is another…
As a club with trans folk and allies among their members, AUOC has been celebrating Pride Month and SOA posted about this at the end of last month. Both GRAMP and MAROC get a special shout out for being “very welcoming to all our club members regardless of perceived differences. They are indeed a great example of the orienteering community.” Aw shucks! That’s very kind of you but it’s really a no-brainer – we really enjoy having your youthful company and take on things; appreciate your input, from simple control collection to putting on joint events together; and your enthusiasm and energy is positively infectious so we gain and develop as both individuals and as a club. Win, win all round!
EUOC have also been leading by example by offering a non-binary category at all their events and the Scottish University Students O Champs introduced a gender non-conforming category. Should GRAMP lead the way among the non-uni clubs by following suite? Surely the answer can only be “Yes!”
Many thanks to Oonagh & Donald Grassie for planning tonight’s event. Cracking course with good route choice legs on a newly mapped part of Westhill.
Locals were friendly too – 3 teenagers sat on a bench shouted across to me as I ran past: “Excuse me, what are you doing?” “Orienteering.” “What’s that?” “I’ve got a map and I’m using it to find checkpoints.” “How old are you?” ??!
Many thanks to Ros for planning a fun course and also for remapping the area. Superb job! Even the map itself is happy with its makeover:
Thanks to Margarita & Jakub from AUOC for very graciously helping collect the controls afterwards.
Next event is Westhill Wed 5th July. Details will be posted soon but this will be urban in nature so remember that U-16s must be accompanied by an adult please.
Many thanks to Sam Griffin for planning, Tim & Zoe for running the day, Ros & Hugh for collecting controls and David for manning the keyboard as ever.
And the new Gramp orienteering kit is now out in the forests looking great!
Safety – A risk assessment will have been carried out by the organiser, but participants take part at their own risk and are responsible for their own safety during the event. We’ll be sharing parks/streets/woods with others so be courteous to other users and watch out for bikes/dogs/horseriders.
Health – Full leg and torso cover is required in wooded areas due to ticks.
Privacy – when entering our events your name may appear in the results section of this website or in newspaper reports. Grampian Orienteers data privacy policy
Photography – In line with the policies of British Orienteering, the organisers of this event request that any person wishing to take photos or video showing children should register their details with event volunteers before taking any such photos or videos. The event organisers reserve the right to ask people to refrain from taking photos or video and may, if such warnings are ignored, refer the matter to the police.
Thanks to Helen Rowlands for tonight’s Summer Series challenge and Helen Anderson for patching up our chairman.
Proof that we always have a First Aid box as part of the organiser’s kit and folk trained to use it although I think we may need to draft in specialist psychiatric help as David looks oddly very happy about it all. Maybe it’s because despite all that his RG splits trace is still a remarkably consistent gradient:
Thanks to Dennis McDonald and the weather gods for a great evening.
Next up is Foggieton with map memory option for those who think they could run round with their eyes shut (not recommended, eyes shut that is) and plenty of paths for beginners and improvers to practise.
Safety – A risk assessment will have been carried out by the organiser, but participants take part at their own risk and are responsible for their own safety during the event. We’ll be sharing parks/streets/woods with others so be courteous to other users and watch out for bikes/dogs/horseriders.
Health – Full leg and torso cover is required in wooded areas due to ticks.
Privacy – when entering our events your name may appear in the results section of this website or in newspaper reports. Grampian Orienteers data privacy policy
Photography – In line with the policies of British Orienteering, the organisers of this event request that any person wishing to take photos or video showing children should register their details with event volunteers before taking any such photos or videos. The event organisers reserve the right to ask people to refrain from taking photos or video and may, if such warnings are ignored, refer the matter to the police.
7 gramps made the journey to the West Coast for the Scottish Champs. Fantastic area and courses although very tough we’ve been told.
Neil McLean became Scottish Champion for M80. Well done, Neil👏
David was 2nd in M40S, Bob 6th M65L, Lesley 7th W60L, Sam Gomersall 8th M60L, Mike 12th M60L and Tim coming back from injury was 13th M55L.
Two Gramp teams ran in the 17+ Points age class relay. Gramp One, Sam/Tim/Bob, had a stormer and came 5th (maybe technically 4th as SYO are English? 😉) – and Gramp Two, Mike/Lesley/David came 14th.
ResultsRouteGadget BOF results – don’t think they’ll count for anything but thought you might like to know we’re encouraged to upload for all events so they can do some stats on age groups, types of events etc etc.
Check our FB page for a photo of the Long course. Thanks to Sam, Lesley, Dennis and David for making it all happen.
Next up is Duthie Park and Ferryhill. See you all there!
What a fantastic sunny evening to end the Forest Sprints on? Thanks to Rachel for planning, Ros/Bob/David for collecting controls and all you lovely people who came out to share the evening – so many that we got caught short on Sprint maps had to recycle so apologies to those who had to wait a wee while for one.
Results We’re going old school for the results from tonight’s event as the laptop wasn’t available. When David returns from his Riesling D’etre Tour we’ll download the splits and get RouteGadget up and running.
In the meantime, tell us what you thought of Sprint if it’s the first time you’ve tried this O format.
Thanks to Ian Hamilton for planning and Matt, Bob and Rachel for collecting in the controls.
P.P.S. Unfortunately none of our Gramp events fall within World Orienteering Day/Week this year but two of Maroc’s do including the FS on 17th at Johnshaven and the Sunday event at Corsedarder on 21st. Think of the orienteers in 296 locations in 50 different countries/regions worldwide running at the same(ish) time as you if you go to either of these events.
Great fun and very challenging course at Tollohill tonight. Many thanks to Dave Kirk for planning and to Bob and David E for helping collect the controls👍
Many thanks to Planner Bob Daly and Controller Andy Oliver (MAROC) for taking care of the technical challenge provided today and Organiser Laura Farquharson for heading up today’s team of volunteers: Ros, Hugh, Neil, Alasdair, Kirsty, Paul, Judy, Rachel, Helen, David, Gareth, Dennis and Ian.
As promised, the courses cherry picked all the best bits left in Glen Dye and thus gave some of us the chance to visit parts we’d never seen before. Also gave some of us (me!) the chance to realise after a bit of a break from orienteering that although basic O skills never fade, some – like making doubly sure you know which control you’ve got to visit next – definitely need working on in time for the 6 Days!! Chapeau to Bob for catching me out with the old classic ‘controls-in-a-line’ ploy. 😉
Nice to see some familiar faces getting back into the swing of things after a long break from orienteering and equally all the new faces eager to have a go. Some youngsters were so eager in fact that many would have set off without punching the Start if we hadn’t reminded them. And speaking of reminders, make sure you check for ticks – I got a couple just sitting at the Start enjoying the birdsong and a coffee while waiting for you all to arrive.
Click on the image above to enlarge it. N.B. this is a low res image to avoid clogging up your device with umpteen MB! The contours will be much sharper on the finished articles so watch out for folk following you closely at Glen Dye trying to use them to navigate.
Thanks to Ros we have the chance to refresh our orienteering wardrobes with some great new-look kit featuring two lots of contours, taken from Robin Sloan’s original 1972 Blackhall map and the updated 2022 Glen Dye map, plus a new take on our strapline: “50 years of running on the wild side”. Choose from tech Ts, O tops or running jacket designs – or all three if you really want to spoil yourself!
To avoid wastage we won’t be holding a large stock as we have done in the past but instead you need to decide, order and pay by 23rd April. If you want more info on the design, styles, prices etc and missed Ros’s email last week then shout out asap to webmaster@grampoc.com.
Thanks to everyone who planned, organised, controlled, volunteered or just came along to help us kick off our 50th birthday celebrations at Balmedie today. And especial kudos to those who ran yesterday and still had enough energy, both mental and physical, to take on the infamous dunescape. Balmedie never fails to catch you out somewhere but I guess that’s what keeps us all coming back for more.
(Hope you all left some sand behind for next time?)
For those of you not already in the know, CompassSport is a monthly mag dedicated to all things orienteering and the editor kindly sponsors the annual national inter-club competition which comprises the CS Cup for large clubs and the CS Trophy for small clubs.
The rules are too complicated to summarise here so all you need to know is that Gramp falls into the category of small club, as do all the other Scottish clubs bar FVO, so the top 13 scorers across a broad spread of courses by age class count towards the total score. In other words you need a lot of folk in it, running in as many different classes as possible, to win it. 11 Gramps ran this year in the Scottish qualifier at Faskally and between us racked up a very creditable 886 points putting us mid-table:
Congratulations to INT, INVOC and MOR who get the honour of travelling south to the Forest of Dean later in the year to try their luck against the regional finalists from elsewhere in the country. (Watch out for the wild boar, guys.)
Several of Team Gramp made a weekend of it running in Tay’s SOUL 2 the day before – a very entertaining twirl around Muirton – and two were made enough to do Perth ParkRun before that as well.
It will be a similar format to previous events: a mix of O and MM on both days, transported kit, a relatively convivial mid-camp, three linear courses, pairs or solo entries. Check the GMC main page for details.
Help us spread the word – please tell your MM buddies and anyone else you can think of who’d be interested in this.
Aberdeen City Council Countryside Ranger Service are holding a gorse busting session on Wed 18th at Scotstown Moor, aka Perwinnes Moss, if you fancy working off Christmas excesses and are free 10:00 – 15:00.
No fee for attending but you need to need to register via Eventbrite.
Many thanks for all who attended our Hogmany Hangover Handicap event at Duthie Park this morning. Many thanks to Sarah Wallace for planning the Snakes & Ladders format Score, and to Ros & Hugh for the Social Party at their abode afterwards!
Below is the link to the results not including the bonus points from the Snakes & Ladders theme.
Regrettably, we have had to make the decision to postpone the Balmedie event on Sunday due to somewhat treacherous icy conditions on the path network and car park. It would not be safe for competitors presently and a Yellow Met Office warning remains in place currently right up to Sunday.
The event will be rescheduled. Maps have been printed so we look forward to welcoming you back in more favourable conditions.
DREW TIVENDALE (CONTROLLER)
(TBC depending on permissions we’re now making plans to put this event on in late-Feb the day after the Scottish Night Champs at Balmoral.)
We’ve added a virtual element to this for those that live so far away that travelling makes no sense given the conditions. You shuold have received an email from Zoe with a Teams link if you want to join in this way. If you didn’t, email her now using secretary@grampoc.com.
We promise to keep the official part as short as possible so we can enjoy a Jacob’s join meal, BYOB, and 50th birthday cake. There’s also Orienteering Bingo planned with some seasonal prizes.
For anyone who hasn’t been before, we ask folk to bring something to eat – savoury and/or sweet which can be put on a buffet. We take potluck what we all bring and whether we’ll all be eating salad or pavlova…it adds to the excitement of the evening! Please also bring your own eating utensils and plates etc. Water/tea/coffee provided but you’ll need to bring your own supplies if you like a glass of something stronger with your supper.
CAKE!! 50 Years after Gramp was recognised by the SOA as an orienteering club in its own right, we’ll be celebrating with cake at Balmedie! It would be great to have at least 50 members there (we’ll count ex-members too!) and there will be spot prizes for some lucky competitors. Come and join in the celebrations.
Watch out for further celebration events and activities next year and if anyone has any ideas of ways to mark this milestone then please contact the committee asap via secretary@grampoc.com.
Tucked away on the west side of our (extended) Seaton Park map is a small but venerable building currently on the At Risk register, the neglected Wallace Tower. Originally built in 1600’s it was moved and rebuilt stone by stone to make way for M&S in the 60’s.
Since then it’s struggled to find a role, apart from being a control site now and then, but there are plans afoot to refurb it and add a modern extension out the back to house a cafe-cum-community space. Tillydrone Community Development Trust have just approved plans from TINTO architects who will now submit them to Aberdeen Council.
Hazlehead is back… and not just in the park this time so using mostly the golf course area and some of the few wooded parts that have not been affected by the storms.
Although traffic will be minimal if any, please take care at road crossings and note the under-16s should be accompanied to ensure their safety.
Long course 5.1k with 14 controls Short Course 2.9 k with 9 controls
Parking and registration in carpark on the bend just before the golf clubhouse. what3words: coherent.waving.rides
SAFETY STUFF: If you’re not yet TD5 (Green+) standard, find a clubmate who is to go round with. Check forecasts and dress appropriately for the weather. Carry a waterproof, a spare torch/battery and a phone for emergencies.
The Deeside Night Cup kicks off at Banchory East (urban) this year, then runs most Wed evenings right through to February so plenty of chances to brush up your night O skills ready for the Scottish Champs which are going to be at Pannanich 25th Feb 2023.
GRAMP and MAROC take turns to host DNCs and details of each event will be posted on respective websites nearer each date. You’ll notice more urban and smaller areas have had to be used due to ongoing access problems following storm damage but it’ll make a fun change to the series and it’ll be interesting to see if it attracts a different set of runners and what folk think about the mix.
NOV 2 Banchory East MAROC 9 Hazlehead GRAMP Dennis McDonald 16 Banchory West MAROC 23 Foggieton AUOC Charlotte Horne 30 Aboyne MAROC DEC 7 Dunnottar GRAMP Dave Kirk 14 Johnshaven MAROC 21 ???? ????
JAN 11 ???? MAROC 18 Elrick Hill GRAMP 25 ???? MAROC FEB 1 Glen Dye GRAMP 15 Balmedie GRAMP 25 Pannanich Scottish Night Champs
GRAMPIAN ORIENTEERS 