15 jan 09

Todmorden Harriers had a different focus last weekend at their annual 3 hour score orienteering event. Open to Harriers and invited guests the Mini Moorland Marathon induced a strong competitive element amongst team mates. Navigation and intelligent route planning were as important as speed, with the outcome in the balance to the end. Only when hard working organisers Richard & Jane Leonard had totted up the scores were the winners known.
Runners competed either solo or in pairs and set off at 1 minute intervals. Only receiving their marked map as they started, the first task was to quickly determine which, and the order, of the 20 checkpoints they would attempt to reach within the 3 hour time limit. Depending on location, checkpoints were worth 10, 20 or 30 points.
This year race HQ was the New Delight Inn at Colden and the scoring area covered much of the Upper Valley’s hills and valleys. Marker posts were not always in obvious sight so valuable time and points were lost when runners found the correct area but couldn’t spot the marker posts.
Good judgement of pace was also required to avoid losing their hard won points, with severe penalties for those returning over the allowed time limit.
Several prizes were on offer and Simon Bourne of Calder Valley Fell Runners took the overall prize with an excellent score of 270 points returning with just 3 minutes to spare, 30 points ahead of first Todmorden Harrier Alistair Rhodes-Dawson and Todmorden based Horwich RMI Harrier James Logue.
Despite a time penalty, Dave Collins had covered enough ground to take the Vet50 prize ahead of Phil Hodgson. Ben Page won the under 18 category and Trevor Smith the Vet60.
First lady was Sarah Warburton with a fantastic total of 168 points, 10 points ahead of 2nd place Mandy Goth. Calder Valley’s Jackie Scarf finished 3rd lady a further 8 points back.
The pairs’ competition was equally as closely fought and despite a 20 point time penalty, Charlie Boyce and Peter Bowles managed to outscore Rachel Skinner and Jeff Walker by 10 points.
The much coveted ‘Golden Pigeon’ award found a new home with Myra Wells and Richard Butterwick, after a significant time penalty for returning late left them with a negative score.