Nopesport

UK Cup Race 3 was held at the British Orienteering Championships on Simonside, 20th March. There was the usual debate beforehand about whether it should have been used for the British Elite Champs and whether the timing of the event was right, but NEOA put the politics aside and put on a UK Cup course for the Elite runners.

The weather for the event was not ideal, with howling winds and thrashing rain affecting all runners – the early starters may have had it slightly worse as there were slightly drier periods later in the day, although this was unlikely to change the results of the courses.

The terrain was again different to the first 2 UK Cup races of the season. Simonside consisted of a low visibility forest on the North side of the slope where the courses started. 1.5km of short control picking legs were planned so that you had to be accurate on your compass and pacing to prevent wasting vital seconds.

After this initial prologue, both overall winners were in the lead – Ed Nash by 1:23 and Rachael Elder by 1:18, showing how vital it was to spike every control in this tricky section for a high position.

Then came the first long legs – the men’s being just over 3km on the straight line route, the women had a slightly shorter 1.7km, with the fastest times for each being 14:12 for the men (Nash) and 14:01 for the women (Mhairi Mackenzie). Both legs were thought to be less technical than had been hoped for by many competitors, though the women’s had slightly more route choice than the men’s easy track run. However, these legs did test the fitness of the athletes with runners having to battle against the strong winds as they climbed over the top of the ridge.

The women then had their 2nd long leg of the day, posing slightly more route choice than the first, with Helen Winskill winning the leg by 52 seconds in a time of 11:25. This brought the women’s course into the area North of the road known as Lordenshaws. This area was much faster, with short grass rather than the heather which had prevailed South of the road. By the first control in this quicker section, Elder had maintained her lead, though Winskill had cut it to just over a minute.

However, the end of the women’s course was particularly easy, with controls visible long before you had got to the control circle, though mistakes could still be made if you didn’t follow your bearing. Winskill was caught out by the penultimate control – a spur surrounded by a myriad of small gullies – and this allowed Mackenzie into 2nd position which she kept through to the finish, including getting the fastest run-in joint with Liz Day. In the end, Elder won by 1:29 from Mackenzie, with Winskill 2:38 behind the winner.

After the men’s long leg there were a couple more controls in the heather-strewn moor before crossing into the faster section North of the road. By this time, Nash had extended his lead – helped by winning 9 controls out of 11 in the middle of the course (and posting the 2nd fastest times on the other 2!) – to 2:38 from Neil Northrop who was running round with David Sprot having caught the 3 minutes on him and was keen to take more time out of him.

The men came into sight of the assembly field on their 1km run back along the ridge into a strong headwind (which Sprot won in an impressive 4:19), before heading off on one final loop of 6 controls in full view of the (empty) spectator field. Nash was cruising by this point, and the ease of finding the controls meant his lead was never in jeopardy, though Northrop lost a bit of time near the end to allow Rob Baker into 2nd place. Andy Preston won the all-important run-in by a rather large 3 seconds.

All in all, a decent leg-stretcher with worthy winners for both courses, so congratulations to Rachel Elder (her 1st ever UK Cup win) and Ed Nash.

Top 10

Men

1. Ed Nash KNOBOC 50.45
2. Rob Baker WAROC 53.57
3. Neil Northrop WAOC 54.16
4. Graham Gristwood (M20) OD 54.55
5. Paddy Walder CLYDE 55.48
6. Roger Goddard WAROC 56.04
7. Neil Conway AIRE 56.12
8. Tim Higginbottom ERYRI 56.13
9. Ian Nixon LUOC 56.17
10. David Sprot NATO 57.28

Women

1. Rachael Elder SHUOC 44.35
2. Mhairi Mackenzie (W20) WCOC 46.04 (NYT)
3. Helen Winskill SYO 47.13
4. Hannah Wooton HOC 49.30
5. Laura Daniel BOK 49.34 (NYT)
6. Alison O'Neil (W20) NOC 51.28
7. Karen Heppenstall CLOK 54.12
8. Becky Carlyle AIRE 54.38
9. Claire Ward INT 54.39
10. Aislinn Austin EBOR 55.21

Full results are available here.

UK Cup Overall standings

Men

1. Ed Nash 139 (from 3 races)
2. Patrick Walder 102 (3)
3. Mike Sprot 101 (3)
4. Neil Northrop 100 (3)
5. Matt Crane 92 (2)
6. Roger Goddard 90 (3)
7. Neil Conway 87 (3)
8. Matt Speake 86 (2)
9. David Sprot 85 (3)
10. Allan Bogle 83 (2)

Women

1. Helen Winskill 131 (from 3 races)
2. Laura Daniel 126 (3)
3. Rachael Elder 125 (3)
4. Mhairi Mackenzie 124 (3)
5. Hannah Wootton 120 (3)
6. Helen Palmer 104 (3)
7. Aislinn Austin 102 (3)
8. Sarah Rollins 90 (2)
9. Jenny Whitehead 88 (2)
10. Claire Ward 87 (2)