Nopesport

Middledich cruising on 3rd leg

The 17th UK Athletics British Fell & Hill Running Relay Championships was held today in the Ochil Hills near Alva, Clackmannanshire (Stirling Direction). For those who don't know what the format of this event is, here is a brief description:

1st Leg solo - 7km 730m climb
2nd leg solo - 6km 630m climb
3rd leg pairs (navigational leg)
4th leg pairs - 13km 1150m climb

It was a beautiful day in Clackmannanshire and many made the jourmey to the event including quite a few orienteers. Most notably of all was the Sheffield based crew of Rob Little, Oli Johnson & Andrew Middledich who were part of the triumphant team! Rob had a storming run on the shortest 2nd leg posting the fastest leg time of about 27mins. When asked he commented that "it was just balls out that produced the result!" Oli & Middledich cruised round the relatively easy navigation leg to hold their position & their 4th leg finished the job off.

Also up with the leading group were a Lothian team made up almost entirely of edinburgh based orienteers who ended up 5th overall, another impressive run showing that orienteers can mix it up with the best at many disciplines. Solid runs from Duncan Coombs & their 2nd leg stood them in good stead, while Andy Kitchen & Greame Ackland, who despite suffering from a cold, ran a strong navigation leg and made up time. This left the impressive pairing of Oleg Cheplin & Murray Strain on 4th. They ran well pulling up 2 places & finished 5th.

There was also a womens team out from Lothian with Mace Neve on 1st leg, Aislinn Austin & Karin (??) on 3rd & Gillian Godfree on last. "it was very enjoyable and i'm looking forward to some more fell races soon" Aislinn said excitedly when asked about her run. Good consistant runs from all of them kept the team in a solid position (final position to be confirmed)

Another discipline and another impressive showing by orienteers as ever.

4th leg course - beast