The 2020 AGM will be held at Lakeside Country Park, Eastleigh, on Thursday 14th May, at 7.30pm.

There will be an optional Activity/Event prior to the meeting and food will be provided afterwards.

More details later.

The February MapRun event will take place on Thursday 20th in Winchester around Badgers Farm and Oliver's Battery. 

If you haven't been to one of these sessions before they can provide exercise, orienteering practice, plus a bit of social afterwards.  They're fun informal events that can be as demanding or as easy as you want them to be.

Full details are on the event page - and I hope to see you there!

Revised league tables and comments from Mary Nixon (organiser) and Gavin Clegg (league coordinator) below.

Reminder: the next WNL event follows the daytime SARUM level D event on Saturday 8th February at Denny Wood North using a SOC map: details.

Marchwood Brexit event on 30 Jan 2020

Mary Nixon writes: SOC are very grateful to 17th Port and Marine for allowing us hold this event from McMullen Barracks. Considering they were on Severe alert warning it was beyond our expectations. Due to the original planner/organiser being deployed abroad the day before the event, it was beyond the call of duty for Allan Farrington to step in as planner. I suspect it was allowed as he is ex-army. Major Karen Baker became our on-site liaison and could not have been more helpful. Allan planned a course of such distance that just a few of the top guys would get them all. His special "Brexit" control was intriguing! As several runners remarked they didn't look at the wood sculpture that carefully to count the number of towers! It was good to have 45 runners at the event. With the help of some Army runners from the base most of the controls were collected by 8.45pm to enable us to be clear of the base by 9pm. One of my lasting memories will be going to sign in at the Guard Room, walking between soldiers checking off their A48 rifles as I walked between them.

Gavin writes: the league scores for Marchwood are slightly different from the published results. Rob Finch was very fair in saying that he didn’t think Nick and Alan (and others) should be penalised because they got the question wrong, having visited the [bonus] control. I cogitated for a while and had a chat with a few other competitors. It was also admitted that a number of competitors had just guessed the number and got it right. On that basis I decided for league purposes, anyone visiting the control would be given the 10 points. I’ve analysed everyone’s routes and think I’ve credited all the right people.

In the Open competition, with Dan not running, he and Nick have swopped places but with now only 46 points covering the top 4. Jo moved up 20 points but Becca closed the gap by picking up 27 points. Good to see Tereza back competing and she is up 3 places with a 103 point increase. Teresa will need to pick up virtually 100 points in each of the next four races if she is to win the Open title. Mike Frizzell is now the last surviving ‘ever present’.

In the Handicap competition the top three didn’t improve on their scores. Teresa moved up 5 places to forth and will be challenging for second overall. Jo is only 7 points behind Teresa but with less scope to improve. John Cook is up 13 places to 7th and has the potential to end up on the podium – very fitting as John makes all the magnificent trophies. Carolyn and Julie can still move into the mix but are leaving it late with only four races to go.