It’s that time of year again!! After another year of furious training in order to dominate our rival University Orienteering clubs, it was finally time to make the pilgrimage down to Sheffield to compete in BUCS.
After a technical briefing from new-coach Nixon on Wednesday, confidence was high heading into the weekend. We left Edinburgh on Friday evening and headed to Lancashire where we would spend the night. On our way we made a pit stop for one last chance to sharpen up our technique before the big day. After a healthy serving of pesto pasta (and an essential sweet treat) we hit the hay.
As the sun rose on Saturday morning, golden light slipped through the windows. The day was upon us!! After a hasty breakfast, we bundled back into cars and headed southwards, the hum of excitement growing with every mile. Birchen Edge was to play host – a gritstone rock face towering high above the peaks. Unsurprisingly, amongst the scattered trees and open moor, EUOC athletes proved hard to beat. In Men’s A, Euan Tryner took a commanding win – beating clubmate Jammond in 2nd. Wozzle, Jimbo, José and Bennetinõ all slipped inside the top 10. Sunley and Mikey B showcased some stylish technical skills to finish 11th and 12th respectively. Adam, Joel and Stan proved hard to separate and all ducked inside the top 20. Jonas, Sam F and Oscar all finished comfortably inside the top half. Jonty and Alex came 48th and 52nd. On Men’s B, James burst onto the BUCS scene with a feisty debut performance, finishing 6th. On Men’s C, great debut performances came thick and fast with Andrew and Ernie both making the top 10. On the Women’s side, great results were equally abundant. Fiona B produced the standout result with a 2nd place finish. Rachel, Emma and Daisy ‘Mackerz’ all managed to get inside the top 10. Fiona E finished close behind in 11th, with the two Is(o/a)bels finishing 16th and 24th. On Woman’s C, debutante Zoey finished in a tidy 5th place.
After a night of vigorous socialising – proving EUOC can do more than just orienteer – we settled down for a long sleep, at least for some. Sunday saw the relays take place at Carsington Pastures. Whilst we held a healthy lead in the overall standings, we knew we needed some strong performances to take the silverware back home with us to Edinburgh. In the end, there was no doubt. Izzy and Immy had storming first runs on the first leg to come back first and second. And from that position, the result felt inevitable — Rachel, Fiona, Daisy and Emma took over with their trademark quality, driving the teams to a 1-2 finish. Elsewhere in the Womens, the EUOC ‘Skog Munchers’ finished a respectable 9th place. A similar story unfolded in the Men’s Race. Wozzle, James and Euan proved unbeatable – taking a commanding win of over 4 minutes. Jim, Ewan and Joe took home the bronze medals, whilst the ‘Chalupas’ (Adam, Joel and Stan) finished 4th. Jonas, Oscar and Sam finished 11th. With the overall victory secured, Fergus returned from his annual venture south, crossing back over the border, ready to reclaim his place in Scotland, the home of his ancestors.