It was LVO’s turn to host the Senior Home International (SHI) this year, the annual orienteering competition between representative teams from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
Meelmore Mountain was chosen as the venue for the individual race on Saturday, with Slievenagore Mountain providing the setting for Sunday’s relays.
With each team comprising 3 M20s, 3 W20s, 6 senior men (including at least one M35+) and 6 senior women (including at least one W35+), competitors could expect courses to be testing and of the highest standard. Meelmore’s M21E course measured 14.7 km with 610 m of climb, while the W21E course covered 11.2 km with 455 m of climb – not for the faint hearted!
The Day 1 individual points table could hardly have been closer, with England and Scotland tied on 24 points, ahead of Ireland on 10 and Wales on 6. A tiebreak was therefore required, with England emerging victorious to take the Dolgellau Bowl.
Sunday’s Day 2 relays were equally tense, with another tiebreak needed to separate the leading teams. This time, Scotland came out on top, while Ireland finished third overall and retained the Celtic Cup.
Many thanks go to all the event officials who pulled off two such successful events. On Day 1, Shane Lynch was planner, Ivan Millar controller and Chris Colwell organiser. On Day 2, George Knight was planner, John McCullough controller, and Gavin and Heather Cairns organisers.
Special thanks also go to Stephen Gilmore, the SHI coordinator, and to all the other volunteers whose hard work helped bring the whole weekend together.
And huge congratulations to LVO members Paul Pruzina, Emma Graham, Jack Wilkins and James Ewart, who represented their club with distinction as part of Team Ireland.
Day 1 results can be found here: https://www.lvo.org.uk/results/2026/nioalongchampsionships.html
Day 2 overall team results can be seen here: https://www.niorienteering.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/SHI-Relay-Scores.pdf
Photo courtesy of George Knight. Other relay photos can be found here: https://adobe.ly/4dlz4GD