Author: Graeme Francis

Wednesday 26th July – City of Lisburn For all those who haven’t evacuated the Country during July and are bored and missing their summer Orienteering, or even just want a little warm up before heading to Scotland; I have an extra fixture for you: A Club Night: A low key Urban Score event with a difference, around the Parks and Streets of Lisburn. Although many of the control sites will be within traffic free areas, because this is an Urban Score Event and I can’t predict your routes, ALL under 16’s will need to be accompanied by an adult,  but Read More …

As this is the last WEE in June we thought we’d have a bit of fun this week. We’ve planned a maze! You can either have a go on your own or have a bit of competitive fun with a head to head race. If you’re a junior its your chance to get your own back on Steph;  or to beat your sibling, or even to show your parents who the better orienteer is. For those of us who should know better; can you hold your head above water against your peers, or can you put these pesky small fry back in Read More …

And so to WEE 8… Come and join us at Valley Leisure Centre, Whiteabbey. The finish area for this event is a fantastic assembly area so if the sun is out why not consider a picnic. If you run early you can sit on the steps and watch everyone else finish whilst scoffing your banana. There are the usual 2 courses, and lots more coaching available for those who want it. I believe there may be a few more cones out, but rumours that there will be more than on the M6 in Birmingham are unfounded. I will be helping Read More …

A little late, but better late than never… And so to June and a different venture in the world of WEE. For the entire month we are going to be re-structuring the Series. The familiar two runs will still be there, but as we switch focus towards encouraging newcomers to take up the sport we are removing results from each event and consequently there will be NO league for this month. You will still receive your splits and results will appear on the night but nothing will be published! Instead we are going to be offering some coaching for those Read More …

Our sport is all about fair play and sadly I heard of several people disregarding the rules on impassable features recently at the Craigavon WEE. I hope that this is due to some novices / newcomers not really understanding the rules rather than regulars flagrantly disobeying them, but either way it would seem that a little more education is needed. Urban / sprint orienteering is different from normal orienteering in that it takes place in an area where property boundaries fenced / or unfenced and public or private flower beds need to be respected by competitors. They are OUT OF BOUNDS!! These areas are Read More …

I received a good question about the junior courses for Drumgor and their age suitability: Both runs take place in a large housing estate that is covered by a comprehensive network of footpaths, alleyways, and cycle paths. Whilst I can’t guarantee that the courses will be traffic free, the only roads to be crossed are minor estate roads that are usually very quiet, and the courses have been purposefully planned to make use of the path network so that the majority of crossings, if any, take place at cul-de-sacs or parking areas as shown on the image. Both the morning and afternoon runs do Read More …

And so to Drumgor… For all those thinking of coming there are a couple of notes to read in advance with regard to the map: Due to the nature of the estate, with its comprehensive path network and large number of housing blocks, purely in the interests of clarity we have made some decisions which mean that the map no longer fully complies with the ISSOM standard. We follow the letter of the law but have applied the rules obliquely: Impassable Features: The definition of an impassable wall / fence symbol does not necessarily mean that the feature is actually Read More …

Evening Folks. I just wanted to say a large thank you to all the wonderful volunteers who helped out on Wednesday evening: Aileen, Ian, Stephen, Shaun, Susan, Sophie, Steph ( any more s’s?!? ), Mark, and Ben, and a special thanks and apology to Cara who manned the starts all evening without getting a run, because of a no-dog rule that I knew nothing about and take full responsibility for. While I’m apologising, I’d also like to apologise for the delayed start. This was due to having to move all the controls we had set out for a successful school event earlier in the afternoon. Hopefully the Read More …

And so to WEE 3 (Thanks to the Collins family for an enjoyable WEE 2). This year’s WEE summer excursion to Craigavon is to be held at Craigavon Senior High School and Edenvilla Park, Portadown, and not at Craigavon Lakes as some may have seen. A new area to most, and in keeping with this I’m going to be offering something new: In addition to the usual short and long courses, for those more experienced there will be an additional course (Course 3 if entering online). As we will be in the middle of our inaugural Sprint series I will be Read More …

As I’m sure you are all aware, we are now only 1 week away from the start of May ( where has the year gone?! ) and consequently the start of this year’s WEE Series! This year some of you may notice a few changes to the WEE from previous years as I have been allowed to stir the pot a little: I have been granted permission to tinker at a few events… For the whole month of June, but starting in May at Craigavon, there will be an additional course for the more experienced to try their hand at. Read More …