The updated hCOW tables (WEE6 and handicap movements) are available at “Resources>OneDrive Public>hCOW>hCOW2021”, allowing you see how your handicap is faring. This was my first WEE of the year and, true to the concept of hCOW (honourable Company of Orienteering Walkers), I perambulated the whole course (apart from a stumble down one of the steep slopes!), thus setting the “proper” hCOW standard. If there any other real hCOWers out there we might start a walkers’ league!

Today marks the end of National Volunteer Week 2021. To celebrate, we have Jenny Lau who recently planned for LVO for the first time, Jenny is going to tell us a bit more about that experience…. Hi Jenny, thanks for joining us! So tell us, how long have you been orienteering for and when did you join LVO? Hi Juls, thanks for having me. I found my first ever control point almost exactly four years ago from today. I was visiting a friend in Surrey, and while on a walk in the Surrey Hills, I came across the then mysterious, Read More …

I have had representation from some more visually-challenged (i.e. older!) members about the legibility of the course overprint in the WEE series. The course setup (circle size etc.) is a matter for the planners, but what I did for Grove Park was to add a white shadow to the overprint circles, numbers and lines. Did this make the course more legible? Did anybody notice?

The WEE5 results table and the handicap movements table are available to view in “Resources>OneDrive Public>hCOW>hCOW2021”. Things get serious next week with the first colour event of the year, FERMO’s Crossmurrin event, in which performance in the 4 technical difficulty 5 courses (brown, blue, green, short green) will be considered. The following colour events will see place points being awarded, but until it is known how many events there will be it’s not possible to define how the overall result will be computed. What is known is that there will be points available to those who are <non-active> because of Read More …

The hCOW table for WEE4 is now available for your perusal. It can be found in “Resources>OneDrive Public>hCOW>hCOW2021”. Also there is a table showing how your handicap has moved over the first four events; you should be able to match the movements to your good (or not so good!) performance.

Entries are open for the NIOA Score Championships, taking place on Saturday 29th May. Pre-entry is required. Entries close at 6pm on Thursday 27th May. You can read about the event here. You will also find the entry link on that page. The courses are sure to be good with Michael Burton as planner and Raymond Finley as controller. NIOA posted a link for score tips which I am repeating here – Top Score Tactic Tips. I know some people have been training hard during lockdown. I’m not sure about these two. They were spotted in our garden during the Read More …

My thanks to GraemeF for pointing out my error in last week’s hCOW post, where I claimed that the Botanic course length would be measured along the straight-line route because it was a Sprint course. This shows some laziness on my part in failing to keep up with the rules and guidelines changes (I must read myself to sleep with the new 103-page version!). The post-Botanic positions (using the correct course length) are now available at “Resources>OneDrive Public>hCOW>hCOW2021”. Along with the publication of the Lady Dixon performances next week I shall post a table showing how handicaps have moved over Read More …

On behalf of the LVO committee, I just want to say a big ‘THANK YOU‘ to all our members for the fantastic support you show the club, especially this year when activities and events were disrupted. In the AGM yesterday, our outgoing Chair, Steph, commented on the tremendous work which has allowed us to get up and go as quickly as possible in a safe and sound manner. We were reminded that LVO was the first UK club to run an event when things opened up after the first lockdown. Of course this would not have happened without Steph’s leadership Read More …

🚩Just flagging up our AGM this evening! We hope to see as many members as possible join us for this year’s virtual AGM. New members and anyone connected with LVO through one of our Hubs are especially welcome. It is a chance to get a feel for what goes on behind the scenes, to meet the committee and get your views to help steer things. With things not quite open enough to hold a meeting indoors, we are again planning to hold an abbreviated Virtual AGM on Zoom on Thursday 20th May at 7:30pm. Last year’s virtual AGM worked well Read More …

The nominations are: Harry Bell, for the amount of work he is doing, quietly and behind the scenes. Much of this work most members don’t even know exists. Equally notable is the thoughtful, considerate and approachable manner in which Harry will come to your aid. Harry’s title of “Treasurer” would be appropriate even without the final “r”! Stephen Gilmore, Colin Smith, Ric Gamble and Juls Hanvey who, together with Charlie Reid of NWOC, drove the MapRunF initiative that provided us with the opportunity to orienteer when Covid restrictions curtailed our usual competition calendar. Mark Pruzina, who did so much to Read More …