Well, what a glorious weekend we’ve just had and I hope you all made the most of it. A handful of WSX members went to the Chiltern Challenge near Henley on Thames and in spite of the travelling it was well worth it. As we arrived in the large car park field, with the wooded, bluebell-strewn hill in front of us, we were greeted with about a dozen or more Red Kites soaring overhead. They were an ever-present feature of the whole day, in fact, and were absolutely majestic.On the walk to the start I also saw a large herd of deer scurrying along the hill top and later, on my course, a tiny muntjac deer ran across my path. And all that, combined with beautiful blossom on the trees, primroses on the ground, blue skies and fluttering butterflies made it an idyllic setting for an O-event.

Unfortunately for me, however, the quality of my run didn’t match the glorious day! My brain was clearly not in gear right from the start and I messed up my first control, taking over 12 minutes. Needless to say, I wasn’t really in a good state of  mind after that and made several other errors and couldn’t summon up the enthusiasm to push very hard. So my final position was was down towards the bottom.

Jason, however, had a cracking run, finishing 3rd on M45, running the Short Brown course. Rob came 22nd on M55, running the same course. It was tough running, with a LOT of climb and temperatures nearing the mid-20s. Really energy-sapping.

Non-Local events coming up:

On the weekend of 29th/30th April, Sarum and North Wilts are holding an “Ancient Wiltshire Weekend” consisting of an urban event in Amesbury, followed by an event in Savernake Forest. Should be a great weekend. Details here.

Then there’s the ‘Sunny’ West Sussex Orienteering Weekend – details here – on May 13th/14th – again, combining an urban (Chichester) with a forest event near Arundel.

Local events can be found, as usual, on our Events page.

Have a great Easter!