A TRIO of Huddersfield runners helped push the East Pennine Orienteering Club into runners-up spot in their first national final.
Richard Wren, Ian Couch and Bob Page all produced impressive performances as the club took second place in the Compass Sport Trophy event – the sport’s national inter-club finals.
The event was held at Fineshade Woods near Stamford in Lincolnshire.
Club members competed in races of varying difficult dependant on age and ability.
Wren perhaps produced the most notable performance as he was in the longest and toughest event – the 9km race – and came home first in a time of 56minutes 30seconds.
In the 5km section there were very respectable results for both Couch, fourth in 49.51, and Page, fifth in 51.12, as the EPOC results pushed themselves to the top of the leaderboard.
However, they had to eventually settle for second behind Forth Valley Orienteers, who retained the national title.
Other EPOC results: Men’s 9km: Paul Taylor 75.35 (19th); Women’s 6km: Amanda Crawshaw 62.21 (6th); Women’s 5km: Julie Couch 49.21 (6th), Gilly Markham 60.48 (16th), Jackie Page 88.25 (35th); Veterans’ 3.5km: Susan Brant 86.24 (32nd).
Orienteering is a sport that requires navigational skills and athleticism, using a map and compass to navigate from point to point in diverse and usually unfamiliar terrain.
Participants are given a map, usually a specially prepared orienteering map, which they use to find control points.
Originally a training exercise in land navigation for military officers, orienteering has developed many variations.
But basically any sport that involves racing against a clock and requires navigation using a map is a type of orienteering.
Orienteering is included in the programs of world sporting events including the World Games, and World Police and Fire Games.
