Scottish Six Day Event 2023. Tayside runners in action.
This month's (August) S-6-D Event saw Tayside claim medal success M12 Short with Euan Tuddenham, Finn Selmer Duguid at 16 Long and Katharine Melville at W80. How did it go?
Diary of a Wannabe podium place seeker by Katharine Melville W80
The first Scottish 6 Days was Highland 77, at which the oldest age groups were M/W50. By Trossachs 79 there was a class added for M56. Thereafter older age group were gradually added, but M/W80 did not appear until Moray 2003.
Trossachs 79 was the first year Bill and I went up for one day only, just to see what it was all about. After that I have attended every 6 Days bar one, and Bill has been to all of them.
We had joined CUNOC around 1974. CUNOC was short for Cunninghame and District OC which was started by some employees of Hunterston power station in North Ayrshire. I had the gentlest introduction to Orienteering, spending the first few years going round in a gang with our three small children. I first “competed” for myself at the age of 34. I think I took 3 hours on a non- competitive W15B at the Scottish Championships, at which I returned perfectly happy and blissfully unaware that orienteering was NOT about getting lost!
What I am saying is that I am not naturally podium material. I lack any natural sense of direction, so all my orienteering skills have been learned. I started jogging with Kilmarnock Harriers at the age of 36. Getting a bit more serious now - running round my mistakes! - my pre- race “bible” was “Orienteering Techniques” written by Forth Valley’s Gareth Bryan-Jones. I am also an admirer of former internationalist and my contemporary Carol McNeill. She is reportedly an excellent coach and has written several useful books on technique training.
So fast forward to Moray 2023, the year I became 80. In 6 Days terms the first year in the new age group is my one window of opportunity to do well. The aforesaid Carol McNeill joins the age group the following year, as does ESOC’s Eleanor Pyrah who is superior both in orienteering and running.
Moray is my favourite place for orienteering. I love the open pine-wooded dunes. It is not too hilly. Generally the weather is good. And we have enjoyed some great family and social events there. At Moray 2003 when I became 60 I achieved my best 5th place out of 48 competitors on the long course. Not so good at Moray 2013 when I only managed 14th out of 29 on W70. What could I do at Moray 2023?
3rd place on Day 1 at Lossie was a a good start. A “wobble” at control 3, but otherwise no serious mistakes. 1st place on Day 2 at Darnaway, clear by five minutes. Then a bad beginning to Day 3 at Roseisle. Sixteen minutes looking for the first control too high on the spur. If I’d taken the lower route I’d have practically tripped over the control. After that I chalked up 7 first places. But my downfall was a loss of sense of direction on the way to number 9 which cost me and took me to 4th place. Then total disaster on Day 4 at Culbin. 25 minutes to the first control which I only found by going to number 2 and working my way back. Seventeen minutes down on the leader. I really needed to drop this result. All to play for on Day 5. Could I hold it together?
I do not have a good record on helping days. I do not have a good record under pressure on the last day. However, it was going to be a “fast” Middle Distance, so I was still hopeful. An early start. For a long time I headed the results table. Then one of my rivals came in 8 seconds ahead. And by the end of the day I was knocked down to 3rd by Clare Fletcher of Bristol who had been consistently in the top three all week. So there it was. This unlikely orienteer had achieved a bronze medal in W80 at Moray 2023. Very happy with that, not least because I didn’t blow it on the last day. Postscript: that 8 seconds made the difference between getting 2nd or 3rd overall. Even more telling, if I had made a mistake that day, I would have fallen to 4th, because the next competitor was only 12 seconds and one point behind!
AND FINN DUGUID SAYS
I came into the 6 days with a lot of confidence just coming off a week in Deeside at a JROS training camp. However, the physical strain my body had been under was clear to see but I was still ready to run and compete for the top spots. The first two days for me at Lossie and Darnaway turned out to be days to adapt to the special forested sand dunes you’ll only find in Moray. Both days I went in all guns blazing and the paid the price with some healthy navigation errors that could’ve been easily avoided if I was reading the map and terrain more carefully.
I went into day 3 at Roseisle saying to myself that I needed to slow down and really focus on my map and direction more, which turned out to be exactly what was needed as it was my best result of the week, finishing 1st by 4 seconds. This result had really put me back in the running for a podium position. Going into the two days at Culbin I knew my navigation had to be clean as it is one of the most technical areas in the UK and I really wanted to carry the momentum from that win at Roseisle. Day 4 was the better of the two days with a 3rd place finish with a couple of mistakes. Day 5 was less good with a 5th place finish and some silly mistakes in the complex light green. These two results however were enough to secure a 2nd place finish overall which I was really pleased with and fulfilled my expectations. Overall, I had a fun time at these 6 days with good and technical courses every day. The competition this year was also close this year in the M16 category, with there being 3 points between 2nd and 4th leading to an exciting and nerve wracking finish.
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