John takes the honours at Saturday League event

Forres runners took their share of the honours at another well-attended race in Moravian Orienteering Club’s Saturday League series at Lhanbryde on Saturday.

Gradually returning to fitness, Kintessack’s John Hollingdale came out on top on a surprisingly hilly 4Km long course set out in the Crooked Wood above the village. With an actual running distance more like 6 Km, Hollingdale’s winning time of a shade over 30 minutes was simply too good for experienced Aberdeenshire runner Bob Daly, and comprehensively beat Nairn’s Steve Smirthwaite who had the distinct advantage of having mapped the area. Very few other runners had even been to Crooked wood before which made Hollingdale’s run even more impressive.

Amongst the juniors, Forres Academy’s George Cannard was the pick of the bunch, coming 3rd in the senior boys’ competition on the long course. Along with the school’s other three counting runners (Nathan MacRae, John Bonsall and Alistair Bonsall) Cannard ensured that Forres took the secondary school league honours for the second month running. With Andrew and Kathryn Barr absent due to a Scottish Junior Squad training weekend, this was an unexpected success for the Academy, and bodes well for the future. Forres won the Scottish Schools title three years in succession in the 1980s and it might not be long before the school is able to once again make a mark on the national scene.

With the event being hosted by Lhanbryde Primary School, there was an excellent turnout amongst younger runners. In the junior category, Dyke Primary took 3rd and 5th place in the shape of Shauna Perry and Lewis Stevens, while Kinloss’s Rob Bichan separated them in 4th. With the help of some girl power (Francesca Mountain 8th, Catherine Taylor-Dewick 13th and Catrin Morgan 14th) Kinloss took second place overall, and with it the “Team of the Month” Award as winners Bishopmill were ineligible having won the award in January.

Pupils from Dyke Primary and Forres Academy have been busy making preparations for Moray Council’s Easter holiday activity programme where they will be helping to stage a 6-day taster week for beginners. Mini Moray 2013 is part of the build-up to this summer’s big orienteering festival, and brothers Alistair and John Bonsall have teamed up with Lewis Stevens and Kyle Cartmell to plan the Culbin stage of the week’s activities. Working under the supervision of local development officer Mike Rodgers, the boys have designed three courses of varying difficulty for people of all ages to try out during the first week of Easter. Along with junior orienteers from other Moray schools, they will be helping to organise the events on the day, and are hoping that a lot of local people come along and try out the sport, to give them the confidence to take part in the “real” Moray 2013 in July.

“The project is proving to be great fun” said Rodgers. “Having recently learned to orienteer, the boys knew exactly how so set courses at just the right level for beginners and those who have had a bit of experience of orienteering. They’ve done a quite superb job, learning so many new skills on the way. With some justification, they can’t wait until Easter when they’ll be making a really big contribution to the development of orienteering locally.”

Information about the Easter Orienteering week is in Moray Council’s Easter Activities brochure, and can also be found on Moravian’s web site www.moravianorienteerng.org