West Midlands Orienteering Association   

Standard Entry Closing date is Monday 16th December

The competition is now in its 50th year.  Come along and have a run or walk at midday on New Years Day – it’s a score format, so suitable for all abilities.  Full details are on the WCH website, and the scoring details are here.

Wrekin take a very narrow lead over Harlequins in to the final event of the season, on the 8th December at Brandon Wood. Octavian Droobers are some way back in third place but do have home advantage for this last event.

Club	Points
WRE	5668
HOC	5480
OD	4420
WCH	3522
POTOC	2795

More detail, including plans for 2025 and links to the club counters and individual scores, can be found on the WM League page

Congratulations to the following winners of the 2024 West Midlands Urban League:

(Apologies for the delay in announcing the winners; this was caused by a glitch in the scores which has hopefully been corrected. Please contact this email address with any queries.)

Category
Young Junior Men 12-	Sam Hudson (HOC)
Young Junior Women 12-	Pippa Blackmore (HOC)
Junior Men 16-	Peter Blackmore (HOC)
Junior Women 16-	Sophie Gray (MDOC)
Open Men	Mark Burley (MDOC)
Open Women	Eloise Lee (HOC)
Veteran Men 40+	David Dixon (HH)
Veteran Women 40+	Sarah Dixon (HH)
Supervet Men 55+	Patrick Tranter (RAFO)
Supervet Women 55+	Diane Jacks (WRE)
Ultravet Men 65+	Adrian Pickles (WRE)
Ultravet Women 65+	Lesley Brown (HOC)
Hypervet Men 75+	Peter Carey (OD)
Hypervet Women 75+	Heather Smithard (KFO)

With just two events to go Wrekin have a narrow lead over Harlequins. Your next chance to score points for your club and in the individual competitions will be at Walton Chaser’s event on the 24th November.

Club	Points
WRE	5668
HOC	5480
OD	4420
WCH	3522
POTOC	2795

More detail, including plans for 2025 and links to the club counters and individual scores, can be found on the WM League page

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After the third event at Bathpool, Harlequins have just overtaken Wrekin with Octavian Droobers not far behind:

Club	Points
WRE	5668
HOC	5480
OD	4420
WCH	3522
POTOC	2795

More detail, and links to the club counters and individual scores, can be found on the WM League page

The Orienteering Foundation is pleased to announce support for another coaching day in the Lakes, on Saturday 23rd November 2024. They are particularly keen to promote coaching of adult orienteers, who are often under-served, but also welcome groups including juniors. 

You can take part either as an individual or as part of a group which has provided their own coach.  If you would like to take advantage of this opportunity, then contact Derek Allison to register your interest. More information including his contact details are on the Orienteering Foundation website here:https://www.orienteeringfoundation.org.uk/coaching-day-23rd-november-2024

“POTOC held the 2024 edition of the West Midlands Championships at Bathpool Park on the 15th September. The event was originally scheduled to be held in May at the newly mapped Morridge area but access for that event was denied at a late stage. It is hoped to hold a West Midland League event at the area in May 2025.

Thanks to all of the West Midlands orienteering community who supported the Bathpool event in atrocious wet conditions. And to the POTOC volunteers for their help on the day with particular kudos to Gordon Witte and Marian Denham the organisers plus Jim Cooke the planner. Having the indoor small pavilion was definitely a huge bonus given the weather. Thankyou to Kidsgrove Cricket Club for use of their excellent facilities.

POTOC website

Full results are on the POTOC web site and the champions were:

W10 – Georgina Hudson (HOC)	M10 – Edward Lewis (WRE)
W12 – Pippa Blackmore (HOC)	M12 – Samuel Hudson (HOC)
W14 – Eden Pigott (POTOC)	M14 – Seb Blackmore (HOC)
W16 – Olivia Stamp (WCH)	M16 – Jonah Hearn (WCH)
W18 – not awarded	M18 – Max Straube-Roth (OD)
W20 – not awarded	M20 – not awarded
W21 – not awarded	M21 – Samuel Naylor (POTOC)
W35 – Juliette Soulard (OD)	M35 – Thomas Lewis (WRE)
W40 – Katie Lewis (WRE)	M40 – Alistair Landels (OD)
W45 – Julia Allinson (WRE)	M45 – Martin Pigott (POTOC)
W50 – not awarded	M50 – Rob Bambrook (OD)
W55 – Diane Jacks (WRE)	M55 – Ian Hopkins (WRE)
W60 – not awarded	M60 – Marcus Tett (WRE)
W65 – not awarded	M65 – Adrian Pickles (WRE)
W70 – Margaret Willdig (OD)	M70 – John Robinson (WCH)
W75 – Sheila Carey (OD)	M75 – Keith Willdig (OD)
W80 – Barbara Farr (POTOC)	M80 – Peter Carey (OD)
W85 – Alison Sloman (HOC)	M85 – Trevor Simpson (OD)

“The city looked at its best and made a great venue for people staying over after the Stroud Urban the day before. The back to back events seemed to generate good attendance on both days making this something to contemplate for the future.

The planner, Dave Aldridge made us visit all the best bits of the city, including the university, the cathedral and Diglis Docks as well as the cannon on the highest part of Fort Royal Park. The event venue and finish were great and the HOC machine, guided by Chris McCartney, delivered smooth starts and results, and were present in force to help collect signs and controls in.”

• Results
• RouteGadget

The West Midlands Urban League scores and standings after the first three events can be viewed on the WMUL site.  The fourth and final event will be on the 13^th October in Stratford, organised by Octavian Droobers.  More details are here.