All Aboard the JK Express
All roads lead to Perthshire this week, as Forth Valley Orienteers will send a record number of competitors to the largest event in the UK, the Jan Kjellstrom International Festival, which takes place in Scotland for the first time in 14 years.
The festival moves around the twelve regions of the UK on rotation, although Scotland had its slot moved by two years to accommodate the World Championships in 2024, and 150 local athletes, including 42 for whom this will be their tournament debut, will make their way north for races in Perth City Centre, a double header in the forests of Rannoch and finishing up with a relay close by at Tullochroisk.
This number doesn't include more than a dozen key event officials from FVO, including the planners and organisers for both forest days, the sprint event organisers and the overall event co-ordinator, club captain Jon Cross.
The final warmup event was a local race at Bantaskine in Falkirk, although many of the course winners were from outside the club. The Blue course was won in 27.40 by INT's Tom Lines, but he was made to work hard by Peter Owen, who was close behind in 30.23, while STUOC's Hamish Meikie was 3rd on the day, in 34.01.
There's another win for a visitor on the Green course, where ELO's Evgueni Chepelin topped the standings in 36.41, but Alastair Skeffington was right on his heels in 37.12, with a 30 second drop on the fifth leg proving costly, and Heather Thomson took 3rd spot in 37.51.
STUOC's Katie Smith headed the pack on Light Green for her first-ever win, as she was back in 32.35. Rose Martin looked set for the victory, as she was quickest through the forest stage, but got tangled up in the sprint finish and dropped four minutes to log a time of 34.28, while Geoffrey Hensman ground out a steady performance for a time of 41.42 and 3rd on the course.
TAY veteran Michael Pearson was quickest on the Orange course, in 40.11, as Hannah Buchanan-Smith was a close 2nd (41.57) and Sara Harrison ran on for 3rd in 48.09, while Yellow saw the only local winner, as Fergus McIntyre looked strong for a good win in 13.30. William Bonham (18.09) was 2nd, and third went to a visiting athlete in 18.22, but no name was recorded.