Dead-Heat on the Street
Forth Valley Orienteers continued their fine form in the Scottish Urban League, as they brought home four course winners, including a dead heat on one course, and ten class medals at the Edinburgh City Race in the capital.
In 2025, the club's urban performers notched half the overall class medals for the year, and they were in equally-impressive form for the 2026 season opener, where Laura Hendrie and Holly Stodgell couldn't be separated on Course 5, as they logged identical times of 32.01 to share the honours
There was a club 1-2 in Women's SuperVet, where Alison Cunningham topped the class and the course in 41.21, for her 54th win from 58 starts over an eight year period. She had to look sharp to hold off defending Veteran champion Rachel Kirkland, who has changed age class this year, and was 42 seconds behind in 2nd.
Big day for the FVO Vet Men, as Will Hensman won the class in 47.25, with Roger Goddard, Mark Johnston, Paul Hammond and Rob Truswell also in the top 10, while in Men's SuperVet, Mark Wood was prominent in 3rd in 46.21.
Liz Godfree was 2nd in Womens UltraVet (55.34) and Lucile MacLeod set a new record for longevity, as she became the first W85 competitor in FVO history, and wasn't last.
A number of Edinburgh University students chose to race on the Junior course, as sprint practice, so the overall results were distorted, but James Edward was 2nd in Junior Men (17.46) and Esme Finch was 3rd in Junior Women (23.33) while Oscar Baikie held his nerve while those around him were mispunching, and took 3rd place in Young Junior Men (43.47)
Further south, there was a small party in action at the South of England Championships, with a familiar course winner and a breakout performance from a young athlete. Sarah Rollins is no longer eligible to be Southern champion, having committed to FVO for 2026, but she was in imperious form, as she headed the W21E course in a time of 98.11 for a big win.
Amy Marsden was out unaccompanied in a championship race for the first time, and did it just right, as she took the bronze medal in W10B (37.08). Younger brother Sam still needs a bit of parental support, but he managed just fine on the White course, where he was 3rd (45.26).