Junior Update – Jan 2014

juniors, news

Recent Events

Beat the time!
Beat the time!

At the Christmas Social and training event on 28th December the juniors carried out time trials around the maze, to see who could put in the fastest run.
Sam Fielding was awarded the Marsden Cup for best junior contribution last year.
At the Ace of Herts event at Ashridge we were surprised to be sharing a car park with a film crew. It could have been even more surprising if we’d stayed till dark, though – they were filming an episode of Release the Hounds, so late runners could have had extra encouragement to finish quickly.

Your team needs you!

HH has two big competitions coming up:

  • The Compass Sport Cup is on Sunday 16h February at Broxbourne. Every runner gets a point score, and the best 25 count for the club – but juniors are really important because only 4 from each age class count so we need people in every age group.
  • The Yvette Baker Trophy, a junior competition which needs you all to contribute. We’ve got the runners to do well this year, so put it in your diary – see below…
    Note change of venue: we are now competing at Millbank near Sevenoaks; the date is unchanged, still on March 9th.

 Dates for your diary

Sunday 16th February Compass Sport Cup at Broxbourne
Friday 21st February All-day training at Lees Wood Campsite, Whippendell
Sunday 9th March 2014  Yvette Baker Trophy Heat – Millbank near Sevenoaks
Monday 7th April 2014  All-day training at Chipperfield
Saturday 10th May Training after the Saturday event at Cassiobury

As usual, Keith has some ideas to brighten up your weekends!  His latest article is just below.

Frances.

Why not try No 8

Start of another year – and a time to look forward to things you might be doing in 2014.

Have you completed your calendar for the early part of the year? Up until Easter?

There are of course the usual HH Saturday series events starting with Nomansland Common on 1st February. And followed by Northaw (1st March), Chipperfield Common (5th April) and Cassiobury Park (10th May).

Which of these is your favourite area? I vote for Northaw!

The following month is the HH Sprint Champs at Haberdashers’; now you wouldn’t want to miss that one would you!

And if you’re looking to travel a bit further, why not try Blackheath near Guildford on 2nd February or, one of my favourites, the Chiltern Challenge at Nettlebed (love that name) near Henley on the river Thames on 9th February. Can’t think of anything nicer than finding a tea shop next to the river and enjoying an after-race cream cake!

Why did I mention Easter earlier in the piece? Well Easter is the date for the biggest orienteering event in the National calendar – the JK. Regular readers will know that the JK is a four day event held over the Easter weekend and attracting about 2000 orienteers, not just from UK from around the world. (See ‘Why not try No 7’ for the full picture)

This year the JK will be held in South Wales – for those who know the area, in the Heads of the Valleys. Just don’t ask me to pronounce the names of the areas or even to spell them correctly.

Highlight of the weekend will be the Relays on Easter Monday, where as usual HH would expect to see some podium places. Will you be one of them? Book your relay slot with the Club Captain as soon as you can – and HH will pay your entry fee.

Enjoy your orienteering spring. Hope to see you at junior training on 21st February.

Keith Marsden