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Morpeth Fair Weekend – British Mixed Sprint Relays and Morpeth Urban

Saturday 9th. June: British Mixed Sprint Relay - Pegswood, Morpeth, Northumberland
Sunday 10th June: Urban Races - Morpeth, Northumberland

Newcastle and Tyneside Orienteers pulled out all the stops, as a small club, to host a big weekend! The weather was warm and the rain held off until courses closed on Sunday. Orienteering clubs from Scotland to Cornwall were represented at the British Mixed Sprint Relays and Morpeth urban events.

Saturday (9 June) saw the British Mixed Sprint Relays in Pegswood, which were hotly contested by competitive teams. The event used a relatively small area, a combination of woodland on a reclaimed colliery waste heap and several housing complexes, therefore testing at least two discipline techniques. With bigger numbers of participants, the Open class, in particular, could produce even more entertaining head-to-head racing.

The open class started first so everyone could watch that before the other classes started. The mass starts, handovers and spectator control made the day fun to watch.

On Sunday (10 June), amid the bustle of Morpeth Fair and its parade including pipers and vintage cars, 7 different courses took orienteers all around the houses. Route choices began right from the start kite, causing speculation among participants waiting to start on the busier courses. There was a timed out section which was in place to cover any competitors reaching the crossing point at the same time as the parade was passing and a gap needed to be found. This was staffed by volunteers from Morpeth Lions.

Young juniors orienteered in the centrally located Carlisle Park, which also held a 1km ‘Come and Try it’ event. The longest four courses had a double-sided map with a surprise: turn over and head straight into the longest leg, taking orienteers diagonally across the map. Courses were a little longer than many urban races have been of late, so competitors could take in some new areas of Morpeth. It is a market town with an ornamental park and school grounds all set in a river valley, surrounded by modern housing estates.

Officials: 

Saturday 9th June: British Mixed Sprint Relay: 
Weekend Coordinator: John Crosby (NATO), Planner: Adrian Barnes (NATO), Organiser: James Boyd (NATO), Controller: Alan Cranke (CLOK)

Sunday 10th June: Urban Races: 
Weekend Coordinator: John Crosby (NATO), Planner: Adrian Barnes (NATO), Controller: Chris Mackenzie (CLOK)
 

British Orienteering would like to take this opportunity to especially thank the Weekend Coordinator John Crosby and officials and also volunteers from clubs who worked hard in putting on this great weekend of orienteering in the North East of England.
 

Results are available on Fabian4 website here.

For more information please visit the Newcastle and Tyneside Orienteers website here.

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