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Share  Tweet Friday 22nd June 2018

UK Urban League 2017

The final race of the 2017 UK Urban League was scheduled for last December at Castle Vale, Birmingham, but heavy snow and an amber weather warning forced Harlequins Orienteering Club to postpone. They chose June, combining with the Birmingham University sprints to create an attractive weekend. And no snow.

UKUL Organiser Roger Thetford thanked the sponsors BML Print, CompassSport and Ultrasport, before handing out the trophies (bricks!) and Ultrasport vouchers to the winners.

Joel Taylor (TVOC) and Ella May Rush (BOK) dominated the Young Junior (12-) categories, each racking up a perfect score. James Lowthian (NOC) and Aimee Darley (GO) took the Junior (16-) categories.

Leon Foster (AIRE) retained his Men’s Open brick and Tereza Maria Rush (BOK) followed suit for the women. Martin Ward (SYO) won his eighth Men’s Veterans (40+) title in ten years, and Jane Anthony (SROC) retained her Women’s Veteran brick by a handsome margin.

In the Men’s SuperVets (55+), John Embrey (DEE) climbed a place to number one, as did Lindsey Knox (RR) for the women. Bob Dredge (WCH) claimed a narrow Men’s UltraVet (65+) win. The top two female Ultravets were tied on points before Castle Vale, but Liz Godfree (DVO) managed to improve her score whereas Heather Smithard (KFO) did not. The new HyperVet (75+) bricks both headed for the Goodair household: Guy Goodair (EPOC) won the men’s title, Judith Goodair the women’s.

There were also prizes for the three closest runners-up, across all categories. Ruth Rhodes (SO) matched Judith Goodair’s WHV total, losing out only on tie-break (head-to-head record: Judith recovered from 1-0 down to win 6-1). The other two prizes went to Mike Smithard (DEE), who closed at Castle Vale to within 3 points of Bob Dredge, and Heather Smithard, just five points adrift in the WUV category.

Photo credit: Steve Rush (Bristol Orienteering Klub)

The photo above (left to right):  Ella May Rush, Tereza Rush, Martin Ward, John Embrey, Liz Godfree, Guy Goodair, Judith Goodair.

The 2018 UKUL is well underway. Birmingham University was race 11 out of 20, and events come thick and fast in the summer months when the forests are thick and slow! http://www.oxfordfusion.com/ukul/ gives the latest scores. Not many people have yet completed a scoring set but several of last year’s champions are already riding high.

Birmingham University.  Photos Credit: Steve Rush (BOK)

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