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Share  Tweet Wednesday 17th August 2022

Luke Bennett (Dartford Orienteering Klubb) and his recent Lagganlia 2022 tour

Luke's Lagganlia Tour Report.  Source Dartford Orienteering Klubb's website.

Report written by Luke Bennett (member of Dartford Orienteering Klubb)

Day 3: Creag Beag - Time Trial
Day 2: Roseisle - Contour Exercises

I was extremely lucky to have been selected for the Lagganlia 2022 tour which includes 6 days of Orienteering training. Being in the Scottish highlands, all 6 days were in physically demanding and technically challenging areas (Very different to the terrain in the South East!).

Day 1: Moor of Alvie

Having never run in Scotland before, day 1 was a bit of a shock to see how intricate the contours were and how different the terrain was. First we went for a walk to discuss how the mapper had mapped the terrain and how it differed to the areas we were used to. For me I was surprised at how few paths there were and how the "runnable forest" was not actually that runnable! Overall, struggled a bit on the first day and I was very hesitant on longer legs and around the control circle but I grew in confidence as the day went on and I got more familiar with the map.

Day 2: Roseisle

According to the Scottish people at Lagganlia, Roseisle is one of the nicest places in Scotland, and I couldn't disagree. The coastal pine forest was very runnable with many intricate contour features. There were also a few major paths which would act as nice catching features (however as we were given our maps for the day, I discovered that the paths had been removed from the map). I felt that this, however, helped me to not be so reliant on the paths and look up and use contour features as handrails to guide me to a control. After lunch, we did a line course and a diversion course where we had 10 normal controls, and we had to pick 2 diversion controls to run to. I found the navigation tough but I enjoyed having the freedom to pick 2 extra controls to run to as It made me think more as I was running.

Day 3: Creag Beag

Creag Beag is a typical Scottish hillside/moorland and so running was very tough. In the morning, we did an 800m time trial (400m on a path and 400m in the forest) to get a ratio for us to use on a course when we have a choice of taking a direct route or using a path. After Lunch, we did a few exercises further up the hill. It was very open as we were quite high up however it was not runnable due to te heather, bracken and rocks underfoot. Consequently, I spent more time focussing on navigation instead of running and made little to no mistakes.

Day 4: Glenmore Lodge + Badaguish (KO Sprint races)

By far, this was the day I was looking forward to most. Being from the South East, sprint racing is one of my favourite types of orienteering. We did the sprint heats (which would seed us for the semi finals) at Glenmore Lodge which was mainly open with patches of forest and a big building with perfect spots for control sites around its perimeter. It was treated like a proper sprint event so it was a silent start and we were called up at -3. When I started , I made a massive mistake of not checking the scale of the map. Consequently, I overshot control 1 by 30 meters which cost me top 3. Before we moved on to Badaguish, we were called into a conference room one by one to choose our 'runners choice' leg for the semi finals. The semi finals went well, I finished second in my group and I was happy with my runners choice leg. I made a mistake in the final but I was really happy with how the day went. In the afternoon, we were given downtime to explore Aviemore and also swim in a Loch.

Day 5: Culbin

Earlier in the week, we had drawn a sketch map of Culbin which was an exercise I was a bit nervous about because I didn't know if I had too much or too little information on my map. However, one of my main focusses of the week was on simplification so I was really happy when I completed the course having hit every control spot on every time. I felt I was now becoming more confident with using contour features and compass bearings. Finally, we did a star relay which I found really beneficial for making quick route choices and then having to execute them perfectly.

Day 6: North Granish (Tour Championships)

It was the last day of orienteering and it was time to show off what we had learned that week. I thought I started the course quite slowly as I was being quite cautious and I made a few small mistakes however as I grew into the course I stopped making those mistakes. North Granish was a tricky area, it consisted of runnable forest with a few pockets of open land but there were many small depressions, knolls and marshes. In the second half of the course I had good accuracy and control flow... until towards the end when I dropped my map and it blew away! Luckily, on a pervious long leg, I had planned most of my legs and had memorised the general route. I also had to rely on my compass and control descriptions a lot more making it a very tough end to the course! I had dropped from 3rd position to 6th but I didn't mind as I had navigated Scottish terrain without a map which is something I definitely could not have done at the start of the week.

Overall, I am extremely grateful for being given the opportunity and it has helped me improve my orienteering massively but it has also expanded my orienteering social network which I believe is really important. Whether you are young, old, experienced or inexperienced, I highly recommend that you give orienteering a go in Scotland as you will experience a very different terrain which I found was a very valuable learning experience.

Day 4: Glenmore Lodge - Sprint Heats
Day 2: Roseisle - Diversion Race
Day 4: Badaguish - Sprint Final
Day 6: North Granish - Tour Champs
Day 6: North Granish- Tour Champs start
Day 5: Culbin - Star Relay
Day 5: Culbin - Sketch Map
Day 4: Badaguish - Sprint Semi-final (Runner's choice)

Photo credits: Wendy Carlyle (Airienteers)

Thank you to Luke and to Dartford Orienteering Klubb for sharing this news story with British Orienteering.

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