Event spotlight: British Night Championships 2026

Written by Alan Rosen & Mike Bennett

Hertfordshire Orienteering Club initially intended to use both Burnham Beeches (site of the 1984 Night Champs) and the privately-owned Egypt Woods.  With Burnham Beeches being designated a National Nature Reserve and a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), we had to make the most of Egypt plus the narrow strips of Hangings and Jennings Woods to the north.

All images credited to Rob Lines.

The area is affected by significant bracken for much of the year, and it was a nervous few months as we tried to work out which areas would be traversable and where longer legs would have route choice and not just be an obvious path run; judging by the post-event feedback, the GPS tracks and Routegadget, the level of challenge was welcomed by many runners.

Simon Errington’s map was widely praised for its depiction of the complex vegetation - many thanks to him for all the time spent surveying the area.

We wanted to make the event feel like a British Champs, so the addition of GPS tracking on courses 1 & 2, plus Live Results online, successfully added to the atmosphere in the marquee where large displays showed who was navigating accurately and who was wobbling (with thanks to Kevin Parkes and his team for sorting out the technology). 

Well done to Megan Mitchell (SBOC, W21L), Graham Gristwood (FVO, M21L, winning his 9^th title) and to everyone who took away a medal and a pot of Hertfordshire chutney or pickle.

British Night Championships 2026 Results

On Sunday, the Ace of Herts event attracted an even larger entry with Helen Marsden’s middle-distance courses keeping everyone on their toes, a different challenge to Alan’s night courses.

The biggest impediment of the weekend, of course, was the parking field, which didn’t appreciate the wet winter, and despite providing matting, we ended up parking vehicles in the forest and on the adjacent road; not ideal, but it worked. Thanks to Ian Byford, Neil Gostick and the parking team, and especially to the farmer and her team, for dealing with the difficult conditions.

Finally, a big thank you to Neil Crickmore (SO) for controlling both events and to all the HH and LOK helpers who worked cheerfully both beforehand and throughout two long days to make the weekend such a success.

Next year’s BNOC is hosted by SBOC on 20 February 2027 at Broughton Burrows on the Gower.

Next year's British Night Championships will be hosted by Swansea Bay Orienteering Club at Broughton Burrows, South Wales. Save the date for Saturday 20 February 2027 to your calendars! More details will follow later on in the year.