We're still hoping to bring you the events we've scheduled for 2021, but, in the meantime, along with many other clubs, we've been continuing to develop our catalogue of virtual MapRun courses. The courses are similar to those we put on in our Summer Series - the latest offerings are a score course in Aldeburgh, thanks to Ray, & a long & short linear course in Elmswell, generated by Sarah's Purple Pen. At the suggestion of one of our regular MapRunners we're also beginning to put together some 5Km Run Routes, e.g. this one in Elmswell. As they're fairly simple routes they'll be a good introduction to MapRun, in addition providing a timed route for those missing their regular parkrun!
So - have a go, have fun, & encourage your friends to try our virtual courses to liven up Xmas & the New Year..
The current restrictions mean that we have to postpone our Tunstall Forest event for members - we'll keep you posted!
In the meantime, the forests are still open for you to run or walk in individually or with a friend, & our MapRun courses are available for virtual orienteering
Have you tried any of our MapRun courses? We now have a variety of courses, situated in many parts of the county - enough for us to be able to set up a League for these courses, in addition to our regular league for official events. Sarah has set up a pilot league for the remaining months in 2020 & this will be scaled up for next year.
The courses for November league points are Felixstowe Long & Claydon & Blakenham (All the original courses are still available on MapRunF at the moment but aren't included in the league any longer).
At our Haughley Park event on Sunday the club made a presentation to John & June Webb in recognition of their outstanding contribution to orienteering in Suffolk. The committee had spent some time discussing the ideal gift for two dedicated orienteers & decided that a large-scale map of Ickworth Park, together with a purpose-made 2000 piece jigsaw puzzle based on the map, would be perfect.
John & June have been involved with the club for well over 40 years: planning, mapping, acting as committee members & volunteering at events, in addition to competing (which they still do as an M80 & W85). Martin Hore introduced the presentation - you can read his text here & find further reminiscences on our "Looking Back" webpage.
We've done "Lockdown Orienteering" & "Virtual Bury St Edmunds" - now that we're allowed a little more freedom, albeit very carefully, why not try running a real orienteering course? We can't offer mass events with physical SI controls but we have been working on courses which you can follow on your own, or with your family group, using the GPS on your smartphone together with an app, MapRunF.
We've a handful of courses already waiting for you - mainly Street-Os at the moment, similar to some of our Summer Series events, as we need to choose areas with easy public access. There's a whole new section on the website explaining what to do, starting from here, so why not give it a go & share your results with us?
