Autumn is definitely upon us now, and the darkening evenings are becoming more apparent. But don’t despair – the Wessex Region Night League will soon be upon us!! The final list of events will soon be published  – Gavin Clegg is working hard at this very moment on the it – but there’s guaranteed to be a great selection throughout the area. 20 events I hear.  So get those head-torch batteries charged up!

Last Saturday a handful of WSX members went up to the Barbican for the London City Race. It was a lovely day, perfect for running. Initially, the first several controls were pretty straightforward, and favoured the fast runners (i.e. not me!) but then the technicalities started to kick in and one had to really keep in close contact with the map at all times. This was particularly the case in the Barbican building itself as there were three layers mapped and it was extremely tricky working out which layer your control was on and, even harder, finding out the best route to get there! On more than one occasion I managed to get to my control more by luck than judgement. But it was great fun and, although none of  us had outstanding results, we didn’t have any disasters.

Yesterday evening, WIM held the last of the Summer League events at Bytheway (lovely name!) near Wimborne. Luckily the weather was kind and it was a great evening with over 30 competitors taking part in the 60 minute Score. Things were made a bit trickier by the fact that there were no control flags, but it was the same for everyone so it all balances out.

WSX members did us proud by taking the top 5 places

Dale 1st; James 2nd; Alan 3rd; Roger 4th and Emma 5th (although technically Emma is a Cambridge Uni member!)

Next Sunday, you have the choice of the NWO’s Haydon Wick Urban in Swindon or the local SOC event at Hasley Hill in the New Forest. Full details on their websites.

This Friday is our AGM/Quiz at Queens Park. If you still want to come, let me know.