Spring Trail Quest Series Round 2
[Hillsborough]
The second and final round of the Spring Trail Quests took place from event headquarters at the Hillsborough Village Centre. Riders were greeted with a superb April day, blue skies and sunshine and shorts and short sleeves seemed the right attire. These leisure orienteering events attract a hardcore of participants who just can't get enough of the fun events but this rould seen a number of newcomers to the event who, as expected, are not addicted. With the sunny start many riders had turned up early to sign on and the organiser, Mark Greer of Maryland Wheelers, took the decision to start the event early. First away was Bobby Smyth, one of 3 solo riders on the day. Turn out was not as good as expected but at this time of the year the events calendars are very full and a lot of the regulars were busy enjoying the sunshine in other locations.
Mark had been busy in the weeks leading up the event putting out markers across a wide stretch of County Down from the monument in Hillsborough to Ballynahinch with all markers set to the west of the main Lisburn to Ballynahinch road. Markers had points values from 10 to 30 with a maximum number of 465 points for all 30 markers. With the majority of the markers fairly easy to find there were only a couple of locations that proved more difficult for the teams.
Most successful on the day was orienteer Paul McArthur who finished with 217 points. He was followed by team "The Losers" who got 192 points with pairing Michael Foley and Robert Haughey getting their best result yet, 3rd with 165 points.
Many thanks to Mark Greer for setting up the event and to the other Maryland Wheelers members who sorted out the admin and fed us afterwards.
Report by Martin Grimley
Photos by Martin and Mark Greer
IF YOU WISH TO BE KEPT INFORMED OF ANY UPCOMING TRAIL QUESTS PLEASE SEND AN EMAIL TO MARTIN @ DROMARA CYCING CLUB.
martin@dromaracc.co.uk
