Over 30 Harlequins made their way up to Perthshire, Scotland for the annual Easter weekend 4 day festival of orienteering.

Perth hosted the Day 1 Sprint with a City Centre arena, and courses either visiting North Inch Park, or starting to the east of the city centre across the River Tay. Early starters had the best of the weather with the rain coming down mid-morning making conditions slippery. Top 3 results from HOC members came from Danny Fox (2nd, M10), Georgina Hudson (2nd, W12) and Isla Foffa (1st WOpen).

The action moved to Rannoch Forest by the beautiful Loch Rannoch for Day 2’s Middle and Day 3’s Long races. With the forest already tough and technical, the weather intervened to provide additional challenge with snow arriving from early Saturday morning. Storm Dave joined in on Saturday evening and there were further blizzards on Sunday to add to the fun, making the weekend a real test of endurance. HOCs in the Overall Top 3 (Days 2 and 3 combined): Andy Hemsted (2nd, M75L), Ada Atkins (3rd, W10A), Ian Gamlen (1st, M60S), Kath Atkins (1st, W45S), Jamie Atkins (2nd, M12B), Isla Foffa (2nd, W21L). Congratulations to all!

Most Harlequins stayed through Easter Monday, meaning that we were able to field a bumper crop of nine relay teams in various categories. The Scottish Orienteering Association rose to the challenges of the weather again, with tweaks to the arena and timings to keep the event on, rounding off a long weekend of organisational challenges successfully navigated by them.

Full results and links to comprehensive photo albums are here, with a small selection of official photos reproduced below, with credit to Wendy Carlyle: