Thirteen members of Wrekin Orienteers made the long journey to Pippingford Park in Sussex last weekend (October 18th) to compete in the CompassSport Trophy Final for 2026, an event we had qualified for earlier in the year. That gave us just enough for a full team, but with no room for mis-punches or retirements if we were to achieve a competitive score.
The morning started with beautiful sunshine, although heavy rain came in suddenly before the last finishers came in, perhaps damping their enjoyment of mostly runnable woods plus some open areas near the start of the courses.
Fortunately we all made it round with no errors or run-ending injuries, and we ended up with a total score of 1066 points (maybe appropriate for Sussex?), leaving us 12th of the 15 participating clubs. That may not sound great, but let’s remember it’s only a few clubs that qualify in the first place!
We congratulate winners Border Liners from Cumbria, who scored a narrow victory over Scottish club Interlopers and third-placed Saxons.
Next year’s final is in Oxfordshire, a bit closer to home, so perhaps an opportunity to build on this year’s performance. Our qualifying round will be on February 7th 2027, hosted by Harlequins at Croft Castle, just down the A49, so a great venue for a strong turn-out.
