It already seems a long time ago but Lochaber 2021, the 23rd in the Scottish Orienteering 6-Day event series, finally took place after many ups and downs. That we were able to put the event on at all was a minor triumph. There were several occasions when it appeared as if all the advance preparations would be in vain and it was only through the willingness of our main suppliers to let us place contracts at a late date that we were able to make a decision at the last moment to go ahead. We were obviously disappointed that a full 6-day programme could not take place but the 2 × 3-day format seems to have met with general approval in the circumstances.
Huge thanks are due to the coordinator, Richard Oxlade, and his Central Organising Team and all the planners, organisers and controllers for putting in the considerable amount of work required for the staging of the event, often at short notice and with tight deadlines, and to make sure the event maintained the high standard set by previous events. Thanks are also due to Colin Matheson, who has acted as the Assistant Event Coordinator over the last 10 years, taking in six 6-day events as well as the World Championships in 2015, and who retires after this event.
The event is very dependent on landowners who give us permission to run on their land and are also part of their local community. We are very grateful to them for keeping faith with us during the months when lockdown meant we were unable to visit the area. We also had numerous discussions with the Scottish Government, sportscotland, Local Authorities, local councillors and the police to keep them advised of our plans and the measures put in place in respect of all the Covid issues.
The weather was generally kind to us being much better than forecast on most days. Ben Nevis was visible every day and for most of the day which is a minor miracle in itself!
Finally, a big thank you is due to you, the competitors, for bearing with us even though last minute decisions meant that you could have lost deposits on accommodation if the event had been cancelled. We hope you had a great time in this beautiful part of Scotland and look forward to welcoming you again in 2 years’ time for Moray 2023. We will confirm the dates for Moray in mid-September. We will be in touch soon to offer refunds for the orienteering days that you lost because of the 2 × 3-day format.
Dave Kershaw
Chair, Scottish Orienteering 6-Day Event Co
The results have now been tidied up and are no longer marked as provisional. Please let us know if there are any remaining issues, especially with BOF numbers, and we will post a new, hopefully final, version after the weekend.
Our new Lochaber 2021 event summary has the full run-down of the week’s orienteering!
Finally, if you are interested in ordering a Lochaber 2021 O-top or buff then please let us know, so we can gauge interest.