HALO have a number of high profile events in the near future and will need more than the normal number of helpers.

Monday July 1st North Lincs Schools Orienteering Final - Oasis Academy, Grimsby (daytime).  Contact Brian Slater if you are able to help at this one.

Friday July 12th The Humber Games Orienteering Final - Hymers College, Hull.  The culmination of the four local authority schools orienteering competitions.  Other sports will also be taking place.  Contact Neil Harvatt if you are able to help here, giving T shirt size.  The School Games organisers are providing T shirts for volunteers.

The above two events won't need too many more helpers (many have already volunteered), it's the two below that really need YOU!

The Hull-O weekend.

Saturday July 20th - YHOA Sprint Championships at Hull University (Organiser Ken Hutson)

Sunday July 21st - Hull Urban NopeSport Race (Organiser Amanda Ward)

If you can help (for even a short period of time), contact Ken , Amanda or Neil Harvatt (weekend coordinator) (neilhalo-orienteering.org.uk).  You will be able to run also.

Entries have already started to come in through Fabian4, if you want to take part and help contact Ken, Amanda or Neil for a helpers discount code prior to entering

There will also be a half price technical event T shirts for helpers (£5), we couldn't add this reduction to Fabian, so either let Neil know or add it to your entry and you'll get the extra money back.

Thanks in anticipation.

Full details of the event(s) taking place this Wednesday can be found elsewhere.

One additional event is a picture quiz based on Lincolnshire and 'O' Trivia that I have compiled. Entry is free but if anyone wishes to make a contribution to my sponsorship for running the Great North Run it would be appreciated (on behalf of the Air Ambulance). Question papers from registration, answers and prizes at the presentations in the Blacksmith Arms at Rothwell (All welcome).

One change to the Poacher Long Course - Qualifying minimum distances have been reduced to 5km (Females and over 60 Males) and 6km (under 60's).

Climb on the courses varies from 40m to 115m, from 1km course to 3km course.

The LCS minimum distances remain at 4km Seniors and 2.5km Juniors, similar distances for the Poacher Medium and Short courses. 

The Linconshire Urban League is up and running, after the first round at Horncastle, hosted by LOG. 10 HALO members made the journey down Caistor High Street, with those travelling from Wootton and South Cave running excellent times on their respective courses.

Results can be found by following the link below. 

 http://www.logonline.org.uk/wp/events-calendar/summer-series-2013/horncastle-town-13th-june-2013/

Series Table And Team Scores can be found here

Round 2 will be the bustling Market Town of Brigg on Thursday 20th June, 2013.

3 courses  approx 2k, 4k & 6k. Your chance to sample the delights of Urban Orienteering in your local area during the Summer. Nearly as exhilarating as the Poacher Series and excellent practice for the Hull-O Event.

When travelling away use and support the Car Share Scheme on the web page and follow on twitter #LincsUrbanO

Scoring :

Individual  - as in Poacher 50 points 1st, 49 points 2nd, 48 points 3rd etc.

Prizes - 1st male and 1st female on each course

Best 4 out of 6 scores count

Team - the number of counters at each event will be the number of scoring runs by participants of the 'away' team. So if 12 HALO members compete at Horncastle all 12 individual's points will be added together to give the HALO Team total and then the best 12 LOG scorers will be added together for their Team total. All mispunches, retirements or disqualifications are excluded from calculations. Then if only 9 LOG members compete at Brigg there will be only 9 scorers for each team. If the 'away' team have more competitors than the 'home' team, then the lowest number i.e. the 'home' team's number will be used.

This is an experiment, but hopefully this will give an added incentive for competitors to travel to the 'away' matches as their run will not only count individually but also for their respective teams.

The YBT final will take at Belton Park (National Trust) near Grantham on Sunday 7 July 2013 and is being organised by LOG.

Final Details are here - http://www.logonline.org.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/2013/YBTFinaldetails2013.pdf

If you can let Neil Harvatt know your availablility as he will need to submit the team in advance for start times.

There are still several heats to be held but at the moment the following other clubs have qualified for the final - DEVON, CLOK, WCH, POW, LOC and possibily MDOC.

The Lincolnshire Poacher format changes for the last 3 events (just like last year).

5 courses to choose from - 1k,1.5k,2k,2.5k & 3k.

Full details are shown here.

Trust all is clear and hope to see you all at Normanby Hall on Wednesday.

The last event will also incorporate the Lincolnshire Challenge Shield - the annual HALO v LOG team competition. The rules for this will be posted in due course - but if you are a HALO member and you fulfil the Poacher criteria you will also meet the LCS rules and score in both competitions contemporaneously.

Normanby Park Photos

The late May Bank Holiday Weekend brought glorious weather and some fine Urban Orienteering to both Yorkshire and Shropshire. 

HALO were mostly well represented (well, thanks to Pete "Poacher" Harris we managed a HALO run at Ludlow!), at the back-to-back

Yorkshire Urban League races on Sunday in Ripon and on Monday in York. For those not "in the know" GET THERE EARLY to York!

Various results and photo links can be found for Ludlow, Ripon and York by following the links :) 

In conjunction with our neighbours LOG, HALO will be co-hosting a
Series of 6 Local Urban Events in Lincolnshire in early Summer on
Thursday evenings.

3 courses will be availaible, approximately 2,4 & 6 kms long.

A scoring system will be available in due course - with the best 4
scores out of 6 counting.

New Flyer here



The venues and dates are as follows : 

June 13th - Horncastle (Start/Assembly) : Horncastle College

June 20th - Brigg (Start/ Assembly) : Market Place

June 27th - Lincoln (Start/ Assembley) : Arboretum

July 4th - Barton (Start/Assembly : Baysgarth Park

July 11th - Sleaford (Start/ Assembly) : St Georges School

July 18th - Louth (Start/ Assembly) : Meridian Leisure Centre

These events should complement HALO's Poacher Series and LOG's Spring
Series by providing an alternative form of orienteering before the
Summer recess and give members from both clubs the chance to improve
their fitness and techniques before 'One Hull Of A Weekend' on July
20th/21st and the Lincon City Race on 31st August.



Note : we have planners for the Barton & Louth events but we still
require a volunteer for the Brigg Event.

Anybody interested should contact me accordingly asap @skybluepetetiscali.co.uk .Full support
given.

Two contrasting Urban Events this Sunday - Neil, Helen and Ken ventured to the Porto City Race, Neil finished 3rd (photo from Porto City Race Facebook Page)

with Results here - lots of photos via the Facebook Page too.

Meanwhile, in the depths of Derbyshire, Derwent Valley Orienteers hosted an East Midlands Urban League event in Chesterfield. Several #HaloUrbanRacingTeam

members attended, including most of the #WardOrienteeringTeam. Results here and RouteGadget here. 

HALO Results

and

HALO Photos

Congratulations to :

Charlotte Ward 1st (W21L)

Helen Smith 1st (W35S)

Brian Ward 1st (M50S)

plus : Emma Van Dam 1st on Colour Coded (VSE) whose time would have won W10B (same course)

Also notable efforts from :

George Van Dam 5th (M12A)

Amanda Ward 6th (W50S)

Paul Van Dam 9th (M45S)

Helena Crutchley 15th (W50L)

Neil Harvatt 39th (M55L)

Mary Carrick 31st (W60L)

plus all the Field family with Zac 5th (M18E),  Yasmin 10th (W14A), Rosie 13th (W45S), Joe 19th (M12A), Jake 20th (M18E) 

and Dean 54th (M50L) 

The first Yorkshire Urban League event of 2013 took place last Saturday at the University of York. Planner Adam Bradbury provided some intense sprint-style orienteering around the complex campus grounds, with middle distance type course lengths, concentration throughout was a must!

Star of the show was overall Course B winner, Charlotte Ward (pictured, photo by Adam Bradbury). Other notable HALO performances came from Dominic Simmonds, 4th Junior Men, Brian Ward, 4th Veteren Men and Neil Harvatt, 3rd, Mens Super-Veterens.

The East Riding Schools held their Orienteering Final on Tuesday April 30th 2013 at Burton Constable Hall.

Over 150 children had qualified to take place in this final.

Provisional team results can be seen here.

Hull Schools Orienteering Final takes place on Monday May 20th.

NE Lincs Schools Final takes place on Monday July 1st.

The N Lincs Schools Final took place on Friday April 26th.

The best five teams in each year group from each of the four local authority finals will compete in the Humber Games Final at Hymers College on Friday July 12th.

The Humber Games Final is part of the 2013 School Games and features many sports in addition to Orienteering.

In addition to the School Games, the Yorkshire and Humberside Orienteering Association will be holding a Primary School Competition on June 26th at Ripley Castle near Harrogate.  Details here.

It's a long clip but fast forward and watch it from 0:17:45 approx until 0:18:00, keeping an eye on the guy in red - recognise him?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDZoKsWo2Oo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4O8DmkAC2wI

The annual Lincolnshire Challenge Shield LOG v HALO match will this year be incorporated within the last Poacher event at Swallow Vale on June 19th. So not only will you be able to compete as an individual in the Poacher League you will also be able to represent the Club in the Challenge Shield. The format of the courses will be the same as previously stated i.e. 5 courses 1k, 1.5k, 2k, 2.5k, 3k and set minimum distances dependent on age and gender need to be completed to gain Poacher points and Shield points in the 2 different competitions. All classifications are based on minutes per km run. This format was used successfully last year in 3 Poacher Events and hence, will be repeated this year.

HALO's popular Wednesday evening Poacher Events returned on tonight WEDNESDAY 10th April. This year follows the same format as last year - with 8 cross country events , 2 Park Events and the last event a combination of the two!

NOTE The Ultra Veterans Trophy will this year be competed for on the Medium Course. Also it is unlikely that Poacher founder Pete Kullich wil be able to defend his trophy due to injury.

We have 3 new planning teams this year - thanks to Chris/Alex, Helen & Dave. More are always required and any other volunteers can easily be incorporated into this year's fixtures.

The Fixtures can be found here.

A Kite Collecting Rota can be found here. Your assistance in adhering to this is appreciated.

Follow on Twitter #HALOPoacherSeries or @Halorienteering

PLEASE NOTE THE FIXTURES AND PARKING ARRANGEMENTS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE  AT THE LAST MINUTE e.g. parking locations SO PLEASE CHECK BEFORE THE EVENT.

Also to complete your Spring/Summer Orienteering Evenings - HALO are jointly holding an Urban Series with LOG on 6 consecutive Thursdays starting on June 13th in Horncastle. Full details will be posted in due course. As part of the Series we will be incorporating the Lincolnshire Shield on June 20th and introducing two newly mapped areas - Barton-on-Humber and Louth. Plenty to look forward to.

Short video on the HALO Facebook Page

At the start of this year we had to cancel the first two club nights at Beverley.  I doubt that the snow then was as bad as it turned out last Monday.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/halo-o/sets/72157632999930105/

Next week (Monday 18th March) is the last week before easter, so we will be having the customary event plus feast and hopefully better weather.

Competing for England in her first, full Senior call up, Charlotte returned a victory in the Women's Open (W21) class in the Netherlands as England retained their Interland crown on foreign soil.

Results are a bit "flaky" at best - this link takes you to SplitsBrowser - select view "results table" then class "W21"

Charlotte completed what she describes as a "grotty" forest course of 8km (straight line) in 67:48 to finish ahead of 2nd overall (and 2nd England counter) Helen Gardner (not the EBOR Helen Gardner!) from SLOW in 69:16

Well Done #WardOrienteeringTeam member Charlotte Ward (!) 

Photo's

Congratulations to LOG, who were able to field a full strength team in a neighbouring area, and progress to the Final after defeating a plucky HALO team by 31 points.

Team Results : 1st LOG 1280 points, HALO 1249 and SUFFOC 936

The HALO individual point scorers were Charlotte Ward (100), Helena Crutchley(100), Sam Offler(100), Mark Tyzka(98), Jeff Slater(98), Dave Offler(98), Brian Ward(98),Paul Van Dam(95), Mary Carrick(94), Peter Harris(94), Mike Smith(92), Helen Smith (92) and Amanda Ward(90).

Everybody ran up to their or very close to their full potential - not too many mishaps and no mispunches. The 100 point scorers certainly need a special mention as it was certainly physically tough - the HALO tent at the end resembled a scene from M*A*S*H.

One should mention other Team HALO members who also hopefully enjoyed their experiences on such a pleasant day. The scores were Dorothy Smith(92), Paddy Neligan(90), Pete Shew(88), debutant Brian Hostad(86), John Butler(86), Isoldt Harris(84) and last but not least the Chairman(84).

Hopefully next year we will be on more local terrain and Neil is able to resume his Captain duties and somebody else can volunteer to be the oldest runner on the Brown Course.

At least we were first to post results on our website - or were all LOG competitors still celebrating in the Exeter Arms.

Last weekends events at Tankersley were also part of the newly formed UK Orienteering League - for both individuals and clubs. After the first two rounds HALO are currently in 15th place (2nd place amongst the 'small' clubs). Our top individual currently is Mary Carrick in 101st place - 32 places ahead of Neil Harvatt. Perserverance certainly paid off on Saturday evening (& well into Saturday night) for Mary, who can now claim to be just outside the top 100 orienteers in the country!!!! Details of the UK League can be found here. 

Over twenty hardy souls braved the wintry conditions on Wednesday.  Follow the Results tab on the right hand side of the web page.

Charlotte has been selected to represent England at the forthcoming Interland International match in Breda, Holland in mid March. Currently ranked 15th in her first year as a senior (Women 21), she obviously impressed selectors enough with her performances over the course of 2012 as a final year junior to gain her first senior cap. Hopefully the first of many!

Charlotte has been selected for The University of Sheffield, Elite Sports Performance Scheme, for orienteering. Based on her current British Orienteering ranking in the Women 21 class (first year Senior), and her performances in winning three Urban League titles in 2012 - including the National "Nopesport" Urban League, as well as the Yorkshire Urban League and the South of England Urban League. Charlotte also won outright several very high profile urban races including the Oxford City Race.

Many thanks to Brian Slater for providing a very convincing and detailed coaches report to help Charlotte achieve her goal of being accepted into the ESPS at Sheffield. 

Confirmation that HALO's Urban Event on July 21st has been selected for inclusion as part of the UK wide 2013 Nopesport Urban League.

The other 15 fixtures and details of the League can be found at  http://urbanleague.nopesport.com

Hopefully HALO's Charlotte Ward will be able to defend her Women's Open title in 2013 by accumulating sufficient points before heading off to Canada ?