On Sunday 19th April, 42 Club members competed in the Midlands Orienteering Championships on Brown Clee Hill in Shropshire. The event followed the British Middle Distance Champs on the Saturday, attended by 36 DVO. Our podium finisher in the fiendishly difficult Middle Distance race was W75 Judith Holt, who came 3rd 
Full Results here.
Brown Clee is a varied area, with a complex north-eastern part with contours, marshes and copses chucked in and stirred about at random. The south-west slope is grazed by sheep, with nice parallel marshes and much faster running. On the east side near the parking field and Finish is mixed woodland on a fast downhill slope.
Many of us were dreading the longer race after our Saturday performance, but actually it was easier as the planner made use of the faster areas. DVO produced five Midlands Champions, but first here are all the Midlands Clubs!
Without further ado, the DVO winners were:
M55 Richard Parkin
M60 John Duckworth
M70 Graham Johnson
W60 Ann-Marie Duckworth
W65 Val Johnson
The map extract gives a flavour of the challenge. The summit (highest in Shropshire) is Abdon Burf at 540m (177ft). Fortunately the weather was good, but an extra challenge was the underlying dolerite seams that deflected the compass needle (that’s my excuse, anyway!).
The 2027 Midlands Championships take place on March 14th at Hazelborough Woods, near Silverstone.
