Harvester Success

An intrepid FVO team made the journey to Penhale Sands near Newquay this weekend to run in the Harvester Trophy (overnight relay for teams of seven).

For those of you who have not been there before, Penhale is a large area of detailed grassy sandy dunes, highly technical orienteering by day let alone by night!

Duncan Francis got the team off to a great start, coming back 2nd on the first leg (which starts at midnight). As the night wore on, the sea mist closed in and made the navigation even more tricky, meaning significant mistakes for all teams.

The race settled down into a battle between FVO and South Yorkshire, with Nottingham trying to close the gap. FVO had the lead for a while through the night and dawn stages, but as the weather cleared were gradually pegged back by the other two teams, until the last leg runners went out with only 45 seconds covering all three teams and FVO in third.

And that was how it stayed, with ex-FVO member Nick Barrable bringing South Yorkshire home in first, ahead of Nottingham in second with the FVO team in third (over an hour ahead of fourth!).

Third place is certainly the best position I can remember FVO ever achieving in the Harvester, so many congratulations to everyone involved - full team Duncan Francis, Jon Marsden, Steve Nicholson, Jon Cross, Fraser Purves, Hugh Buchanan and Will Hensman