January 22-24th, a weekend of thrills, spills and chills. Of sore muscles and sore heads. Of muddy shoes and dancing shoes. We’d expect nothing less from a DUO trip!
Day 1 - Fight the Night
Well done to Christoph, Cliona, James and Catherine for taking on the tough Edinburgh campus in the dark dark night and especially to Catherine for completing her first event night orienteering event! James was so keen to win, he even pushed Cliona into a wall, dedication and sportsmanship at its finest!
Day 2 - Cobbles and Wobbles
An eventful day to say the least, with incredibly long courses, several levels (see what I did there) of difficulty, and some very weary finishes.
The day began early with members meeting at the airport at 05:00. After a short flight, we arrived in the beautiful city of Edinburgh several hours before the race. After some naps and refreshments we made our way to the Meadows to being our Urban Race.
The day began early with members meeting at the airport at 05:00. After a short flight, we arrived in the beautiful city of Edinburgh several hours before the race. After some naps and refreshments we made our way to the Meadows to being our Urban Race.
With much confusion at the starts, with some competitors missing, people entered on the wrong courses, eventually everyone made it out onto the busy streets. Passing cyclists, shoppers, locals, cars, taxis buses and dogs (or failing to pass in some cases) we tore around the streets, up and down stairs, laneways, narrow streets and we all made it back in one piece. Every single member finished their course, so a huge well done to everyone!
A huge well done to Julien Beuken who finished 3rd on the Open D course, to Bart who finished 4th on Open F and to Cliona for finished 21st out of over 70 competitors! And well done to Natalie for completing her first Urban orienteering event!
After the event, we took the time to explore parts of Edinburgh before heading over to the Ceilidh
Despite our weary legs we danced the night away, and everyone even survived James’ dance moves to move on to Hive, the famous Edinburgh nightclub. A special well done also to Bart, our favourite fresher, for being the only member to last in Hive til the end of the night. A major major achievement.
Day 3 - Conquering Arthur's Seat
The following morning with tired bodies and some very sore heads we made our way up Arthur’s seat to complete day 2. Shout out to Christoph for completing his course in an incredibly speedy 58 minutes to place 19th overall. And well done to everyone who made it out of bed and out onto Arthur’s seat at all, a feat in itself!
After some glorious run-ins (see our slow mo videos) we split up to shower and explore some more. A group of us travelled back in time at Our Dynamic Earth before heading home on our late night flight.
Quotes from the weekend
We all had an excellent weekend as demonstrated by some of the quotes below:
Finally, a huge thanks to the whole committee for all the work they put into this weekend. Especially to Rebecca for making it financially viable, our coach Andrew for his hints and advice and to Laoise for allher organization.