Congratulations to Jackie Sibthorp (Long) and Chris Childs (Short) for their series victories.  A full series commentary can be found here, along with links to results from all races, and maps and instructions for running the events on Anytime.

We will be back in Spetember with the Twilight series.  Details, here.

As we wait for the clocks to go back so we can run the winter series in the dark, we are filling the gap with some additional midweek orienteering events through September and October.

The series this year will consist of three events,

- we revisit the much loved Snooker O from last year, this time in Burnham-on-Crouch

- we try out a Spanish score event in Basildon

- we finish off with a hybrid line/spiral format in Wickford

Full details of the series can be found here.

We have kept entry fees at the same level as last year, so just £4 per event for orienteering club members. Entries to all events are already open on Racesignup.

Defending champions for the Twilight series are:

With a gap between the summer series finishing (July) and the Winter series starting (October), we are again going to run a Twilight series in the intervening months.

The series will consist of three events, each with a specific scoring format, every two weeks from early September.  Terrain will be mostly on streets and footpaths, but may venture into local parks for some route choice.

Series flyer.

Points will be awarded based on scores achieved adjusted using an age/gender handicap system.  On-the-night bonus of 15 points per event for those running on the night, opposed to MapRun catchup.  6 (long)/4 (short) min penalty for Anytime.  A second run will not count for scoring purposes.

Entry fees, per event Senior (member) £4, Senior (non-member) £5, Junior £2

Note:  This series will be using the latest version of the MapRun software, to enable use of features and scoring that have been introduced.  Therefore, if you are not using the latest version of the software, please update to ensure that there are no issues when it comes to the event.  Competitive manual timing is not available for this series.

Links to details/results for the events are shown in the table below.

Essex Midweek Twilight Series 2026

Guidelines for each event:

- Short (40 mins) and Long (60 mins) score courses, using the same map
- Starts from 6.30pm to 7.30pm, courses close 9pm
- Start location in a local pub
- All events are set up on MapRun to allow for on the night analysis, as well as Anytime Catch up for those not able to attend on the night
- Due to some scoring methods, and requirements to know order of controls visited, competitive manual timing is not available for this series.
- Usual format of fire hydrants, supplemented by other road furniture, and/or homemade hydrant signs where courses would benefit from not only using hydrants (to increase route choice for example).

Defending Twilight champions from 2025 are:

Two wins and two seconds from the first four races in the series guaranteed us victory, and we had our victory lap at Beckenham Place Park on Sunday!

Once again, we have shown that our team spirit is possibly the best in London.  We were the smallest competing club, but the only one to get a full team of at least 6 to every event.  We ran the massive HH team close at their own event, we overturned LOK and MV at their home events, and we were close to DFOK in the last two events, when essentially the cup had already been won.  

So, that is it for another year – the new GLOSS trophy is safe in HAVOC hands, and we have another 12 months, as the best orienteering club in London!

Well, done to everyone who ran for us in the series.  We had 22 different runners, 16 of whom scored in one or more events.  We had four different runners top scoring for the club in the five events.  David, Colin, Jenny and Zbig made all five events to form the core of our team each week.  David scored in all five races, as shown in the table below:

Here is the latest issue of the club newsletter - July 2026 with an introduction from club chairman, Graham Batty, a roundup of events and other activities in the last month, and a preview of next month.

Also, the updated version of our Orienteering Spreadsheet with details of our HAVOC and participation leagues, as well as team orienteering results.

Previous editions

June 2026 Newsletter

May 2026 Newsletter

April 2026 Newsletter

March 2026 Newsletter

February 2026 Newsletter

January 2026 Newsletter

December 2025 Newsletter

November 2025 Newsletter

October 2025 Newsletter

September 2025 Newsletter

We will have basic instruction and training available, and all kit is loaned for free. You can choose the length of your course, and receive your map and printout of your timings.

Full details can be found, here
 

We laid on a series of courses of varying difficulty, and let participants use SI equipment to experience the full orienteering experience.

There was a great turnout, with over 50 children, and accompanying adults, taking on courses of Short, Meduim or Long length, after getting some training, guidance and given some hints and tips.

A great day had by all.  We hope to run another Intro to Orienteering Day at nearby Weald Park, in a few weeks.  More details on the website shortly.

The weather had cooled down significantly since the day before, which made it mostly quite pleasant for running. No chance of rain, and a fair bit of shade with the sun being quite low in the sky. A nice mix this week of urban street running on an OOM map, and country park running on an orienteering map.

A bit of a smaller start field this week, probably due to the far south location, the hot weather, and the popular park race yesterday in central London. But we had a few hardy souls, and some good runs. It was mightily close on the Long course, just four seconds separating the top 2. Chris Prince held on for victory. However, once
handicaps are applied, it was Paul Beckett who took the 100 points this week.

On the short course, which didn’t make it over the motorway, so didn’t get a chance to see the massive tailback caused by the closure of the M25 just south of the river, it was Colin Jackson logging the fastest time, just beating Jaikaar and Rob Tratt into second. Colin lost out on handicap again though, this time to Garry Parmenter running in his first event of the series.

Thanks go to Seb for planning some good courses, allowing us to experience multiple different terrains, two different maps, and a fair bit of route choice, especially in the country park. The run traces show a fair bit of difference this week. He laid on some superb weather as well, although perhaps turn the thermostat down a few more degrees for next time! At least the beer garden finish was lovely in the late evening.
We have reached the hallway point in the series now, and out in front we have Chris Childs and Jackie Sibthorp. Jackie has a commanding 40 point lead, although some of the runners on three events could still catch up. Much closer in the short course, as it turns into a two horse race between Chris and Colin – just 11 points separating
them.

Details of the all the results and future fixtures in the series can be found on the series homepage.

If you missed the event tonight, but want to run it on Anytime catchup, details will be on the series webpage, including maps and instructions, tomorrow.. You will still score points for the league (if you run in the next 2 weeks), subject to an Anytime penalty of 5 mins.

The HAVOC Club Championships took place at the SAX King's Forest regional event on Sunday April 26th.

It was a lovely sunny morning, and the forest looked absolutely stunning with fields of bluebells carpeting much of the forest floor.  It was generally pretty runnable, and the courses made good use of the blocks of forest and earth features.

We lost a few competitors to holidays and the London Marathon taking place on the same day, but we still managed 5 juniors, 8 men and 1 woman.

The women's championship was therefore an uncontested run for Jenny Gebka, who nevertheless put in a good performance round the Green.  It was a close run thing for the Men's championship.  Guy Lidbury won the Blue course outright, but his time per km was just shy of Ted Coday's, so Ted takes the Open Championship, with Guy winning the handicap title.

The junior championship was also tighty contested, with all five juniors running different courses on the day!  Time per km, once adjusted for age saw Charlie Maule-Lidbury just edge out brother Hugo for best boy on the day.  Best girl was awarded to Amelie Maule-Lidbury who had the better time on shared legs with Sienna Muggeridge.  As all juniors (the four mentioned, plus Olivia Muggeridge who ran White) were the top HAVOC runner on their respective courses, they all win medals!

Congratulations to our winners, and to all who ran on the day.

Trophies and medals will be presented at the club dinner later in May.

Full scoring details can be found on this spreadsheet

Take up orienteering now and benefit from:

- free forest or street orienteering at all remaining HAVOC events in 2026

- part year membership from BOF 

Orienteering is an exciting adventure sport that exercises both the mind and the body and is suitable for all ages and fitness levels.  Come and get involved in a sport that the whole family can enjoy together and where your little ones can make new friends, have fun in the fresh air and most importantly, burn off all that excess energy!

So, if you join HAVOC then you will get a code to remove entry fees from Racesignup for all our remaining forest events (3 currently scheduled) in 2026, or all our remaining street events (8 currently planned).

As you may want to try orienteering first, before committing to joining the club, if you subsequently join HAVOC after running in any of our upcoming events, then we will refund your entry fee!  Just contact the membership secretary (membership@orienteering-havoc.co.uk) to take advantage of this offer.

The HAVOC annual dinner was held at The Springhouse, on Saturday 16th May 2026.

We had an excellent turnout, who enjoyed the food and drink, as well as the traditional attractions of a speech from the chair rounding up the year, presentation of club champions and other awards, and a raffle.  

Thanks to the Springhouse for hosting, and to everyone who attended.  By partially subsidising this meal each year, it is one of the ways the club says "Thank You" to all the club activists, volunteers and helpers, without whom the club wouldn't be here.

So, "Thank You!"

The SWELL season for 2025/26 concluded with the HAVOC event at Weald Park.  Several of the categories were still up for grabs before the event, and some tough courses and massive start field made for some exciting competitions.

The final Roll of Honour is as follows :-

WHITE - Olivia Muggeridge (HAVOC) had already secured this title and her 391 points was good enough for 2nd in the overall GIRLS category.  Top boy on the White course was Wilfred Tate (Barnadiston).

YELLOW - Sienna Muggeridge (HAVOC) had also already won the Yellow course title and is a double winner, as she has pipped her Sister to the GIRLS overall title.  Top boy on the Yellow course was Maks Petrovs.

ORANGE - Tunde Farago (HH) took an early lead and won the ORANGE course title.  Top male on the Orange course was Roger Pring (SAX).

As mentioned, Sienna Muggeridge (HAVOC) was the top Girl, and Hugo Maule-Lidbury (HAVOC) won the top Boy's title, running Light Green.

LIGHT GREEN - this was won by Hugo Maule-Lidbury (HAVOC) more than 100 points clear of the next best - Elysia Cowe (WAOC) who was the top girl on the Light Green.

SHORT GREEN - Noreen Ives (WAOC) pipped Francis Ronnau-Bradbeer (DFOK), as her best 6 finishes were slighter better.

GREEN - Just seven points separated the top two on the Green course.  Louise Walker (SUFFOC) just pipping Gavin Avey-Hebditch (WSX) who takes top male.

BLUE - David Dixon's (HH) 100 point run in the last event, saw him overhaul Ian Byford for the Blue course title.  Top female was Kerria Lines (HH).  

BROWN - Antoine Pesenti (DFOK), with a win and 3 other top ten finishes, secured the BROWN category.  Top female was Kezia Studd (SLOW).

OVERALL SWELL - BLUE winner, David Dixon (HH), becomes SWELL Champion with 589 points, 4 individual event wins and the best 6 event total. Antoine Pesenti (DFOK) is the gallant runner-up.

SWELL TOP FEMALE was Noreen Ives (WAOC) with 559 pts and a very creditable 3rd overall.

Congratulations to all the winners and thanks to everyone for supporting the series.

Full scoring details can be found on the SWELL homepage.

The new season will kick off in the autumn.  

A full series commentary, along with results for each race and the series can be found here.

That's also the place to go for maps and instructions to allow you to run any of the courses on MapRun.  

Once again, SOS and HAVOC are proud to be running a joint Summer series, throughout Essex, over the spring/summer season.  This will consist of 8 races, every couple of weeks, monstly on a Wednesday, from mid April 2026 to mid July 2026 2026.

These will mostly be line events, based on streets, parks, woods and footpaths.  Specific scoring methods may vary based on location, and will be described on the event flyers.

Full details of the series can be found here.

Check out the Marketing Flyer, which will be posted to Facebook here.

Entries to all events, and the Golden Ticket option (for reduced entry fee, and automatic entry into all races in the series) will be open soon on Racesignup.

Defending champions for the Summer series are:

Long Course

Short Course

HAVOC competed in the Compass Sport Trophy qualifying heat at Brandon Country Park, on 22nd February.  

Results didn't go totally our way, and we failed to qualify for the final.  However, we had some excellent runs:

Hugo Maule-Lidbury - 100 points in class 10M

Andrew Welsh - 97 points in class 6

Gillian Edgar - 97 points in class 7

Barbara Beckett - 96 points in class 8

Amelie Maule-Lidbury - 96 points in class 10W

We showed some remarkable club spirit.  We had people running injured (or recovering from injuries).  We had people running who hadn't run for ages but still gave their all for the club.  We had people running harder courses than they should have to, just to ensure we got scorers on all courses needed for the trophy.
We are a small club, and so every runner who can't make it due to injury, or other commitments, makes it more difficult for the team to score well, as we have to have runners running up, and therefore are against people younger than them who are more suited to the courses they are running.  And, of course we lose that person from scoring well on the course they are supposed to run!

Despite this, despite the fact that we had the smallest team of all the competing clubs, despite the fact that we were facing higher ranked runners in all cases, we held our own.  We were 57 points off qualifying for the final.  Sounds a lot, but that is less than 5 places for each of our top 13.  When you look at times, that is only around 5 mins in a lot of cases.

Thanks to all runners who had to run up a class or two - Paul, Jenny, Guy, Mike, Zbig, Colin.  

And, finally, thanks to ALL who ran for the club.
 

With the completion of the Anytime period for the final race in the series we can now officially announce the winners of the 2026 Essex Midweek Summer series.  Before that though, some shoutouts to the race organisers: Dean Pepper, Dale Bennett, Jackie Sibthorp, Seb Parris, Lyn & Colin West, Simon Fowler, Tim Hull & Chris Childs and David Float.  As always, without you guys, there would be no series, and we would all miss out on the opportunity of those midweek runs.  Thanks also to the SOS series co-ordinator – Dean Pepper.  His efforts in getting organisers and planners; sending round flyers and chasers were invaluable in ensuring the success of the series.

The format of using MapRun for these events seems to work well, and we had almost no people running manually this year.  Our learnings of where to site controls, and how to minimise issues with the GPS coverage and software seem to have worked, and we experienced few issues this year.  The benefits of being able to see your route immediately and thus facilitate post race analysis is a definite plus, and the fact that we can utilise scoring features in the software that aren’t available manually is a big bonus.  Not to mention the fact that we don’t need to put controls out in the environment, or manually check answers after runs!

This series was beset with issues out of our control.  The biggest of these being the excessive heat.  A few of our races were right on the edge of BOF guidance for whether we should hold the event or not.  What with that and the continued roadworks affecting Gallows corner and the knock on effect to traffic, there were a few events with participation lower than anticipated.  However, we made it and had a full series of events in varied terrain to enjoy. 

Full hybrid events at Great Notley, Danbury, Aveley, Colchester and Langdon Hills, a “proper” urban map at Chelmsford and a “proper” forest map at Dagnam Park.  We had a couple of different formats as well – mostly line events, but we had a score at Writtle, and a mass start, butterfly loop course for the finale event. 

We had 38 different runners on the Short course, and 74 on the Long.  Some of thise ran in both series, but we still had 103 unique runners – one up from last year!  We continued with the bonus for running on the night, and four people turned out to all the races – Chris Childs, Colin Jackson, David Float and Dean Pepper. 

All the races had an Anytime catch up period of two weeks; allowing runners who couldn’t make the race to still score points in the league.  There is a penalty applied; as runners can see the course and plan their routes before running.  In total; with those Anytime runs included; we had 80 runs on Short and 186 on Long.  This averages 33.25 runs per event.  We had a range of ages; from W14 to M80.  M60 had 14 different runners; and W60 also had 10.  We had 37 women and 66 men running in at least one race.  Racesignup doesn’t show non orienteering clubs, but there were 14 different orienteering clubs competing, 22 SOS members being the most.

Don’t forget that if you are affiliated to BOF (generally through an orienteering club) then you benefit from reduced entry fees; so it is worth considering joining a club.  Also; from Jan 2026; BOF are removing their insurance cover for non-members at events; so non-members will now be personally liable for any claims against them (clubs and members still covered).  More details of how to join HAVOC can be found here. 

For the summer series we take the top six results from the 8 races; and 14 runners over the two courses had at least that number of runs.  No surprises that the podium positions in both leagues come from those runners! 

Short course

The first evet; at Great Notley; was won by Lulu and Roger Gooding, but that was their only score of the Short course series.  Similarly; the winners of Writtle (Miroslav Benes), Aveley (Garry Parmenter), Chelmsford (Phil Hazel) and Dagnam (Gillian Edgar) also only had one run each!  John Allen won two events – Colchester and Langdon Hills, and was only just beaten at Dagnam Park, but as those were his only three runs, once again it wasn’t enough to get him to the top of the leaderboard.  

Clear in third place was Vernonica Machin.  Six events run in, and getting her best score at Chelmsford, a solid effort for third.  The top two both got a full on-the-night bonus set.  Colin Jackson took three of the head to head meetings, and Chris Childs four.  Chris Childs won two event, at Danbury and Langdon Hills though, and with a planners score for Colchester, he runs out series winner this year.

Congratulations Chris!

Long Course

We had four different winners in the eight races.  Luke Bennett won every event he turned up to – but it was only three, so others placed above him in the best six of eight series.  Paul Beckett, the defending champ, was scoring well, and won the event at Aveley, but then got disqualified at Chelmsford, and didn’t make any of the last three races.  Lewis Judge won at Chelmsford, and teamed this with two other good scores, but again, only three scores won’t get you the title this year!

The top four in the league ran in all events (either on-the-night, or on Anytime catchup).  Dean Pepper set the first course and led the league for a while as a result, but finishes just off the podium in fourth.  Setting the last event of the series wasn’t enough to lift David Float any higher than third.  Keith Bennett was going for his third series win in a row, after winning the Twilight and Winter series.  He won the event at Chelmsford, and was close at Langdon Hills.  He had a chance if he could win the finale, but his sons beat him on handicap, and Keith finishes second this time around. 

That leaves Jackie Sibthorp, who despite running a couple of events on Catchup, and therefore foregoing the bonus, used wins at Writtle and Langdon Hills with a planning score at Danbury and near top scores at Chelmsford and Aveley to take the title this year.

Congratulations Jackie!

There is a slight gap now before the winter series gets underway in October.  So, we will again run a Twilight series, of three events, in the meantime.  This series will start in early Sep, and will be three events, each with a different scoring system!  We will revisit the snooker O, that got such positive feedback last year, we will have a Spanish score event and a Line/Spiral hybrid.

Full details, and links to individual events can be found on the series homepage; here: 

If you have any comments on the series then please let me know (streeto@orienteering-havoc.co.uk).  As mentioned earlier; all of these series cannot run without the efforts of volunteers to organise and plan individual events; so please consider that for the next series.  Let me or Dean know so that we can fit you into the schedule.

Thanks again for running in the events this summer – I sincerely hope you enjoyed them.  I hope you have a good break; and look forward to seeing you all again for the Twilight series in September.

David

The Essex Summer Midweek Series will again be run in 2026.  This will consist of 8 evening O events.  Terrain will be a mixture of urban streets, parks and woodland, footpaths and trails.

Series flyer

Points will be awarded based on finishing times adjusted using an age/gender handicap system.  Each missed or incorrect control will incur a 5 minutes penalty.  Best 6 results from the series will count.   On-the-night bonus of 15 points per event for those running on the night, opposed to MapRun catchup.  5 min penalty for Anytime on a line course, 10% time limit reduction on a score course.  A second run on any particular course will not count for scoring purposes.

Full results will be emailed and published on the SOS and HAVOC websites. 

Entry fees, per event Senior (member) £4, Senior (non-member) £5, Junior £2

Golden Ticket (entry to all events in the series) - Senior (member) £22, Senior (non-member) £27.5,  Junior £11

Note:  This series will be using the latest version of the MapRun software, to enable use of features and scoring that have been introduced.  Therefore, if you are not using the latest version of the software, please update to ensure that there are no issues when it comes to the event.

Links to details/results for the events are shown in the table below.

Essex Summer Midweek Series 2026

Guidelines for each event:

- Short (c3-3.5km straight line) and Long (c5-6km straight line) or another format if it works better for an area (e.g. Short and Long or Combined Score)
- Starts from 6.30pm to 7.30pm, courses close 9pm
- Start location should be a pub or similar
- If possible, events are set up on MapRun to allow for on the night analysis, as well as Anytime Catch up for those not able to attend on the night
- As the events will take place in the light summer evenings, more use of parks, woods, footpaths and trails are anticipated, alongside sections of urban street running.
- Usual format of fire hydrants, supplemented by other road furniture, and/or homemade hydrant signs where courses would benefit from not only using hydrants (to increase route choice for example).

Defending champions from 2025 are:

Short Course

Long Course

Happy New Year from HAVOC

We hope you all have a very Happy New Year.

Please find our review of 2025 here

If you have yet to renew your membership then please do so as soon as possible.

If you are a prospective member then please see the Membership page for details.

Good luck for 2026.

Participants who are not members of British Orienteering are not covered by British Orienteering’s public liability insurance. By entering this event, you acknowledge that you are taking part at your own risk. For example, if you were to accidentally injure a member of the public or damage property during the event, you would not be covered.

If you become a member of HAVOC, and therefore BOF, your insurance cover at events will not change.  Membership details can be found here.

A full series commentary, along with results for each race and the series can be found here.

That's also the place to go for maps and instructions to allow you to run any of the courses on MapRun.