Three Mole Valley juniors headed to Essex last weekend to compete at the Junior Inter‑Regional Championships (JIRCs), representing the South East in one of the biggest junior competitions of the year. With teams from across the UK gathering for two days of high‑pressure racing, our athletes rose to the challenge superbly — helping the South East secure a brilliant 3rd place overall behind the Scottish and Yorkshire associations.
Day 1 on the Saturday was for the individual races, held at Writtle Forest, a fast and runnable area where athletes could hold a straight bearing through open woodland, and with pockets of intricate contour detail to test map reading and confident decision‑making. All three MV juniors — Ben, Hugh and Ralph — delivered composed and competitive runs, leading the SEOA’s results for M14 and M16, contributing valuable points to the regional tally heading into day two. Results at Provisional Results – JIRCS Individual – 26 Sep 2026.
The Sunday’s relays moved to Hartfield Forest, offering a very different challenge. The terrain mixed denser forest blocks with open rides and clearings dotted with bushes and scattered trees — perfect for fast, high‑energy relay racing but punishing for anyone who lost concentration. Ralph and Ben had been placed into the top boys SEOA relay team based on Saturday’s results, together with Luke M18 from DFOK. An early mistake for Ralph sadly cost a heavy 10 minutes; Ben made up four places before handing over to Luke who had a blinder. Meanwhile, the SEOA’s 2nd team, with Hugh on 2nd leg, actually came in front of the SEOA first team, with solid consistent performances across all three legs. They all ran with determination not to mis-punch (target achieved!) and their efforts helped secure a well‑earned third place for the region in the final standings. Relay results currently at Relay Results – JIRCS Relays – 27 Sep 2026 and final team scores at JIRC-scores.pdf
Well done team! And a big thanks to the SEOA team – coaches and parents – who helped bring the team together for the weekend, and thanks especially to Essex Stragglers for putting on the event and even securing perfect weather!
(To be eligible for representing the South East, juniors need to be in the SE squad; and the event was open to M/W14s,16s and 18s.)