LuxSUL 3 – the sun always shines on LuxOC...
...well, apart from the ten minutes or so during which early starters were refreshed by a short sharp shower!
Following our sun-drenched outing to Esch-sur-Sûre last weekend, the third run in the Club’s Luxembourg Summer Urban League – the LuxSUL – series unfolded on another mostly lovely and sunny summer evening. Over 35 people – from 7 to 67 years old – took part, as LuxOC runners revisited the park in Kirchberg and the gruelling hills of Weimerskirch.
Club secretary Orsi, our planner and host for the evening, worked hard to set interesting courses. Because the area has been used at least twice before, finding good route choice legs that hadn’t already been set was more of a challenge. But, judging from the post-run analyses that were going on in the photo, she must have succeeded. The Kirchberg Park maze, brilliantly mapped by Julien back in 2018, is at its best in summer, when the beech hedges are in full leaf and growing fast, and so are opaque and impenetrable. The “labyrinth” kept many people amused for quite a while, with one of our fastest Deer course runners saying that, while he’d found the control easily enough, he’d then gone round all three sides twice trying to get out again!
The results for the evening are, as usual, posted on the Helga web results page – see https://helga-o.com/webres/index.php?lauf=5331. They’ve now been corrected – Barbara P didn’t really take nearly 20 hours on the Rabbit shorter course, she just missed punching at the start flag! And the cumulative LuxSUL results to date are shown in the attached sheets.
Our clear winner on the evening on the Deer course was Simon H, 4½ minutes faster than Cedric G. Cedric thinks he lost time near the end of the course, by attempting the “diretissima” route up back onto the plateau from Weimerskirch. This hasn’t, so far as we know, been tried before, but Cedric seems not to have been put off by the nigh-vertical climb through some pretty thick forest. A tough man for tough terrain – the orthodox road or path choices are quite steep enough for most people!
In the overall LuxSUL Deer course rankings after three runs, Simon’s result sees him move into the lead, just ahead of Cedric. For the 2024 LuxSUL, it’s now “best four from six to count”, so there is still all to play for! Sasha ran carefully – he was in third place on the night, and is third ranked overall, too. Indeed, it’s his third third place result – there’s consistency!
Among the Rabbits (the shorter course), young Jáchym K was running for the first time in the 2024 series, and was the winner on the evening. He was two minutes faster than Ilari K, another newcomer, and three minutes faster than Inga A and Jana T, the fastest ladies and separated by only 7 seconds. Jana T in particular ran well. In the overall Rabbit course rankings, Inga is now leading. Orsi of course didn’t run, as she was on planning duties, and Elisabet W also missed out as she had other commitments.
Thanks to Orsi, Bence, and little Lola for hosting us in their cosy front garden, and for laying on beers and snacks. Inga A provided the yummy strawberries! And thanks too to Bence B, Chris S, and David R for collecting in the controls after the run.
LuxSUL 4 is in two weeks’ time, in Sandweiler. After the run, LuxOC’s summer social evening will be hosted by David and Maggie R. All LuxOC members – and friends and newcomers – are very welcome, even if not wanting a LuxSUL run. There should be a very short, safe Squirrel course for younger children, as well as the usual Deer and Rabbit courses. Full details will be on the web in a few days’ time, once the planner has finalised the courses. And – apologies in advance – it’ll probably rain, as it’s high time LuxOC’s sunny weather luck ran out!
We hope to see many of you then.