LuxSUL 7 – it’s all over for the summer!
Well, we really couldn’t have believed summer was coming to an end – the weather was so warm and balmy for our last Luxembourg Summer Urban League "LuxSUL" run for the year. The only giveaway was that it got dark rather early – and even with earlier start times, a few of the later runners were out well after the sun set.
We returned to the Bonnevoie area for the first time since before Covid. The area is well suited to urban orienteering, with some parts having lots of narrow paths between gardens - these add complexity and navigational challenges. And the deep valley leading down to the bridge over the Alzette offers scope for a good “down or around” route choice. Planner Ondra’s great courses made the most of the area. He caught a few people out on the longer “Deer” course – the smart money was definitely on the “round” route heading up to control 4. The long staircases on the direct line were slow going, even downhill.
The well-kept Kaltreis park made for a good meeting place, too – a shelter with tables, toilets (good but pricey), freshly mown grass, and easy bus access (more than half of our participants didn’t come by car – well done!) are all plus factors. We’ll be back!
On the night Cedric was once again fastest on the long “Deer” course – his fifth win out of seven in the series. But Sasha was only half a minute behind – and Olena only a minute further back. Some very impressive running by all three. And there was hot competition for fourth place – Atte took it by two seconds from Francisco. The split times said it was all on the run from the last control.
On the medium “Rabbit” course, one of our guests, young Tom L from Fameck, scored a crushing win, going more than six minutes clear from Gabriella, Jacques M, and Tom’s father, Mathieu, who were all within a minute of each other. Again, some very useful minutes per km pace here.
Full results for LuxSUL 7 are, as usual, on the Helga “Webres” website, at https://helga-o.com/webres/index.php?lauf=4883
The overall 2023 LuxSUL winners were Cedric, unbeatable on the long “Deer” course, and Jacques, on the medium “Rabbit”. (On the strength of this, Jacques is due a promotion to the “Deer” next summer!) Ondra kept his second place on “Deer”, despite planning duties keeping him from running in LuxSUL 7. On the night, his closest rival Julien also wasn’t able to run. And Atte held on to third – deservedly, having put in five very consistent runs over the series.
All the final cumulative LuxSUL positioning is shown on the two linked spreadsheets.
The series has certainly attracted a lot of interest – a telling statistic is that 105 people took part in one or more of the seven LuxSUL events that LuxOC has organised since April. The Club is clearly in good health, and it’s good news that we’ve also been able to welcome friends from nearby Belgian and French clubs.
A big thanks to all our Club members who have mapped, planned courses, or hosted a LuxSUL – notably Jonas (Helmsange), Jan (Belair), Cedric (Ettelbruck), Staffan (Steinsel), Maggie and David (Sandweiler), Sasha and Elisabet (Limpertsberg), and Ondra (Bonnevoie).
LuxSUL will hopefully be back next April!
