Report

Thanks to Sion Matthews for this report.

After running the Icicle a month ago, the toughest event I’ve probably put on, I decided this Navigation Run would be a lot easier for the crews, aiming it towards the beginners to build their confidence. Wanting to use the Valley/Holyhead are I had decided to start in a pub in Valley. I won’t go into detail, but after a quick reshuffle we were warmly welcomed at the Bull Hotel with open arms, which became the start and finish venue. A massive thank you to them, cracking service and food! Lee went out on his own putting the symbols up, once back we swapped roles, and I went to pull them down.
The route had three sections, getting slightly harder. I’d say the event was a 3/10 in difficulty, whereas the Icicle was more like 9/10.
Section one started at the back of Bodedern heading towards Pen-llyn, around towards NAM1 (Not As Map), a small triangle (water). Around the back of Bryngwran, across the A5 and under the A55 and ending before RAF Valley.
Section two began just after RAF Valley with NAM2 coming up quickly near Hotel Cymyran, then along the , Valley beach section, heading towards the Rhoscolyn loop where NAM3 around the school was used, ending in the housing estate ”white”.
Section three began by the ‘Haunted House’ in Trearddur Bay, NAM 4/5 comes up quickly with a lay-by and junction being used, a bit further up NAM6 used a grassy triangle. Along the South Stack road heading into the tricky bit of the event, Llaingoch had a mapped triangle and NAM7, intricate plotting and a small housing estate “white”. Then along to Porth-y-Felin under the bridge and along the final docks “white”, it was up to the crews which way they wanted to head back towards the finish.

The results were very close! First place finishers Lee and Sion had a near perfect run apart from missing a symbol near some high vis markers in Section 1, well done lads! Runners up Dion and Cory seem to have missed a road in Section 1 missing two symbols, possibly a mis-plot? Third were Will and Deio on a perfect run but missed the very last white near the docks so missed three symbols.
Fourth on a tie decider were Aron and Tom - missed a sneaky one on NAM 1 and a mapped triangle in Section 3 but were furthest cleanest recording the “N” in NAM3 twice. Fifth Tomos and Dylan, replicating fourth place but missing that “N”. Sixth, Iwan, Gabi and Catherine missed a couple in each section along with the “A” in Section 2 making the word “Santa”. Seventh, Adam and Cai wrote a dud down on the board in Section 1 along with missing some others. Eighth, Jill and Paul missed two roads near the end of Section 1, missing 4 symbols. Ninth, Deian and Gareth missed a mixture of sneaky ones.
Tenth, Geraint and Cameron wrote a dud down in a Section 1 B road, and missed a few tricky bits in Section 3. Eleventh, Yvonne and John got all of Section 1, missed the white at end of Section 2 and missed the end of Section 3. Twelfth, Jamie, Natalie and Dominic wrote the duds down in Section 1 and missed some others in Sections 2 and 3.

A big thank you to Lee, Endaf and Dafydd for their roles, it wouldn’t be possible to run these without them.
The next Navigation Run is on the 18^th of January, map 114 needed, more details will be online closer to the event, the start venue will be at Matthews Auto Salvage, Pentre Berw.

RESULTS

1. Lee Threadgold / Sion Jones; Peugeot RCZ – 81 points.
2. Dion Rowlands / Cory Thomas; Toyota Corolla – 80
3. Will Hughes / Deio Hughes; VW Amarock – 79
4. Aron Evans / Tom Lindstrom; Ford Escort – 78.1
5. Tomos Parry / Dylan Parry; Ford Ranger – 78
6. Iwan Evans/Gabi Tsantanis/Catherine Thomas; Isuzu D-Max -76
7. Adam Burton / Cai Walters; Vauxhall Corsa – 75.5
8. Jill Clark / Paul Clark; Nissan Qashqai – 75
9. Deian Williams / Gareth Flynn; Toyota Corolla – 73
10. Geraint jones / Cameron Hazelgrove; Suzuki Swift – 72
11. Yvonne Matthews / John Evans; Nissan Micra – 71.1
12. Jamie Williams/Natalie Davies/Dominic Stephenson; Vauxhall Astra GTC – 71
    
    Maximum score possible = 82
    
    Sincere thanks to Sion for organising the event and to Lee and Endaf for assisting. Many thanks also to The Bull Hotel, Valley for the use of their facilities.

Information

Navigation Runs are ideal for learning to plot a route and read a map, and provide good practice for anyone aspiring to compete in a road rally anytime soon.
This will be the fourth Navigation Run of the season, organised by Sion Matthews and team.

The start venue is the Valley Hotel, Valley, Holyhead LL65 3DU - what3words location ///quitter.monorail.speech.
You will require OS map 114 (Anglesey/Ynys Môn), plus the usual navigation aids of poti, romer, pen/pencil, etc. Sign on from 19.00 hours; route handouts at 19.30 hours.

Drivers and navigators need a valid club membership. Renew or join at Membership Application