The Scottish 6-Day event was this year centered around Inverness-"The Capital of the Highlands." As it was integrated with the World Championships, higher numbers and a more international field were in attendance. I travelled over with Timmy, Niamh and Bride Morrissey of CorkO and Laura Cotter of BOC.

After 6+ hours of driving through Friday night and Saturday morning (with a brief stop at a Holiday Inn in Perth) we arrived at Day 1. I have never seen so many cars, buses and even bikes at an O-event before. It was held at Docharn and Deishar, a mostly runnable forest just north of Aviemore. My (and Niamh eile's) course was 4.6km with 125m climb which, after two bad mistakes, I finished in 49:43; 13th out of a field of 60.The use of SportIdent cards meant that we could all see exactly where we lost and made up time. Laura had missed her start time and was gaily sunbathing in the 25 degrees heat when I got back. We then drove on up North to find our accommodation-a mobile home on an isolated farm, 6 miles from the nearest civilization. I just wonder how they got it up the little boithrin!!

Day 2 was based near Inverness, in another runnable forest called Craig Leach. Its terrain incorporated numerous hills and an intricate track network. Two more mistakes on No.1 (Is this the worst control to make a mistake on?) and again on No.6 meant that I ended up 21st for the day; 51:26 for the 4.3 km course. Niamh had forgotten her gear and couldn't run at all. A rest day and a break from the heat beckoned.

Meanwhile, the serious stuff was starting over in West Guisachan, near Cannich. The WOC Classic Race qualifying was held on Monday 30th and a full Irish squad was participating. CNOC's Eileen Loughman was competing in a record 13th WOC but I am sad to report that no Irish qualified for the final. This was to be the terrain for our Day 3.

For the rest day I headed into Inverness and spent the day wandering around and lying on the banks of the River Ness, from which the town takes its name. "Inver" in Scottish Gaelic means "the mouth of" and Inverness is situated where the River Ness widens into the Moray Firth. I am proud to report that I managed to see "Nessie" the Loch Ness monster-not in the lake but at a petrol station down the road! Unfortunately I forgot to take a photo.

Day 3 was my first outing on WOC terrain and I soon discovered what the standard was like. I DNF-ed. After an hour and still no number 4 in sight (or in the 1km radius I must have searched!), I decided to quit while I could still make it to the finish. Amazingly I cannot find my map for this area although the other 5-days are easy-to-hand. I wonder where it could possibly have gone?!? We had another rest day the following day - Wednesday - to facilitate the World Classic Finals.

The usual Scandinavian dominance was expected and they justified the high expectations. The women's race was won by Finnish Kirsi Bostrom, with the '97 winner, Norwegian Hanne Staff in 2nd. Kirsi's sister, Johanna Asklof was third. The Men's race was an all-Norwegian affair, with Bjornar Valstad just edging out fellow countryman Carl Henrik Bjorseth. Swiss Alain Berger broke the Scandinavian trend to claim a podium place in 3rd. There was no Irish interest present but Britain's Yvette Baker just missed a medal in 4th place. She was later to bounce back to take a medal in the Short Race.

Day 4 was run on the Classic final area, Plodda, which was adjacent to West Guisachan. Guess who didn't like the terrain?? I managed to finish this time, in 38th place (85:02 for 4.7 km), well down the field. The terrain was rough in places with minute contour detail. There were few handrails and with all the hills, spurs and re-entrants contour work was essential. Oh well.

After two bad runs I decided to pick up a few places and what better to do than get some sleep (which was sadly lacking..). I heard that it is essential to a good run so I decided to test the theory and I managed to sleep for 15 hours in our cock and hen infested abode. I also discovered that a cock really does crow at sunrise, which was 6:45 in Scotland every morning, and that it wasn't just in the Corn Flakes ad.

On Friday morning Toni O'Donovan and Marcus Pinker qualified for the WOC Short Race finals at Rogie, near Strathpfeffer. Well done! Day 5 followed at the same venue in the afternoon- a steeply facing slope that levelled out near the start and finish. Fresh from sleep, I set out on the 4.48 km, 210m course-to finish 5th in 67:09. This was also the first day that everyone in my travelling group finished: Day 1-Laura missed her start; Day 2-Niamh M. forgot her gear; Day 3-I DNF-ed and Day 4-Timmy DNF-ed. So plenty of PMA heading into the last day!

Saturday morning saw the best in the world battle it out only to be separated by seconds in the Short Race Finals. Yvette took the women's Short Race by over a minute to win her first world title. We were well represented by Toni and Marcus who did us proud in finishing 48th and 40th respectively. Cawdor and Dallaschyle was an estate featuring fast runnable forest yet again. I came 17th, with a big 8 minute mistake on no.9 and a few tiny ones near the end (the thought of it all being over!). Our final course was 4 km and I finished in 52:31. We turned our backs on forest and farm and headed for the 5 am ferry on Sunday morning.

This was my first 6-Day and it was really enjoyable orienteering - recommended to anyone. I finished 16th overall in W16A in the end and the best Irish results were Justin May - 1st in M40L, Allan Bogle 22nd in M20L and Aislinn Austin 24th in W18A. The new millennium has the next Scottish 6-Day, "Lochaber 2001", from the 5th to 11th of August around Fort William: see you there!!