RAF Defeat Police Team In Orienteering Competition

The RAF Orienteering team have won their annual club challenge match against the Police Sport UK in Leicester (Picture: Ben Lonsdale).

The Royal Air Force were victorious across four orienteering events as they hosted the Police Sport UK team at Bradgate Park.

The RAF won the overall team race as well as the men’s, veterans and ladies’ events.

The victory gives the Air Force momentum heading into the Inter Services Championships against the Army and the Navy in January.

This meeting is regularly the largest grouping of RAF orienteers of the year which gave some of the team’s less experienced members to meet the other athletes and take up advice from the veterans.

Sqn Ldr Philip Johnston-Davis has been the RAF’s orienteering captain for the past two years but the win against the Police marked his last ever outing as the skipper.

He told the RAF Sports Federation: "It’s great to go out on a high.

"One of our key themes in this RAF 100 year is to ensure our Association builds for the future by capturing the volunteerism and participation during the RAF Baton Relay for which RAFO was the ‘backbone’ Sports Association, including the involvement of the Air Cadets.

"We had 27 regulars, reserves, veterans, cadet staff and family members running today, in age classes from four up to 75! We embrace the whole force – once RAFO, always RAFO."