Scouts and volunteers from Croydon have been praised by Chief Scout Dwayne Fields for completing the 30-kilometre challenge event at this year’s Southern 50.
Exhausted but delighted: the Croydon Scouts team after finishing this year’s Southern 50
The Southern 50, which has been staged annually since 1980, is one of the longest-running events of its type in Scouting.
The Southern 50 is an orienteering, navigation and hiking challenge staged in the Chiltern Hills, with routes going through Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Oxfordshire.
There are three routes: the 50-mile challenge which teams try to complete in 24 hours, and 50km, which are open to all, and the 30km – nearly 19 miles – exclusively for Explorer Scouts.
“The event is a test of good orienteering skills as well as physical ability and teamwork,” the Scouts say. “Unlike other well-known hikes, the routes are different each year and so local knowledge will not be of help as the route will not be disclosed until the day of the event.
“All teams therefore start with exactly the same chance of winning a trophy.”
Like any other long-distance challenge, the effort required to last the full course and receive a finishing certificate is an achievement.
Impressed: Chief Scout Dwayne Fields
Chief Scout Dwayne Fields praised the Croydon team’s unwavering determination and teamwork. “The team from Croydon showed real determination to finish the course. I was delighted to meet them at the finish to hear about the skills they had learnt and challenges they had overcome.
“All the young people and volunteers involved in the event are a great example of what’s brilliant about Scouts. They worked as a team, had fun and learnt new skills along the way”
Xavier Rusan, one of the Croydon Scouts who took part in the event, said, “The Southern 50 is a hard event but challenging myself was good.
“I’ve loved working as a team and pushing myself to the finish.”
FREE ADS: Paid-up subscribers to Inside Croydon qualify for a free ad for their business, residents’ association or community group, just one of the benefits of being part of our online community. For more information about being an iC subscriber, click here for our Patreon page
PAID ADS: To advertise your services or products to our 10,000 weekday visitors to the site, as featured on Google News Showcase, email us inside.croydon@btinternet.com for our unbeatable ad rates
- If you have a news story about life in or around Croydon, or want to publicise your residents’ association or business, or if you have a local event to promote, please email us with full details at inside.croydon@btinternet.com
As featured on Google News Showcase
- Our comments section on every report provides all readers with an immediate “right of reply” on all our content. Our comments policy can be read by clicking here
Inside Croydon is a member of the Independent Community News Network
