Recently discovered footage of orienteering from 1973

England regain the crown from Scotland in the Senior Home International

After several years of Scottish dominance, it was finally time for England to take back the bragging rights in this annual competition. Saturday was the relay competition, and although Scotland took the win in the men's class, England were 2nd and 3rd and the girls 1st and 2nd to give England the overnight lead. I had a good run on 2nd leg, going out about 3 minutes behind in 4th place and coming back in with a 25 second lead.

Sunday was the individual race, down in the New Forest, combined with the November Classic. The men had 17.2km, my longest race since WOC 2009! I won in 80:58, 30 seconds ahead on Matt Crane (nice 4.30 per km pace!). England had another good day to take the overall victory.

Results here

Routegadget here (something funny going on with the course at the moment but I am sure it will be fixed)

Victory in Smålandskavlen and fast at the FRA Relay Champs

The last few weeks of the season have been productive for me, first up running the fastest time on leg 3 with Andi Davies at the FRA Relays in the Lomond Hills in Fife (both in X-talons) as our club Mercia came 4th overall.

Results

Here is the map from my leg - quite simple navigation, and fast running! 14.3km 620m climbing, 67 minutes.
This weekend, as many others were running the OMM, I headed over to Sweden for the traditional orienteering season closer Smålandskavlen, a 5 man relay with the first 2 legs held in the dark and the other 3 run as a chasing start in the daylight the next morning. My club-mates did an excellent job in the dark, actually getting a 2 1/2 minute lead over the 132 other teams! That meant on 3rd leg, I was heading out on my own into the forest with a 2.34 headstart, being hunted down by 132 guys including a chasing pack 2 1/2 - 4 1/2 minutes behind of about 10 really strong teams including Halden, Kalevan Rasti, Kristiansand and OK Linne. I have to admit, I was pretty nervous! But I actually had a really good race, with only one technical problem of about 40 seconds over the 40 minute race, and I was able to actually increase our lead to a little over 3 minutes. I had the second fastest leg time, around 25 seconds down.

Anders Skarholt and Fredrik Johansson, my Norwegian and Swedish respectively team-mates did a really good job too, to keep our approx 3 minute cushion all the way to the finish, and we were able to celebrate our first big team win of the year (and last!).

Results

Map here with my route

Second place in World Cup Final!

The culmination of the orienteering World Cup was held in Geneva, Switzerland this weekend. The top 40 runners in the world qualified for an urban sprint race around the old town of Geneva - a labyrinth of small alley-ways, staircases and back passages. I qualified as I was 18th in the World Cup going into the race, but I knew I had a great chance to improve my ranking and get a good result.
I started well, and allowed the navigation to dictate the speed. As I passed through the arena for the second loop, my coach shouted that I had a big lead (although with all the top ranked runners starting after, I could not relax!).

The second loop was tricky, with a lot of climbing and descending narrow staircases. I held it together though, passing the athlete starting 1 minute in front, and catching sight of the one 2 minutes in front (despite having a pretty hard collision with Øystein Kvaal Østerbø at one point running around a tight corner) and I sprinted into the crowded finish arena with a new leading time. Then it was a nervous wait on the leaders 'red sofa' as one by one other runners came in withslower times. With only 2 runners left, I was still on the sofa - so it was my first World Cup medal! Then Muller appeared, with a dangerous time. As we counted down the seconds, he crossed in exactly the same time! Then there was less than a minute to wait for the World number 1, Daniel Hubmann. Sure enough, he appeared with a good time, and took the win by 9 seconds, pushing meand Muller down into equal 2nd.

So, silver medal in the World Cup Final - my best individual result, and it pushed me up to 9th overall in the World Cup 2010 and 17th in the World Ranking.

Results

I was interviewed for the IOF website for the first time

My World Championships

I realise that World Champs in Trondheim were more than a month ago, but I haven't written anything yet about them here. Partly that is because I have been busy / lazy, but also partly because I wanted to reflect on the championships and my performances before writing anything.

I think this is the year that I have been best prepared physically and technically for a World Championships. I had my best ever training winter, I had a good spring with nice results in the European Championships, NORT and the World University Champs, so my confidence was high. I also had 3 weeks in Trondheim in June and July with Oli Johnson, Matt Crane and Jonn Are Myhren, doing some excellent training and joining in some training with other national teams.

I had an early set back when I was selected for the middle instead of the long, but apart from that, my preparation was close to what I had planned.

Then the championships kicked off with the sprint....

Map for qualification is here

I have run the sprint 6 times now in WOC, with results 33, 9, 12, 22 and 17 until this year, and I knew that I was capable of a top 6 and maybe a medal with a perfect race. I was confident that I could perform and I was ready for any challenge that the course setters could manage.

What I wasn't ready for was what happened during the qualification. I started very well, and at the 9th control I was in 6th position, 9 seconds behind the leader. I then started to run to the 10th control - I had chosen the route to the right, through the forest. The first part of the route was to leave the control to the north, go through a small gap in the fence into the field, then out into the road. However, I came to the 'small gap' only to find a fence taller than me where the gap should be. The first instinct is to assume that I had made a mistake, as this was the world championships, and there could be no chance that the map was wrong - maybe in some local competition, but not the World Champs! So I started to think about where I could be, but there was no other place I COULD be. Then I started to think maybe the race will be cancelled, or anybody with this problem can qualify to the final, maybe I should quit the race and complain. Then I decided to carry on. I tried to climb the fence, but I couldn't or changed my mind (I don't remember) and decided to take another route choice (you can see my route here)

Then the rest of the race I was really stressed and just thinking about this time loss, and how losing 30-40 seconds there could be the difference to qualifying or not. I therefore ran at maximum the rest of the race. This is not the ideal thing to do in the first of 2 races in a day! Actually, looking at the split times, I lost 42 seconds to the best, and I was 43 seconds behind in the end, in 10th place.

When I finished the race, I was so angry with the organisers, calling for the race to be cancelled and demanding to speak with the people in charge. Luckily my coaches managed to calm me, but there was also some problem with the results system, so I had no idea for 1 hour after I finished if I would qualify anyway, or if we would have to make a protest, or whatever. This meant I was really stressed, didn't refuel or recover as well as I should with only 4 hours before the final!

I can see now that there was nothing I could do, and I should have just continued as if it was normal - control the things that you can.

Well, I did qualify, but instead of being top 3 or 4 as I would have expected / hoped, I was 10th - starting earlier in the final, with less time to recover on top of the extra stress and exertion of the morning qualification. It is no surprise, therefore, that I was not able to get the best out of myself in the final. My 14th place is vindication that even with 'bad' preparation, I can still get a 'good' result, but I am far from happy with the performance or the result, and I put most of the blame not on the organisers of the qualification (although I am disappointed that such a mistake could happen at the world champs) but on myself and how I dealt with it.

Results

Anyway, then it was time for the middle!

Historically, this has been my weakest discipline, certainly internationally, but this year I have been running quite well, and I was confident to at least improve on my dnq, dnq and 26th from my previous attempts! The qualification was the toughest race of the week, both physically and technically, and I struggled after the physical challenge of 2 sprint races the day before. I made a big mistake on the 1st control, and Thierry caught me 2 minutes at the 4th control. I was just about able to stay in touch with him, and then towards the end I was able to stretch out a bit and finish before him to qualify comfortably, and about 1 1/2 minutes down on Nordberg. Then I could have 4 days rest before the final!

During those 4 days I was able to recover completely, and get in a couple of good sessions, so when the final arrived, I was back feeling good and ready to race. For the first time in middle at WOC, I was actually confident that I could get a top 10 with a good race, and I actually managed to have a really good race. I didn't chose all the best lines, but I didn't make any mistakes and was able to push hard, certainly in the second half of the race. As an 'early' starter, I was able to come through the arena and finish in the lead, but then I had to watch as runner after runner came in in front of me, and although I didn't manage to achieve my top 10, I was very close (16 seconds) and I felt I had performed to my ability on the day. 13th place and a good feeling - much better than 14th in the sprint!

Results

And then to the relay

After a year away, Jon Duncan had returned to the fight, joining myself and Scott in what we knew to be a very strong relay team. We knew that with 3 good races, anything could happen - as we proved in 2008! I was running the first leg, and followed the usual tactics - don't do anything stupid, don't lead unless you have to, use the other runners and run like hell at the end! I managed to have a good race, and with 1km I was hanging on the lead runners, and I decided that I wanted to push the pace a bit, so me and Khramov made a small lead, and I changed over 1m behind him in 2nd place. JD had another great WOC relay run to set Scott off with the leaders. He performed fantastically against the real best runners in the world to finish 4th! Another great day for the British team, to go with Scott's 6th place in the long distance.

Results

After WOC

After WOC I took the opportunity to explore Norway a little with some friends, so we drove from Trondheim to Oslo via lots of mountains, fjords and everything in between, seeing some amazing places and doing some good running.

London City Race

At the weekend I took part in the 3rd London City Race. Every year it has been growing, and this year there were more than 750 people including more than 100 overseas runners taking part. The weather was perfect, and many people combined the race with a weekend in London, either sightseeing, or taking part in the race on Sunday as well (or both).

The race itself was really fun - a mixture of high speed, high concentration orienteering, and some parts in for the tourists! We warmed up over Tower Bridge, started at the Tower of London, ran past St Paul's Cathedral, the Gherkin, had a route choice over either Millenium Bridge or London Bridge, ran along the South Bank, past Borough Market, and even through London Bridge Underground station! The finish was on the bank of the river Thames, right by City Hall. And there were a lot of really difficult controls on multiple levels - lots of bridges and underpasses.

Results here

Routegadget

If you haven't been - make sure you go next year!

Park World Tour comes to Scotland

Photo Scottishorienteering

For the first time since 2005, a major international race was held in Great Britain at the weekend. Athletes from around the world descended on Perth in Scotland to take part in the Park World Tour. Friday was the prologue, held at Scone Palace just outside Perth - it was a really tricky race with many controls and lots of changes of direction. I seemed to be the only one to keep it together and not make any big mistakes, and I was able to win by over 30 seconds.

Prologue results

Photo www.compasssport.co.uk

The final was held on Saturday in Perth city centre, to the amusement/bemusement of the local public out shopping. Another high quality race with loads of controls. Maximum concentration was required with almost every leg having some route choice or navigational challenge. There was no time to rest or plan ahead, and I made 2 big mistakes - one time I ran into the wrong passage, and another time I took the wrong route choice, and also couldn't find the same steps that I had just run up! My speed matched Oystein's, but he made fewer mistakes and deservedly took the victory. I was happy to take the second place.

Final results

Photo Scottishorienteering

The whole weekend was fantastic - run very professionally with international speaker Per Forsberg, big screen in the arena, light gate timing - the best event set up I have seen in Great Britain, or indeed in most countries! The courses were very good - challenging and contrasting, and the social atmosphere was also amazing, with entertainment including talks from several top runners and a ceilidh.

Bring on WOC 2015 in Scotland!

Maps with routes

Final

Prologue

Bronze in World Uni Champs middle

Today I took a bronze medal in the World University Orienteering Championships middle distance in Sweden. I was really disappointed with my performance in the sprint (12th place), so I was eager to do well today. I actually had the worst possible start, losing almost 90 seconds on the 2nd control, but I ran well after that and climbed back up to 3rd place, about 1 minute behind Matthias Merz. Now I am looking forward to the relay competition tomorrow.

Photo David Rosen

First Individual World Cup Podium!

It had been a long time coming, but I finally managed to take my first individual top 6 in a senior international race in Stockholm on Tuesday. The race was a new concept - a round based knock-out sprint with a straight qualification race and the quarter, semi and final races through the day.

My goal for the day was to qualify for the semi-final so that I had a chance to run in the streets of Gamla Stan (old town Stockholm). I ran a good qualification race with just one bad route choice to finish 7th. Then I managed to win my quarter-final in front of Hubmann, Novikov, Rost, Johansson and Kerschbaumer. In the beginning I just stayed behind the leader, and with 3 controls to go I moved to the front and ran flat out to the finish.

After a couple of hours rest it was time for the semi-final - up against Khramov, Muller, Weltzein, Haldin and Hubmann again! I felt I had nothing to lose and nobody would expect me to go through, and I had the same tactic as for the QF. I just ran behind Daniel and then ran like hell from the last control! I managed to pass Hubmann on the finish to win my SF as well!

Then it was really strange to have so much adrenaline and lactic acid, with only 45 minutes before the final. I was much more relaxed (maybe too relaxed) having surpassed my goals for the day, and already from the first metres of the final I was not feeling so strong - I think also Fabian was setting the fastest speed of the day, and I had some problems to follow him. The race was really cool, but I could not rely on my speed to pass the other runners, and after half the race I realised I needed to try some different route choices to have a chance to get a medal. I did this, but every time I reappeared in 5th place behind the other runners, and I was just run out of it at the end by some really strong athletes!

It feels slightly strange to have beaten the world's greatest orienteer 3 times in one day and not get a medal, but I am really satisfied with my performance, I gave 100% in every race and I had 4 almost perfect races. I really like the concept and I think it suits me well, especially in the urban environment, and I look forward to more competitions like it in the future.

My 5th place gives me lot of confidence for later in the year.

Photograph from British Orienteering.

Nordic O Tour World Cup and Jukola

So last night was the first race in the Nordic Orienteering Tour, part of the 2010 World Cup. The concept was a 25 minute middle distance followed by a map change and a 15 minute sprint race in an urban forest and town just north of Helsinki.

My preparation wasn't ideal, with a meeting at university the day before, and arriving in Finland 10pm the night before the race, but I ran quite well without feeling fantastic. Only 2.02 behind the Hubmann but 17th place! The standard in the men's class is just so high - 45 guys in about 4 minutes! Another stable top 20 - want something a bit better next week.

Can see the tracking here and the results here

Now it is time for final preparations for Jukola. For the first time I am running for a British club - my new home club South Yorkshire Orienteers, based in Sheffield. We have talked about British clubs running for years, but finally this year we made it happen, and we have 3 mens teams and 2 womens teams taking part.

Both first teams are quite strong, with all national team runners (current or former). The men's team has 3 of the British 2010 WOC team, 1 of the 2010 JWOC team, and Jamie Stevenson as well! It will be really difficult to do well in Finnish forest at night, but we hope that a) we can be the best British team, b) we can get the best British team result ever (currently 43rd) and c) that we can be top 25 and get a plaque at the prize giving. I am running the last leg.

The team is sponsored by Inov8 and Smartwool.

Sun, dolphins and PBs in European Championships

2010 European Championships, Primorsko, Bulgaria

So another championships is over, and I am feeling pretty satisfied with my work. PBs in every distance (by a long way in 2 of them), and 5 good performances out of 5. There is always room for a better race or a better result, but I would have taken this if offered 2 weeks ago.

I came into the championships with a niggle in my calf, so there was never any doubt that I would not run all 7 races, and I decided to drop the long, especially considering the hot, humid conditions.

The first race was the sprint qualification. I ran a good controlled race, apart from the 11th control which was on a boat! Didn't understand my description or the map, and punched a different control with a similar code, but recovered and qualified comfortably, 14 seconds behind the best. Really nice mixture of super-fast woodland, scrappy urban and sand dunes made for an interesting start to the week.

Results here

A couple of hours later the final took place in a really interesting venue - I have never done an international sprint race like it. There we good route choices, difficult controls in low visibility forest, very fast running on roads, and more sand dunes. I was satisfied with my performance, I made good route choices, and my only real time loss (other than the normal couple of seconds here and there) was on the 9th control where I was too busy looking ahead at the next control, and ran a line of buildings too far - lost about 15 seconds. I was really fast in the sand dunes in the end, taking quite a few places and finished 10th (but behind 6 Swiss!). Bodes really well for WOC and I consider this to be better than my 9th at WOC sprint '06.

Results here

I was really excited about the middle qualifier - I always enjoy the different stresses of qualification, and I thought this was going to be really interesting with difficult orienteering and lots of other runners everywhere. Actually, it was a lonely race as the qualifiers were very different and I hardly saw anybody. I again ran a safe race, pushed hard when I could, but really tried hard not to miss a thing, and I was really happy to be a minute down on the best of Thierry and Novikov.

Results here

After some last minute changes due to various injuries and illnesses, I was asked to run the last leg of the relay - something I have not done in an international since JWOC 2004! I was really nervous at the thought of going head to head with Merz, Novikov, Gueorgiou etc... - was more nervous than I usually get. Scott did the business on first leg, and Oli kept in touch with a really strong pack to send me out in14th just behind Novikov, Bortnik and Mamleev and with Osterbø and Krapivko. The pace was really fast immediately with Novikov and Mamleev stepping on the gas. For the first couple of controls, Osterbø and me just tucked in behind. As the gaffles started to hit, we also caught Haldin. On the 6th, Novikov had the shorter forking and got a little gap, but I really pushed it on the longer 8 and caught him again. I had a different gaffle to everyone around 8,9,10, but we all came back together for the spectator run through. I was right at the front of the group, but stopped for a drink so Novikov came past. I was feeling strong sat so sat on his tail up the hill to 16, then he had a different 17. We re-grouped on the way to 18, and I was no longer aware of Mamleev / Osterbø or anyone else. Running along the road to the second spectator, Novikov was looking over his shoulder and I could sense he didn't really want a race to the finish. I started to push the pace and took the front, then really kicked up the hill to the 3rd last. Really pushed the pace to the 2nd last and then gave it everything down to the last control. By this time Novikov was gone and he was looking over his shoulder for the next guys, so I could cruise into 8th place, but 6th nation and a new best ever result in the relay for GB at the European Champs!

That is probably physically and technically my best ever international race. I made maybe a 10 second mistake on the 10th control, but nothing apart from a couple of hesitations apart from that. I had 3rd fastest time on last leg after Merz and Gueorgiou. Looking forward to World Champs relay now!

Results here

Last race of my week was the middle final, and although I was mentally and physically tired (especially after the relay), I was determined to put in a good performance. My plan was to be as aggressive as possible and control the speed when necessary. The terrain was much easier technically than expected, and so it was more of a physical race, and I was struggling in the 2nd half to maintain my speed. I had a good race technically, although I am not sure I always took the best route choices with respect to the gullies and the green areas.

My 18th place is satisfying in some ways and frustrating in others. It was close to being my best middle distance performance at international level (definitely in a championships), so I am a little disappointed with the result, but on the other hand, it was quite an easy race and there are a lot of good guys! 1 minute faster would have been a top 6, and the way my body was feeling, I do think that on a different day I could have run that much faster even without taking out errors. Again it is really promising for World Champs, where the terrain will be tougher and more difficult.

Results here

World Champs Test Races

So, 2 weeks before the European Champs and 3 months before the World Champs, we had our test races for the World Champs. A really good set of races in Glasgow, and up on the west coast of Scotland near Oban. I didn't really try and peak for these races, rather take them as preparation for the Europeans at the end of the month. I was really satisfied with my performances in the middle (2nd, 10 seconds down) and the long (3rd, 1.50 down), but not with my sprint race (2nd, 40 seconds down). Especially in the middle, I feld my orienteering was going really well, and with a couple of weeks taper, I hope to be in really good shape in Bulgaria.

Sprint routegadget results

Middle routegadget results

Long results, routegadget

I have been selected for middle and sprint for WOC - I was hoping for long and sprint.

British spring season building to a climax

My spring domestic season entered its final week this week, with a trip down to the Harvester relay in Kent. The 'Jukola of British orienteering' - a 7 man night relay. Bit of an anti-climax after Tiomila, with about 50 teams in total, and not very many challenging for the victory. In fact, the trophy was ours to throw away, and quite a lot of the team did their best to try and do that, but in the end the might ShUOC managed to pull out a win despite letting a team 30 minutes down after leg 1 finish leg 6 20 seconds behind us. I ran the last leg and ran in winners by about 15 minutes. The B team also won their race so it was a successful day to end a very successful spring for ShUOC, with 3 wins from 3 in the relay league - JK, British and Harvester to complete an unprecedented treble and win the UK Relay league after South Yorkshire dominance for 3 years.

Results

This weekend is the test races for the World Champs team up in Scotland, sprint on Friday, then middle and long at the weekend up near Oban. Will be hard to beat last year...

Tiomila

High hopes again this year for Lidingö, with many talking of us challenging the 'big 3'. Well it didn't quite work out that way, and 4 of the team will feel a little disappointed with their performances. We failed to get to the front early on, were not in the leading pack on long night, and from then on it was all chasing and overtaking the other teams dropping off. I ran the 8th leg, and went out in 14th place, a long way behind the leaders but with lots of teams not too far in front to chase. I ran really aggressively from the start, and picked up a number of teams. My orienteering wasn't quite clean enough, and I wasn't quite strong enough to pull away from the other runners though, and I ended up running in a bit of a pack with about 5 other teams. At the end though, I managed to get a small gap with the gaffling and managed to change over in 7th place, and I had the 3rd fastest time on my leg which was pretty satisfying. The last 2 boys held on to 7th, but it was a big ask to take any more places. The potential is there, and one day we will have a good team performance and the result will come.

UK Cup

Thanks to various people doing various things like not entering races, I managed to retain the UK Cup without running the final races :)

British sprint champion

Photo Dave Rollins

On Sunday I retook the British Sprint title in Chorley. Scott Fraser wasn't there to defend his title, so I won by a big margin from Murray Strain and Matt Crane.

Really nice couple of races with fast but difficult orienteering in the qualifier, and then really fast high concentration orienteering in the afternoon.

Routegadget and results

On Saturday I was 2nd in the middle champs behind Oli Johnson. Good course on a great area, I threw it away on 2 controls.

Routegadget and results

Wheally nice mini o-tour taking in Devon, Cornwall, London and Nottingham

So after the JK I went on a little tour round the south west, taking in Lynton, Lynmouth, Barnstaple, Lands End, Penzance among others.

I took part in a really fun race at Wheal Florence (map extract below) - an old tin mining strip. I enjoyed it so much I ran two courses.

Wheal Florence results 1, results 2

The next day there was a race at the Eden Project near St Austell. Part of the race was in the Biomes (bio-domes), so we were running through rainforest and 35 degree heat!

Eden project results

Then it was back to Surrey to finish off the map of Guildford that I am making for a city race there. Saturday I took part in the South East sprint championships, which turned out to be really fun! Maps below, I also took in a lap of Richmond Park which is one of my favourite places to run.

Race 1 results and routegadget

Race 2 results and routegadget

Yesterday to complete the tour, I took in the Nottingham City Race on my way back to Sheffield.

Nottingham city race results and routegadget

Selections have been released - I am selected for European Championships, Nordic World Cup Tour and World University Championships - it is going to be a busy summer!

Fun in the sun (and the mud)

Pictures speak louder than words....

JK festival, Easter weekend, Devon.

3 races, 3 victories

Maps, results and routegadget below

Photo credits - Peter Guillaume, Wendy Carlyle, Christine Robinson

Sprint results and routegadget

Middle results and routegadget

Relay results

Disappointing season start

The first elite races of the year were held up in Scotland, and I had high hopes after a good winter training. Unfortunately things did not go to plan, and I felt heavy legged before they even began - perhaps indicative of the the tough nature of the terrain and the quantity of training I have been doing. The middle distance was no disaster, finished 4th, 1 minute down on Scott, but I was disappointed with how I felt and how many small mistakes I made.

Touch routegadget and results

The classic never got going for me really. I made bad route choices and was scrappy, and I was off the pace from the start. Tough motivationally at the start of a long season, and only 4 days to pick myself up before the JK

Trossachs routegadget and results

Student Champs

It's that time of year again when the British domestic season really starts. Only 8 days until our first test race, 2 weeks until the Easter JK festival, and a month until the British Championships. The first major test was the University Championships, which were down in the Forest of Dean. A lot of the top British guys were there, including 3 of last years WOC team - so a decent field, and my first time running for Sheffield Hallam University.

My preparation was pretty mixed - while I wanted to do well and I was really motivated on the day, I didn't want to sacrifice my training for the upcoming season, so I didn't rest at all in the days before the race. I also decided to drive to the race on the day - almost 3 hours each way - not the best pre-race preparation!

I had last start, 2 minutes behind Fraser, so I set off pretty quick! I thought he might sweep up the runners in front of him, leaving me to have lonely race, but I caught and passed a couple of runners, and when I came to the spectator control I was about 30 seconds down on Scott in 2nd place. I ran pretty fast after that for a few controls, catching Matt Halliday. Then I started to get some pain in my stomach and some cramping, and the course became more physical. I also started to get some fatigue in the quads - too many squats in the gym! Anyway, the last 2km I lost 2 1/2 minutes to Scott - I was tired and stared making some stupid small mistakes, so I ended 2nd place, 3 minutes behind!

Results here

Routegadget here

Still, my best ever performance in this competition after 4th in 2003, 3rd in 2004 and 3rd in 2005. Must be time for a win next year then....

I didn't stick around for the relay (I didn't have a team) or party, back home to sort my stomach out and back into training the next day.

Tomorrow I am travelling up to Scotland for 10 days, taking in a SEDS weekend, then a camp with the national team leading up to our first test races and World Ranking Event in the Trossachs - should be fun! The Trossachs have almost a mythical quality in British orienteering - fantastically physical and technical - the contour interval seems to be 10m even though it is 5, and running under 10 minutes per km is a good achievement.

Inspiration