05 December 2006
03 December 2006
England lose to Scotland in the Senior Home International (again)
I was part of the England team that was thrashed by Scotland in our own back garden this weekend. The annual Senior Home International (teams of M/W 20 and 21s) varies in importance for athletes from the pinnacle of the year for some to 'I can't be bothered' for others. This means that the teams are never the strongest from any country, but it is often the country that can persuade the most top runners to take part that wins (England or Scotland tend to dominate having most of the top elite runners). Unfortunately, in the last few years, that has been Scotland, and despite (or maybe because of) the competition being held in the centre of orienteering in England, near Sheffield, Scotland won both the relays and the individual competitions.
I love representing England and make the effort to whenever I can, even though we have to pay for ourselves, wear a very out of date o top and take the humiliation of losing to Scotland occasionally.
Saturday was the relay competition. It is structured so that there are 3 teams from each nation, with a 20 and 21s in each team. I was in a team with Andy Lewellyn and Duncan Archer, and we won by quite a large margin. After 2 legs it was very close and I started with Oleg Chepelin (Scotland 1st team), but Oleg had a poor run and I beat him comfortably. We both messed up really badly at the first control, but after that I ran a fairly controlled race, not taking any risks and if anything I was overcautious. This was probably a good thing as the wood was very detailed - the map was 1:5000 and it was very easy to make a big mistake (which many runners did). Scotland dominated the womens race and won overall though.
Today was the individual with 4 to count from 21s, and 2 from 20s. I was off early and quickly passed most of the runners starting before me. I had a pretty good run and I was running strongly through the deep heather and marshes which made me feel like my winter training is working. I did make a few mistakes though, with small misses at 6, 10, 16, 22 and 23, and a big mistake at control 20. I couldn't understand the vegetation or the contours in that area at all. The last few controls I was starting to feel tired, and without the mistake at 20 I would have been very happy with my run. I ended up 2nd, about a minute behind Al Buckley (England). Scotland annihilated us, especially in the W21 and M20. The M21s were about even and our W20s were best.
Considering I haven't really done any orienteering since the World Cups in France, I was pretty content with my weekend, just disappointed about the team results.
I will put up some pictures sometime and a link to the results when they are up, but I guess they will be here.
Relay results
Mens:
Eng 3 (Archer, Llewellyn, Gristwood)
SCO 1 (Strain, Coombs, Chepelin)
Sco 2 (Musgrave, J Tullie, Kitchen)
IRL 2
Eng 1
Eng 2
Sco 3
Irl 1
Wal 2
Wal 1
Wal 3
Irl 3
Womens:
Sco 1 (Stevenson, Orr, Mackenzie)
Sco 2 (Ward, Strain, Dunn)
Eng 3(Edwards, Spillar, Roberts)
Irl 1
Eng 2
Wal 1
Wal 2
Sco 3
Wal 3
Irl 2
Irl 3 (non comp)
Eng 1 dsq
Scotland 56 points, England 44, Ireland 28, Wales 16.
I love representing England and make the effort to whenever I can, even though we have to pay for ourselves, wear a very out of date o top and take the humiliation of losing to Scotland occasionally.
Saturday was the relay competition. It is structured so that there are 3 teams from each nation, with a 20 and 21s in each team. I was in a team with Andy Lewellyn and Duncan Archer, and we won by quite a large margin. After 2 legs it was very close and I started with Oleg Chepelin (Scotland 1st team), but Oleg had a poor run and I beat him comfortably. We both messed up really badly at the first control, but after that I ran a fairly controlled race, not taking any risks and if anything I was overcautious. This was probably a good thing as the wood was very detailed - the map was 1:5000 and it was very easy to make a big mistake (which many runners did). Scotland dominated the womens race and won overall though.
Today was the individual with 4 to count from 21s, and 2 from 20s. I was off early and quickly passed most of the runners starting before me. I had a pretty good run and I was running strongly through the deep heather and marshes which made me feel like my winter training is working. I did make a few mistakes though, with small misses at 6, 10, 16, 22 and 23, and a big mistake at control 20. I couldn't understand the vegetation or the contours in that area at all. The last few controls I was starting to feel tired, and without the mistake at 20 I would have been very happy with my run. I ended up 2nd, about a minute behind Al Buckley (England). Scotland annihilated us, especially in the W21 and M20. The M21s were about even and our W20s were best.
Considering I haven't really done any orienteering since the World Cups in France, I was pretty content with my weekend, just disappointed about the team results.
I will put up some pictures sometime and a link to the results when they are up, but I guess they will be here.
Relay results
Mens:
Eng 3 (Archer, Llewellyn, Gristwood)
SCO 1 (Strain, Coombs, Chepelin)
Sco 2 (Musgrave, J Tullie, Kitchen)
IRL 2
Eng 1
Eng 2
Sco 3
Irl 1
Wal 2
Wal 1
Wal 3
Irl 3
Womens:
Sco 1 (Stevenson, Orr, Mackenzie)
Sco 2 (Ward, Strain, Dunn)
Eng 3(Edwards, Spillar, Roberts)
Irl 1
Eng 2
Wal 1
Wal 2
Sco 3
Wal 3
Irl 2
Irl 3 (non comp)
Eng 1 dsq
Scotland 56 points, England 44, Ireland 28, Wales 16.
14 November 2006
Selected for stuff and the start of the cross country season
Selections
I have been selected for the South Africa camp in February with the GB team, and I have also been pre-selected for the Nordic Champs in March. Full selections are as follows
South Africa
Helen Bridle, Rachael Elder, Mhairi Mackenzie, Alison O’Neil, Pippa Whitehouse, David Brickhill-Jones, Oleg Cheplin, Matt Crane, Jon Duncan, Scott Fraser, Graham Gristwood, Matthew Speake & Jamie Stevenson
Nordics Championships
Jon Duncan, Graham Gristwood, Jamie Stevenson and Helen Bridle (further athletes will be added
Cross Country
My cross country season started at the weekend (having missed the first races due to the mountain marathon). On Saturday I ran in the Warwick Relays, teams of 4, 3.3km per leg. I ran first leg for my running club, Kenilworth Runners, and I also ran last leg for a mixed team with Liis and some friends from university. I was running well (the best I have felt in a hard session since the OMM), but my downfall was my choice of footwear. I didn't wear spikes and regretted it, sliding all over the place. On the firmer ground though I was strong and I almost managed to come back first (3 seconds behind Alistair Smith). My team finished 3rd and the mixed team won that category. Results here.
On Sunday we had a house trip down to the 'Cardiac Arrest', an 8 mile extreme cross country race. This basically meant they took us through quarries, over big piles of rocks, through small tunnels and in and out of a number of rivers and ponds (see this great pic of Liis).
I won the race, Harold was 2nd and Matt was 3rd. Liis was 3rd girl and we won the team prize, so basically we came away with almost everything. Results here. Report by Matt and some pics here.
I have been selected for the South Africa camp in February with the GB team, and I have also been pre-selected for the Nordic Champs in March. Full selections are as follows
South Africa
Helen Bridle, Rachael Elder, Mhairi Mackenzie, Alison O’Neil, Pippa Whitehouse, David Brickhill-Jones, Oleg Cheplin, Matt Crane, Jon Duncan, Scott Fraser, Graham Gristwood, Matthew Speake & Jamie Stevenson
Nordics Championships
Jon Duncan, Graham Gristwood, Jamie Stevenson and Helen Bridle (further athletes will be added
Cross Country
My cross country season started at the weekend (having missed the first races due to the mountain marathon). On Saturday I ran in the Warwick Relays, teams of 4, 3.3km per leg. I ran first leg for my running club, Kenilworth Runners, and I also ran last leg for a mixed team with Liis and some friends from university. I was running well (the best I have felt in a hard session since the OMM), but my downfall was my choice of footwear. I didn't wear spikes and regretted it, sliding all over the place. On the firmer ground though I was strong and I almost managed to come back first (3 seconds behind Alistair Smith). My team finished 3rd and the mixed team won that category. Results here.
On Sunday we had a house trip down to the 'Cardiac Arrest', an 8 mile extreme cross country race. This basically meant they took us through quarries, over big piles of rocks, through small tunnels and in and out of a number of rivers and ponds (see this great pic of Liis).
I won the race, Harold was 2nd and Matt was 3rd. Liis was 3rd girl and we won the team prize, so basically we came away with almost everything. Results here. Report by Matt and some pics here.
05 November 2006
(International?) Winter Technique Camp
I am organising a technical training camp in the Lake District in Northern England in January (6-14th), aimed at elite runners from Britain (and around the world). The idea is to get good number of elite athletes together to have a high quality, high intensity training week at a time when a lot of people are doing no technique work. There is almost no chance of snow in early January in England, and the Lake District offers some of the best technical terrain in Europe, including the Graythwaite Estate which hosted a World Cup race in the 90s, and many top British races including British Champs and JK in the last 10 years.
The plan is to stay in cottages on the Graythwaite Estate, and much of the training will be planned by World Championship medallist Martin 'Bilbo' Bagness. There will be a key focus on the weekends, when many people will come, and less (but still at least one technical training a day) during the week, for those who chose to stay for the midweek. People can come for as long or as short as they like.
The camp will be attended by a large number of GB squad athletes, both junior and senior, as well as aspiring athletes outside the squad and good runners who want to train hard with the top elite. There is a minimum standard, but we are not exclusive.
Foreign runners of a suitable standard are welcome to join us, and although we want to book the cottages by the end of November, there will certainly be youth hostel accommodation available for anyone who decides to come after that. Any groups interested can contact me at oneandonlygg (.at) gmail.com
02 November 2006
OMM maps (now with routes)
Full day 1 map here our route here
Full day 2 map here our route here
Craney and Neil won the A, see Craney's blog (he's my hero)
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