Today was the first event of the 2016 European Youth Orienteering Championships. With a break from the norm, the event started with the Long competition and will be followed by the relay tomorrow and the sprint will be the final event on Sunday.

The GB team (pictured) arrived in Poland late on Wednesday night and, after spending yesterday, training on the model areas, they thought about how they would tackle the hilly terrain and exceptionally hot conditions. The race brought mixed fortunes with some athletes dealing with the heat better than others.

Alastair Thomas represented GB in the M16 category and described his 11th place as a 'good result for a bad race'. He explained, "It was a good placing but not a good performance and I admit that I am disappointed, I was working for a podium place. I struggled with the heat from the spectator control onwards [75% into the course] and technically, I made mistakes. Tomorrow I am looking for a clean, fast run and to keep with the pack and I am going to speak to my coach, Lewis Taylor, to reflect on today and then go over my process goals for the sprint."

There were two 14th places for EYOC debutants, Lucy Haines (W18) and Grace Molloy (W16).

Lucy explained how her training plan and process goals helped her to achieve this top result, "I knew that the course would be hilly with all of the re-entrants and so I have been doing a lot of hill reps to simulate the climbs and descents and then added a lot of interval and speed work into my training to get my fitness as good as I possibly could, to handle the heat. I thought the heat would affect me but I didn't really notice it at all apart from in my warm up. My goal was to have a clean run and to make sure there were no big mistakes. I took safe routes that would get me the best result." Lucy went on to say, "I would like to thank my coach, Nick Lightfoot whose input on the technical side has made a huge difference to how I orienteered and how I executed my plan."

When describing her race, Grace said, "I wasn't too nervous - I was excited to get out in the forest! I started well, dropped a little in the first half but was happy with how I was doing up to the spectator control [55% of the course] but then got distracted by another athlete and lost track of my plan. Then the frustration kicked in and made me drop even more time! I am disappointed with my position but am actually surprised it wasn't worse! I didn't have a problem with the heat and I'm really looking forward to the next two days." Grace's training didn't go to plan as an ankle injury forced her into cross training for a while but, she said, "it went really well and I feel fitter than before."

Matt Fellbaum finished 19th in the M18 category. He also had a period of cross training ‘after being fed up of being injured’. He said, "I looked at my training, with my brother and coach, Tom and we decided to put in cross training and strength work after Christmas. It's worked really well. I thought I could get a top twenty but I thought my nerves would get the better of me. I was very nervous in quarantine but then I knew I would be so I was prepared for it. I decided I would be careful, in control - never fast running. I made a couple of mistakes that cost a few minutes but over all, it was good. I'm really happy. I needed to put in a good performance at international level. I’ve spent the last couple of years watching others go off to competitions and camps whilst I’ve been left at home. It’s made me realise how much I want it and given me new determination."

Full results can be found here.

Photo left to right - Back row: Pippa Dakin, Matthew Fellbaum, Laura King, Alex Carcas, Grace Molloy

Front row: Alastair Thomas, Lucy Haines, Aidan Rigby, Emma Wilson, Jake Chapman