Today was the long race in Val Müstair at an altitude of up to 2300m writes Megan Carter-Davies and Julie Emmerson.

As well as the altitude, the temperatures were high and the terrain was steep, making for an extremely tough race for all the athletes. Planned by Swiss WOC athletes Fabian Hertner and Matthias Merz, the courses really challenged every aspect of orienteering – physical, technical and even mental. Some of the team GB runners returned disappointed having struggled under the extreme conditions, yet our athletes can take several positives from the day.

Fiona Bunn (pictured left), aged 17, placed a very respectable 47^th in W20 after having an outstanding first section before faltering at the end of a long leg. “I can take some positives from the race even though it all didn’t go exactly how I wanted it to and I’m looking forward to the middle and relay” said Fiona. “The altitude made it really tough. The area was as I had imagined it to be, apart from the white forest being harder to run through than expected with a lot of fallen trees.” Many stated that even the downhills were tough since they were so steep.

The top GB result of the day came from Will Rigg (pictured right) who placed 31^st in M20. “It felt like a normal race and I felt pretty relaxed having already raced the Sprint. My early start time didn’t seem to make too much of a difference. However I made a 3 minute mistake on number 6 which seems to have cost me a top 20 position but I bounced back well. I felt in pretty good shape and kept pushing all the way” said Will. “Big shout-out to Winning Students and Mark Nixon, Head of Performance Orienteering at Edinburgh University. I’d like to thank team-mates, Joe and Dane for their unconditional love and support. We are a unit!”

The team had spent much time studying the map and aerial photos, as a group, over the preparation camps and through social media. Will felt he “had prepared well for the route choices.” Coming out early to acclimatise to the heat and altitude helped the athletes feel more prepared.

Now the athletes have a rest day before the middle qualification races on Wednesday.

Results:

Will Rigg - 31^st

Sasha Chepelin - 42nd

Harrison McCartney - 95th

Daniel Stansfield - 100th

Joe Woodley - 116th

Fiona Bunn - 47th

Alice Rigby - 88th

Jenny Ricketts - 99th

Full results can be found here.

Photo credit and thanks to Wendy Carlyle.