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Results are in from yesterday's British Middle Distance Championships!
Access provisional results via this link or for a full breakdown, visit the AIRE website.
Well done to all winners and to everyone who took part this weekend!
*Updated 29/04/2024: Results from Sunday's Northern Championships organised by CLARO are now also available online via this link. Well done to all involved in hosting the event and everyone who took part.
Mapping is the one of the most rewarding and enjoyable roles. Not only does it improve your navigation skills, but it can also provide you with a different and new type of orienteering challenge.
The British Orienteering E-Learning Mapping Courses, Introduction to updating Forest Mapping and Introduction to Sprint and Urban Mapping , developed with the expertise of David Olivant (Nottinghamshire Orienteering Club) and the educational robustness of Pauline Olivant (Nottinghamshire Orienteering Club) .
Both courses are based around learners having access to either of the two most widely used mapping programs, Open Orienteering Mapper and OCAD.
We strongly advise that you seek an experienced mapper as a mentor to support you through your journey towards being a competent mapper.
Both courses are based on updating an existing map and rather than creating a new map from a previously unmapped area.
Course objectives
- To provide an introduction and basic understanding of the processes involved in how to update and amend an existing Orienteering map.
The course content is designed to only address the course objective rather than attempting to cover the full scope of Mapping. As we recognise that Mapping is a skill that takes much time and practice to hone.
The course should only take around 45- 60 mins to complete and for the whole of May is only £6.00
To access the course and find out more information about our other E-Learning courses, please visit the E-Learning homepage.
Interested in learning about our other E-Learning courses on offer? Visit the E-Learning homepage and access information on all the other resources we provide.
AIRE and CLARO look forward to seeing you all at the British Middle Championships this coming weekend.
You have entered in greater numbers than we anticipated, but we have adapted to cater for you all as best we can. Both Danefield and Kilnsey Moor is a lovely places in the Spring sunshine and we really hope the weather is kind so that you can enjoy it at its best. The technical woodland of Danefield is in sharp contrast to the fast open areas of Kilnsey. You should enjoy some great orienteering on both days. Str8 compasses is sponsoring a lot of prizes for the Northern Championships and the British Middles so run well and good luck.
Start times and final details are published, maps are printed and lots of equipment is ready to move. No controls are out yet, but we have been busy at Kilnsey as you may be able to see from a picture. There are a variety of crossing points on Kilnsey Moor – many of you will only encounter this one. There are no stiles to cross at Danefield you’ll be relieved to know.
We will be able to accommodate you all in the parking areas for both events, but as always, it would help if you car shared as much as possible. The Danefield field has remained in good condition throughout the winter, but as some rain has been forecast over the coming days we will have some tracking available. Kilnsey has the delight of hard standing in the quarry. We can’t promise that you will keep your feet dry, but at least cars should not get stuck in the mud as might have happened at some recent events. We’re hoping that’s true for Danefield. Definitely true for Kilnsey!
Anyone wanting to carry a club tent to Danefield, could reduce the distance to carry the tent by 800m by using the drop off point suggested in the event details. It would need to be a rapid drop-off as there are often no parking bays available. They are all quite uneven, and the road is very narrow. To get back to the parking field it is best to not attempt a 5 point turn but to drive in an anti-clockwise route with LH turns for 2.5k to get back to the parking field. This should take no morfme than 5 minutes.
Have a great weekend.
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Full details on the British Middle Championships are available via this link. Visit the CLARO website for more details regarding the Northern Championships. Good luck to everyone taking part!
Arguably the most exciting race of the world championship week, the Mixed Sprint Relay was the second round of racing to take place in Riga this weekend, after the individual Sprint Discipline on Saturday. With teams of four – two women and two men – teams tactically place their best runners on different legs with either the aim of breaking the pack early on leg 1 (run by the women), trying to break away in the middle on legs 2 and 3 (both run by the men), or biding their time to surge through the field on leg 4 (again, run by the women).
The terrain was much similar to that of the Sprint Qualification, with an extensive parkland section around the arena, but with far more of the racing taking place in the residential streets and between the flat-blocks of the Āgenskalns neighbourhood.
Charlotte Ward was the first leg for Britain, and she had to contend with an early pace setting from Tove Alexanderson of Sweden. Alexanderson, having taken yet another silver medal in the individual discipline to her Danish rival Maja Alm, evidently had a point to prove, front running from the gun. Charlotte was tucked into the pack as they came through the arena, with Switzerland’s Elan Roos aiding Alexanderson with the pace setting. As others began making mistakes as the race entered the more extensive forking sections in the final third, Charlotte began to move up the pack and would finish in =12 th , just 43 seconds down on the lead.
This sent Kris Jones out into the terrain and him too, like Alexanderson, was ready to put it all on the line after Saturday’s disappointment. Kris was placed on this leg tactically to break the men’s pack early on, with his superior pace compared to the rest of the field being used to open gaps in the pack. This worked spectacularly, with Kris scything through the field, pulling up to 9th by the arena passage, but gaining places all the time and finishing the leg in 2nd place, a mere 4 seconds down on the Swedish leaders, who had held their place at the front of affairs with Switzerland falling back.
Onto leg three and two distinct races seemed to form. With Sweden holding their lead in front, a chasing pack of four behind with Peter Hodkinson of GBR, Norway, Czech Republic, and Switzerland formed. Jonas Leandersson of Sweden accelerated into the race quickly, building up a near 20 second lead by the arena, increasing that only further to 47 seconds by the finish of his race. Behind, Peter Hodkinson raced to-and-fro with his rivals, holding his own and finishing the race in 4th, just 3 seconds down on 2nd place.
So, the medals were all to play for as the competitors entered the last leg. Karolin Olsson of Sweden started quickly, with the aim of keeping Swiss star Judith Wyder out of sight, and with individual champion Maja Alm starting 1 minute 44 seconds behind Olsson in 7th it was all to play for. Megan Carter-Davies for Britain was pushing hard in the pack, but with many of the world’s best runners on this last leg, it would always be hard to keep touch for a medal. Through the arena at halfway and Olsson was holding her position, but with Wyder closing the gap to 32 seconds, and Alm in seventh place, having taken back an initial ten seconds on the lead. Megan Carter-Davies had held her 4th place up to this point, but the pressure was beginning to mount from behind, and as they entered the second half though Alm began to light the afterburners. Putting in a similar run to Britain’s Kristian Jones, she cut swathes through the field pulling up from 7th into 4th and then, just running out of distance on the course, into 3rd place to take yet another medal for the Danish team in what seems to be their favourite discipline. Out in front, it was too much for Wyder to do to take back Olsson’s lead, and Switzerland had to settle for silver as Sweden took the gold medal. Behind, a late mistake for Megan cost her some time, and she slipped to 7th overall.
It wasn’t the result the GBR team had dreamed of, and they will be disappointed to finish just off the podium, but it only went to emphasise that we are consistently strong in this discipline, and when the racing goes our way medals will come to this talented group!
Full Results:
1. Sweden
2. Switzerland
3. Denmark
4. Norway
5. Czech Republic
6. Russian Federation
7. Great Britain
Well done to our sprints, that’s it for the Urban disciplines. Next up, we head to the forests of Sigulda for the Middle Distance race on Tuesday, with the first start at 9:56 UK time. The GB starts for the discipline are as follows:
Women:
Charlotte Watson – 11:14
Megan Carter-Davies – 11:18
Catherin Taylor – 11:58
Men:
Alasdair McLeod – 13:10
Ralph Street – 14:04
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