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! 

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!

British Orienteering was very sad to hear the news of the death of Martin Hyman earlier this month, at the age of 87.

Martin was one of a group of former GB international endurance athletes who pioneered the sport of orienteering in England in the 1960s (along with, among others, Chris Brasher, John Disley, Gordon Pirie, and Bruce Tulloh). Highlights of Martin’s career as an international athlete included representing Great Britain at the 1960 Rome Olympics (placing 9th in the 10,000m) as well as finishing a close 4th in the 10,000m at the 1962 European Championships.  He represented England in the 6 miles at the Commonwealth & Empire Games of 1958 (4th) and 1962 (5th), and in 1962 he also ran in the marathon, finishing 9th. In 1961 he took third place in the World Cross Country.

In the early days of orienteering in the UK, Martin was one of the leading lights in what was then Occasional Orienteers, was an original committee member of the Southern Orienteering Association, and placed 9th in the very first British Championships at Hamsterley Forest in 1967. His coaching and encouragement saw the school where he taught in Haslemere play a key role in the development of the sport, including the establishment of the Combined Harvesters (CH) club, who founded the Harvester Trophy Relay which continues an important UK competition to this day.

In 1975 Martin took on the role of Chairman of the newly formed British Orienteering Federation Elite Squad. As he told it "I soon discovered that there was no Secretary, Treasurer or Lead Coach. I therefore became all of these." Indeed, by 1976 he had also become Chairman of Selectors, and generations of GB elite athletes owe a huge debt to Martin for his commitment, organisation and development of the squad, inspiring it all the way from its early beginnings through to a much better prepared and high performing set up. As Jon Musgrave (one of our World Championship relay silver medallists from 1993) put it "Martin was largely instrumental in the medals won at WOC '93 and subsequently - he was a fine coach, a great leader of people and, above all, a wonderful person".

Martin’s organisation of the GB Squad involved setting the squad programme through the year. In addition to arranging specific training activities, Martin always ensured that the athletes themselves fully contributed to the organisational aspects for planning and undertaking training and competitive opportunities at home and abroad.  This approach resulted in a comprehensive and wide range of activity each year. As a former international athlete Martin shared his philosophy and experiences of training at the highest levels and was instrumental in raising the athletic standards of Britain’s top orienteers. The legacy of Martin’s approach still continues today in the way that our top athletes undertake self-help training and competition activities. His involvement with the Squad continued right through to 2003 when the emergence of new funding enabled the introduction of paid professional management and allowed him to hand over the reins.

He remained involved with many of the elite athletes, not least through his weekly "Meadows" interval session.  This Edinburgh institution takes place every Tuesday at 7.55pm (sharp!), was initially established in 1979 in support of GB squad members based there, and has been held continuously ever since, in all weathers and even on Christmas Day.  On warm summer evenings the group might be well over a hundred athletes, setting off in groups every five seconds for their ‘five reps, starting every six minutes’.  For over 40 years Martin was omnipresent on a Tuesday evening, meticulous in his time keeping whilst noticing, encouraging and inspiring attendees of all abilities.

Martin acted as mentor and adviser to 2013 World Championship silver medallist Scott Fraser, who recalls: “I first met Martin when I was 13 when I asked him for some training advice at a local young athletics match. The next day, he came to my council estate to help find some inspiring places to run as well as talking a bit about his training philosophy.  I remember expecting a prescribed training programme but instead received a lesson on how to think for myself, and that enjoyment was one of the most important factors in any training plan.

Everything felt better after a chat with Martin and whether I won or did a bad race I would always get the same response: ‘But did you enjoy it?’”

Alongside his orienteering commitments, Martin also played a vast role in the Scottish endurance running scene. His knowledge, and his encouragement to generations of athletes of all levels, was second to none. As well as giving his time to coaching and advice, he organised a vast array of cross-country races, hill running training camps, and hill races, from a World Mountain Running Trophy at Holyrood Park right through to his hugely popular "10p entry and chocolate prizes" races for children. Martin loved coaching youngsters and helping them enjoy the sport, and was still holding his regular Sunday morning session for children at Dechmont Law right up until the week before his death.

Scottish Athletics have published their own tribute to Martin which can be found here.  

Martin was an inspiration over decades for many people, and played a huge role in the development of orienteering in the UK. He will be very much missed, and British Orienteering sends its condolences to his wife Margaret, sons Freddie (Michael) and Pakit (Patrick), and his many friends.