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!

As agreed at the AGM 2023, from 1 May 2024 British Orienteering would like to offer an exclusive part-year Membership to new members.

New members are individuals who have not been members of British Orienteering in any of the previous four calendar years.

Part year membership fees 2024

Seniors – £10

Young adults – £7.50

Juniors – £3.00

Families – £25.00 (all members must be new members and not on the database to take up this offer).

No memberships will be merged with existing memberships.

Please note from 1 January 2025, any “new” members will need to renew their membership for 2025.

Find out more about how to join online today. 

The GBR teams for the Junior World Orienteering Championships (JWOC) and the European Youth Orienteering Championships (EYOC) are announced.

The JWOC races are in Plzeň, Czechia from 1 - 6 July and the EYOC races are in Szczecin, Poland from 21 - 24 June.

All named athletes are selected to all disciplines at each competition.

In alphabetical order of surname, the JWOC team is:

Non-travelling reserves: Adam Barrie and Emma Crawford

In alphabetical order of surname, the EYOC team is:

Yesterday the Long-Distance Competition at the Orienteering World Cup Final in Cansiglio, Italy took place, with two dominating performances by Tove Alexandersson (SWE) and Kasper Harlem Fosser (NOR) winning the women’s and men’s races respectively.

It was a challenging Long-distance race with tricky navigation in places and a few longer route choice, but physical capacity was the determining factor.

Megan Carter-Davies (GB) was the highest place finisher in the women’s with Grace Molloy (GB) again putting in a strong performance in her first year as a senior. In the men’s Hector Haines (GB) and Ralph Street (GB) finished once again strongly in the middle of the field.

Tove Alexandersson was back in the form that saw her claim a record five gold medals at the World Championships earlier in the year finishing five minutes ahead of 2nd place Simona Aebersold (SUI) with Natalia Gemperle (RUS) finishing in 3rd.

In the men's Kasper Harlem Fosser was just as dominant among the men finishing the course five minutes ahead of his closest competitor Matthias Kyburz (SUI), with Daniel Hubmann (SUI) in 3rd place.

GB team results

Team Manager Andy Kitchin, said:  "Cansiglio Forest, in the foothills of the Dolomites, northern Italy provided a challenging venue for the World Cup 3 Long races, which were certainly long, the men covering a 19.1km course and the women 13.2km. The forest was fast open beech and pine, though very hilly and steep. It was not pure continental style big rounded hillsides though, there was also a great deal of complex contour detail in the karst limestone terrain. At the finish the overall reaction from the GB team athletes was of the physical challenge they had just experienced. Some were pleased with how they had met the navigational challenges, some were disappointed but all were positive about the experience. Top performers were Megan Carter-Davies finishing in 12th place from a strong steady and well controlled run. Hector Haines topped the men’s results in 33rd place with Ralph Street close behind in 36th."

GB Grace Molloy, said:  "From the model and the course distances, we knew it was going to be fast and fairly straightforward. I was happy with my race, technically and physically, through the first 4/5 to the run through. We then had a couple of controls in complex rockier terrain where I frustratingly lost some time. It was still a good performance and my best World Cup result so far."

GB Josh Dudley, said:  "A proper test for an elite orienteer, technically and physically demanding, with opportunities to push and optimise route choices.  My plan worked, though I was thrown by the terrain for the first few controls, then got it together and ran a clean race."

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Today (Friday 1 October) is a rest day before the Middle distance competition takes place tomorrow (Saturday 2 October).