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!

An Interview with Anastasia Mahlych W16, a junior orienteer from Ukraine, sharing her experience of coming with her Mum, Kateryna, from their home in Ukraine to the UK.

(*Title inspired by a comment made by Anastacia's mum, Kateryna, “You have many words for rain here in Britain”.)

Ric: Anastasia, please can you tell me a little about your normal home life in Ukraine and what your school/interests are.

Anastasia: In Ukraine I lived in Irpin, a town near Kyiv, and every day in the morning I went to school, which was a 15-minute walk from me. I studied in the 9th grade and had to have exams in May. After school, I took all the necessary things and went to training to a large sports complex in the centre of Kyiv. 1.5 hour by bus and by tube - but it was worth it! The trainings were long and difficult - 3 hours, including physical exercises... I returned home tired, but really happy! And every weekend, my squad "Kyiv region" and I went outside Kyiv for a "forest" training. So, 6 times a week in trainings, 6 times a week to see teammates, 6 times a week to get a lot of emotions. And, of course, our squad travelled a lot in Ukraine to competitions or training camps, where we trained, won and took hundreds of pictures. At home I also walked our dog every morning (we have black-and-white Newfoundland dog), and fed the cats (we have three cats, found them just in the street when they were tiny kittens). I also wanted to have a parrot or a hamster/guinea pig but we decided that cats could eat them all. I also helped my grandmother in her garden, planted greens, broomed away the leaves in the fall and watered flowers. This was my usual life in Ukraine until February 24.

Ric: Obviously, you and your mum Katia, have made your way over to the UK in recent months, if it’s OK, could you tell me about when and how this all happened?

Anastasia: On February 24 I woke up at 5 am because of tons of messages from my friends that the war has just begun. It was so hard to believe that, but I went to wake up my parents to tell everything. My mom was awaken too. It was very scary, because all the time we heard the sounds of missiles flying very low and there were loud explosions somewhere not far from us. My mother and I started packing things very quickly and could not pack bags in any way, because we did not understand what to take and what not. In 3 hours, my mother and I headed for Western Ukraine by our small car. We thought that everything would be over in a week or so, and we would be back. Dad stayed with our dog and three cats in Irpin, as he did not want to leave the house and animals and also hoped that this would not continue for a long time. My grandmother also refused to go, she didn't want to leave her home and we couldn't convince her to join us. She stays in Kyiv now. My mother and I drove for a very, very long time, there was no gas anywhere, and people on the roads were shocked and panicked. We saw many people running with cats and dogs in their hands, some people were cycling really fast with huge rucksacks. Everywhere we heard women and kids crying. It took a lot of willpower for my mom to stay calm and continue driving. In the night we arrived to Khmelnitskiy, a city in Western Ukraine. All hotels and apartments were full with people, but a manager of one hotel let us sleep in a hall, on the floor near the reception desk. He gave people as many sleeping mats and blankets as he had, he put chairs together so the little babies could sleep there. So, we travelled almost 3 days to Chisinau, Moldova, waited at the border for 7 hours, crossed the border at 4am. Then, the border guards treated us with hot pies, and we became very sleepy. Mom had already been driving for 22 hours from Khmelnitskiy and was almost falling asleep, so we spent the night in the car. In the morning we arrived in Chisinau to people who sheltered us and did everything for our convenience. We stayed there for a week and then decided to go to Northern Ireland as we have friends there. The car had to be left in Moldova. We travelled by train to Romania, spent a night with volunteers, then in Romania we boarded a plane and flew to Italy, with a transfer of 5 hours we flew to Dublin, caught a bus and ended up in Northern Ireland, Belfast.