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.
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 PlzeĆ, 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:
JWOC Men M20 |
JWOC Women W20 |
Ben Gostick |
Ruth Gooch |
James Hammond |
Jocie Hilton |
Adam Methven |
Isobel Howard |
Thomas Rollins |
Daisy May McNamara |
Ben Squire |
Imogen Pieters |
Euan Tryner |
Freya Tryner |
Non-travelling reserves: Adam Barrie and Emma Crawford
In alphabetical order of surname, the EYOC team is:
EYOC Men M18 | EYOC Women W18 |
James Hammond | Ruth Gooch |
Daniel Heppell | Heather High |
Thomas Rollins | Jocie Hilton |
Oliver Prince (subject to fitness) | Freya Tryner |
Non-travelling reserve: Laurence Ward | Non-travelling reserve: Kate McLuckie |
EYOC Men M16 | EYOC Women W16 |
Finn Selmer Duguid | Emily Atkinson |
Finlay McLuckie | Ella Baxter |
Oscar Peel | Katie Buckley |
Marcus Perry | Scarlett Kelly |
Non-travelling reserve 1: Ruari Cottier |
Non-travelling reserve 1: Anna Todd |
Non-travelling reserve 2: Caspar Reynolds | Non-travelling reserve 2: Sophie Crawford |
Place of Residence: Shipley, Yorkshire
Experience: When did you start/ How did you get into Orienteering?
“I started when I was a kid going with my mum and dad on the weekends. When I was around 15 or so I decided that I wanted to take it more seriously and began training with a bit more intent.”
Clubs: What orienteering clubs have you been part of?
“I run for Octavian Droobers and Lidingö”
Coach:
Oli Johnson (South Yorkshire Orienteers)
Training Routine:
“I try to make my training emphasise key sessions each week. This season it has focused on quality speed sessions and orienteering sessions - especially sprint. As a result, my overall mileage has been lower than in recent years when I've tried to race everything, so it's been important to remind myself what I am aiming for and that specifically has been important. Physically I'm self-coached though so I'm always learning and enjoy trying out new things in training and following the World Orienteering Championships I'm looking forward to pursuing some new goals and approaches.”
Race Routine/habits:
“It's taken me a long time to find a routine that works for me. Anyone who's known me for a while knows that I used to really stress myself out about doing everything perfectly to a routine around races, meaning I was tense and probably not a lot of fun to be around. For a variety of reasons, I've really changed my approach to trying to feel as relaxed as possible before a race, regardless of the level or perceived pressure, and try to focus on and remember the reason I'm there. Obviously, I want to do as well as possible, but ultimately, I really enjoy racing competitively and orienteering in cool terrain, and thinking about this lets me focus a lot more on my own technique and race. I also think it's important to contextualise your own race, especially internationally, and not be too hard on yourself when you're racing professional athletes or people who might be 5 or 10 years older and more experienced. A good habit I've found is that if I can finish a race and think I'm happy with it as soon as I cross the line, even before I've downloaded, then that's a good outcome.”
Favourite terrain/venue/event in UK/World:
“I really enjoy sand dune orienteering and technical campus sprints.”
Favourite Food:
“Thai food, though I'm really not fussy as long as it's vegetarian and doesn't have mushrooms in it!”
Other Hobbies:
“I'm currently converting a van into a campervan which is really fun!”
Inspirations:
“I think it's a really good time to take inspiration from the current GB sprint squad. There are so many great runners competing together and everyone has a really good team attitude which means we can all really celebrate each other's successes. I think seeing how fast Kris and Ralph are running and the results Meg is putting out there is really inspiring at the moment. Having Oli coaching me is also a big source of inspiration given how successful he was for so many years.”
What advice would you give to a younger version of yourself?
“Enjoy it! Everyone gets told this as a junior but it's really hard to actually listen to and act on it when there is a lot of focus on EYOC/JWOC only. As soon as you're out of that bubble, you realise how many incredible opportunities orienteering can give you so the earlier you can realise the things this sport can let you do and focus on those the better.”
British Orienteering wishes you all the very best Nathan with your final preparations.
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Ahead of the World Orienteering Championships 2022 in Denmark, British Orienteering is posting interviews of the GB athletes selected to compete so that all members can get to know the GB team. Please keep an eye out for these interviews which will be posted on the British Orienteering website this week, and follow all the action live here throughout the World Orienteering Championships which start with the Sprint Relay on Sunday 26 June!
Good Luck to the British Team