14 April 2024
GBR Participation at the Lithuanian Falco Cup
A regular feature in the annual calendar of World Ranking TrailO events is the Falco Cup held in different cities around Lithuania. This year’s event was staged in Alytus in the south of the country. All World Ranking events appoint a qualified Event Advisor to assess the proposed courses in advance and, this year, Graham Urquhart acted in this capacity. It was the first time he had taken on this role which involved a trip out to Lithuania earlier in the year to discuss the proposed courses.
The weekend consisted of an initial PreO course on the Friday afternoon, a WRE TempO event on Saturday followed by a PreO Sprint, and concluded with a second PreO course (also WRE) on Sunday morning.
Results for the four events included some top 10 positions. Iain Philips managed a 7th position in the PreO Sprint while John Kewley came 9th in PreO1, 10th in TempO-WRE, 8th in PreO Sprint and 2nd in PreO2-WRE. This meant he was awarded a medal for 3rd in the Combined PreO and a trophy for 3rd equal overall for the weekend.
For full results, maps and photos, see the Falco Cup webpage.
Job done!. Graham Urquhart (right), Event Advisor, is thanked by the Competition Director, Andrius Jovaiša
9 April 2024
John Kewley Re-elected to the IOF TrailO Athletes’ Advisory Group
As a part of the governance structure of the IOF there are four Athletes’ Advisory Groups (AAGs), one for each orienteering discipline. The Groups represent the voice and interests of athletes by engaging in decision-making processes within the IOF organization and to empower athletes through the communication of information. The Groups are elected for a two-year term by orienteers who have competed at an international level in regional or world championships in each discipline.
Elections have recently been held for the new two-year term which starts in May. Each AAG should have a minimum of 4 members and a maximum of 6 members. The groups should, in theory, also have one or more members from outside Europe and at least two of each gender – but that requires appropriate people to stand for election. Results have been announced today. In the TrailO election, 5 people stood and they all got sufficient votes to be elected to the Group. These include John Kewley from GBR. The full list (with their votes and % votes) is the following:
Each AAG will also now elect two representatives from their Group to form an Athletes Commission (AC).
3 April 2024
New ‘Supporting TrailO’ Leaflets now available
Have you wondered what is involved in putting on a TrailO event? Does the idea seem too difficult? With limited events, it can be difficult to work out what to do – but without people trying in the first place, the number of events remains limited. One way to solve this conundrum is to provide better advice and guidance.
And this is why there are some new ‘Supporting TrailO’ leaflets now available. Experienced TrailO competitor, Clive Allen, has redrafted some former guidance and fully updated it. There are now 4 leaflets providing many suggestions and they are illustrated with photos and images. These are designed primarily to support organisers and planners of foot orienteering events or training activities who may like to also offer some TrailO.
The leaflets have the following titles:
These can be downloaded as pdf files from the ‘Staging small TrailO events’ page. More leaflets are planned for the future.
29 March 2024
JK TrailO at Loughborogh University
The Easter weekend’s annual Jan Kjellström Internation Festival of Orienteering this year included a single TrailO event staged alongside the JK Sprint on Good Friday. For Elite course competitors, there was a 20 control PreO course and, to provide a tie-break, there was a very short timed section with 3 A-Z controls. Competitors were ranked on (1) number correct on the PreO course, then (2) number correct in the timed section, and finally, (3) time taken in the timed section. For Standard course competitors, there was a 15 control PreO course. There was no tie break - competitors did not do the timed section.
Two Elite competitors managed to get the maximum 19 controls correct (with one being voided) and, based on the tie-break, Ben Kyd (MDOC) took the top position from Charles Bromley Gardner (BAOC). 12 competitors only had one error with these being separated by just their scores and times on the tie-break – in some cases by just one second difference!
Our thanks to the organising team: The course was set by Peter Hornsby (LEI) who was also responsible for producing the map, course checker was Iain Phillips (LEI) and the Organiser on the day was Graham Urquhart (OD) with support from other participants.
To access the full results, maps and event photos, see the main JK page: Jan Kjellström (JK) TrailO.
One of the controls on the Loughborough University campus.
11 March 2024
March 2024 Newsletter now published
The March 2024 issue of the British TrailO Newsletter has just been published. With updates on GBR team selections, ranking lists, league tables, and future events as well as reports from the Gran Canaria and Prague events, there is a lot for any TrailO enthusiast to read. There are lots of photos and examples of challenges set at recent events.
To get a copy, go to the Newsletter Page. Those on the mailing list should have received a copy direct by email. If you want to join the list, you can also subscribe by completing the form available at: Newsletter Subscribing - Google Form.
6 March 2024
GBR Team for ETOC 2024 announced
British Orienteering have just announced the GBR team members selected to compete at the European TrailO Championships (ETOC) in Finland in May. Congratulations to the following:
Good luck everyone!
The full annoucement can be seen on the main British Orienteering News Page.
3 March 2024
Outstanding WRE PreO wins in Prague for John Kewley and Graham Urquhart
The weeken has seen 10 GBR competitiors competing in the Prague Adventure Weekend - two World Ranking Events (WREs). On Saturday there was a PreO event followed, on Sunday, by a TempO event in the same terrain. With plenty of crags, cliffs and steep slopes competitors faced a tough challenge with many quite puzzling choices.
For the PreO, there were 28 controls and two Timed Controls (TCs). John Kewley (MDOC) was able to interpret the terrain and only made one error on the main course and no mistakes at the TCs. when all results were in, he came out top in the Open Elite class beating 3 other competitors with 27 correct who made errors at the TCs.. This is the first WRE PreO win in an Open class for a GBR competitor. It follows Ben Kyd's win in a WRE TempO event last year - also in Czechia. To complete the successes, Graham Urquhart (OD) led the P-Class field. Congratulations to both of them.
The weekend finished on Sunday with a 6-Station TempO course which involved a mixture of challenges – some with kites high up on mixed crags, boulders and rocky outcrops and some with kites closer to the competitor on much flatter terrain alongside the small river at the bottom of the gorge. No one completed the course with 100% correct. Even the top competitor, current World TempO Champion Macek Ondrej (CZE), got one wrong!
Overall results for the weekend were based on a combination of a calculated time for Saturday’s PreO and the total time for the TempO (including penalties). For both John Kewley (MDOC) and Graham Urquhart (OD) their combined times meant that they were both pushed out of their respective class top 3 and, in both cases, finished fourth overall.
Seen at the Prague event: John Kewley (left) and Graham Urquhart (right)
16 January 2024
TrailO at this year's JK
It has been standard practice to provide some TrailO events during the annual JK weekend at Easter. Achieving this does depend on the location of the main events as well as the availability of suitable TrailO terrain adjacent to or close to the main event arenas. For this year's JK in the Midlands, there have been some difficulties in arranging suitable TrailO opportunities.
Although it had been expected that there would be TrailO on both Days 1 and 2, the current situation is the following:
24 November 2023
Updated Anti-Doping rules apply from 1st Janunary 2024
This British Orienteering News item is an important announcement which concerns all TrailO athletes. As stated by British Orienteering, "If you are a member of British Orienteering then the anti-doping rules apply to you, regardless of what level you participate at." It is though particularly important for those considering putting themselves forward for selection to the GBR team in 2024.
Anyone selected as part of the team is at risk of being tested and it is an athlete's responsibility to ensure an awareness of the rules and compliance with them. In addition to the links provided in this News by British Orienteering, see the main page on this topic at: Clean Sport: Anti-Doping.
8 November 2023
Latest British TrailO Newsletter now available
Today has seen the publication of the November issue of the British TrailO Newsletter. With updates on ranking lists, league tables, the 2024 GBR selection policy and future events as well as more 'Top TrailO Tips' and plenty of event reports, there is a lot for any TrailO enthusiast to read. There are lots of photos and numerous examples of challenges set at recent events making it also good for the interested newcomer. To get a pdf copy, go to the Newsletter page and click on the link 'November 2023'.
Do remember though that you can also subscribe so that, in future, you can get a pdf copy sent direct to your email address. Complete your details at: Google Form - Newsletter
For some older news items, see News Archive