Wrap up of JWOC training week

2014 JWOC team

The team met in Sofia at various hours of the afternoon and evening on Sunday 13th July. We were most impressed with our accommodation, quite luxurious really with shared rooms but no other teams around, a huge lobby with terrific wifi and the meals were going to prove to be just as impressive.

Our first morning together involved introducing ourselves as we had planned to be working closely with the New Zealand team. Their coach, Rob Jessup and our coach, Hanny had worked together to plan the training activities for the week.

Our training this week has involved:

· Middle distance training with a map walk and course on Shiroki Dol

· Long distance training on Govedarci – a course with a long leg

· Sprint intervals in a park

· Long simulation on “Marchaevo”

· Middle simulation on “Reylovo”

· Sprint simulation on “Vazrajdane”

· Walk/jog intervals around relay map.

By all accounts the team has been extremely happy with the professional quality of the training and the effort of Rob in bringing flags across to Bulgaria, setting the courses and having them preprinted, extra effort with splits for mass starts has been very much appreciated. To have the assistance of Toph to put out controls and his demo of 3D rerun has been invaluable. How lucky are we to have the experience of our own WOC runner Hanny with her knowledge of pre race preparation and working through major competition races? That has been terrific for all involved and the two teams have worked extremely well together. Anna and I have had a blast as Managers and have even been entrusted to collect some controls – like boot camp really !

With the training week complete we look ahead to a week of competition. The emphasis on the athletes has been to do their best, to go in feeling prepared and to enjoy the experience and not put heavy expectations on themselves.

We’d like to sincerely thank the Aussies for your support – to know that so many are reading their blog and checking out their facebook page and showing appreciation for their intstagaram pics has been really comforting.

Rest assured all the athletes are very appreciative of this experience and their behaviour and commitment have been exemplary. They will be doing their very best this week.

The competition week program is as follows:

· Tues 22nd SPRINT Samokov

· Wed 23rd LONG Malyovitsa

· Thurs 24th Rest Day

· Fri 25th MIDDLE QUAL Zheleznica

· Sat 26th MIDDLE FINAL Zheleznica

· Sun 27th RELAY Borovets

We’d love you to follow the events via the JWOC 2014 website: http://jwoc2014.bg/index.php We are 7 hours behind Eastern Standard Time Aus.

For each race 40 men and 40 women (randomly chosen) will have GPS tracking, except in the relay where it will only the 3rd leg male runners.

Hopefully (depending on wifi at the arena) we can keep you updated with results and pics via our facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/AusJWOC2014

With a full rest day tomorrow our athletes are starting to prepare fully for their races and think about their preferred start blocks. I’ll inform you of start times via the facebook page and their blog during the week. Hanny and I are enjoying our new roles immensely. Cheers from Bulgaria.

Karen Blatchford, Team Manager

Junior World Orienteering Championships- Bulgaria.

The 2014 Junior World Orienteering Championships will be held next week in Bulgaria. The event centre and the location for the relays is Borovets which is Bulgaria’s main ski resort and is 1300m in altitude. The Australian team are currently in a pre-competition camp along with the NZ team undergoing some exercises set up by Rob Jessup the NZ coach.

The Australian team is:

Coach: Hanny Allston

Manager: Karen Blatchford

Women: Nicola Blatchford, Michele Dawson, Anna Dowling, Olivia Sprod, Asha Steer, Lanita Steer.

Men: Matt Doyle, Henry McNulty, Oscar McNulty, Ashley Nankervis, Brodie Nankervis, Oliver Poland.

This year’s Australian team is a mixture of experienced JWOC competitors and those who are experiencing JWOC for the first time.

JWOC training 2014 2

Oliver Poland is competing at his 5th JWOC, Oscar McNulty at his 4th, Brodie Nankervis and Michele Dawson at their 3rd. Matt Doyle, Nicola Blatchford and Lanita Steer are competing at their second JWOC. The debutants are Anna Dowling, Olivia Sprod, Asha Steer, Henry McNulty and Ashley Nankervis.

JWOC is a little different to WOC in that all team members can compete in all events, so we have six representatives in both the women’s and the men’s events. The events do not include a sprint relay, but there is a qualification event for the middle.

The program for the week is:

Tuesday 22nd July: Sprint– Samokov, mixed urban and park terrain.

Wednesday 23rd July: Long Distance– Malyovitsa, moderately hilly pine forest between 1300m and 1750m altitude.

Friday 25th July: Middle qualification– Zheleznica, hilly terrain between 900m and 1000m altitude.Terrain with many details. The using of magnifier is recommended!

Saturday 26th July: Middle Final– Zheleznica,hilly terrain between 900m and 1000m altitude. Terrain with many details. The using of magnifier is recommended!

Sunday 27th July: Relays– Borovets. Moderately hilly terrain in the forests nearest to Borovets resort. About 1300m altitude.

The well-known elite Bulgarian orienteer Kiril Nikolov will be the course setter for both the Long Distance and the Middle Distance events.

There is no indication on the official website about live results. Bulletin 4 indicates that there will be GPS tracking of 40 athletes in the Sprint, Long and Middle distance events so something may become available.

Event website is

http://www.jwoc2014.bg/index.php?name=home

The Australian team’s blog is being kept up to date with the latest team info

http://ausjuniororienteering.blogspot.it/

A/NZ MTBO Challenge Results

The official results from the recent Australia-New Zealand MTBO Challenge held recently in Alice Springs, reveal a win for Australia, on the dry, rugged tracks that surrounded the township. Here are more details on the class results…

Sprint Distance

First Team Places Second Team Places
WO AUS (C Jackson 21.30 + M Simpson 24.09 = 45.39) NZL (No Riders)
W50 NZL (S Dickson 19.52 + J Boland 26.12 = 46.04) AUS (A Scown 23.11 + H Leslie 26.59 = 50.10)
W70 AUS (D Gordon 33.56) NZL (Y Gelderman 39.31)
MO AUS (C Firman 28.00 + R Thackray 29.07 = 57.07) NZL (G Barbour 32.01 – only NZL rider)
M40 AUS (C Steffens 21.34 + N Kerr 22.25 = 43.59) NZL (No riders)
M50 AUS (D Sullivan 21.20 + A Power 22.22= 43.52) NZL (D King 20.21 + A Metherall 27.59 = 48.20)
M60 AUS (P Cusworth 16.23 + D Firman 18.49 = 35.12) NZL (M Wood 17.16 + NZL dnf)
M70 AUS (K Wade 22.17) NZL (C Gelderman 28.07)

Middle Distance

First Team Places Second Team Places
WO AUS (C Jackson 1.08.05 + M Simpson 1.24.15 = 2.32.20) NZL (No riders)
W50 NZL (D Bain 44.05 + S Dickson 44.50 = 88.55) AUS (A Scown 53.23 + H Leslie 77.31 = 130.54)
W70 AUS (D Gordon 54.48) NZL (Y Gelderman 98.48)
MO AUS (A Randall 67.45 + R Thackray 81.22) NZL (G Barbour 78.08 – only 1 NZL rider)
M40 AUS (N Kerr 68.31 + C Steffens 69.31 = 2.18.02 NZL (No riders)
M50 NZL D King 51.22 + A Metherall 60.38 = 112.00) AUS ( A Power 55.43 + D Sullivan 60.27 = 116.10)
M60 NZL (M Wood 40.45 + J Sheriff 41.44 = 82.29) AUS (D Firman 43.42 + P Cusworth 45.01 = 88.43)
M70 NZL (C Gelderman 33.30) AUS (B Gordon 36.44)

Long Distance

First TeamPlaces Second Team Places
WO AUS (C Jackson 2.19.20 + M Simpson 2.26.54 = 4.46.14) NZL (No riders)
W50 NZL (D Bain 1.29.54 + S Dickson 1.36.14 = 3.06.08) AUS ( A Scown 1.47.09 + H Leslie 1.58.48 = 3.45.57)
W70 NZL (Y Gelderman 1.13.57) AUS (H Smith 1.17.20)
MO AUS (C Fiman 2.04.07 + A Randall 2.05.23 = 4.09.30) NZL (No riders)
M40 AUS (C Steffens 2.07.35 + N Kerr 2.09.27 = 4.17.02) NZL (G Barbour 2.08.54 – only NZL rider)
M50 AUS (D Sullivan 1.36.08 + A Power 1.36.44 = 3.12.52) NZL (D King 1.41.20 + A Metherall 1.50.06 = 3.31.26)
M60 AUS ( P Cusworth 1.09.45 + R Armstrong 1.20.15 = 2.30.00) NZL (J Sheriff 1.14.37 + M Wood 1.25.10 = 2.39.47)
M70 AUS (T Hackney 46.56) NZL (C Gelderman 1.23.51)

WOC 2014 Final Report

Here is a summary of Australia’s performances at WOC 2014 in Italy which concluded on Saturday with the relays for men and women. There are two aspects to our performances given the new system the IOF have for determining the numbers of runners each country has in the middle and long distance events. They are the individual performances of each of the athletes in the team and also the points that we earn from the long, middle and relay which go towards determining our quota for 2015.

WOC Team 2014

Individual performances

Sprint Qualification

Hanny Allston 7th, 14:243, +1:26. Felicity Brown 16th, 15:09, +1:31. Rachel Effeney 3rd, 13:51, +:12

Julian Dent 12th, 13:18, +:41. Lachlan Dow 22nd, 13:32, +1:02. Simon Uppill 22nd, 13:50, +1:04.

Hanny, Rachel and Julian qualified for the final.

Sprint Final

Hanny Allston 24th, 17:42:3, +2:10:3. Rachel Effeney 27th, 17:52:4, +2:20:4. Julian Dent 36th, 17:32:7, +1:55:5.

Long Distance

Hanny Allston 13th, 85:86, +6:12, Vanessa Round 43rd, 98:23, +18:39. Simon Uppill 43rd, 115:35, +20:50.

Middle Distance

Hanny Allston 15th, 42:02, +4:59. Jasmine Neve 55th, 54:45, +17:42. Julian Dent 25th, 43:54, +5:42.

Team Performances

Sprint Relay

Rachel Effeney 6th, 14:46, Julian Dent 10th, 15:50, Simon Uppill 13th, 16:24, Hanny Allston 10th, 14:45

The team finished in 10th place, +2:41 against the winners Switzerland.

SPRINT RELAY TEAM

Womens Relay

Jasmine Neve 42:51, 14th, Rachel Effeney 55:41, 23rd, Hanny Allston 40:57, 16th

The team finished in 16th place, +28:08 against the winners Switzerland.Womens relay

Mens Relay

Simoin Uppill 42:54, 17th, Lachlan Dow 47:15, 22nd, Julian Dent 46:33, 17th.

The team finished in 17th place, +19:53 against the winners Sweden.

Mens relay team

Our performances in the events which generate points for determining the number of runners in 2015 (ie: middle, long and relay) means that in 2015 Australia will have two runners in both the women’s and the men’s. Given that 2015 is also the year for the Oceania Championships middle and long distance events in Tasmania in January in conjunction with the World Cup events, it is possible that Australia may have three runners in the middle and long next year at WOC if an Australian athlete can win the Oceania Middle or Long. The winner of these regional championships which are held every two years automatically qualifies to compete in that event at WOC in that year. So there is some great opportunities for our elite athletes in the next year, both at the World Cup events in Tasmania and also at WOC to be held in Scotland in the first week of August 2015. The preparation for these starts now.

In a weeks’ time we will have our JWOC team competing at the Junior World Orienteering Championships in Bulgaria. A prelude for these events will be coming soon.

WOC Middle and Relay

The final two events of WOC 2014 in Italy were held in the same area, Campomulo. A region near Asiago with altitude above 1200m. The organisers choose a great area for the arena and it was the same for both events with some small changes to the runners directions. It promised to be a very good place for viewing both the big screens and also the run through and the finish. This was the case for the middle but unfortunately for the relay the day started out fine and sunny but by the time the men’s relay started the rain had set in and continued for the rest of the afternoon.

The middle was a very physical challenge for the athletes and the times indicated this. The women ran first and this time the seeded runners started last. Jasmine Neve was our first starter and finished in 55th place.

Hanny Allston was running well and came through the run through looking good. She eventually finished in a very good 15th place, 4:59 minutes down on the winner Annika Billstam (Sweden).

Hanny middle

The mens field included Thierry Gueorgiou who has won more middle distance WQOC events than anyone else and after his win in the Long he was obviously feeling confident. Julian Dent was our sole runner and he was running well at the run through being the leader at that stage. He went out onto the very physical last section of the course looking a little tired. He eventually finished in equal 25th position only 5:42 minutes behind the winner. Julian got to sit in the second place chair for a while after he finished.

The fastest over the finish was Thierry Gueorgiou, from Olav Lundanes. Very quickly there was an announcement that Thierry Gueorgiou had been DSQ- the crowd went silent in surprise and then Olav Lundanes was confirmed as the winner of the middle. Julian was happy with his run and said that he was just not strong enough up the hills- “not enough hills in Sweden”.

Julian chair

The relay was always going to be a big day for a lot of countries given the new structure that the IOF have implemented for determining the numbers of runners each country will have in the middle and long distance events in 2015. This very much was influenced by the results in the relay as double points can be gained from the relay. The men needed a result similar to 2014 or better to ensure that they would have two runners next year. This was so particularly after Simon’s and Julian’s good performances in the long and middle. The women started first and were faced with a long uphill leg to the first controls. The field soon started to spread out due to the physical nature of the terrain and the forking. Jasmine was our first leg runner and she came to the finish in 14th position after a steady run which she felt good about. On the second leg Rachel Effeney was a last minute replacement for Vanessa Round who was still sick. A difficult position for Rachel to be in and she managed to finish in 23rd position. Hanny after her good performances in the long and the middle was feeling confident particularly due to the physical nature of the terrain. She had a very strong run and we finished in 16th position and running the 5th fastest time on her leg. Switzerland was a slender winner in the end after three teams were running the last loop together- Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland. Judith Wyder gaining enough lead over Maja Alm (Denmark) to avoid a sprint finish.

Rachel relay

Jas Relay

The men’s race started minutes after the women’s race was decided. Again they were faced with a long uphill leg to the first control. Simon Uphill was our first leg runner and were expecting Simon to stay in touch and he came into the finish in 17th place. Lachlan Dow went out to have a steady run and maintain our position as best he could and he had a very steady run to come into the finish in 22nd place close behind a pack of runners. In steady rain Julian went out on the third leg feeling quite confident after his performance yesterday in the middle. He was with a group of runners at the run through and he lead some runners into the last control and improved our position to 17th. This was enough for Australia to be one of the two top countries in division three of the IOF groupings and so we will qualify to have two runners in the middle and the long in 2015. This was a good day for our relay teams and means that we can start preparing to have more opportunities at WOC in 2015.

Mens relay team

More detailed summary of our WOC performance will follow once time has been found to do some detailed analysis.

WOC Middle Distance

Yesterday (Thursday) was a rest day for the WOC teams but it was an opportunity for the other Aussies to experience the WOC Long terrain on day four of the Five Days of Italy event being held in conjunction with WOC. After this we were invited by the WOC team to an afternoon tea at their team hotel on the south side of Lago Lavarone. A very pleasant and peaceful environment beside this picturesque lake. Toph and Lachie were the captains of the paddle boat entertaining Linus Quayle while the rest of us enjoyed coffee and cakes on the balcony overlooking the lake. A very nice occasion and the team seemed very relaxed about the challenges of the next two days.

WOC afternoon tea 1

WOC afternoon tea 3

Unfortunately Vanessa will not be running the middle today as she is not feeling well. She was a little off colour before the long but did an exceptional performance considering her physical state to finish and run so well. The coaches have decided to replace her with Hanny in the middle giving her a rest and a chance to recover for the relay on Saturday. Hanny is relaxed about the middle and will no doubt have the stamina to back up after the long on Wednesday. Jasmine Neve will be having her first run at WOC and will start at 12:35, Hanny starting at 13:19. The women will run before the men. Julian will be our representative in the men’s event and he will start at 15:07.

The terrain for the middle and the relay is described in the Bulletin 4 as “the middle distance final is organized in Campomulo, which is part of Asiago karstic highland, in the altitude of 1500-1700 meters above sea level. The landscape is characterized by many terraces divided by steeper areas.
Vegetation varies from alpine pastures to open forest, mainly coniferous, and the ground surface is very rocky throughout reducing the runnability in the forest. Trenches from World War are very common in this area. The network of paths, tracks and roads is not very dense. Cross country ski tracks exist in parts of the area”.

The men have a course distance of 5.86km with 290m of climb. The winning time is down as 35 minutes (6min/km). The women have a course distance of 4.96km with 230m of climb. The winning time is down as 34 minutes (just under 7min/km). Yesterday when some of the team went training on the model map there was fresh snow in the forest.

Follow World Championships live via IOF LiveCenter

The IOF would like to remind everyone of the LiveCenter service that the IOF has set up. You can follow live GPS tracking, web streaming and arena speaker voice from the World Orienteering Championships here: livecenter.orienteering.org

This is the only way GPS tracking is shown from Italy. To guarantee that you can see the GPS tracking from the start, please buy your week pass in advance. You can buy the tickets here: http://shop.orienteering.org/

Tickets are valid either for one event (eg. middle distance competition), or for the whole week.

All past IOF events that are in Livecenter are freely available.

The address of the LiveCenter is: http://livecenter.orienteering.org/ Any feedback may be sent to livecenter@orienteering.org.

WOC SPRINT RELAY- GREAT RESULT FOR AUSSIE TEAM

Wow!  How good was that!

Monday evening in the old town section of Trento-Piazza Duomo, was the scene for the first ever WOC Sprint Relay, a format that had divided opinion of the relevance of it as part of the WOC program. After the experience yesterday maybe there will be a different perspective on this format in the future as it was certainly very exciting for the spectators and we hope those of you in Australia who were watching it were just as excited about the event.

The format with the women starting first in a mass start meant that we had 34 women lined up on the start line and they had to navigate their way to the first controls through a very narrow funnel of spectators for over 200m, just like the peloton in the Tour de France. As well there were cafes to be avoided and many locals just wandering around. Rachel Effeney was our first starter and what a great start she had. She was seen to run into the first passage way in third place and held this position until towards the end of her course. Rachel put Australia in a great position coming into the finish in sixth place 14 seconds down on the leader, sending Julian Dent out on the second leg. Julian tried to hold onto some impressive runners around him and had a pretty clean run but just could not maintain the speed required to stay in touch. He handed over to Simon Uppill with the team in 10th place 50 seconds behind the lead. Simon also had a relatively clean run but just could not maintain the speed to stay in touch. The rain had been threatening all afternoon and after some light rain since the beginning of the race, it started to rain heavily as Simon was running the third leg. Simon handed over to Hanny Allston with the team in equal 12th place but Hanny was not too far behind some runners so we were optimistic that the position could be improved on the last leg. Hanny was running in heavy rain and we were trying to follow her on the GPS in the arena but things were happening so quickly we weren’t sure what was happening. On the run through it was clear Hanny had gained some places and on the long leg in the second part of the course she took a left route choice and the runners around her went right. This turned out to be a good choice as she managed to get in front of the group including Norway. At the end Hanny was in a sprint with the Lithuanian runner for 9th place. There was a sharp turn into the finish and Hanny was unable to get past. She made up 2 places on the fourth leg- so the team finished a fantastic 10th place- 2:41 seconds behind the winners Switzerland. There were some very excited team members as well as Australian spectators when Hanny finished in the pouring rain.

SPRINT RELAY TEAM

The winners of the sprint were the Swiss team of Rahel Friederich, Martin Hubmann, Matthias Kyburz, Judith Wyder who were clear winners after Matthias Kyburz took the lead away from Denmark on the third leg. These two countries were the favourites and were in first and second place throughout the race. With the combination of two big screens showing the live GPS and TV pictures, great commentary from Per Forsberg and also a run through the arena was a very exciting place to be for the duration of the event.

A great day for Australia to be in the top 10 countries in this inaugural sprint relay. The team has a rest day today and are planning for the Long Distance event on Wednesday when we will have Hanny Allston and Vanessa Round in the women’s event and Simon Uppill in the men’s. The long distance will be held in the hills and valleys of Lavarone with stretches of alpine, pine, spruce and beech forest. The terrain is a mix of areas with good visibility, forest with good runnability, and areas where vegetation is more dense and running speed is reduced. The women have a distance of 11km and a winning time of 77 minutes, the men have a distance of 16.4km and a winning time of 97 minutes. The first start for the women will be at 12:00 (20:00 EST) and the men start at 12:50 (20:50 EST). The start interval is 2 minutes and the start order is determined by the athletes World ranking.

RACHEL SPRINT RELAY

What you need to know about the Mixed Sprint Relay

So the WOC week is well and truly under way. A very scenic sprint happened in Venice on Saturday. Today saw the opening ceremony in the mountain town of Asiago and tomorrow all eyes will turn to the first ever WOC mixed sprint relay. And what a race it is expected to be.

Here are the details of how this race works. The team consists of 2 women and 2 men, with the women running the first and last leg, which leaves the blokes to run the middle two legs. Each leg will take somewhere around 13 minutes to complete, so the race will be all done and dusted with in hour. Like all sprint races it is expected that the winning team will be just a few seconds in front of the rest, so it is definitely a race not to be missed.

The Australian team will be wearing the number 1 bib, yes that’s right we also hope to keep it at the end of the day. The team will be Rachel Effeney out first, Julian Dent second; Simon Uppill Third and Hanny Allston will bring home the team on the last leg. The team has prepared well and is looking forward to some good racing around the streets of Trento.

The relay will start at 5:30pm here is Italy, so that would be 1:30am on Tuesday morning for all you back home on the east coast of Australia. If you’re keen for a late night I’m sure it will be worth every ounce of tiredness later that day! You can follow all the action on the WOC website. There will be live results for free, if you want more than that you will need to pay for access for the IOF’s new live center, which will give you access to gps tracking and the live TV stream.

We will be also posting news and photo updates to the Orienteering Australia Facebook page about the progress of the race as things happen so check that out as well. That should about be enough to look at but if you so desire more then you can always check out World of O or Attackpoint for many discussions and updates about the races.

mixedsprintrelay

Hanny and Elin after a morning run!

Toph

World Orienteering Championships 2014 Prelude

The World Orienteering Championships for 2014 start tomorrow (Sat 5th July) in Venice with the Sprint Qualifications at 9:00am local time (17:00 EST). The women’s first start is at 9:00am and the men’s at 10:00. Today the Australian team is travelling from their pre camp base at Luserna the 2.5 hour drive down to Venice to participate in the model event and to stay at accommodation at Jesolo Event Centre north east from Venice. The team, apart from doing some last minute preparation- technically and mentally for the races coming up have been relaxing and enjoying the mountain environment.

2014 Australian WOC Team

Wendy Read, Jasmine Neve, Julian Dent, Vanessa Round, Simon Uppill, Rachel Effeney, Chris Naunton, Hanny Allston, Lachlan Dow, Felicity Brown, Tom Quayle.

WOC Team 2014

Aussie Transport 2014
The sprint qualification will be held in Burano and Mazzorbo islands. This area is partly urban with very narrow streets and a canal with bridges. The rest of the area is less built and more green with some farmland. The area is closed off for traffic.

Burano is an island in the northern Venetian Lagoon and is 11km from Venice.

Burano

Ever seen those photos of Venice that show brightly-painted buildings and flowerpots. Those aren’t from the main island of Venice, but Burano. Families used to paint their homes in bright colors to designate where their family’s quarters ended and a neighbor’s began, as well as to make their homes more visible from the sea. The tradition has stuck. Burano has a problem in winter when it suffers from severe acqua alta, or flooding. Not sure what the tides are like today but I am sure the athletes won’t be running in water at WOC.

The sprint qualification and final day is quite a logistical challenge for the organisers who will be providing private boats to transport the athletes to the quarantine area at Burano for the qualification. Those athletes who qualify for the final will have to stay at Burano until 12:30 and then take a private boat on a one hour trip to the quarantine at Venice in preparation for the final. The final’s first start for women (4km) is at 15:20 local time (23:20EST) and for men (4.4km) first start is at 16:25 local time (00:25EST). The top 15 runners from each qualification start in the final. The winning times for both women and men is expected to be 15 minutes.

The final will be held on the eastern section of Venice Island. Some of the Australian team have been training in Venice recently and Graham Hammond has made a great video of their training.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7eUftWQ85U

Australia will be represented in the women’s qualification heats by: Hanny Allston, Felicity Brown and Rachel Effeney, and in the men’s qualification heats by Lachlan Dow, Julian Dent and Simon Uppill.

Good luck.