A report on the Aussie Teams final race preparations during the last week in Norway from Karen (Manager)
“Training this week has involved racing simulations which we’ve done with the New Zealanders. The aim of these races is to mirror what the athletes will go through during competition week – complete with start times, control descriptions, warm up maps and of course a very official ‘no talk, hand on the shoulder’ start system – a challenge for Karen!
Our first day of training involved a map walk and short course around in Middle relevant terrain. For some it was their first experience of marshes.
The second day we had some morning training on ‘’Juvstaul”, relevant for the long distance and then did some sprint intervals at “Krossen”, our only sprint sample map.
Monday was our Middle Simulation event and Tuesday our Long simulation event – both providing athletes with confidence in this very new terrain.
The days are very long in Rauland, with the sun finally sinking at around 11.30pm but not for long. Sleeping has taken some adjustment.
Each afternoon following our training sessions we’ve either chilled at the accommodation or found a beautiful lake to cool the legs and relax. We’ve also had the company of Yngve, a Norwegian friend of Hanny’s, who has been providing the athletes with relevant stretching and recovery techniques. Karen decided we’d cater for ourselves during this week which has meant a few supermarket visits as well. Turns out to have been a great decision though with our hoe cooked meals much better than the Vierli restaurant meals. We’ll still cater ourselves for Breakfast and lunch during competition week but have dinner provided. We may still supplement with some dessert., fruit and prerace snacks. We were nearly caught out when we realized there were absolutely no shops open on Sunday!
Wednesday was our rest day and it was a fabulous day, both for team bonding and for some awesome Norwegian mountain scenery. With the heatwave of over 25 degrees, we spent the morning baking and completing athlete profiles for the blog and then travelled to Gaustatoppen for a short walk, a play in the snow and some great photos.
This morning we had our sprint simulation once again at Krossen with a great little course from Gene. Then of course the team profiles have taken priority this afternoon.
Tomorrow we shift cabins and have accreditation and then the competition begins. The program is Sprint on Sunday, Middle Qual Monday, Middle final Tuesday and rest Wednesday before the Long and relay.
The team is in fantastic spirits and they are very focused but have really learnt to switch off when necessary and then work on their pre and post race routines in preparation for their races.
We really do have a terrific team and morale is exceptional.
We thank everyone at home for their support and the boys are working on a new blog entry as I speak. Athlete profiles will be on our blog soon and I’ll be keeping both our fb page https://www.facebook.com/AusJWOC2014 and our blog http://ausjuniororienteering.blogspot.no/ updated regularly during competition week. I may not get the chance to take many photos but will do my best.”
Thanks Karen for that informative update on the team’s preparation.
Today is the Opening Ceremony at 16:30-17:30 in Raulandshallen. Before the ceremony, the technical model for JWOC competitions will be organized in the same area. This no doubt will demonstrate the Emit Touch Free Pro-system which will be used in the sprint tomorrow. Another feature of the events is that there will be an arena passage for all courses at all the events and with over 2000 entries in the JWOC tour events the organisers are hoping for large numbers of spectators to be supporting the teams in the arena.
Bulletin 4 is now available and it has all the details on the courses for each event. It also indicates that there will be online internet result service and live tracking available on web. The link to this is appearing on the JWOC 2015 webpage.
There will be audio (not sure of language), video and live results as well as GPS tracking for selected athletes in each of the events except the middle qualification. The website has an easy to access link to all this information and it is set out for each event. The maps for each course will also be available here after the race. The start lists for each event will also be available here
Tomorrow is the start of the competition with the Sprint Distance event starting at 7:00pm (EST).What a choice of sport- JWOC live, Wimbledon live and then Tour de France live- all week! Also an Ashes test match starting soon!
The men’s course is 3.8km and the women’s is 3.2km.
A feature of the map will be the variety of fences which will be uncrossable. There is a trend in Europe to use temporary fences to create route choice so this will be interesting for the Australian team. There will also be an arena passage during the course. So plenty of excitement and many decisions to be made by the runners in an event that requires quick decisive thinking for the whole course.
Terrain form: Moderately hilly. Some steep slopes of 15- 25 meters height. Altitude in the area is 460-520 meters above sea level.
Vegetation: Urban area with partly public and private ground. Public areas with grass. Some areas of coniferous forest. Certain semi-open areas with some undergrowth.
Runnability: Mostly very good along asphalt or gravel roads. Some forest areas with good runnability. Some smaller paths, among them paths with stony ground and roots. Certain semi-open areas with some undergrowth.
Visibility: Mostly very good; in forest areas good. Paths and roads: 70% asphalt or gravel roads.
Traffic: Some local traffic can be expected. Speed limit is 30 km/h. It is not allowed to run along or to cross main road, E-134.
