High Performance Program Applications Due Nov 25

Orienteering Canada's High Performance Program (HPP) is designed specifically to support athletes who wish to achieve excellence in international orienteering. The HPP offers coaching support, training opportunities, and other benefits that will assist athletes in achieving their goals. The deadline to apply for the 2017 High Performance Program is Nov 25, 2016.

Timeline:

• Nov 25: Submission deadline for Application Package
• Dec 5: Interim Acceptance
• Dec 31: Confirmation

Further details of the application process are outlined in the Athletes Handbook. As such the Athletes' Handbook,  HPP Application Package and Athlete Agreement  have now all been published on the High Performance Program page.
All athletes wishing to compete at the World Orienteering Championships, World Games, World University Champs and JWOC  or in World Cup races MUST be members of the HPP.

N Eh O C

Middle - Robbie

The weekend kicked off with the middle distance at Storr’s Pond. Since the first starts weren’t until the afternoon, Jan Erik, Tomas, and I went out on the model map to get a feel for the terrain.

When I arrived at the start there was quite a lot of commotion. It seemed that everybody had forgotten something whether it was an SI, compass, or start time. Along with forgetting my own SI and having to borrow an ancient model 5, I also realized that I had forgotten something far more important… How to orienteer! My original race plan “medium speed, no mistakes” quickly turned into “full speed, full mistake”.

The technical loop of the M20 course. The forest was very nice and open and combined with all the trails around it was easy to open up the throttle in most sections.

I was lucky enough to get through the course with only bobbles and hesitations rather than any big blow-ups. After chatting with others after the race it seemed that a lot of us had gotten a little too excited for the race and made several mistakes in the woods. But that didn’t stop people from pushing hard right to finish line.

An epic battle between Jan Erik Naess and Graeme Rennie in the finish chute (Graeme won).

The first places in the elite category went to Emily Kemp and the one and only Thierry Gueorgiou who was closing his North American tour with NAOCs. It was exciting to see le Roi de la Course d’Orientation in action.

Some random French people.

Long - Pia

Next up was the long distance, not only grueling in terms of length, but also in terms of the map.  As noted in the event handbook, the flat and boring looking walk was deceptively calm and a complete contrast compared to the terrain.  

This map at 1:15 000 was one of the hardest maps I have ever read.

For the first couple controls every time I wanted to read the map I had to stop dead just to focus on the tiny rocky details. Around the 6th control I finally got into the flow of things, only to mistake a trail on the map for a series of cliffs, and the whole thing fell apart until I decided to just head north until I hit something I recognised.  

The long leg from the W20 course.

The last couple controls went by fast, and before I knew it I was running through the spectator loops, finishing the last couple controls and running down the really really short finish chute (4 second best time split!).

Adam rounding the corner in the finish chute.

After that, all that was left was to relax and watch the juniors boys finish and the exciting race in the seniors as they competed for the individual spot for WOC next year.

Sprint - Pia

Finally, it was the day of the sprints.  First off was the individual race on Dartmouth campus, a typical college campus with plenty of randomly shaped buildings and relatively flat lawns separating them.  There were some trickier sections with underpasses as well, but, on the whole, it was a runners’ course, and I was not 100% feeling it in the legs.

How would you go from 1-2 (don’t forget about the underpasses)?

There was another exciting competition in the elite classes, with two of our very own juniors competing among the elites - and holding their own!  The final positions ended with Canadian victories for both the men and women, with Emily Kemp taking 3 for 3 in the individual classes and Damian Konotopetz and Will Critchley both running faster than Thierry!  Jan Erik finished in a strong 7th place and Emma W in 6th.  In fact, she was in first place until the 9th control!

Emma W, Emily, and Tori

Photo taken by of David Yee

Ignoring the stares from all the college students wandering across The Green, we relaxed and recovered in preparation for the sprint relay.

Sprint Relay - Robbie

After the individual sprint, Hans Fransson eastern Canadian coach rounded up all the Canadian athletes and put together five teams. Four senior and one junior. We were all whisked away to the basement of a nearby building which would serve as our quarantine. We prepped for the race by coating ourselves with some tattoo team spirit courtesy of Emma Waddington.

Ready to race!

The race itself was very similar to the individual sprint through a similar area of campus. Not very technical but very very fast as a result.

The format of a sprint relay is 1st and 4th legs women, 2nd and 3rd legs men. Here is the mass start. Go ladies go!

The race was very tense with the lead being passed around between teams.But in the end, Emily Kemp brought her team composed of Damian Konotopetz, Will Critchley, and Louise Oram to victory.

Thanks to some great racing by everyone over the weekend, the Canadian senior team won the Bjorn Kellstrom Cup!

Full results and maps can be found at http://www.naoc2016.us/results

Back at it again at the BC Champs

The weekend right after a bunch of us HPP members headed to the NAOCs we went out again for some more fun orienteering competition, this time at the BC Orienteering Championships in Whistler, British Columbia. This consisted of a Model Event (run as a fundraiser by your HPP members) on the Friday, middle and sprint events on Saturday and a long distance race on the Sunday. Even though it was right after North Americans, we still had a large number of HPP athletes attend, including Pia, Nicole, me (Emma S.), Adam and Graeme. We were very happy to all be staying at the Whistler Athlete center, which was  a great accommodation with a shared kitchen, spacious rooms and convenient access to all of the maps.

Model event (Pia)

After Ben drove us up to Whistler, he dropped us off for a good 4 hours of control setting.  Once all the controls were set, we spent a happy two hours re-checking all of them, including a short nap in the peaceful forest.

Who knew control setting was so exhausting?

When did orienteering become so exclusive? 

Before long a plethora of folks had come along to run this HPP fundraiser event - thank you everyone who came along!

Middle (Emma)

The next morning started with the middle on the quite technical Brandywine Falls map. It consisted of complex groupings of lakes and cliffs and interesting contour detail, mostly through forest with very good visibility and moderate runnability. Before the event, we were surprised at how short the course distances were but they did end up giving the predicted winning times because the courses were very challenging, both technically and physically. In some places, the ground was quite rocky and difficult to move quickly over.

Despite (or maybe because of?) the challenge, this was genuinely one of the most fun courses I’ve ran this year. I’d say that getting to orienteer through the gorgeous forest with high technical difficulty was the highlight of the weekend. Scrambling up moss-covered cliffs and sploshing across marshes and ponds was an exciting plus for me, although some other orienteers found the physicality of the course quite tough.

W20 Middle course

Based what we’d learnt from the model event, I decided to have my goals be to keep in contact with the map and check off features, which turned out to be a pretty good strategy as there were many opportunities to become completely lost.

Sprint (Nicole)

An urban part of the sprint course

After warming up from a chilly post race at the middle we got ready for the conveniently located sprint at Cheakamus Crossing with the start 10m from the accommodation! This was the first sprint I have done that had both residential and forested areas which made it exciting! There was a long transition leg between the two areas that allowed for reading ahead and switching the orienteering brain from sidewalks to trails. The forested section was a dense area of mountain bike trails and there were a few approaches to tackling these controls - namely, committing to compass or counting the trails carefully. After the forest interlude it was back to the village, on the trail run back the need for mental toughness was apparent! Three quarters through the race and the thought of just being done starts to takeover. By refocusing on the next leg and planning ahead I was able to finish strong. Overall it was another great course on a brand new map to finish off the day of racing! The sprint definitely worked up everyone’s appetites for the lovely banquet dinner that followed.

The tricky forest section

Long (Pia)

With a walk to the start rivalling that of any major European event (4 km with 300m climb!), I arrived at the start of the long feeling a little out of breath.  This was probably due in no small part to my misreading my start time as 11:27, rather than 10:19, giving me less than the recommended 60 min to get to the start...  Luckily I made it thanks to a brisk uphill walk/jog!

This race started out in the little used but very fun Black Magic map - ‘open’ (west-coast white) forest with boulders, cliffs and hills galore.  This was for sure my favourite map used over the weekend.  I loved the runnability and complexity.  I wish I could have spent more time up there - it was so much fun to run in!  Apart from a small bobble on the 6th control, I was in control and just enjoying myself.  

How would you go from 6 to 7?

Next the course descended into the Lost Lake map.  This section was much greener and had many more trails which made for more route choice.  Unfortunately, the trails never lead where you wanted to go, leading to two main strategies: running further around on the winding trails or bushwhacking through the (somewhat difficult to get through) forest.  I did a mix of the two, and don’t think I always chose the right route, particularly on the longer legs.  By the end of the race I was tired out, but happy to have gotten one last good forest orienteering session in before the season ends!



Lots of route choice on this side of the map

We're all smiles after a fun weekend

After the long, we took a much-needed ice bath/ swim in this gorgeous lake right next to the finish

Overall it was a great weekend of fun and high-quality orienteering and an excellent end to this year’s racing season. Thanks so much to the organizers, course planners and all of the other volunteers for a great weekend!

-Pia B., Emma S. and Nicole W.

Team Canada wins the BK Cup at NAOC 2016

 (Back row, left to right: Robbie Graham, Eric Kemp, Alex Bergstrom, Emily Kemp, Damian Konotopetz, Will Critchley, Graeme Rennie, Louise Oram, Jeff Teutsch. Front row: left to right: Emma Waddington, Tori Owen, Jennifer MacKeigan)

The Björn Kjellström Cup, named after a Swede who was instrumental in introducing orienteering in North America, is a competition between the national teams of the USA and Canada at the senior level. Competition for the Cup is held every two years at the North American Orienteering Championships (NAOC).The BK Cup was first awarded in 1980.More info about the BK Cup is here.

Congrats to the US, the winners of the Future Champions (FC) Cup.

Living a Dream

How does one put "a dream coming true" into words? How does one describe the roller coaster ride of emotions, those memories that still bring tears to my eyes or the entire journey that led me to my best World Champs ever?

Photo: Ken Walker

When I found out that I would be in the top 6 in the middle distance it was just like a tidal wave of emotions swept over me and all I could do was hang on for the ride. Sobbing uncontrollably seemed to be the only way that I could process what was actually happening. Which is why during the flower ceremony my face is smiling but my eyes seem to be telling a different story. There was so much happiness, so much relief, so much amazement, so much stress that had built up, just so much of everything that there was no keeping it all in.

Rewind one hour and I couldn't have felt more calm and better prepared to take on the challenge ahead. There was nowhere that I wanted to be more than in those beautiful Swedish woods and all I needed was the map in my hands and I would be off. 

Photo: Petteri Kähäri

When I look back to that first part of the race I am amazed to realise that it felt like just my usual orienteering. I was making plans for each leg, looking up for the next features, making sure I was confident coming into the circle and if not I stopped to figure it out. The only extraordinary part about it was that it was all happening during a WOC race and that was something that I had been unsure of actually being able to execute. During the preceding months I had put so much importance on these races; I had so many expectations for myself and I was very aware of the expectations of others. It felt like a herculean effort to be able to put all that to the side and remember that the results of a competition fall into the category of things that I cannot control. I could only run my own race as best I could and then accept the result whatever it turned out to be. And that's exactly what I did.

The feeling of standing up on the stage for the medal ceremony, in front of so many cheering people... that is really indescribable. I had to close my eyes and open them again just to be sure that I wasn't dreaming.

Photo: Moa Gustafsson

From start to finish these World Champs were an adventure: the excitement of the Sprint Relay, the emotions of the Middle distance, the struggle and perseverance needed for the Long distance and the team enthusiasm of the Relay. The support and encouragements from everyone around the world has been incredible and I thank you all from the bottom of my heart! To all of my family, all of Team Canada and Orienteering Canada, all of those wonderful people from Ottawa to France to Finland who believed in me and so generously helped me along the way this is the best way I know how to say thank you... to make sure that everything you've given me and taught me is being put to good use at the top of the world.

SART 2016

This weekend we attended the Seattle Adventure Running Tournament (SART) in, you guessed it, Seattle! This race series is unique as it is a bracketed tournament in which throughout six different races on five maps, participants move up or down in brackets (and thus possible final results). Each heat this weekend was composed of five athletes who would race together in a mass start. Each heat also had a partner heat who were competing for the top five spots after every race. This year, the first person in each heat automatically advanced to the next bracket along with the three fastest times out of both heats. Ultimately you needed to be in the top half of both heats to advance! This resulted in the 77 people getting split up into top half and bottom half after the first race, then groups of 20, 10, and then battles pursued for positions within a heat of 5 for the final race. 

Here is a link to the very interesting pdf of the final bracket.

After each race, participants got colour-coded stickers indicating their next bracket and start time

The weekend began with a time trial at Gas Works park. This was a very short race but in interesting terrain! Overhead pipes and large industrial machinery composed a technical section of the map. The time trial was used to seed people into heats for the first race. Seeding was done in a way to spread the field and ensure the fastest people would meet only in the semi-final and final. However, all races were competitive and things heated up quickly within the brackets!

Our 6th control was on the one of these structures 

The first mass start race was at Woodland park, a longer course through open forest, fields, and sporting areas. This race secured both of us (Emma and Nicole) positions in the top half of the field. After an eventful morning and a short lunch break post-race, we headed out to Carkeek park - the location of the second mass start race. This race was a big contrast to the previous two as it was a forested, hilly course involving mainly trail running! With limited route choice, physical fitness was key to success. There was more head to head competition in this race as brackets brought people of similar abilities together. At this point the beautiful, sunny (and warm!) weather combined with physical fatigue posed a challenge, but we still had to carry on to the final race of the day on the small but very technical Seattle Pacific University map. This race proved extremely tricky with lots of traps, climb to consider with route choice, and out of bounds areas. There was separation at this point between runners and those who were navigationally competent. Two copies of the map were needed for clarity in the small but technical area. A lot of discussion occurred over ideal route choices; for example, what would you do from 17 to 18?

Here is a link to the pdf of the SPU map, so you can look at the other route choices and traps. Control descriptions were a necessity, notably on the first control.  

At the end of a tiring day we were able to share dinner with athletes from four nations! This included a large Canadian contingent and was a great time for all!

The next day, getting out of bed was a challenge as everyone's body's were just a little sore... nonetheless, because us orienteerers are crazy, we headed out to the fifth race at the picturesque University of Washington campus. Day 2 had limited movement within brackets as we were fighting for placement within a group of 10. However, at this point speeds were more or less matched within heats it was very competitive! The campus is quite large with buildings at interesting angles, green space, a fountain with its own geotag on snapchat (!) and the opportunity for lots of route choice.

A technical section of the first race on Sunday

The course was quite fun with a mixture of short technical sections and long route choice legs in between. There were some challenging sections with lots of staircases, walls and even a bridge that played into decisions. Most people at this point were feeling physically drained but had to pull it together for the final race determining positions within your heat of 5. We only had a short break of about an hour in between races to prepare for the looped final race. It was still a mass start for the final race; however, it had three different loops and arrangements meaning that you were running alone! This required a different mentality than the rest of the weekend as you no longer knew where your competition was at each point in the race. This was a good test of navigational ability, physical perseverance, mental toughness, and being able to push your speed while alone and exhausted. 

One of the many interesting buildings on the University of Washington campus

It was exciting to watch everyone come in as the fastest heats started last. There were many Canadian HPP members in the top heats, including both Adam and Graeme in the hunt for the win. They finished with a very impressive 3rd and 4th, respectively. With lots of good competition all around, we (Emma and Nicole) came in 3rd and 5th female, or 18th and 23rd overall. 

We learned the importance of being well rested physically before races in order to do the best possible, and that navigational ability cannot always make up the difference of speedy running. All in all it was a really fun and challenging weekend with great races and weather. We couldn't ask for anything more! Thank you so much to the organizer, Patrick Nuss, and all the volunteers. Looking forward to next year!

-Nicole and Emma S. 

Readiness

It's the eve of the World Champs and the rest of the team is going over the final details for the sprints tomorrow. I'm not racing just yet but I still have that feeling in the pit of my stomach that this is it. There are no more Strömstad specific trainings, no more intervals for that extra speed or weight trainings for that extra power. All through the summer I have been keenly aware that WOC has been getting closer and therefore posing myself the question "am I ready?"

I've spent over a month in total training and competing in these terrains. I feel almost as much at home taking the highway exit for Strömstad as I do taking the exit for Turku. I fell in love with the challenge of the terrain last year during the World Cup and every training and race has had the goal of this year's WOC in mind. I used every single competition this year to imagine that I was actually running a WOC race. For the first time I had a final preparation training camp where we ran the exact same program that we would run at WOC.

When I remember all of this I can't help but admit that I have done everything possible to be ready to stand on the start line with a smile on my face.

I had the honour to be interviewed for the Portuguese Orienteering Blog and some of the questions really made me think. I had to think about how I have changed as a competitor and how my own expectations have changed along with that. When I won a bronze medal at JWOC 4 years ago I hadn't really been waiting for it the way that I've been waiting for my results this year. 4 years ago I was practically bouncing with excitement for being able to go out and race whereas this time I've suddenly found my head full of stressful thoughts of "what if's". So it helps to remember how it felt 4 years ago when my thoughts were focused on the race rather than already on the finish line.

I'm so grateful to be able to compete in these championships in a sport that I'm so passionate about. And we're all so grateful for your loving support. We're proud to be Canadian and we can certainly hear you cheering from here.

Most of team Canada has arrived in Stromstad for the World Orienteering Championships. We have been doing a bit of last minute map training but many of the athletes have had several opportunities to run training camps in the area so they are very familiar with the area.

Will, Damian and Emma get ready to start their training

The forest is quite open with lots of bare rock, cliffs, heather, blueberries and chantrelles. It is difficult to stay on a bearing when you are stopping for a snack along the way.

Meghan and Louise picked loads of Blueberries in Oslo during the Nighthawk WRE event

 

Raphael taping together some maps to make a giant map of the middle/long/relay areas

This year the official accommodation is in a Swedish Camping area and amusement park. Some of the cabins (including our coach accommodation) is pirate themed but the team has a nice non-pirate house.

WOC starts with the sprint this Saturday. Emma Waddington, Will Critchley, Damian Konotopetz and Robbie Anderson will run for Canada. Tomorrow, they will have the opportunity to wander around the city for a couple of hours before it is re-embargoed.

World University Orienteering Championships recap

The World University Orienteering Championships took place last week in Miskolc, Hungary. There were athletes from 34 nations competing in 5 back to back  day of races. Canada was represented by Pia Blake, Emma Sherwood, Damian Konotopetz, Eric Kemp, Robert Aderson, Robert Graham, and me (Adam Woods).

The Sprint was my favorite of the 5 races. It featured a maze of uncrossable stone walls that were nigh impossible to navigate through at speed. I was proud to make it through the complex session without any significant time loss and finished in 68^th, just behind Damian in 65^th and Robert Anderson in 67^th.

The Long was the race most of team Canada struggled on. Though long (14km for guys, 10 km for women) and hilly (655m and 420m climb respectively) it featured lots of beautiful white forest. Pia Blake had a tough race; She’d wrapped her ankles slightly too tight, but didn’t start feeling it until the race had started. Congrats to her for suffering though it for the 2:10:54 it took her to complete the course.

The third race was the exciting Sprint Relay, which delivered another unique and challenging sprint course. There were man made barriers and passageways through building you’d normally never have access to. There were over 50 volunteers out on course ensuring these passageways remained passable for the competitors. Emma Sherwood ran what she considers to be her best international race and managed to overtake the Japanese athlete who she’d started behind. However, though I really enjoyed the course, my race had multiple errors, including my failure to notice the short 12-13 leg. Emma’s triumphant sprint down the finish chute was ruined when the announcer casually mentioned that the Canadian team had mispunched.

The Middle distance race was much more successful for Canada.  In contrast to the mostly white forest of the long distance, the Middle distance map was varying shades of green. However, though the forest looked nasty on the map, Damian correctly assumed that strait would normally be the fastest route choice. Sticking straight, and running fast resulted in a 30^th place finish for Damian. Eric Kemp also ran a very strong race. Unfortunately, he was caught by a course setter’s trap. He was on the fastest route to his control, and only 30m away from the pit he was supposed to find when he came across the far more obvious women’s control. He was so close that he caused a New Zealand athlete to make the same error and a third member of the pack was flabbergasted to find they had mispunched.

The final race was the traditional 3 person Relay. Damian, Eric and Robbie Anderson formed Canada’s only official relay team, while the other Canadian athletes ran on mixed nationality relay teams. Robbie Anderson had good third leg to bring home the Canadian relay team to a 22^nd place finish among the official teams. Similarly, Robbie Graham had an impressive third leg run to bring the MDA-CAN mixed team in 9 min ahead of team Canada. (Thanks to Roman Ciobanu from Moldova for sending out the MDA-CAN team in 8^th after the first leg).

Finally, I would be remiss to avoid mentioning the Coaches Race. Patrick Saile followed the athletes’ instructions and pulled ahead of the other coaches off the start, arriving at the start flag in second place. He had the loudest supporters on the run-through, was supplied with sports drink and thoughtfully cooled down by large quantities of water. Though Patrick was unable to complete the course faster than world champions Simone Niggli-Luder and Ida Bobach, he had an impressive finish sprint. Flanked by Eric and I waving Canadian flags, Patrick crossed the finish line to chants of “CANADA, CANADA” from the Swiss team.

The Wold University Orienteering Championships in Hungary featured beautiful white forest and some of the most interesting sprint courses I’ve had the privilege to run. Thanks to all the organizers, volunteers and the city of Miskolc. The memories of WUOC 2016 will stick around a long time, motivating me to prepare for the 2018 WUOC in Finland.

Good luck to Damian Konotopetz, Eric Kemp, Robert Aderson at the Canadian team trials!

Sass Peepre Junior Training Camp

Between all the events happening at home and abroad in the last couple weeks, it is hard to keep track of it all. Things seem to have settled out a bit with WCOC, COC, JWOC and now WUOC coming to a close. BUT before you all go into orienteering withdrawal, World Masters is starting today and we still have WOC and NAOC to look forward to. 

It is so much fun to be able to see our athletes compete nationally against each other and doubly exciting to see them compete on an international stage. When watching a GPS dot squiggle its way across your screen while following a big international competition, sometimes you stop and wonder about the long journey they took to get there. One of the stepping stones for a lot of our athletes was attending the Sass Peepre Junior Training Camp when they were young. Below are two camp photos from the early 2000s. Bonus points for anyone who can guess the year! If you look close enough you can see many a familiar face including much of our senior national team! As well as those that have gone on to be orienteering Canada committee members and coaches! 

This is our camp photo from this year. How many future Canadian athletes, coaches and committee members do you think there are here?! 

This annual junior training camp has been happening for years with many volunteers coming back year after year (after year). Kitty Jones being the first name that comes to mind, but there are many more! Then there is the participant turned volunteer , like our head coach this year, Meghan Rance who has attended a countless number of the camps first as a participant (try and spy her in the old photos) and then as a coach. The junior camp is a great way to bring together youngsters from all across the country to make friends in a sport that doesn’t always have a big club in their home town. I know I have many fond memories of attending the camps. 

This year the camp was based out of  Cochrane AB. The training exercises were planned ahead of time by our head coach extraordinaire Meghan with the kids grouped according to their LTAD level. Throughout the camp there were orienteering exercises, talks from a couple of Olympians that were present (Mike Rascher and Joanne Woods) as well as presentations from some of the coaches and athletes present. Of course it wouldn’t be complete without some sort of fun dress up relay at the end!

 

Thank you very much to all of the volunteers that worked tirelessly to put this event on year after year and continue to legacy of this amazing camp!