Nordic Champs

, Well, the first half of Nordic Champs in Salo, Finland is over. The Long distance took place on Saturday and the Relay on Sunday. The region around Salo is simply beautiful!


I had a so-so run at the Long. The terrain is very complex, and the GPS tracking of various athletes showed some major mistakes, even amongst the worlds best. I had 2 major mistakes, one of 10 minutes and another of 5 minutes. Then there were lots of smaller mistakes within the control circle at various controls.

Looking at the bright side, it could have been worse. I at least had some decent legs, particularly towards the end of the course when I got used to the map and when my endurance stamina was still going strong. My running speed on the terrain is still poor however, and this is one item I will need to focus on at the Middle distance.

Results, split times and GPS tracking for the race is available here.


As I'm the only South African here, I got to watch the relay from the side lines. Fascinating stuff once again. Sweden seem to be in very strong form at the moment, in both mens and womens as well as the junior categories. Some countries managed to field 2 or 3 relay teams, with the 'B' teams quite often giving their 'A' team compatriots a good run for their money.

The GBR mens team where one of those.


There are 2 races left. On Tuesday we have the Middle distance, where I hope to improve my performance. Then on Wednesday it is the Sprint, which will take place in and around the suburbs of Salo. It will be fast!

Nicholas Mulder

Hungarian update

The 4th Training Camp for WOC 2009 is almost finished. I've had a heap load of training in the last 5 days, between 1 and 3 training runs / races per day. Hungary is a very enjoyable country, but the mountains where we've been orienteering have probably been the best part. They are really beautiful for O' and for being an (active) tourist - walking trails, bike trails, caves, lakes, etc.

Although Miskolc is a pretty sizeable town with plenty of shopping malls, traffic lights and apartment blocks, you don't have to go far to find rural gridlock...

Anyway, back to the forests. They are mixed broad leaf, mainly beech with some pine. The photo is typical of the light green, but it doesn't slow you down much.

The geology is karst, so lots of limestone rocks, negative depressions, etc. Big boulders like this aren't too common though.

One of the better training runs I did was interval training, with SI timing provided. The intervals were unusually long, but then the terrain was also very fast and relatively flat. I was a bit scrappy towards the end of the training.

However, the most enjoyable session was actually a race, the Hungarian Night Champs. This was the first 'proper' night event that I've ever done, as I've only orienteered in park-type terrain at night before (and 1 rogaine). The thought of navigating in the dark through proper European forest was a bit intimidating before the start.

I managed to ace the first control, which gave me some great confidence. The 2nd control was hidden in a vegetated pit, which didn't help and then I messed up the first long leg. However, I settled down nicely after this and started picking up competitors who had started ahead of me. My big mistake was not realising where the water point was (#10) and running straight past it. I bonked big time and ended up walking large sections from #13 onwards. Nevertheless, I still thought it a great experience. Can't wait for another one!

Following the end of the training camp, I'm off to Finland to compete in the Nordic Champs / World Cup near the town of Salo. The first race, the long distance, is this Saturday.

http://www.noc2009.fi/

Nicholas Mulder

WOC Training Camp and World Cup

With the World Champs and the World Games approaching fast, it's time for some serious training!

Unfortunately, being in South Africa means that it's quite a tough exercise to prepare for any specific international event. We normally pitch up at a WOC one week before the champs and do our first and final training sessions in the relevant terrain at the time that you should be tapering for the major event. In essence, we arrive at these champs with little idea of what to expect, then do a one-week crash course, starting the actual event with dead legs and totally exhausted.

This year, I've decided to do it the other way. It's going to cost a bit of time and money, but I believe its the only way of progressing towards my personal goals in international orienteering. Over the next 2 weeks, I'll be attending a special training camp in preparation for WOC '09 in Hungary, then moving onto Finland to compete in a World Cup round that incorporates the Nordic Champs.

I've already arrived in Miskolc, Hungary for the WOC Training Camp. I'm staying in the University Hotel where we'll be based during WOC itself. The journey out here was quite relaxed with everthing running to plan. The rooms are good, should be great during WOC itself. Ahead lies 11 training session, including a couple of local races (including a Night Race! - never done a 'proper' one as yet).

I'll start posting maps, my route choices, pics of the area and other comments about the training camp in the next day or two.

Nicholas Mulder

National Training Camp

Both the senior and junior squads took part in a National Training Camp this past weekend in the Lakenvlei forests near Belfast. Although primarily aimed at the Junior National Squad, some of the senior squads members made the trip down to help with the camp, and also gain a great opportunity to improve their own abilities.

All in all, the participants managed to get 8 physical sessions packed into less than 48 hours! Unfortunately the weather was horrible, with very cold and wet conditions, particularly on the Saturday. This however didn't damper the atmosphere, with some great team spirit as well as intense competition taking place on some of the training exercises.


The photos are of Jeremy, Jess H. and Bradley competing in a Team Star Relay. Jess H combined with Salome to take overall honours in the exercise.

WOC 2009 - Miskolc, Hungary

The South African Team for the 2009 World Champs in Hungary has been announced as follows:

- Nicholas Mulder (Rand OC)
- Eugene Botha (AR Club)
- Cobus Van Zyl (AR Club)

The team manager will be Pieter Mulder (Rand OC).

WOC will take place from 15 to 23 August 2009 in Miskolc, Hungary.

The Relay

WOC is over and all that is left to do is go to the banquet... The final race this afternoon was the team relay. South Africa had a non-eventful race, finishing 33rd out of 36 teams, thanks to a few disqualification from Turkey, France and Denmark. Although RSA was last, this is still an improvement in team position, moving up from 36th last year in Kiev, Ukraine.

Eugene started off well, but shortly afterwards started cramping, loosing time and places to end at the back of the field. Paul took over in the 2nd leg and had a consistent run, finishing about 4 minutes faster than Eugene. Nicholas ran the anchor leg, managing a clean run but not able to make up any places.

So that's it for another WOC. The team is generally pleased with their performances and will undoubtedly post some reports on the group list when they return home.

Finally, the official Team Photo...


Sunset over Olomouc...


So cheers from Olomouc from Team South Africa. WOC 2009 is in Miscolc, Hungary. We'll put up further info later in the year.

...the team.

Middle Distance Results

The South African team performed fairly in some beautiful and intricate terrain at the Middle Distance qualification races yesterday morning. It turned out to be a long day, with the qualification in the morning followed by the finals later that afternoon, with many teams only returning to Olomouc after 9pm.

The South African Results were: (4.7km courses, 120m climb)
- Men's A heat - Garry Morrison 36th - 72:48
- Men's B heat - Eugene Botha 32nd - 42:04
- Men's C heat - Nicholas Mulder 33rd - 36:33

Eugene racing down the finish chute at the end of the Middle Qualification race...


The RSA Boy Band...


Team South Africa watching the Middle Final race unfold later in the day...


The next race for the team is the Relay, which will take place on Sunday morning. The team will be: Eugene Botha running first leg, Paul Wimberley second and Nicholas Mulder anchor.