In late June, I headed out to the Junior World Orienteering Championships with the kind support of the Jack Bloor Memorial Fund. The championships were held in the Trentino-Alto Adige region of the Dolomites in northern Italy, specifically in the town of Baselga di Pinè.
The event consisted of five races – three individual and two team relay events – with one rest day in between. The first two races were sprint orienteering events, held in small Alpine villages. This style of orienteering is definitely my favourite. The two villages – Levico Terme and Cembra – were exceptionally intricate, made up of small alleyways, underpasses, and cut-throughs. Both races were made more challenging by the addition of artificial barriers that blocked access to certain streets and routes, making the navigation even more complex.
The first of the two sprint events was the mixed sprint relay, held in Levico Terme. I raced in the second of three British teams and ran the first leg, meaning I took part in the mass start alongside about 80 other teams. I handed over to my second-leg runner in 13th place and was very happy to be the first Brit back! We ultimately finished 11th overall, making us the second British team.
The following day was the individual sprint in Cembra – a village that had never been mapped before! I was delighted to finish 37th out of nearly 150 runners.
Then, it was time to hit the forests. The final three events were all located in different Alpine forests, which were steep and physically demanding. The first of these was the long-distance race, held in an area known as Argentiera. The terrain features over 6,000 pits left by historical silver mining, making navigation extremely tricky – avoiding a game of “pit bingo” while trying to locate controls was a real challenge! I ended up clocking over 12 km that day.
Thankfully, a rest day followed, which we on the team were all very grateful for after the long-distance event.
The final two races – the middle distance and the forest relay – were held in the same area of forest: Laghestèl. The middle distance involved about 4 km of running and, thankfully, was far less pitted than the long. In the forest relay, I ran the last leg for my team and held our 22nd-place position to the finish!
All in all, it was a very positive week filled with a lot of running, pizza, pasta, and lake swimming – which left me pretty tired! I’m very thankful for the support of the Jack Bloor Memorial Fund, who helped make this unforgettable trip possible.
Jack Bloor Race & Fund 