The Jack Bloor Fund helped give me the amazing opportunity to attend a GB training camp in Poland to help prepare for the Junior World Orienteering Championships (JWOC), which are being held there next summer. The competition is based in the Lower Silesia region, very near the Czech border!
The camp gave us the opportunity to get a feel for the different terrains across the competition areas. The maps vary greatly, featuring large ridges and valleys for the Long distance, and flatter plains with more intricate rock detail for the Middle and Relay. The organisers of the official competition provided lots of different training opportunities across both types of terrain. We had a lot of fun comparing route choices on the longer legs. To test them, we would head out in groups, with each person picking a different option and starting at the same time. This allowed us to compare speed differences and judge which routes would be faster in the actual competitions. One of the most exciting routes I took involved a huge ski slope where I descended over 200m!
JWOC also includes two sprint disciplines: the individual sprint and the mixed sprint relay. The races next summer will take place in two separate towns, so this week we ran around some similar villages in the surrounding area. Most of the towns featured varying terrain; often, there was a river running through the centre with parkland on either side, leading into complex backstreets and residential areas. This made for both challenging and beautiful training!
The week was incredibly helpful in giving me insight into the terrain. It will also help keep me motivated throughout the winter months as I focus on the selection races in the spring. I greatly appreciate the support that the Jack Bloor Fund continually provides to athletes like myself, allowing us these incredible opportunities to both train and race!
Jack Bloor Race & Fund 