Lagganlia 2010

           This year I was very happy to be selected to be a participant on the Lagganlia orienteering training week in Scotland. To be chosen for this I had to perform well in various events including the British and JK.

We trained every day in different areas focusing on different skills including compasswork, attack points, contours and simplification. We were split ont small coaching groups. Each group was under the supervision of two coaches for the whole of the week. My group was coached by Ann and Don, both very experienced and friendly orienteers.

The aspect which I feel I learnt most from was learning to read contours, helped by the excellent terrain. This impression was borne out by my performance in the classic race, where I finished about half way up the list of girls, and I was pleased with this result. Overall I believe that my map reading has improved significantly, and I am able to simplify the map and visualise the terrain better than I used to.

We all got to know each other during the evening activities which included a barbecue, swimming (in the nearby lake) and other fun competitions. I really enjoyed making new friends from all parts of the country; I hope to see them every so often at big events and compare experiences of races and courses with them.

I would really like to thank all the coaches but especially Nev and Tony who led the tour and put in a lot of hard work, and the chefs and other helpers who made the week complete.

Finally and most importantly I would like to thank you very much for the money you sponsored me with from the Jack Bloor Fund. It was a great experience and I shall not forget it!

Helen Wood

EYOC 2010 and Cairngorm Camp

EYOC is the European Youth Orienteering Championships, for M/W16s and 18s. It comprises of a Long, Relay and Sprint race. I was selected to represent Great Britain in the M16 team. EYOC 2010 was in Spain, in Soria, a city in the mountains about 200km north east of Madrid. This was my first time representing GB, and so had all the associated nerves, anticipation, and of course the excitement of getting GB kit.

t was a brilliant experience of international racing. Things such as quarantines, pre starts, warm up maps, not seeing the finish beforehand, were very different to what is normally found in orienteering events in the UK, so it was good to get used to the way races are run internationally.

In the Long distance I finished 15^th. I’d been having a very good run through the first half of the course, and was 2^nd at the 7^th control. Then things sort of fell apart. I lost concentration on the way to 8, and as the terrain had changed and become much rockier, I needed both hands to climb the rocks so wasn’t map reading. I reached the top of the main block of crags unsure where I was. I thought I was too far south, so headed north. Five minutes later I returned to the top of the crags, ran 2m further and saw the control. I then rushed the next control trying to make up time and was very sloppy with my navigation throughout the rest of the course. Part of the difficulty was that I just wasn’t used to having courses in such complex terrain where I needed to concentrate for a full hour. Often in Britain their will be sections of path running where you can switch off, but not here. Another problem was that I had no idea what the competition would be like. I had no idea I was in 2^nd at 7, I thought I’d be much lower down, and after my mistake I thought I was out of the race all together, when I still managed to finish in the top 15. If I get to EYOC next year I will be a lot more confident that I can contend for the podium if I run well and that I am fit enough, something I could only learn from experience.

In the Relay the GB M16 team finished 16^th. I was running last leg of the relay. Our first leg runner came in about 5 minutes behind the leaders and a minute behind the pack. Unfortunately our second leg runner had, in his words, ‘a good run apart from one 20 minute mistake.’ This meant I set off on last leg very far back and we were out of the race. My thoughts were already turning towards the sprint race the following day, so I held back a bit to conserve energy. It was still a fun day though, as the area was brilliant, and completely unlike anything in Britain. It required a different approach to navigation as it was often faster to run round rather than straight. It was also my first experience of running with a GPS tracking harness, which took a bit of getting used to, but will be something I will have to do more and more if I continue to compete at an international level.

In the Sprint I finished 14^th. The Sprint was the last race of EYOC and I hadn’t put too much thought towards it, as I didn’t consider sprint races to be my strength. I ran well though, taking good route choices and pushing all the way, losing maybe just a couple of seconds over the whole course. I was happy with my run, even as I dropped down the leader board. I was slightly in awe of the winner’s time though, he was 1min40 quicker than me, and I’d had a near perfect run. It was a real eye opener to how fast some of these guys can run. It was also interesting to see that in the Sprint I’d had a near perfect run and finished 14^th, and in the long I’d had a really bad run and finished 15^th. In the sprint I couldn’t have been closer to the winner than I was, whereas in the long I could have won a medal with a perfect race. This was useful to see where my training was working and what needed changing for next year.

All in all EYOC was a brilliant experience of racing at an international level. Thanks to the Jack Bloor Fund for helping support me so that I could compete.

Later in the summer I went to the BOF Cairngorm Talent Camp at Badaguish in Scotland. This was a training camp, focusing on consistent performance. There were a lot of classroom sessions, and considerably less forest time than on previous camps under the mantra quality not quantity. This camp helped me a lot with mental strategies for racing as well as providing some good technique training. It was useful to practise orienteering in some of the best forests in the UK, and I focused on improving my concentration over a longer period of time in complex terrain. The camp allocated everyone individual coaches for the week, which was really useful and helped us get more personalised training exercises. Thanks again to the Jack Bloor Fund for helping with the cost.

Lagganlia 2010
By Michael Adams

Leading up to Lagganlia were a series of selection races. These were all the major events like the British Champs, JK, Northern, Midland and Southern Champs. After all of these results were taken into account each region got to pick two of their 2nd year M/W14’s to go to Lagganlia. The only condition was as long as they had achieved a championship time (25% of the winner’s time added on to the winner’s time). Some of the regions were unable to send some juniors so the spare spaces were given to some juniors who hadn’t already been picked. This meant that 12 boys and 12 girls were chosen to spend a week in Lagganlia.
Most people travelled up on a train on the Saturday to arrive in Lagganlia in the evening. Those living closer may have been dropped off by their parents. As I had been to O-ringen and didn’t come back until the Saturday I had to go up on the Sunday. When we arrived, we were each given a room that was shared with 3 other people so 4 in a room.
During the day we did a variety of different training exercises. Each day was specified a different skill that we practiced. On the Monday we went to Moor of Alvie and did some catching and collecting features practice. Catching features are something big that if you run past the control you will see it and realize what you have done. Collecting features is something big before the control to show that you are nearly there and should slow down. In the afternoon we went to Inshriach to do some timed runs. These showed us how fast we went along a track for 1km and how fast we went across terrain for 1km. Then the coaches worked out a ratio to see if we were quicker in the terrain or on the path so if you had a small ratio you should go straight but if you had a big ratio then you should go round.
On Tuesday we went to Culbin and spent the whole day there. We were concentrating on contours and how to read them. We did several exercises in the forested sand dunes. There was a simplify course where you had to concentrate on the big features. There was an attack points course where the map was all contours and nothing else and you had to use contour features as attack points. Then we went into the green bit that had lots of intricate contours and low visibility. After a small course and lots of lost people we did an odds and evens relay.
On the Wednesday there was a sprint race. The qualifier was round Alvielochan. A small forested area with lots of contour detail. I won the 2km course in 17:51, 3 seconds ahead of Joe Woodley and Katrina Hemingway won the girls. In the afternoon the final took place round Lagganlia. Joe won the boys course with Sarah Jones winning the girls. Later on we went to where the Badaguish tour was. Here there was a pond with a series of ring stretching over it. All you had to do was swing from one to the other and get to the other side. Simple? No. Lots of people got wet but there were a few who made it.

On Thursday we went to Anagach and did a map memory exercise where we went round as a pair whilst one person ran to the control with no map the other was remembering their route for the next leg. Then there was a talk o where one person talked the other to the control, explaining what they should see and where they needed to go. After this there was a peg relay where you had to go around a course and pick up pegs at certain controls. If there wasn’t a peg there you carried on but if there was you had to go and do an extra loop. The person with the most pegs won. Then there was an example of different types of training you can do in terrain.
Finally on the Friday there was a classic race around Insriach. The boys had 5.8km with 280 metres of climb while the girls had about 4.5km with 140 metres of climb. The boys winner was Joe Woodley again in just over an hour and the girls was won by Julie Emerson. The course took us through a checkerboard like bit of wood with rides separating off different bits of wood and the very intricate bit at the bottom that messed up the runs of lots of people. We were all quite tired after that but some of us (the not injured/exhausted ones) did a fun relay at the end in Insriach.
One person had to set off on Friday evening to go on holiday (lucky girl) but the rest of us went off on the Saturday. Mostly we were on an 8:29 train at Aviemore but some of us left later on in the day. Eventually we all got home and Lagganlia was over. For another year (hopefully).

I’d Just like to say a thank you to all the excellent coaches at Lagganlia who made our experience a great one. Also i’d like to say thank you to Wendy Carlyle for providing me with all the photos. And thank you to SYO and the Jack Bloor Fund who provided me with some money so I could go on this excellent trip.

Lagganlia Training Camp 31^st July to The 7^th of August 2010

This summer I spent a week doing technical and physical training in Scotland. The training camp was situated at the Lagganlia outdoor centre in the Cairngorms. I was part of a group of twenty four juniors who had been selected.

Saturday

I arrived on Saturday afternoon and when all the juniors had arrived and eaten, Tony (Tour Manager) gave us a talk about the week’s proceedings. I also found out that I was going to be sharing a room with, Harry Butt from the South West and Will Parkinson from the East Midlands, I had not met either before but we were soon getting along fine. I was also with Nick Jarvis whom I already knew.

Sunday

The first training was at Uath Lochan. We focused on using a compass and looked at different techniques of orienteering with a compass. I completed three courses one of which I did with one of my set coaches for the week Anne Edwards (GB Athlete) we talked though the course afterwards. In the afternoon we moved to Achlean where we learnt how to pace. We were given a one hundred meter stretch of track to use to work out how many double paces we needed to cover that distance. I then did three more activities in which I used my pacing.

Monday

Monday’s training was located at Moor of Alvie. We spent the morning working in the complex wooded area. Later that afternoon we did two timed runs. One kilometre on a forest track then the same distance through terrain. My two times were 4.11 and 6.00. Using our two times we could compare and see which athletes were stronger on terrain or on a track. That evening we had a talk from Anne Edwards about working with a personal coach.

Tuesday

On Tuesday we spent the whole day on Culbin, an extremely technical area of forested sand dunes. I completed various exercises and at the end of the day we did an odds and evens relay, a score event where we were given two maps between three people, and only one control could be collected before the map was brought back and given to the waiting team member.  We finished the day with an ice cream from Tesco’s!

Wednesday

Wednesday was the day of the Sprint. The Qualifier was held at Avielochan a small wooded area. I had a good race coming second by only three seconds, this meant that I was in the A final and was starting second to last in the chasing start. The final was around the grounds of Lagganlia where we were staying. The fast open grass and a few buildings reminded me of an urban park race. I had another good run and won by 20 seconds this was enough to give me the overall win!  We didn’t have any training that afternoon and went swimming in Loch Morlich, shopping in Aviemore and had a BBQ.

Thursday

We were training again on Thursday and spent the day at Anagach. After looking at a map of the area we drew our own simplified versions and attempted to do a course using only our own maps. Art is not one of my strongest subjects and as you might expect I got horribly lost, luckily I stumbled across one of my controls (not the one I was looking for) and was able to relocate. Later that day I completed a “Talk O” where in pairs one of you guides the other to a control using just their voice, (no hand gestures or other forms of communication). For example,” head North West up the spur until you reach a hill top”. It was great fun and a real test of my orienteering skill.

Friday

Friday was the day of the Classic Race which was to be held in Inshriach Forest. The boy’s race was 5.8 km. It was one of the hardest areas I have ever run in, especially because the few forest rides intersecting the complex contours were totally unreliable. The course was both a physical and mental challenge but I really enjoyed it. I made a few mistakes but was fast to relocate and found out when I returned that I had won. That afternoon we had a fun relay, I was really tired and spent most of my time running in circles but it was a good laugh. That evening we had a special dinner followed by a quiz and prize giving. The next day we said our goodbyes and left.

I had a great week and would like to thank all off the coaches especially Tony and Nev for all their hard work and effort that they put into the week. I learnt a lot and would love to get selected for other tours over the next few years.

Joe Woodley

(All photos Wendy Carlyle collection Lagganlia 2010)

Water sports trip in France                                                                                                      By Beth Woodley

My trip started on July 29^th with a 24 hr journey to France via coach and ferry. We arrived at the PGL centre in Mimosa on the Mediterranean in time for breakfast. We were greeted by our lively and enthusiastic leaders and they took us straight to the beach. We started with some ice-breaker activities in the water which was really fun! Unfortunately, it was too windy in the afternoon to do our planned sailing activity, however instead we got to go on the climbing and abseiling tower which I enjoyed. After dinner we had ‘wacky races’ on the beach and my team won!

The following day we went to the beach again and went on the ‘ocean rider’ a banana shaped inflatable pulled along by a speed boat. It was great fun, although we ended up spending most of our time climbing back on the ‘ocean rider’ after being thrown off! In the afternoon we were introduced to sailing on fun boats. I found it really good because I was able to steer the boat using the rudder and control the sail. Our evening entertainment was bowling which I wasn’t very good at but enjoyed nevertheless.

On Sunday we travelled to another nearby beach called Black Sands. We eagerly donned wetsuits, masks and snorkels and jumped into the sea to go snorkelling. Before we went deeper we were taught the best way to breathe using the snorkel and how to do a surface dive without getting a mouthful of sea water. After lunch we went sea kayaking which was one of my favourite activities. The water was quite choppy and I liked the feeling of bobbing about in the waves. We had races and placed catch in the kayaks. Later on we went sailing on a catamaran. I had never been on one before so it was fantastic when we got about 2 miles out and turned the sail, it filled with air and we went whipping back to the shore.

The next day was my birthday and I had a wonderful time at Aqualand theme park. There were steep, scary slides and gentle, winding rivers plus a pool with a wave machine. We were sad when it was time to go, but that was short lived as we boarded the coach ready for the next part of our adventure. We drove three hours to a further inland PGL centre called Segries. In the evening we played fun, silly games and I got a birthday cake!

On August 3^rd we had a river talk about what to expect on the descent of the Ardeche with our river team instructors. It also involved splashing us with water which didn’t go down too well with some people as it was 7.30 am: it certainly woke us up! After that we set off to the river. We spent the morning mastering some basic paddling stroked in order to steer the two man canoes. We stopped at a beach to have lunch then carried on, tackling rapids and river jumps along the way.

The next two days were also spent going down the river which was quite hard work but great fun. We went swimming, did more river jumping and negotiated our way down some big, rocky rapids. On Thursday, we had dinner, packed up and piled onto the coach for the long journey home. Everyone was upset to leave France and hoped we’d be able to return one day to relive the amazing week. I had a fantastic time on the trip, had great experiences and learnt new skills. None of this would have been possible without the generous grant from the Jack Bloor fund so thank you very, very much.