Euan Tryner, South Yorkshire Orienteers, selected for the World University Championships in Bansko Bulgaria.
A great week in Bulgaria, mixed results for me though l had a very good run in the relay (2nd fastest time 🤯 ), which is where it matters most 😊
The highlight though, is definitely the day l wasn’t running, watching the team win the sprint relay was incredible and so inspiring! Hopefully l can be part of the team to try and defend the title in 2 years time.
Finally thanks to Edinburgh University and The Jack Bloor Fund for funding support.
Would you like to be part of the successful Jack Bloor Races? Which helps young Yorkshire sportspeople realise their dreams…?
Four decades have now passed since the untimely passing of renowned Yorkshire sportsman, Jack Bloor, immediately after completing a race in Meanwood, Leeds.
Jack was an accomplished sportsman in his own right, be it fell running, athletics, cross-country, climbing, orienteering, potholing, cycling, etc. However, his greatest gift was in encouraging young people to engage in outdoor adventure sports.
Jack won Burnsall Fell Race in 1951 and helped establish the classic Three Peaks Race, winning it in 1956. He mastered the Bob Graham Round in 1979 and completed many Karrimor International Mountain Marathons. Jack served as President of the Gritstone Club, Chair of Yorkshire BMC, County Mountain Advisor to the Scouts and claimed many first ascents rock climbing in the Lakes and Dales. He was an active member of Leeds Cave Rescue Team and coached many junior orienteers to senior level. Jack’s contribution and influence was extraordinary.
The European Youth Orienteering Championships are an annual event for M/W16s and M/W18s from across Europe, with some competitors from New Zealand and Australia too. This year it was held in Szczecin, in northern Poland, at the end of June. It consists of a long distance event, sprint and relay, over 3 days.
After arriving late on the Wednesday night, we spent a few hours in the forest adjacent to the long and relay area, completing a model course, to practise in the terrain, which was fairly runnable beech forest, with many complex contours.The next day we did another model event, this time to practise not only in the forest but also for the sprint. We were able to experience the ‘superman’ finish and start boxes they would have at both races, ensuring there would be no confusion due to the lack of a finish control to punch.
For the long event we left the hotel early to reach quarantine in time for its closure. As I had an early start, I left after a short time to take a minibus to the start in the forest. The first part of the course was in the runnable, hilly woods with lots of difficult navigation relying on contours and vegetation boundaries. However, the last part was on an open hill with thick bushes and head high grass, where I managed to lose the path and therefore spent 5 minutes battling through the undergrowth trying to find a control hidden in the jungle. Although I didn’t have a winning run, James Hammond in the M18s won silver, and Finn Duguid was 6th in the M16s.
Next day, the sprint was held in the old part of Szczecin, filled with barriers and walls, making for difficult route choices and navigation, as well as creating a danger of mispunching (23 M16s mispunched!)
For the relay there are teams of three for each age group, so the fourth person runs in a mixed team. I ran with Barbora Stryckova from Czechia, and Ami McGowan from New Zealand, and finished first mixed team. It was great meeting orienteers from different countries, especially at the friendship party, where we made friends with the Slovakian W16 team.
It was an amazing experience for international racing, which will be useful in the future (I hope), and I would like to thank all of the coaches and organisers who helped to make the event happen and the team get there.
And a massive thanks to the Jack Bloor Fund in helping me get there
After racing in a British Triathlon national series race, I qualified for, and was selected to compete for Great Britain at the Senior European Triathlon Cup in Kitzbuhel, Austria.
I was so happy to be selected to compete, and I am incredibly grateful to the Jack Bloor Fund for their support contributed to my travel expenses and ensured I did not have to miss out on an a crucial opportunity to race the best triathletes in Europe.
The race was a super sprint format, and this also meant that there were heats and finals. The race distances were a 500m swim, a 14km bike and a 3km run.
The swim section of the race was done in Schwarzsee Lake, and then both the bike and run course were a challenging and fun route, with a hill and technical descent in it.
Unfortunately I did not do as well I had hoped in the race, but I gained invaluable experiences from racing amongst my top U23 and senior competitors, and I enjoyed testing my physical capabilities.
A massive thank you again to the Jack Bloor Fund for their support!
I thought you’d like to know Evie raced yesterday… she had an amazing race! She finished 4th and was the 3rd Brit home (meaning she moved up her ranking from the qualifier!!). This also meant she was part of the team that got gold!
Throughout my first season competing in Biathle, I’ve had a brilliant time especially representing Great Britain at the European Championships that were held in Funchal, Madeira this year.
The week started off with 3 training days to acclimatise to the conditions and get used to the course that we would be racing in. Race day swiftly came around and first up was the individual, after coming in last in the run I entered the water and managed to pick up 7 places, giving myself a strong advantage in the last part of the run. After a blistering paced race I managed to finish 20th overall in the Senior men’s category and achieved a 15 second personal best over the distance.
Next up came the relay where we halved the distances from the individual so it’s much more of a sprint. After giving it my all and leaving everything on the line, my team managed to finish 10th overall in Europe. A fantastic experience but one that I will take lots away from for my future training.
I would like to thank the Jack Bloor Fund for helping me to achieve this and be able to compete at the event. I wouldn’t have been able to get over there without their help and support. I now look forward to the remainder of the season and hope to qualify for the team for the World Championships in October.
Thank you to the Jack Bloor Fund for helping me pay for my flights to the recent European Off-Road Running Championships.
On Thursday 30th May I flew out to Annecy, France, for the European Off-Road Championships and my Great Britain debut. I had a great experience watching the other races and the seniors before my race on the Sunday. It was nice meeting other runners my age from all around Europe including countries like San Marino!
The race was at 8am so waking up at 5.30 proved the first challenge of the day. Half an hour later we found out the course had been changed due to heavy rainfall. This was disappointing as the downhill became less sketchy and more road which is not my strong point. After an incredibly fast start and a steep but just about runnable uphill I had made my way into a top ten position and second brit behind Scot Angus Wright of Edinburgh University. Hitting the fast road on the down I only lost places and by the bottom was about 17th. From here it was a flat 800m sprint to the finish where I managed to gain one position to come 16th in Europe!
A quick post-race dip in the lake, followed by the closing ceremony then the flight home the next morning. I am very grateful for the amazing opportunity and am incredibly thankful to the Jack Bloor Fund for significantly helping me fund the trip.
The Junior World Orienteering Championships 2024 were held in Pilsen, Czechia, and were such an incredible week of international racing experience against the fastest girls in the world, with an amazing supportive team and coaches. I was selected to compete for Great Britain in a team of 6 girls in the W20 category, after sets of domestic selection races in the spring this year.
The week consisted of 5 races starting on the 1st July after some training days prior, with the mixed sprint relay, followed by the sprint distance, long distance, middle distance, and forest relay to end the week. The terrain was a mix of technical urban areas, and beautiful runnable forests, despite being very hilly. This year I was very happy with my results in the individual races securing a 10th= in the sprint, 14th in long, and 17th in the middle, of which all my performances were big improvements from previous international races, and I am grateful to the skills and development that this experience will provide for me for races in the future.
I am so grateful to the Jack Bloor Fund for supporting me with these races and giving me the opportunity to travel and develop as an athlete at this level.
The Jack Bloor Fund has supported me in attending and competing in the European Mountain Running Championships in Annecy where I was able to represent the Great Britain team. I ran in both the Uphill Only championships and the Classic Up and Down championships where I placed second, third and lead both teams to team silver.
Being able to attend the championships has given me an amazing experience competing in international races and fields and I’m hugely grateful to the fund who made this opportunity possible.
Jack Bloor Race & Fund 