Two or three things I know about it...

1. The Orienteering Federation of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, is going to host, from 10th to 16th November 2016, the 5 Days Orienteering Rio de Janeiro. “It will be the first time ever we are doing it and, if everything goes well, we intend to organize it every year”, said to the Portuguese Orienteering Blog one of the organizing team members, Rubens Igreja. Revisiting the Lakes Region and some of the World Masters Orienteering Championships WMOC 2014's maps - but also the idyllic coastal areas of Buzios and Cabo Frio -, the event takes place at the same time as the 49th CISM World Military Orienteering Championships and promises a mix of orienteering and fun that surely will not leave anyone indifferent. To know more, please consult the newly created event webpage at http://5daysriodejaneiro.wix.com/orienteering.

2. Thierry Gueorgiou announced last Sunday that he'll be missing the European Orienteering Championships EOC 2016. In the aftermath of his participation in 10MILA, the athlete announced in his training page on Attackpoint - http://www.attackpoint.org/viewlog.jsp/user_15725/period-1/enddate-2016-05-15 -, that “no EOC starts next week for me”. And explains why: “The reasons behind this choice, made earlier this spring, are to save some mental energy and offer more preparation´s days toward the only competition which really matter for me - the WOC in Strömstad. With this one being held later than usual, I wanted to compete a bit less in spring/early summer to still feel some hungriness later on. Also finally realized that all the even-numbered years (with EOC/WOC the same year thus), my WOC results had not been the best ones. Will give a try to change this bad habit”, he said. Another of the EOC big missing will be the Norwegian Olav Lundanes, after dislocating his shoulder following a fall while participating in 10MILA last weekend.

3. Have you ever heard about an orienteering event called Billygoat? In his blog - http://alexjospe.blogspot.pt/2016/05/the-38th-annual-billygoat.html - the North-American Alex Jospe describes the event in an informal and funny way, as indeed seems to be a must for all participants. The event took place in Townsend State Forest and was organized by Jospe: “After years of running in the event (and winning it the last three years!), Ed and I decided it was time to host it”, Jospe explains. After reporting a couple of adventures - around the rain and warm clothes, slices of pizza and the always young Sharon Crawford - Jospe provides an event's overview and makes a promise: “This was a fantastic race to direct, and I couldn't have done it without Ed. As usual, he takes my outlined ideas, barely cogent, and transforms them into something functional and beautiful. I suppose that's the role of an engineer. Will I host another Billygoat? Hopefully other people will take on the task for the next few years, but considering that this event embodies everything I love about this sport, I won't rule it out”, he concludes.

4. The Unofficial European Cup in Trail Orienteering ECTO 2016 meets this weekend, in Slovakia, its second round. Organized by the TJ Slavia Farmaceut Bratislava club, the Slovakia ECTO 2016 comprises two stages, the first of PreO in Červený Kameň Castle, near the village Casta, and the second of TempO, in the village of Borský Mikuláš. Ahead of the organization are the brothers Ján Furucz and Dušan Furucz, so it's expected a two-stage with high technical challenge on special terrains of the Small Carpathians region, with lots of rocky detail. The geographical and temporal proximity to the European Trail Orienteering Championships ETOC makes the event a precious “warm up” for many participants in the competition that takes place in the Czech Republic throughout the next week, pointing the last count to 127 competitors from 14 countries. We recall that, after the opening round held in Lisbon, Portugal, the Swedish Erik Stålnacke leads the ECTO 2016 with 70 points, followed by Marco Giovannini, Italy, with 67. For more information, please go to the event webpage at http://ecto2016.orienteering.sk/.

Joaquim Margarido