Clare Durand: "I'm the only serious Trail Orienteer within a three hour drive"

To talk about Clare Durand is to talk about resilience. It’s in Lancaster, in the desert north of Los Angeles, in the United States, that we’re going to find her. Clare studied Geography and Computer Science, worked for the government making military maps, worked on movies and television as an assistant director and taught Mathematics. She’s now directing local musical theatre productions, is an active volunteer with the Girl Scouts and is writing a series of children’s spy novels. Enough? It seems not. She’s also building a small business, organizing local orienteering races and training. In the midst of this whole bustle, Clare doesn’t neglect her own preparation, as she’s one of the most prominent and committed North American Trail Orienteers.

How did Orienteering came to your life? Why Orienteering and why not Gymnastics, for example?

C. D. - As a child, I was a competitive swimmer. But I stopped swimming at the age of 15 to have more free time. I did a single trail-based orienteering event during college with a colleague but didn't pursue it. A few years later, I had moved to the East Coast and attended a beginner's event that I read about in the newspaper and was hooked. I've always really enjoyed maps, navigation, and hiking, so it's no doubt this was the sport for me.

Do you remember when you first did TrailO? Was it love at first sight?

C. D. - I first did TrailO at a demonstration event in Wyoming, around 2000. I did very well. This was exciting to me, because I am not a naturally talented runner, which makes it more difficult for me to have high placings in Foot Orienteering. But TrailO was something I could really excel in.

What do you see in TrailO that makes it so special?

C. D. - What makes TrailO special is it's availability to people of all mobility challenges and it's purity as a map reading challenge. But I think it does make it difficult to get people practicing TrailO. Most outdoor enthusiasts want to be more active, and I'm sure it must be difficult for someone who cannot enter the terrain to understand the map in the same way that those of us who also do FootO can.

We are used to see you representing the US team in the World Trail Orienteering Championships. How do you assess your results so far? Would you expect something better?

C. D. - I've been disappointed to not have some higher placings, especially in PreO. I have had a few really excellent single day performances, but have not accomplished this for two days in a row when it counts. I've been encouraged by my continued improvement in TempO. Last year I came close to making the final, which is a big jump from being near the bottom of the standings in Italy. It's hard to keep up with the amount of TrailO that goes on in Europe. My competitors are getting much more practice. I also have never won the U.S. Championships in TrailO. That's a big target for me.

What is the most difficult part of being Trail orienteer in the United States?

C. D. - Lack of events and training opportunities. The U.S. is a very large place with very few Trail Orienteers. I'm the only serious Trail Orienteer within a three hour drive, so there is no one to help me train near home. Any local events are put on by me, but since I am also putting on most of the local Foot Orienteering, it leaves little time for TrailO. Similar conditions exist for most of our team members.

Please, complete the sentence: For having a strong TrailO team, the United States would...

C. D. - (…) Commit to having many more TrailO events throughout the country and have Trail Orienteering training camps. Our team is not attracting new people. We need to attract more new orienteers and especially figure out how to bring Trail Orienteering to the Paralympic population who might be interested in our sport.

You were the course setter of the 2017 US TrailO Championships, recently said held in Camp Sherman, California. Are you happy with your work and with the overall event?

C. D. - I was very happy with the course. The competitors had high praise and really enjoyed it. I did have to throw out one control, but this was fine, since I agreed with the complaint once I looked at the situation. I wish we had a better turnout. Less than 20 people competed in the Trail Orienteering events. The last time I set the U.S. Champs (2009), we had over 50 people compete. So this shows how Trail Orienteering is on the decline in the U.S.

What are your goals for the season?

C. D. - I am hoping to go to Lithuania, but am having difficulty fitting it in my budget, so I'm still working on that. A trip from California to Europe is very expensive. If I can go, my goals would be to have two excellent PreO days, possibly reaching the awards level, and to make the TempO final.

Would you like to share your biggest dream with us?

C. D. - I have many big dreams related to my different pursuits. I dream that orienteering would become popular enough in the U.S. that we would have events every weekend in every city. In TrailO my biggest dream would be to achieve the gold medal in PreO at the World Champs.

Is there anything you'd like to add?

C. D. - I think that it is difficult to attract people to TrailO because orienteering is an inherently active sport and TrailO is not. I sometimes wonder if we should develop some sort of Paralympic wheelchair sprint event to bring more athleticism to the Paralympic format.

Joaquim Margarido

Javier Oramas: "There are lots of things to do"

Javier Perez Oramas is from Colombia. Passionate about Orienteering, he's a keen contributor to the revitalization of the sport in his country. But the task ahead is anything but easy, as we can see in another great Interview in the Portuguese Orienteering Blog.

I would start by asking who is Javier Perez Oramas?

Javier Oramas (J. O.) - I was born in 1981, in Bogota, the capital of Colombia, and currently live in Barcelona (temporarily because I am getting a master's degree in Big Data). I am passionate about the Biomechanics of sport and my professional formation is in Sports' Sciences.

How were you introduced to orienteering and what makes it such a special sport?

J. O. - I was introduced to Orienteering in the University, as part of a discipline's content, and since then (2006) I've been very interested in it. The most interesting part is the requirement of developing strategies during the course, which make it very fun and also encourages the competitiveness from start to finish because, since you don't know if you are leading, it forces you to push it to the limit.

Would you like to tell us about your career so far?

J. O. - I have practised a wide range of sports, but mostly BMX and Artistic Gymnastics. In 2006 I took part in my first Orienteering race and in an Adventure Race (with maps in black and white), which motivated me to follow the Outdoor sports' line. However, the only offer I found in my country was Adventure Racing (I participated in everything I could) and it was only in 2012 that I ran my first orienteering race under the IOF regulations. Although the Colombian Federation must have had about 10 years at that time, we had very few events and athletes, and it was very difficult to keep a competitive orienteering calendar. So, I started with Trail Running to do my physical preparation while waiting for the next National event. In 2015, thanks to the support of the IOF, which provided two spots to Colombia, I had the opportunity to attend the IOF Clinic and the WOC in Scotland, as a representative of my country.

Is there any truly remarkable situation that you would like to highlight along ten years of Orienteering?

J. O. - The WOC 2015 is, undoubtedly, the moment when my sports and professional career took a new direction. Being my first Orienteering experience outside Colombia, everything was new, but what made it more valuable and enriching was that, before the Championships, we had - and I mean in the plural because we were people from several countries there – an Orienteering Clinic in which they strengthened us as athletes and gave us tools to contribute to the development of this sport in our countries. In addition to this, we were exceptionally accompanied by the IOF throughout the WOC and the 6 Days of Scotland, which made it possible to successfully meet the participation targets.

It was a great pleasure to have you among the participants in the Trail Orienteering Seminar promoted, last December, by the University of Valencia, Spain. Why Trail Orienteering?

J. O. - In addition to being a very interesting discipline for FootO competitors, the Colombian Federation shows a great interest in its development because of its characteristics of inclusiveness.

What memories do you keep from the Seminar?

J. O. - The structure and the topics covered seemed very well addressed, in my opinion, and I now feel able to organize a small TrailO event. I intend to pass this knowledge on to the Federation of my country, which is really interested in organizing some TrailO events in Colombia.

In 2013, Colombia hosted The World Games, gathering some of the best orienteers in the world. This would suggest Orienteering could reap the benefits of such important event but, unfortunately, it seems that things had the opposite effect and Colombia is among the countries that have just been suspended from members of the IOF. I would ask you for a comment.

J. O. - It's very discouraging as an athlete to learn that your country has been suspended, making you reevaluate the international goals. I was surprised by the suspension and tried to get a reaction from the Colombian Federation. They feel that “IOF doesn't provide enough support". I think that IOF didn't evaluate the situation correctly, as The World Games could represent an impulse for this sport in Colombia. The Colombian Federation has had administrative ups and downs and, for that year, was emerging again, with very few athletes. The event didn't have a significant impact on Orienteering's development because of the lack of experience and resources, so I think that, if the IOF really wants the Federations of emerging countries to consolidate, they must adapt their cooperation policies and strategies to the socio-economic and technological realities. And I say it because we are not the only ones with difficulties to make this sport sustainable in the region.

Could you tell us how difficult, or easy, it can be to combine your passion for Orienteering with living in Colombia?

J. O. - No one can expect it to be easy. There are lots of things to do, but there's also a great opportunity of work here. That's why I decided to come to Europe with the aim of preparing myself personally and professionally in Orienteering, and I shall carry all my knowledge to my country.

How can you help Colombia return to Orienteering's map?

J. O. - The scene is somewhat complex to analyze because we have two situations to deal with: a reality of sports development and another purely administrative. In the sporting context, we find that the country's international sporting goals are still unclear, and although the IOF had extended its support in the previous years, I think that an additional support plan towards the WOC is necessary, because the participation in such an event represents a huge sport and administrative effort for small federations, which threatens the continuity of their participation (as it's clear now). On the other hand, the internal situation of the Colombian Federation, with an administration weakened and far from the international framework, requires the dialogue to be resumed. In my opinion, the initiative has to start from the IOF, getting our leaders to react to the call of the International community. Although there are athletes and people in Colombia who are interested in developing the sport, it has not been possible to articulate with the National Federation; and if we add the recent suspension of the IOF, the will will increasingly be less, making it a lot more difficult to return to the international scene.

Would you like to share your goals for 2017 with us?

J. O. - I have planned to prepare this season in Europe, aiming to participate in one World Cup, at least, and if possible, although the panorama has changed, go to the WOC in Estonia.

Is there anything you'd like to add?

J. O. - Developing this sport, in any country, has special conditions that makes the whole process more complex and, therefore, requires a more solid assistance and monitoring model from the IOF than the current one.

Joaquim Margarido

Dušan Furucz: "We need to simplify the rules"

Dušan Furucz isn’t "just" the World Champion of TrailO Relay. He is also the Director of the European Trail Orienteering Championships ETOC 2018 and one of the IOF Trail Orienteering Commissioners. Versatile, pushy and highly committed to TrailO, inside and outside his home country, Slovakia, he is the guest of the Portuguese Orienteering Blog for another great interview.

Some time ago, I had the chance to interview, separately, your brothers Ján and Peter. It's now your turn to be on the Portuguese Orienteering Blog's tribune and the first question is about Orienteering as a family sport. How important were your brothers (and, maybe, your parents too) in choosing your career?

Dušan Furucz (D. F.) - I think family is always very important in everybody's career. My father was a very good 800 metres runner but ended his career soon after he moved to the adult category. When I started orienteering, at the age of 10 and was coached by Pavol Mesiar, my father supported me enthusiastically. My brother Jan and my sister Ivona followed me shortly and, soon after, my father had taken over our training group, focusing on the Athletics' training method, balanced with a large amount of training with map. I can't forget about my mother, as well. Can you imagine a group of 20-30 children in our small flat before and after trainings? (laughs) My youngest brother Peter joined us about 10 years later. He was considerably younger. I can confirm that my best results were reached when my family directly supported me on the competitions.

Would you like to remember one or two decisive moments that made you adopt TrailO as your favourite sport?

D. F. - I wouldn't say that TrailO is my favourite sport. I'm still feeling more comfortable as a Foot orienteer (I like longer distances, as Long and Rogaining), but the reason for choosing TrailO is my family, of course. My brother Jan is very committed to developing TrailO in Slovakia and “blood is thicker than water”, so I'm helping him. After my first TrailO competition, in the Czech Republic, I was a little confused because it was too strange for me, but my opinion changed with the TempO. Now, I feel like balancing on the edge of TrailO. Nordic style competitions move me up and TrailO ones move me down. I have to say that we are very competitive, me and my brother, and we can't accept to be worse in any discipline. This is the main reason to improve my results in TrailO.

When you first appeared competing at the highest level – WTOC 2014, Italy -, the results achieved were totally surprising for many. We now know that your performances weren't a fluke and the world title in the TrailO Relay, achieved last year, is here to confirm it. Where is the secret of your success?

D. F. - I've always been a better mapper than runner and I'm able to read the terrain very quickly. I created a lot of maps for my club Farmaceut Bratislava and TrailO is a kind of competition for map makers or orienteering university for mapping techniques. As for success? I don't think that I'm a successful competitor. There have been some great results that may have caught me off guard (usually a podium on the first days or when my chances of achieving a good final result are gone), but all the time I had the possibility of getting a medal, I failed. I need to improve on my skills, specially those regarding focus. We get medals on the relay competitions because both Marian [Mikluš] and I are team players and we usually serve responsibly and perform greatly for the team in any orienteering discipline.

What are the most important skills for being a good trail orienteer?

D. F. - Good map reading and visualization are the two most important skills. But there are two other skills which provide a significant difference between average and excellent results. The first one is to stay calm when it counts and the second one is to understand what the course setter means on two or three control points which make the difference. This is the reason why my brother is better than me in the big competitions.

Please, complete the sentence: To be a Trail orienteer in Slovakia means...

D. F. - To be a Trail orienteer in Slovakia means to be a scout or pioneer. We are discovering this sport. Orienteering is a small sport in Slovakia but I think people know it historically, even from the time of Czechoslovakia. For example, the name Jozef Polák is still well-known and I could keep going with some other names. The TrailO is new and totally unknown for the Slovak public. We are presenting it as an integration orienteering discipline and we have to explain what TrailO is, but the awareness is improving. The main difficulty is the number of organizers. We need to improve it.

You're in charge of organizing the European Trail Orienteering Championships next year. How is the event's preparation going? Is everything under control?

D. F. - I hope that we are in time with the preparation's schedule. We would like to end all mapping work before summer. I finished the maps for the Relay and PreO day 1 and I'm working on spare terrains now. I'm expecting that the most courses will be done and checked by advisor Ari Tertsunen this month. My brother is preparing maps for TempO and we asked our well-known Slovak mapper Robert Miček to help us with the map for PreO day 2, to save time for other activities. I have to say that I'm also struggling a little with bureaucratic activities as Event Director because it's a totally new experience for me.

What kind of event can we expect?

D. F. - You can expect different terrains for each discipline, from flat in TempO to high steep slopes in PreO day2. We would like to prepare a fair competition with clear Zero tolerance and we want to be closer to Foot orienteering competitors. You cannot expect tricky tight Zero answers from us and controls with “between” description. I'm expecting that distance between the Zero answer and the closest flag will be more than 5m. You can find more information on our pages at www.etoc2018.sk.

Other particular task is the IOF TrailO Commission. How did you realize your nomination?

D. F. - I didn't expect to be nominated and it was a complete surprise. There are a lot more experienced IOF TrailO members, but I accept the position seeing a tendency for fresh air on it and acknowledgment of our effort to improve TrailO. I asked IOF for time to think about it but I finally agreed. It's a big privilege for me to help the TrailO community. To be honest, on this first year, I have to spare my time for another responsibilities, too. By the way, I would like to congratulate you on your nomination to the TrailO commission, too.

Thank you so much. Is Trail Orienteering moving in the right direction? Are there some priority subjects on which we have to work in order to have better and fair TrailO competitions?

D. F. - It's difficult to discuss the TrailO movement because I've only been doing it for a very short time. But my personal opinion is that we must make our sport more clear and transparent. It is not acceptable that other people see TrailO as a very complex and subjective sport and one day the answer is correct and the other day the same or similar answer is wrong. In brief, we need to simplify the rules, not create problems to the problems and finally, somehow, define the Zero tolerance.

Your brother Peter is developing an amazing game called Virtual-O. Did you ever think of it adapted to TrailO as an instrument for training?

D. F. - Yes, we discuss it very often during our training and consultations. I believe that TrailO courses will be part of VirtualO and we would like to use some live presentations on his program in our European Championships, too. To be honest, he needs more time for implementing all the features and new maps. Do you know that he spent his last year programming and left his job for this period? He returned to work in January and now he continues programming during his free time in the evening.

The season has already started and you were one of the attendants to Lipica TrailO 2017, for the Unofficial European Cup in Trail Orienteering's first round. Are you happy with your results?

D. F. - Yes and no. I don't like urban TempO and I knew that it would be totally different from last year's TempO in the forest, which I won. I tried to change my technique, reading all of the descriptions and finding safe answers but, in reality, I lost 60-90 seconds by reading, plus I made some stupid mistakes finding some “creative” solutions. I have to return to my old, quick style. The PreO competition was very tight and I lost my focus on two controls. It was too much for a good result.

The World Trail Orienteering Championships 2017 will take place in Lithuania. Are you looking forward to them?

D. F. - I hope to see a lot of contour lines reading during PreO and especially in the TrailO Relay. I am not so excited with the TempO, which will probably be urban again. I am expecting difficult courses where you won't see winners without mistakes.

How hard will it be to defend your TrailO Relay World title? Do you have any other goals?

D. F. - I think that big countries, such as Sweden, Norway and Finland will be fighting, as always, for the medals and we cannot forget the strong Portuguese and Italian teams. Croatia and the Czech Republic can be nice surprises, too. Yes, it will be very difficult but we will try to keep the World title. I will also try a surprise in the other disciplines.

Would you like to share your biggest wish with us?

D. F. - I have two wishes. The first one is more real forest TempO competitions than urban competitions. The second one and my biggest wish is to win over my brother in TempO on a big competition. I know and believe that I can do it.

Is there anything that you would like to add?

D. F. - I would like to wish all orienteers in each orienteering discipline fun and fair competitions in difficult terrains.

Joaquim Margarido

Damir Gobec: "WTOC must be our show room"

Damir Gobec is, surely, one of the most committed persons with Orienteering worldwide. His work at the helm of the World Trail Orienteering Championships WTOC 2015, in Croatia, remains a benchmark in terms of the highest standards of technical and logistical requirements. Already in February, this year, he was at the epicenter of another great event, this time in Egypt. The Portuguese Orienteering Blog is proud to have him on its tribune, recalling intense moments and talking passionately about the future of our sport.

Time goes by quickly and the WTOC 2015, which saw you as Event Director, in our minds, seems to have been so recently. What memories do you keep from those days in Zagreb and Karlovac?

Damir Gobec (D. G.) - WTOC 2015 is something that I’ll never forget. It was a life experience from which I learned a lot about myself, my friends, politics, marketing, transport, catering and a lot of other things, not necessarily related to sport. I also learned how we (WTOC team) work under pressure. We learned that it’s impossible to predict everything that can happen in a big organization like that. Many of us spent a few years working on this project and it still remains quite alive in our hearts. One of the big things (except for the technical part of Event) we did was a huge picture gallery with few thousands of photos and I often go there, remembering some particular moments. It's interesting, the way you see the whole organization afterwards and you’re able to enjoy every moment of it, saying that this is something we are proud of and we did it right. Even the well-known "mud day", from this perspective, looks like a special moment which made our work even more interesting and challenging.

I remember a lot of nice little moments behind the scenes, which kept us going from day to day and night to night. The whole organization team is still full of memories which will probably never fade away and we will talk about them for many years to come. I think that most of the competitors don’t even think about the amount of work which has been done. For example, we spent more than 30 days just preparing paths for the first PreO day and then we had a "millennium rain" which ruined all that work. You cannot predict something like this.

Looking back on it with almost two years of distance, how do you assess the event in a global way and how satisfied are you with the final result?

D. G. - I think the whole team can be proud of the work which has been done. We know that we made a good job, the best possible at that time, as we had to have on our minds that we stepped in much later than other countries which were organizing WTOC. We learned our weak points and we know that some things could be done better. We are also extremely proud of our report which came out more like a book or Guideline for future organizers and I hope that it helps future organizers to learn even more from our experiences and mistakes (http://www.vihor.hr/assets/iof_report_part_one.pdf).

In my opinion future organizers should make the effort to be better than WTOC 2015, so we can all enjoy good events and we should look forward to the Championships which make you proud to be part of it. We should treat our Championships with honour because, if we don’t do it, nobody else will. Something below the standards which were set would not be good. We have to show the World that we are part of sport community with developed competitions. WTOC must be our show room.

How was the break or resting period after the event? Did you think about giving up Orienteering?

D. G. - I can’t say that I had a proper rest, as we continued our work in orienteering. We are still working a lot with kids within the club, we are working on new maps, new events. World Orienteering Day is also one of the projects we accepted and we are developing it in Zagreb.

Forgetting about orienteering was something that was done in some days after WTOC, as you can feel really tired after spending few years preparing something really intense and, as Ivana and I were together in that work, it is normal that we had tough times when we also had to deal with our ordinary and professional obligations, not connected with orienteering. Our escape was spending two weeks cruising around the Greek islands and spending some time in Turkey on the coast, far away from everybody and then we restarted all over again, thinking about new projects.

One of the projects you took up this year was the Supervision of the Egypt International Orienteering Championships and the organization of a TrailO stage as part of the event. Would you like to tell me about your experience in Sharm El Sheikh?

D. G. - The supervision of Egyptian International Orienteering Championships was more like organizing the event. First, I was just supposed to help out with the project, but, finally, seven of my club members, from OC "Vihor", ended up contributing to a big, successful orienteering event. We spent ten days in Egypt and made a three-day TrailO seminar for all interested competitors, one PreO competition and three Foot-O competitions (one WRE Event) and we also spent a lot of time adjusting the maps for FootO and specially for PreO.

Sharm El Sheikh turned out to be a big crossroad for Egyptian orienteering and, especially, for the TrailO team. Working in different environments and with people of different cultures is always challenging and we learned how time can be completely irrelevant. We found out that the Egyptian TrailO team can be very good. They are strong-willed, have some basic map reading experience and now they have some knowledge. After gaining some international experience, I believe they will be competitive even on international level. You know that Croatia came out of nowhere at WTOC in Czech Republic and there we picked up our first IOF medal so I hope that this Croatian-Egyptian work will give us some new very good results.

What does it mean to talk about Orienteering in Egypt?

D. G. - Orienteering in Egypt is taking big steps. Maybe even, steps that are too big, as they cannot follow the needs of organizing International Events and they want to make big events every year. At this moment, Egyptian orienteering is developing within universities, Military and foreign schools. There are lots of people keen on developing orienteering, but they don’t have experience and knowledge on how to do that, and nobody from the Federation can also help them as they are all new to our sport. The only solution is to get help from more developed countries. Tamer Mehana, President of the Egyptian Orienteering Federation, is trying his best and we can see progress and we can see that Egypt is already an orienteering country with national teams and International events but still lacking knowledge and experience.

IOF support, implementation and development of Orienteering in new countries should be better and more efficient . IOF should not focus just on World Championships and "big countries" which are taking medals on those events. There would be no World Championships if "smaller nations" didn't participate in such events and if they didn't get support to develop. Of course money is always a big issue and sending one or more instructors from IOF to the developing countries, with paid flights and everything, could be a good solution to it. Developing countries need everything, from basic equipment to well educated people. Sending some old orienteering flags, compasses, old organizing equipment, etc. would help out a lot.

What other projects do you have to deal with this year and in the upcoming ones?

D. G. - This year we already did one big project which was challenging, as it was in another Continent. At the moment we (I’m always saying “we”, as my wife Ivana is also working on all of these projects and, of course, without the support of club members most of those projects wouldn’t succeed) are preparing several Foot orienteering and PreO events. The main focus at the end of the month will be on our orienteering school, which we do annually and where we try to get as many people as we can to our sport.

Afterwards we will have WOD in few school locations in Zagreb. Last year we did it in three locations with over 600 participants and this year we hope to add a few more. Of course, in the meantime, we will participate on many orienteering competitions. During summer we hope to be able to send a small team to Lithuania, to help the WTOC organizing team. Developing our sport in the region is also one of the things which are on our list of priorities, so my work in the South East European Association is part of that. This year, the SEEOC and the South East European Masters Championships will be held in Montenegro and I hope that it also is a major success for their federation and for the development of orienteering within their country.

Working as an associate lecturer at the University of Kinesiology in Zagreb, where I have the chance to teach orienteering to future PE teachers, is also one of the important steps towards better understanding orienteering and involvement with orienteering within school curriculum in Croatia.

Have you already started working with the Portuguese Orienteering Federation on the WTOC 2019' Supervision?

D. G. - Just a few days ago, I had a first contact with organizers of WTOC 2019. There were some issues with venues and dates and they are still working on it, but I hope this will be settled very soon, so we can start working properly. Two years and few months until the Event seems like a lot of time to prepare the WTOC but it is actually a very short time and we can say that we are a little behind schedule. I hope the first visit of SEA will be soon and we will then approve all the proposed terrains and accommodation facilities, so we can publish Bulletin 1 two years before the event and just before WTOC 2017.

The next visit, the Assistant Event Adviser (hopefully Ivana) will join me and we will check all the courses and maps and this should be exactly one year before the Event. So, in 2018, the organizers should be done with most of the technical stuff. Some final technical adjustments, additional advertising, promotion of Event and all other issues will be taken care of in the last year of preparations. I know how much help my team had from our Advisers Vibeke Vogelius and Lauri Kontkanen so I hope I can be useful to the organizing team, even on the days when we will push them to work better, harder, more accurately, more precisely and more in advance.

How do you assess the TrailO in Croatia currently?

D. G. - Unfortunately, TrailO in Croatia didn’t develop much after WTOC 2015 as I hoped for. The Croatian team is still very competitive and good but we are missing a major step towards the development of this discipline within the clubs. In my opinion there are too many discussions about how to participate in ETOC, WTOC or some major Event, rather than how to develop the sport and how to attract more people and foot orienteers to try this discipline. Only a few are willing to spend some extra time teaching others or organizing training and events in the country. We are still the only club working hard to get more people to try our sport and specially to TrailO. It’s somehow easier for others to sit in the car and to go to the Event which is organized by somebody else in the country nearby.

Would you like to add something else?

D. G. - Orienteering is a great sport and we all are like one big family. Wherever you go, if you find a local orienteering club, you’ll get a warm welcome and the help you need. This is really great. Most of those people are local enthusiasts which are spending most of their free time setting courses, putting controls in the forest, printing, drawing maps, giving lectures and doing a lot of different things for orienteering and for others.

In my opinion, we are still missing support to all those people within the local community and within national Federations and worldwide. If just every national elite runner after his carreer gives back some small part of the experience and knowledge he gained on the work of those enthusiasts, we would all have more help and energy to move on developing our sport.

Joaquim Margarido

Tim Robertson: "I have a big focus on my physical shape"

Preparing the big competitions of the Summer, Tim Robertson took a little break to answer some questions for the Portuguese Orienteering Blog. It's another great interview, in which the New Zealander athlete looks back on his elite athlete career and lists some of the goals for this season.

Let me start by asking you about the last season, the first one in the Elite. How big the gap can be between the Junior category and the Elite?

Tim Robertson (T. R.) – This, of course, depends on many things. The step up in every country is different and the step up for sprint, middle and long are also different. In New Zealand I began running elite in local competitions at age 12 and by age 14 was starting to reach the podium at the New Zealand Champs, something that wouldn’t happen in a nation such as Switzerland or Norway.

When racing internationally, the step up is a lot greater. But I feel the step up from junior to senior in the sprint distance is very achievable. I was lucky to be exposed to this step up very early on at age 16 when I ran my first World Champs in Lausanne, Switzerland. I qualified for the final and finished in 33rd position. Since 2012 I have competed every year at the World Champs in the sprint distance and also from 2013 the middle and relay events; and I believe the experience I gained from these races helped me to get to the level I am today.

How happy are you with your achievements in 2016?

T. R. - I was very happy with my achievements in 2016. Originally it was going to be a ‘building year’ for me, just taking results as they came and trying to keep the motivation high, even if the results weren’t. But after finishing 5th place at the first World Cup, in Poland, I realised I already had the potential to perform well in the Elite class. Next on the 2016 calendar was the European Champs. In my opinion EOC is the pinnacle of orienteering with top countries sending up to 8 runners. I was very pleased with my preparation and my result of 7th equal, narrowly missing out on the podium by 1 second.

After this competition I had a goal of a top 10 performance at the World Champs. A goal I was close to achieving but lost in the final few controls, finishing 13th place. A little disappointed, this fuelled my training for the final World Cup in Switzerland. I had an almost perfect race here, only lacking the endurance/stamina in the final few minutes. I finished 4th place, 3 seconds off the bronze medal.

Is there one in particular that you keep in your memories?

T. R. - The most memorable was probably the first World Cup in Poland. I wasn’t sure exactly how my shape was. I had a good qualification and finished second behind Daniel Hubmann. This meant starting the final as the 4th to last competitor, a position I had never found myself in before. The race itself suited me perfectly. It was flip map race in a very small technical area, a style I have raced often in New Zealand. I knew I was having a great race but the noise in the arena was so loud that I couldn’t hear, during the run through, which placing I was in. After finishing I only had to wait three more minutes to know my official placing of 5th, it was a very unbelievable moment and something that drives my training so I can experience more of these feelings again!

2017 is a new story and it seems that you're starting to write it in the best way, after some great results in Italy and now in Denmark. Would you like to tell me about your winter season?

T. R. - Not everything went to plan for me over winter. After returning from China in October I took a month off training to refresh my body and mind for the 2017 season. Unfortunately when I was ready to begin my winter training I got sick for a few weeks. During this time I also moved from Oslo, Norway to Vienna, Austria. So there were many new changes!

It was also my first whole winter in Europe, the first month I was very excited and motivated. I wasn’t worried about the snow or the cold temperatures; it was all a new experience. But the next month and a half were very difficult. I had no motivation for my training; I wasn’t use to training in cold temperatures and struggled to find my rhythm. In February I travelled to Northern Ireland for a weekend of sprint orienteering and this was a ‘turning point’ for me. I raced a 5km there and was very disappointed with my time. I was also lacking speed in the orienteering and when I returned back to Austria I had full motivation back and started to prepare for the next trip to Italy.

How far from the best shape are you?

T. R. - It is still very early in the season and although I am happy with my shape now. I feel like I have a lot I can improve on over the next few months before WOC. I have a big focus on my physical shape this year. I have seen from my results in the World Cup races last year that I was always beginning strongly but fading in the final minutes. From the top 10 runners in the world ranking for sprint I am quite sure I have the slowest personal best times over 3000m and 5000m. This weekend I was racing another 5000m, this time on the track, so it’s a good comparison to the 5km road race in Armagh that I ran in February.

Is mental training part of your concerns?

T. R. - For some people, mental training is essential but for others not. I don’t do any specific mental training but I do like to prepare myself for competitions with the help of google maps or old maps and this I call my ‘mental training’. I know other teams are working a lot more with specific mental training however I have not looked into this much.

What are your main goals for the season?

T. R. - Next up on the calendar is 10Mila where I will race with my club Fossum. Hopefully we can improve on last year’s great result. We will also race Jukola later in the year. My 2017 plan is to race all of the World Cup rounds. The main focus will be on WOC in Estonia, but I will also be running the World Games a few weeks later. New Zealand has a very strong relay team here and I look forward to this competition. I hope to improve on my World Cup and World Championships results from last year, it would be great to finish in the top ten, but maybe a podium finish is also possible.

What kind of WOC are you expecting?

T. R. - I haven’t spent much time looking at the WOC terrains yet. I like to approach races one at a time so at the moment for me the focus is on 10Mila.

Where will the key for a successful WOC be?

T. R. - Being the best prepared I can be for the race. Getting my running speed faster and making sure I can still navigate well at that new pace.

You're a Sprint specialist and I'm sure that you are already living in the dilemma of a WOC forest vs a WOC urban. What are your thoughts on the subject?

T. R. - It’s an interesting subject, one I didn’t agree with but am following closely to see what the outcome will be and how it will affect me and my preparations. The first forest WOC is still a long way away so, for me, the focus over the next few years will be mostly sprint orientated with the goal of reaching the podium before it splits into Forest/Sprint Championships. I am still very interested in forest orienteering and love to run the Long Distance. When WOC splits I plan to start focusing on forest orienteering for a year and then continuing with sprint the following. The other option for me would be to train athletics/cross country/mountain running/mountain biking during the forest WOC year and then focus on sprint orienteering the following. It was great fun to be a part of the MOC training camp in Italy where we tested the new format for Sprint WOC. I enjoyed the concepts and am very interested to see how they are developed over the next few years!

To those who are stepping up to the Elite this season, would you like to leave a message?

T. R. - I think it’s good to acknowledge the step up but not to let it get too much into your head. Keep your motivation high and the results will come. If it is possible it’s also a great idea to train with the Elite runners. You get to see the level they are on and can gain a lot from their experience.

Personally I think it’s important to have things outside of orienteering to be doing so that it’s not just orienteering every day. For example when I was living in New Zealand I was often surfing between trainings, or now that I am living in Europe I am doing a lot of bike riding in my spare time, or skiing in the winter. It’s still exercise, but gives your mind a short break from orienteering which I feel is great for the motivation.

[Photo: Natalia Gemperle]

Joaquim Margarido

Nazário interviews Gueorgiou: "I couldn't have dreamed of a better ending"

Bruno Nazário's face to face with Thierry Gueorgiou resulted in a great Interview presented by O-Portugal.pt and now accessible on Youtube. It's nearly 37 minutes, divided in three parts, in which the French multi-champion revisits his career, talks about a last season in the Elite and projects the future as coach of the strong Swedish team.

Would you like to know why Thierry Gueorgiou took the decision of trying one last season at the highest level? The answer is in the first part of the Interview conducted by the Portuguese coach and organizer Bruno Nazário, in which the French shares some of his best memories of twenty years of the most challenging Orienteering. At the age of 18, he started competing at the World Orienteering Championships (Grimstad, Norway), so, one part of his words goes to those youngsters who are 18 years old now, based on his own experience in the early years, were he tried to learn from the best. There are also interesting thoughts on the “Stephanoise method” and Thierry's exceptional map reading skills.

The second part starts with Thierry's theory "100 metres into the future". Looking forward orienteering naturally, “like breathing”, Thierry remembers that “quality was always the key word”. Then, time to talk about Portugal, a true “love story”, and to share the memories of more than a decade, to state that “Portugal is the best place in Europe in the Winter time” and that “Portugal O' Meeting is probably one of the best organized competitions in the world”. This part's last minutes are dedicated to review the amazing 2007 season - “for sure the best year of my career in terms of results” - and also the WOC 2011, in France, a special WOC, “where the motivation was very easy to find”.

The last part of the Interview starts with an approach to Thierry's next (and last) WOC and a strong wish: “I really would like to do something great in the Middle Distance one last time”. Then, time to talk about another “love story” called Kalevan Rasti and the incredible memory of winning Jukola in 2004. Finally, time to look on the future as coach of the Swedish team, rated as “a dream came true”. Enjoy!

Joaquim Margarido

Bosse Sandström: "Fair play is very important in our sport"

It's been over seven months, but for Bosse Sandström it looks like it was still yesterday. Main figure of the 2016 World Trail Orienteering Championships, he was the course setter of four great days of the best and most challenging Orienteering. This is part of the memories he shares today to the Portuguese Orienteering Blog. But there's more!

I would start by asking you to introduce yourself. Who is Bosse Sandström?

Bosse Sandtröm (B. S.) - I'm 56 years old, born, raised and live near Lysekil, on the west coast of Sweden. I work in a metallurgic factory and as a firefighter. I'm divorced and I have four sons. My hobbies are orienteering, photography and travelling, and to be able to combine all of my hobbies at once is really nice.

You were the course setter of the last World Trail Orienteering Championships, held in Strömstad, Sweden. What came to mind when you first received the invitation to play such an important role? How hard was it to say yes?

B. S. - I didn't hesitate one second. I saw it as an honour to be able to play such an important role.

What was the most difficult part of the course planner's job?

B. S. - I was the sole course planner and, to be honest, it was a little bit too much responsibility and it felt like a great pressure on my shoulders. But I had good help from my staff, especially Knut Ovesen, who volunteered as my mentor.

If you had the chance to go back, would you do anything differently?

B. S. - I probably wouldn't have been course planner for all competitions, because the last year before WTOC I felt as though I had three jobs. Every free weekend was dedicated to planning and I also took some days off work to be able to do a good job with the courses. On the other hand, I must admit I'm a little bit of a control freak, so I would probably have nosed in their work anyway… (laughs). Seriously, I am very happy with my work, and to be able to present the venues, Saltö and Tolvmanstegen, was very satisfying. And with the TempO competition, I deliberately made the controls easier than previous WTOCs, to speed up the answering time, making competitors make mistakes when I made some controls a little bit trickier. As I understand, the competitors appreciated that.

Could you mention one or two of the strongest moments of the Championships from the course planner´s point of view?

B. S. - Some words from Jana Kostova moved me. She said, after the competition at Saltö, “On this course I did not feel I had any disadvantage, sitting in a wheelchair”.

Is there any organizational issue in a TrailO competition which always runs on the edge of a knife, that's quite easy to escape your control?

B. S. - It's very important to bring a chair when you plan controls, to get the view of wheelchair users, and avoid any disadvantages for them. Fair play is very important in our sport. It's better to void a nice control if it's not solvable for wheelchair users.

You've been part of the strong start field in Lipica, a few days ago, for the Unofficial European Cup in Trail Orienteering 2017's kick off. How “free” did you feel there, without WTOC's concerns?

B. S. - As soon as WTOC was over, I put it behind me, so I could enjoy every competition after that very much. And since the trip to Lipica was a small vacation for me, I appreciated the Vilenica cave and I also took a trip to Venice.

Are you happy with your performance at Lipica TrailO? Did you like the courses and the maps?

B. S. - Both yes and no. I know I'm a little bit slow in TempO and, as I didn't compete so much in 2016 (for obvious reasons), I was a little bit rusty. But only three wrong answers and placing 25th was a little surprise. But four wrong answers on the PreO competition on Sunday was at least two too many. The maps and courses were of good quality, but courses were tricky, in a good way.

How beautiful can Trail Orienteering be?

B. S. - TrailO is a relatively small sport, and, if you compete a lot, you get a lot of friends from different countries, which is very nice. And to be able to solve a tricky course and not fall into the course planner's pitfalls is a very good feeling. Too bad this does not happen too often for me.

Is Trail Orienteering going in the right direction? If you had the power, would you change anything?

B. S. - Yes, I think so. The maps are getting better, and we had, at least in Sweden, in recent years many education possibilities for course planners, so there will also be better courses. And the new Relay format is a good continuation for TrailO.

Would you like to share your goals for the season?

B. S. - As I'll compete more in 2017 than I did in 2016, I hope to climb up the Swedish rankings. I also plan to compete in all ECTO competitions this year. I am also planning for our district's Championships in June, using one of the WTOC venues. And since I'm allowed to be coach again for the Swedish national team - despite the fact that Swedes didn't take any medals in Croatia, where I was coach, and last year when I wasn't able to be coach, Sweden took six gold, three silver and two bronze, in ETOC and WTOC -, I will try to lead my team to more medals.

Do you have any tips or advice to the WTOC 2017 Lithuanian organizers?

B. S. - I'm sure that they have everything under control by now, only four months before competition, but one thing I experienced was how good it is to have fine relationships with landowners. The attendant of reservation on Saltö was very helpful both before and during competition.

If, hypothetically, your Federation invited you to be the course planner of the next Swedish European or World Trail Orienteering Championships, would you accept?

B. S. - No, and for two reasons. It was a little bit too much work, and since my district federation is small, I feel we can’t summon marshals once again for such a big competition.

Joaquim Margarido

Lou Denaix: "This sport is about friendship"

Lou Denaix is one of the most promising athletes of the current MTBO panorama. On the edge of a new season of competition, she takes a little break in her training to introduce herself to the Portuguese Orienteering Blog's readers.

The first question is always the easiest. Would you like to introduce yourself?

Lou Denaix (L. D.) - Hi, my name is Lou Denaix, I’m 22 years old and I was born in Chamonix, Mont Blanc. I live in Grenoble currently, where I'm studying Physics. I’m in the third year and next year I plan to do a masters degree in Fundamental Physics, maybe in the area of particle physics or nanophysics, trying to become a researcher in 5 or 6 years. I don’t really have free time to do others things than MTBO and studying, but when I find a little time, I love to play the piano and the guitar, draw or write some fantasy stories, and I also love practising every outdoors sports, like skiing, walking, alpinism, climbing, trail…

How were you introduced to Orienteering?

L. D. - I was born in a really sporty family and my father introduced me to the Orienteering world when I was taking my first steps. I can’t really remember, it has always been a part of my life.

What do you see in this sport that makes it so special?

L. D. - There is an infinity of reasons which make this sport special, the three most important being, firstly, the fact that every event, every competition is different, there are new maps, new arenas, a totally new layout… You never do the same thing twice, you never get bored. Secondly, you're the master of your race all the time, you choose your route as you wish, you handle your effort, you control everything, there is no one to tell you what to do, how to ride… Finally, this sport is about friendship. I just feel so lucky because MTBO is a big family, not just in France, but also in international competitions, I met some people without whom I can’t imagine my life now.

Why such a passion for MTB Orienteering?

L. D. - I don’t really know, Step by step, MTBO has become my sport for life. I always did a lot of different sports and, at the beginning, it was just one of many. When I was aged 12, I had a really bad knee injury because of Athletics and Handball, and I had to stop doing sports for an whole year. After this year, I wasn't allowed to do anything but biking and swimming, so I spent a lot of hours riding and I really discovered this sport. After a few months, I started doing foot orienteering again, and the next year I got a slot in the French Youth FootO Team. At the same time, I also had my first adventure with the French MTBO Team and I discovered the “high level side” of orienteering. I joined the orienteering Elite Academy (“Pôle Espoir”) of Fontainebleau in my first year of high school, and I had to choose between FootO and MTBO. I don’t know where it came from, but my answer was naturally MTBO. At that moment, I chose this sport to become the one for life.

You started competing at the highest level in 2012 in the Junior World MTB Orienteering, in Veszprém, Hungary, achieving an impressive gold medal in the Sprint. How important was it in your career?

L. D. - Those Championships were really important for me. I didn’t expect the gold medal at all, it was my first race of my first Junior World Championships and I was a rookie, but I will remember the joy I felt that day all my life. My sister and my father were at the finish, and we all cried. It was really motivating during my Junior years to remember those World Championships, which helped me to endure the hard trainings, like interval trainings, surpassing myself and making projects for the future.

Would you like to tell me about other important moments so far?

L. D. - There were two Championships in 2015 which particularly make me smile when I think about them, the first one being, of course, the Junior World Championships, in the Czech Republic. That whole week was really incredible and there were the most beautiful arenas in which I had ever competed, especially the Long Distance and Relay arena. I had an incredible week there, socially and sportively.

Individually, I didn’t succeed to win a race, I was very stressed and wasn’t able to handle all of it, but I was quite happy with my races, anyway. But the memory I want to tell you is the Relay. My partners Lou Garcin and Constance Devillers were really young and even if we wanted to do our best, we never expected what happened. It was a really intense race, I took the start like I always do, and then Constance achieved an amazing performance as she knows how to (this girl never ceases to impress me, by the way). And then, Lou did the last leg because she is clearly the best finisher out of all of us. It seemed like a really long wait for her, but she also did her race in the best possible way. And the result was there, we won. When you hear the French anthem in the podium with your team, there are no words to describe it, it’s perfect. I still smile every time I think about it.

The second event I want to tell you about is the European Championships, in Portugal, that same year. This event was awesome, the organization and the map were perfect. I really loved this week because it was, for the time, the best achievement in an international competition for me. During this week, every training I did during the years before, physically, technically and mentally, were perfectly in place and I felt really great. The moment I prefer is the Long Distance. I was leading the race and I just had to wait for Veronika Kubinova (not the least of the competitors!) to know if I could win or not. And I had this really cool picture when she arrived, she showed me her time and then I knew that I had won, and she clapped my hand. It was a great moment. I also love these Championships because all the French team had great results and there was a crazy atmosphere between us.

Last season, you joined the Elite class. How big can the gap between the Junior and the Elite be?

L. D. - The gap is huge. When you arrived to the Elite, you meet people with such experience that it’s difficult to make your marks. Also the stress is really different, and the races are longer and more complicated. But I'm, really, not telling you something new (laughs).

How do you assess the 2016 MTBO season?

L. D. - I would say it was a mixed-feeling season. I’m not completely satisfied about my performances in the international competitions and I had major difficulties handling my stress, but there were great moments. I achieved good results in the French competitions and took a lot of pleasure in the different events, especially in the World Cup, in Lithuania, and the MTBO camp, in Portugal, which were encouraging for the next seasons.

You started the new season in Sochi, but not doing MTBO. How was the CISM Military World Games' experience?

L. D. - I'm missing the words to describe it. I joined the Military Ski Orienteering Team this year to complete my MTBO winter training, with two other members of French MTBO team: Gaelle Barlet and Baptiste Fuchs. It was a really great opportunity for me and I think it made me progress in orienteering and in my head. It also allowed me to do training stages with the team during winter and not just training alone, which is truly a plus compared to the previous years.

The World Games were just amazing. The start, finish and spectators control of each race were on the biathlon shooting range of last Winter Olympic Games and it was like a dream to be there, sharing those moments with my usual MTBO partners, and also with all the French SkiO Team. It was a wonderful event in a wonderful place, with a wonderful team, and all the Russian people were really friendly. What else can I say?

How similar are MTBO and SkiO? What's the most interesting part of each?

L. D. - The biggest similarity between them it’s the way you read the map and make your choices. You have different kinds of tracks, possibilities to shortening legs, but the mental approach is the same. The most interesting part in SkiO is when you're skiing off the tracks or on scooter tracks, the ski technique is really different than cross country skiing and you develop your own way to ski. It’s really fun and it’s also the moment when reading map become challenging and you have to anticipate and memorize a lot. In MTBO, I guess, you find the same kind of difficulties in Sprint distance, when you have to be as fast as you can, both in your head and in your legs, but what I find really interesting are the big route choices in the Long Distance. I think you don’t really have that difficulty in SkiO or even in FootO in terms of choice. What is really great is that the best choice could be really different according to the rider, and you have to know yourself very well.

Is there an athlete that you see as an idol, a source of inspiration? What does he/she has that you don’t?

L. D. - The first source of inspiration was always my father. He gave me the fabulous gift which is sport in general, and I couldn’t be here without him. But since I do MTBO, I have to admit that I always admired Svetlana Poverina. During the years we were both Juniors, she won almost every race, with sometimes so much advance! I remember a race in Estonia where we were talking with other competitors and asked ourselves how was it possible to do the time she did. And when she reached the Elite, she immediately got to the top 10, she didn’t really had difficulties to go through the gap between junior and elite.

I’m also the first fan of Gaelle Barlet, I really admire the progress she made during the last few years, becoming one of the best athletes in this sport. She is in the top 6 in international competitions almost all the time; she has an impressive regularity and mental strength under pressure. She's been one of my role models ever since I began MTBO. I’m really impressed when I see how calm she is before the competitions.

The season is already running and one of its highest points will be the European MTBO Championships, in your home country. What do you expect from the event?

L. D. - I hope that the organization is at the same level as what we had for past years in other countries. I’m really happy that a big event is taking place here. Last year, I did my first World Cup in France and I really enjoyed it, so I hope to feel the same way. And I expect many podiums for the French team. It’s our country and many people will be there to support us so I want to do it well. And I want all riders to leave the Championships with great memories of it.

What are the next steps in your preparation before the big events, the European Championships and, of course, the World Championships?

L. D. - I started to do bike a little later than other years because of SkiO so, for now, I still do long and technical trainings, working my strength and speed. I don’t really plan to be at my best at the World Cup in Austria. Soon, I will start to do intensity trainings, threshold, split sessions and all the usual stuff to prepare for competitions. I will try to work more on my orienteering, doing all the competitions I can and trying to do a lot of simulations too. To prepare the European and World Championships, we will do a training camp in Lithuania, in May, and, during July, I will do the 5 days in Plzen and the competitions in Austria. These events will be amazing and I’m looking forward to be there.

Are we going to see you reaching the World podium this year? Will it be in the Sprint or in the Long Distance?

L. D. - I don’t know if it’s really possible but that’s the goal when you train hard every day, so I hope so. I think the best chances of a medal could be in the Relay, in EMTBOC and WMTBOC. Individually, if I can take something, I guess it’s in the Sprint distance, or Mass Start. I’m better when you have to think quickly and be fast without thinking to preserve myself.

Would you like to share your biggest wish?

L. D. - I will say become World Champion in elite, individually and with my team. I also made this deal with a friend, that we will win the World Cup together one year. It would be great.

Is there anything that you'd like to add?

L. D. - I think that I’ve already said enough for now. Thank you for this interview.

Joaquim Margarido