Trail Orienteering: The first steps in Brazil

Trail Orienteering has taken another important step towards its establishment in Brazil. Under the motto “Trail Orienteering is the sport where different are equal” the 1st MB/ADAAN TrailO Cup, which brought together a total of 75 competitors, has taken place in Rio de Janeiro. The event was organised by the Admiral Adalberto Nunes Sports Association (ADAAN) along with the Rio de Janeiro Orienteering Federation and took place at the Admiral Adalberto Nunes Physical Education Centre (CEFAN). The competition was open to all, regardless of age, gender or physical ability – so people with less mobility and lower physical strength could compete on equal terms with everyone else. Key leader of the initiative, Cmdt. Rubens Igreja, says that “the organisation of this event is part of a project aiming to develop Trail Orienteering within the Armed Forces and by extension to the civil environment, providing for the social integration of a specific population. Thus promoting the development of Trail Orienteering is a way of promoting social inclusion, health and leisure, according to the guidelines of the Ministry of Sports in Brazil. In a broader sense, it promotes actions of social integration, environmental awareness and healthy sport and leisure practices.”

The support of CEFAN, which offered its facilities and infrastructure, was crucial to enable the event to take place. Distributed by Paralympic and Open Classes, the competitor group proved to be quite mixed, with some experienced orienteers and also a significant participation of athletes who didn’t know the sport and were having their first contact with Orienteering in this competition. The competition was attended by representatives of the Niteroiense Association of Physically Handicapped (ANDEF), which organises activities in health, education, social welfare, community sports and training prominent Paralympic athletes at national and international level, and representatives of the Association of support for people with disabilities in the West Zone (ADEZO), where the work is aimed at the professional training and inclusion of people with disabilities in the labour market, and their social development.

With the ethos of equality to the fore, the competition was marked by a fraternal atmosphere. In the Paralympic Class the contest was particularly tight between Eloi Mandarino and Mara Davila Oliveira, finishing with a tie in the number of correct answers (8 out of 10 possible). Mara was the fastest on the timed controls, but the penalty for an incorrect answer turned Eloi into the big winner. As for the Open Class, there was an absolute tie for first place between Fabricio Zorzanelli and Geraldo Luciano dos Santos.

The competitors didn’t hold back in their kind words to the organisers and were excited about the next steps. The Paralympic athletes expressed their intention to move forward with the founding of a club having Trail orienteering in their flag. The participation of Physical Education teachers from Rio de Janeiro and Paraná was also very important with regard to the presentation of this discipline at schools, and meanwhile the news came that the Brazilian Orienteering Confederation intends to include a ‘taster course’ of Trail Orienteering during the Brazilian Championships.

Cmdt. Igreja’s last words show commitment and ambition: “Organising a competition of this nature is not simple, requiring planning and hard work before, during and after the event. Bearing in mind the experience of our team, we are satisfied with the final result. The Orienteering team MB/ADAAN is aware that it still needs to learn a lot, but is always ambitious. We organised the MB/ADAAN MTBO Cup that is already going for its 4th edition and now dared to organise the 1st MB/ADAAN Trail Orienteering Cup. And in the course of this year there will be even more!”

[Text: Joaquim Margarido. Photo: Ricardo Lorençato. See the original article on IOF Newsletter's last issue at http://orienteering.org/trail-orienteering-the-first-steps-in-brazil/. Published with permission from the International Orienteering Federation]

Two or three things I know about it...

1. By these days, Göreme is hosting the Cappadocia MTBO Cup, an event that attracts to that region of Turkey more than 100 athletes from 10 different nationalities. The competition started yesterday with the Mixed Sprint Relay, which follows, in a few hours, the Long Distance. In the second half of the event we'll have the Middle Distance and the Sprint, respectively next Saturday and Sunday. With the last two stages scoring for the IOF World Ranking, the event registers 61 athletes in the Elite classes, among which we can see renowned names such as the Austrian Kevin Haselsberger, Andreas Waldmann, Sonja Zinkl or Michaela Gigon and the Swiss Beat Schaffner , Beat Oklé, Maja Rothweiler or Christine Schaffner. This event is also included in the World Masters Series, with the Middle Distance and the Long Distance stages scoring for the respective ranking. More details at http://www.orienteering.org.tr/.

2. Are we on the road to the Winter Olympics? Yes, definitely! For the first time ever, Ski Orienteering will be included in the program of the Winter Universiade. As a pre-competition to the Universiade, the World Ski Orienteering Championships will be held in Krasnoyarsk March 5-13, 2017, the same where, two years later, will take place, the Winter Universiade 2019. Two weeks ago, the IOF Event Adviser team - Event Director Alexander Bliznevsky, Assistant Event Director Sergey Khudik, Assistant Event Adviser Markku Vauhkonen (FIN), Event Secretary Anna Khudik, Senior Event Adviser Sild Sixten (EST), TV-producer Karel Jonak (CZE) and National Controller Arkadiy Vedin – visited Krasnoyarsk and several working meetings were held with representatives from the Russian Orienteering Federation, the Winter Universiades Directorate, the WSOC 2017 Organizing Committee and TV-production team. As a result of the visit a WSOC 2017 TV production plan was elaborated, the final program of the WSOC 2017 was confirmed and Bulletin 2 prepared. Ski Orienteering aims for inclusion to the Winter Olympic Games and the Winter Universiade 2019 corresponds to a giant step towards such big goal. Ski Orienteering is already in the permanent program of the World Military Winter Games and is now joining the FISU Winter Universiade sports, two of the largest winter sports events in the world besides the Winter Olympics.

3. It is less than 50 days until World Orienteering Day, and there is a lot of activity going on around the world, with many schools and clubs in the process of planning their activities for World Orienteering Day. The brand new World Orienteering Day Website is now live and can be seen at http://worldorienteeringday.com/. It will be the central hub for the project, where participants can register their activities, upload maps, download promotional material and material for their events, and much more. The latest WOD Newsletter is just being published and it’s full of information and inspiration. Read it [HERE] to find out more about how to use the website and what materials are available, and to see what other people are getting up to on May 11th. In the meanwhile, the Portuguese Orienteering Federation has been encouraging the clubs in order to join the initiative, but only the Clube Orientação Viseu - Natura has made public its intention to organize an event on World Orientation Day so far. Along with the Centro de Deficientes de Santo Estevão, the COV - Natura will organize an Adapted Orienteering course, a discipline particularly directed to a population with mental intellectual disability.

4. After the major international events of January and February, Abrantes hosted the Orienteering's come back. Organized by the Clube de Orientação e Aventura, the Ribatejo Interior Trophy called to Abrantes, right in the center of the country, a set of 324 athletes for two Middle Distance courses, both scoring for the Portuguese Orienteering Cup Vitalis 2016, and also a Night Sprint course and a TempO event. In the Men Elite class, victories divided up by Tiago Romão (GafanhOri), Manuel Horta (GafanhOri) and Marco Póvoa (ADFA), the last one in the Sprint. As for the Women Elite class, triumphs for Mariana Moreira (CPOC), Carolina Delgado (GD4C) and, in the Sprint, Liliana Oliveira (GD4C). Overall, the victory would belong to Manuel Horta and Liliana Oliveira. As for the TempO event, the victory fell to Edgar Domingues (COC). Everything to check at http://www.orioasis.pt/oasis/homepages.php?action=ev&eventid=1511.

Joaquim Margarido

  

Davide Machado and WMTBOC 2016: “I will run searching for a dream!”

Six years ago, the Portuguese Davide Machado called attention to himself by taking 7th place in the WMTBOC 2010 Long Distance race, held in Montalegre, Portugal. This was the first major international competition of his career: an unforgettable experience and from which the athlete recalls “the unexpected results, the fantastic atmosphere within the Portuguese team and all aspects of the event.” In addition to the strong motivation towards building a successful racing career, his achievements eventually opened the doors to higher competition status, which meant inclusion in the Lisbon Training Centre to help his development as an athlete. But also “these results, and the conditions that I have been provided with, allowed the continuation and completion of my academic studies,” he says.

- When you look back, what are the differences that separate the Davide of 2010 from the Davide of 2016?

“The Davide of 2016 is a more “grown up” and fulfilled athlete, with stronger personal goals and other priorities. Oh … and more white hair!” (laughs)

- And what similarities persist?

“The same dreams, the same determination, the same convictions!”

In 2016 the WMTBOC is back in Portugal. Anticipating what will be the highlight of the season, many foreign athletes have trained and competed in Portugal during the early part of March, taking part in the two stages of the 2016 Bairrada O ‘Meeting MTBO event, both of which score for the IOF MTBO World Ranking. Somewhat surprisingly Davide Machado ended up being the big winner, in the presence of star names such as Luca Dallavalle, Jussi Laurila and Baptiste Fuchs. A victory in an event that he was about to skip, as he tells us: “The challenge was deciding to participate in this event, after two weeks marked by having to train and with a little inflammation in my knee.” Davide was eventually convinced, and saw his decision thoroughly justified. Looking back at the two stages of the BOM MTBO event, Davide says that “the biggest challenges were the map reading after a few months of absence, and the difficulty of progression in muddy terrain because of the heavy rain in the days beforehand.”

“It can be said that there is already great anticipation for the World Championships,” said Davide Machado, referring to the festive atmosphere that could already be felt in the Bairrada region, which will host the World Championships at the end of July. A region that Davide classifies as “having great potential for the practice of this discipline and that fulfils two fundamental requirements: terrain that is technically difficult and physically demanding.” Among the great attributes of the Bairrada region, Davide lists “the many good maps with large networks of paths, and the physical difficulty due to the unevenness.” And, of course, the good hospitality, gastronomy and beauty of the region, “all of these conditions for a championships of excellence,” in the athlete’s words.

Four months before the event, Davide Machado’s recent success is giving great joy to the Portuguese and, of course, to himself. “Six years after Montalegre, I am a more experienced athlete, more determined. I have dreams, of course, but I also have my feet firmly on the ground. I know my skills, but time has shown me enough to know that everything can change from one moment to another. However, I will be in the Championships as I ever am, sure that I will give my best and I will run searching for a dream!”

[Text and photo: Joaquim Margarido. See the original article on IOF Newsletter's last issue at http://orienteering.org/davide-machado-and-wmtboc-2016-i-will-run-searching-for-a-dream/. Published with permission from the International Orienteering Federation]

Spanish Orienteering Championships CEO 2016: Step by Step

The Spanish Orienteering Championships is approaching and Pontevedra is the city chosen to host the big event. More than 1.300 athletes entered for the event, fighting for the national titles in Sprint, Middle Distance, Long Distance, Relay and Trail orienteering.

Known for its natural potential and strong commitment to the sport, Pontevedra opens once again its doors to Orienteering, this time hosting the Spanish National Championships CEO 2016. Major Orienteering event, traditionally held in Easter holidays, this edition is organized by AROMON - Club Montañeiros de Pontevedra - A Roelo, attracting more than 1.300 athletes from Spain, Portugal, Finland, Sweden and Lithuania

After the Model Event scheduled for today, the official competition starts tomorrow morning with the Long Distance race on the Moscoso-Xunqueiras map and the Trail orienteering course, on Lake Castiñeiras, during the afternoon. On 26th March will take place the Relay with Mass Start at 9:30, on Acibal. and at 4:00 pm it will be time for the Sprint in the historic center of Pontevedra. The Middle Distance at Siradella, on Sunday 27th March from 9:15 am, will put an ending in the competition program.

CEO 2016 detailed program

24th March 2016 (day 0 - Thursday)

11:00 Event Center opens for runners reception and bib numbers delivery in the CASA CONSISTORIAL (Praza de España)

12:00 Model Event Starts – ‘Lagoa de Castiñeiras’ map

20:00 Model Event Finishes

22:00 Event Center closes

25th March 2016 (day 1 – Friday)

8:00 Competition Center Opens – ‘Moscoso-Xunqueiras’ map

9:00 Start time for first runners – Long Distance.

14:00 Finish line closes

14:00 Last changes on the Relays teams. The SportIdent team on the Competition Center will arrange these. Please note that it will not be possible to enroll new teams

14:00 Competition Center Opens – ‘Lagoa de Castiñeiras’ map

14:30 Awards ceremony for Long Distance in ‘Praza dos Concello’ of ‘Pazos de Borbén’

14:30 Start time for first runners – Trail- O

26th March 2016 (day 2 – Saturday)

8:00 Competition Center Opens – ‘Acibal’ map

9:00 Brief relay explanation

9:30 First relay runners mass start

12:00 Third relay and idle runners mass start

13:30 Finish line closes

15:00 Competition Center Opens – ‘Pontevedra city' map

15:45 Sprint quarantine closes

16:00 First Sprint runners start

18:30 Finish line closes

19:30 Awards ceremony for Relays, Sprint and Trail-O at the main theater (C/Paio Gómez Chariño, 6)

27th March (day 3 – Sunday)

8:30 Competition Center Opens – ‘Siradella’ map (O Grove)

9:15 Start time for first runners – Medium Distance

13:00 Finish line closes 13:30 Awards ceremony for Medium Distance, Autonomous Communities and PONTEaORIENTAR trophy at the Medium Distance Event Center (O Grove)

14:00 CEO 2016 closes

Note: All timings are in local time (GMT timezone).

Participants

The entries closed with the participants slightly exceeding the number of 3.000. Among the big names on this CEO 2016, there are all the Champions from last year, defending their titles in Pontevedra. We are talking about Andreu Blanés (Long Distance), Antonio Martinez Pérez (Middle Distance and Sprint), Anna Serralonga (Long Distance and Middle Distance) and Marina Garcia Castro (Sprint). Eduardo Gil Marcos, Pau Llorens Caellas, Marc Serralonga, Ona Rafols Perramón, Violeta Feliciano Sanjuan, Esther Gil i Brotóns, Alicia Cobo Caballero and Carmen Patiño Deniz are also athletes able of the best in this Championships. 

Portugal will be present with some important athletes in the Men and Women Elite class, as Carolina Delgado, João Mega Figueiredo, Tiago Romão or Tiago Gingão Leal. There will be present, also, athletes from Finland, Sweden and Lithuania.

Terrain and useful information

Long Distance

Map: Moscoso

Mapmaker: Tito García and Chema Mediavilla

Map scale: 1:15 000

Contour interval: 5m

IOF Adviser: José Samper

This is a map of mixed terrain, with great presence of typical Galician Atlantic forest: mixture of oaks, pines and eucalyptus. It also has open areas and a semi-urban area of a village. The creeping vegetation is present in various parts of the forest. Low areas have abundant water. Slope accused in most of the map.

Middle Distance

Map: Siradella (2015)

Mapmaker: Iván Mera

Map scale: 1:10 000

Contour interval: 5m

IOF Adviser: José Samper

Sandy pine field, which combines open or semi-open areas and very fast race with steep slopes and the presence of rocky elements. Fast but physically demanding race.

Sprint

Map: Pontevedra (2015)

Mapmaker: Manuel Varela Rivera

Map scale: 1:5 000

Contour interval: 5m

IOF Adviser: José Samper

Race through the historic town of Pontevedra, labyrinth gently sloping area. Many cobblestone streets with arcades, galleries, stairs, etc. Very fast race.

Relay

Map: Acibal (2015)

Mapmaker: Manuel Varela Rivera

Map scale: 1:10 000

Contour interval: 5m

IOF Adviser: José Samper

It is an area that combines open spaces with pine and eucalyptus slopes of different density, presence of swamps and small streams, localized areas of thick vegetation. Slightly hilly, predominantly flat. Quick Race, in general.

Trail orienteering

Map: Lago Castiñeiras

Mapmaker: Javier Arufe and Natalia Pedre

Course setter: Toño Hernández

Map scale: 1:5 000

Contour interval: 5m

Event Adviser: Joaquim Margarido

This is a map of mixed terrain, with great presence of typical Galician Atlantic forest: a mixture of oaks, pines and eucalyptus. In the central area there is a small lake surrounded by accessible roads, paths and local roads. It also has open areas or semirocky spurs. The creeping vegetation is present in various parts of the forest. The low areas have abundant water. Slope accused in most of the map.

Organization Team

Organizer: Club Montañeiros de Pontevedra-A Roelo (AROMON)

Event Director: Javier Alvelo Fraguela

Technical Director: Ángel Álvarez Serto

Promotion and institutional relations: Manuel Beloso García

Logistics manager: Antonio Domínguez Portas

For further information, please visit the Event's website, at http://aromon.es/eventos/ori/ceo-2016/

Joaquim Margarido

Ribatejo Interior Cup: Edgar Domingues wins TempO stage

Joining fast decision and sure in the answer, Edgar Domingues was the big winner of the Ribatejo Interior Cup's TempO stage, which took place in Abrantes. João Pedro Valente and Inês Domingues completed the podium.

Took place in Abrantes, on Saturday afternoon, the second stage of the Portuguese Trail Orienteering League Invacare 2016. Part of the Ribatejo Interior Cup and organized by the Clube de Orientação e Aventura, it was a TempO event planned by José Oliveira and having in Luís Gonçalves the National Controller. The event's organization could count on the support of volunteers from several clubs, facing the organizational tasks of a really demanding event.

Distributed for five timed stations with five challenges each, the event visited specific parts of the S. Lourenço Urban Park, a natural peaceful space within the city limits, with a total area of 14 hectares. To meet the most challenging situations, the problems has been diversify and also becoming more complex from station to station, as shown by the results achieved in the last stations compared with the initial part. To the intensity and demanding of a course of this nature replied Edgar Domingues (COC) with a performance of superior quality, managing to correctly answer 23 of the 25 challenges (interestingly, the two failures were seen in the first two stations) and making the time of 217 seconds overall. With this result, the athlete not only take the Portuguese League ranking's leadership as stamp his passport to the Czech Republic where, in late May, will take place the European Trail orienteering Championships ETOC 2016.

Winner of the opening stage of the Portuguese Trail Orienteering League Invacare 2016, João Pedro Valente (CPOC) was the second placed with a responding time pretty close from Edgar Domingues but with two more errors, which put him at a distance of 68.5 seconds to the winner in the final accounts. National Champion in TempO currently and 7th placed in this discipline in the last World Trail orienteering Championships, in Croatia, Inês Domingues (COC) had to settle with the third place, adding to 200,5 seconds in the five stations overall - even faster than Edgar (!) -, “large” two and a half minutes corresponding to five incorrect answers. The Portuguese Trail Orienteering League Invacare 2016 continues next Friday in Pontevedra, Spain, with its third stage during the Spanish Orienteering Championships.

Results

1. Edgar Domingues (COC) 277 seconds

2. João Pedro Valente (CPOC) 345,5 seconds

3. Inês Domingues (COC) 350,5 seconds

4. Héctor Lorenzo (El Imperdible) 459 seconds

5. Jorge Baltazar (GDU Azoia) 463 seconds

6. Cláudio Tereso (ATV) 484 seconds

7. Nuno Pires (Ori-Estarreja) 521 seconds

8. Ricardo Pinto (DAHP) 550,5 seconds

9. Carlos Monteiro (COC) 630,5 seconds

10. Ana Belen Pérez (El Imperdible) 631 seconds

Joaquim Margarido