About the site
The goal of this website is to provide news and information about the British Team and what they are doing. We will offer information about future internationals and report on domestic and international races. We will write about our own experiences, but we would like to hear what others have to say, too. We aim to publish as many comments and contributions as possible to give a balanced view and offer the best possible tips and insights. We are aspiring to the dizzy heights of sites like staff-valstad.com but we have a long way to go!

So please get in touch if you have any comments or want to share your thoughts.

Oli Johnson
I've been orienteering for over 10 years now and I'm just about getting to grips with it. I started through my school having come from a background of cross-country running. I got a lot of help along the way from the Sun Life sportschool, Bristol orienteering Club and the South West Junior Squad. Since making it into the junior squad at the age of 18 I've been working towards my goal of a WOC individual medal.

Obviously this is a tough target to aim for and there are always lots of ups and downs along the way. The picture above is a good example of a low - finishing the WOC long distance in 2001 (probably the toughest race of my life) to find out that I hadn't punched at a drinks control.

Some of the highlights so far have been my first World Cup experience in Japan and Australia (my results weren't up to much, but I learnt a lot!), getting bronze in the World Student Champs in 2002 and finishing 22nd in the WOC middle distance 2003 and 2004. My best experiences so far have been spending most of my life over the last few years with a great team.

My main goals at the moment are for WOC 2006, where I am aiming for medals. Sweden 2004 and Japan 2005 were important steps on the way towards this. I intend to take a step up this year in my international results so I will commit time and money to training in Denmark and other similar terrain.

I run for South Yorkshire Orienteers and ShUOC in GB who should both be in the top 3 in all the domestic relays. This year, once again I have chosen to represent my student club: ShUOC with JK and BUSA Gold to our name so far. I have switched Scandinavian clubs to join Vasteras SOK who have made me feel very welcome and after an unlucky team performance at Tio Mila we hope to hit the top-20 in Jukola.

Jenny Whitehead
I started orienteering with my family and ran my first event on my own aged 9 (36 mins for 1.6km at Barnscliffe). In 1988 I was crowned British Schools Champion and haven’t looked back since!

Running for Eborienteers and helped by York City Council’s ‘Talented Young Sportsperson Scheme’ I joined the Yorkshire Junior Squad and was soon invited into the British Junior Squad in 1995. I ran in three Junior World Championships with my best results 30th in Belgium 1997 and 14th fastest relay leg in France 1998. Living in Uppsala for a year in 1998 I helped OK Linne to 5th place in the Swedish Relay Championships D20 and that same autumn won the Junior European Cup in England.

As a senior I was delighted to win my first national title in 2003: winning the Long Championships after coming a close 2nd in Sprint, Middle and Relay. Another highlight was winning the JK Relay Trophy for my hometown club EBOR in my last year of running for them. Internationally my best results so far came in 2002 when I finished 15th in the World Cup Middle Distance in Sweden and 19th in the European Championships in Hungary. In 2004 I finished 2nd in the British Elite Long Champs and 3rd in the Middle, winning the relay for SYO and in 2005 3rd in the Sprint again winning the relay. This year I was disappointed to finish 2nd in the BEOC Long and at the JK.

My best international result last year were 3rd in the Sprint Qualifier and 19th in the final in the UK-based World Cup series whilst so far this year I was 29th in the European Champs Middle Distance in Estonia. I hope to build on this and finish in the top-20 at this year's World Champs in Denmark.

I run for Vasteras SOK in Sweden and I am a member of South Yorkshire Orienteers helping them to victory in the British Relay Championships for the last 2 years and the JK this year. I am very disappointed to have missed out on the World Champs for the past 2 years. Last year's decision to take an empty place rather than me for the middle distance that had been my goal for some time has left me re-assessing my goals.

I have started a full time job as Customer Services Advisor for the innovative website planetFear check it out for news from the outdoors (mainly climbing and adventure racing at the moment) and great value top-quality clothing and equipment!

I also run for Hallamshire Harriers (track and cross-country) helping them to 2nd in the Yorkshire Road Relays last year and winning the South Yorkshire Cross Country team prize and Dark Peak Fell Runners (Fell) with victories in the Castleton and Grindleford Fell Races so far this year.

The Team 2005

You can find out a bit about the GB Team members here. More will follow soon...

Helen Bridle
Heather Monro
Sarah Rollins
Jo Stevenson
Jenny Whitehead

Nick Barrable
Matt Crane
Jon Duncan
Oli Johnson
Dan Marston
Ed Nash
Steve Palmer