WOC
is over and although I can still feel the races in my legs and my body is still
working on Japan time, I have had some time to reflect on the week. As usual
it had its ups and downs and I was happy with my performances, even though I
have still not achieved my dream goals. But this is what will keep me fighting
for years to come. WOC 2005 posed some unique challenges; extreme heat and humidity,
the steepest courses ever in WOC and some of the slowest ever minutes per km
in an international. I had prepared as well as I could for these demands and
by the time the races began, I felt at home in the Japanese terrain. Throughout
the week the courses were fair, the maps were excellent and the organisation
was great. It seems as though Japan has arrived as a fully developed orienteering
nation. Qualifiers
I felt very relaxed going into the qualifiers this year, but I had a rude awakening as I made mistake after mistake in the middle distance. After that the pressure was on to get through, and I perhaps cost myself a better result in the final. The long distance was a more controlled race, but even there I left myself with too much work to do later in the week. I will not underestimate the importance of qualifying well in the future.
Middle Distance - 20th
I
ran a good race, pushing hard all the way. I chose safe routes early in the
course (no. 1 in particular) to settle my nerves, which cost me a surprising
amount of time, but I could only be happy when I crossed the finish line. This
was followed by a long wait, watching my name slide down the results list as
I waited to pee in the drug-testing zone. The course was easier than anticipated
and the results were close - with the exception of Thierry, who blew the rest
of the field away - congratulations to him!Long Distance - 21st
Once
again, I followed my plan and crossed the finish line happy. I had recovered
well from the day before and felt strong all the way to the finish. I was determined
that this course would not turn into an epic and although the times were long,
it did not feel like an unusually long race. As usual it was hot, and I used
a strategy of 4 sports drinks at each drinks control. I also took a Glycerol
solution before the start as part of my pre-race hydration, something I had
practised in Switzerland. It worked well and I never felt too hot or thirsty.
I made some small mistakes (11 and 24) during the race but stayed positive.
The route choice legs were hard to call, but I was happy with my choices. There
were three possible good routes on 16-17 that all worked out almost exactly
the same. Most important was to be positive about your choice and hit the control.
Congratulations to Andrei Khramov, who ran a fantastic time to take Russia's
fist ever WOC gold. It is sad that there have been questions asked about the
fairness of the result, after many athletes ran part of the course together.
For better or for worse this is part of orienteering, and it is wrong to point
the finger at the athletes themselves. They ran great races under the conditions
set by the organisers - it is these conditions that need to be brought into
question. I hope a solution can be found that does not dilute the unique demands
of orienteering's original discipline. Relay - 10th
Disaster
struck for Jamie in the long distance as he injured his knee at about 70%, whilst
in a podium position. The injury was severe enough that he had to pull out of
the relay as well. It's clear that Jamie has been in medal-winning form this
year but has suffered a series of unfortunate setbacks - I wish him all the
best and I'm sure he'll be there on top of the podium next year as he runs WOC
in his new home country. I was called in to run second leg of the relay and
Jon Duncan was promoted to last leg. Matt Speak ran first leg after a long 2
weeks of build-up and struggled with the hottest conditions we had experienced
so far to finish in 20th. I set out to run a technically good race, regardless
of the tiredness in my legs, and was positively surprised with the outcome -
we moved up to 14th. Jon set out with a similar goal on last leg and cruised
past some big names to pull us up to a top 10 finish. Not a great result, but
proof that we are capable of much more - Matt has proven himself to be one of
GBs best first leg runners time and time again, and he'll get another chance
in the future. Well done to the women's team who narrowly missed out on a podium
finish in 7th. Thanks to the support staff who got us through the week with an extremely professional setup - within minutes of finishing I would have a bottle of sports drink, an ice cold towel around my neck and a plate of pasta salad in my hands. Without this I don't think I could have managed such a tough program of races. Well done also to the other athletes and especially to Heather for fulfilling a lifetime's ambition - that must feel good! My body survived all the races, but now it has fallen apart and I intend to take a break for a few months to come back strong for next season.
10/08/05
CONGRATULATIONS HEATHER!Heather Monro has won the Bronze medal in today's World Orienteering Championships Sprint Final to add to the Bronze she picked up at the World Games last month. lets hope she can go two better in the Long final on Friday. The race was won by favourite Simone Luder with sprint expert Anne-Margrethe Hausken in 2nd. Sarah Rollins finished 15th. Jamie Stevenson was 14th and Ewan McCarthy 16th. A great day for GBR with 4 top-20s. Heather can be seen here celebrating her medal courtesy of a photo stolen from nopesport! Full results available here.
