Confident Orienteering

Route choice at Control 1 On Control 1, we frequently have to choose between a direct but more challenging route and a longer but more reliable one.  A lack of familiarity with the terrain and a natural desire to avoid risk often incline us to opt for the longer route. This choice becomes even easier to accept on long-distance courses where the pace is not so aggressive from the start. The leg we are discussing comes from a Croatia,  Event:  Broč Orienteering Championship 2nd stage,  Organising club - OK Maksimir. Middle distance, W21E.  https://www.livelox.com/Viewer/Broc-Orienteering-Championship-2nd-stage/W21E?classId=858277&tab=player   Here, the "white forest" and the considerable size of the control feature provide strong arguments for taking the direct route. When uncertain about which route to choose, I find it helpful to identify a point  on the begining of  longer route from which I definitely will take longer one. I then estimate...

  Сourse planning #1 I would like to introduce a new rubric where I will evaluate various courses based on the quality of their planning. I believe that such discussions will help someone improve their course planning skills. Yesterday in the group  Orienteering Technical trainings , I asked subscribers to guess the country from this part of the map. Many of you, of course, recognised it as Norway. There were other guesses, though. Let's go into a little more detail.  This is a map from the event on 28 June. a traditional mid-summer multi-day event for the southern regions of Norway.  Sørlandsgaloppen 2024, dag 2 Norway 6/28/2024 According to information on Livelox, these competitions are organised by three clubs: Bø OL, Porsgrunn OL, Skien OK, We can see on the presented map section some rocky ground and boulder clusters. This is unlikely to be typical of the Baltic countries.  However the most important thing is the structure of the terrain with marshes at ...

    Left, Right, or Straight: Leg Analysis #16 leg 2-3 from W21 couuse of Swedish League, #5, long (WRE) We often have to choose from several possible routes on a leg, typically from two. Sitting at the table, we can use a ruler to determine the route accurately, but we are interested in quick calculations that can be performed under race conditions. An approximate order of operations for this leg might be as follows: We make an assessment of the main idea of this leg and a general assessment of the relief. We have a difficult control point (control 3) on a slope. Two possible route choices are immediately obvious, as we need to avoid the big cliff at the start of the leg. Right route: using the main road with a long approach to the control. Left route: taking the trail, which has less extension. The approach to the control is also long but seems easier as it goes from above downwards. Relief assessment: we are descending 50 metres on this leg. The left route has no ele...

       Left, Right, or Straight #16 Would you run left or right? (long distance,  5 metre controur interval) (event: Swedish League #5 - D21 10.05.2024 Örebro) Source: http://www.tulospalvelu.fi/gps/ Aleksandr Alekseyonok, June 11, 2024

    Left, Right, or Straight? Leg Analysis #15 On May 31st 2024, a long-distance race was held as part of the training camp for the Youth European Championships in Poland. The courses offered competitors many typical legs for this type of terrain. One of them was leg 3–4 for M18 and M16 (the same as leg 2–3 for D18 and D16). This leg offered a range of three classic route options: The shortest , but with two 30-metre climbs ; The middle-length option (left) , with one 30-metre climb (+200 metres in distance); The longest option (right) , with only 15 metres of climb (+350 metres in distance). On the Livelox website, only a few GPS tracks from competitors are available, and we don’t know their fitness level or how much effort they put into running this leg. However, it’s still clear that — among competitors of similar speed — the straight route lost to the right-hand option by approximately 30 seconds on average. See the GPS tracks from the D18 class. The left-h...

     Left, Right, or Straight #14 What route on leg 7-8 would you prefer? Kisakallio race 2024 ; M21E (Finland, 26.05.24) Source Livelox Aleksandr Alekseyonok, May 28, 2024

  Left, Right, or Straight: Leg Analysis #13 Today we will take a close look at the route choice for leg 5-6  from the women's elite long-distance  at the "Närkekvartetten" 3-day event in Sweden (May 11, 2024) The altitude gain on this leg will not have a significant effect on the route choice.  The right-hand route doesn't look bad in the first half, with a fairly large section along the road. However, after the stream (point A), there is difficult navigation with challenging runnability. Therefore, we will abandon this route and choose between the 'direct' and 'left' routes. The straight and left routes are identical up to the midpoint (point B). Therefore, we have ample time on the course to make a decision. Additionally, the alternative of running to point B on the right side of the road (orange track) is not favourable as it involves a longer path compared to the straight route to point B, where there is a long path. Let's look at the differe...

   Left, Right, or Straight #13 Today, we're examining leg 6 from the women's elite long-distance  at the "Närkekvartetten" 3-day event in Sweden (May 11, 2024) Which route would you choose? Source: Livelox Aleksandr Alekseyonok, May 13, 2024

     Left, Right, or Straight #12 Today we will evaluate the routes on the leg 3-4 from  M16 long distance  of the Polish Team Championships. (20/04/2024) At first glance, the route on the left side of the road should be easier and faster. Is it really so? What do you think about it?  A detailed analysis will be posted on the blog soon as usual. You can also find updates and news on the blog's Facebook group  Orienteering Technical trainings . Don't forget to subscribe and recommend it to your friends! Aleksandr Alekseyonok, April 24, 2024

  Livelox Pick of the Week; #5 Of the events that took place over the weekend of April 20-21, 2024, I would recommend watching two particular events. 1. Sprint in Switzerland:  Organising club is ASTI Ticino The natinal level spront  event took place in a picturesque village characterized by small houses, narrow streets, fences, and steps. The course offered a dynamic shift in technical difficulty, ranging from intense orienteering to simpler legs in open terrain. While the Elite courses did not feature overly challenging route choices, victory hinged on precision in navigating on  legs with multi route variations.  2. Long Distance of the Polish Club Championships:  Organising club is  MKS Paulinum Jelenia Góra This event exemplifies how a truly "classic" long-distance course can be created on a relatively small map (about 5 km2), adhering to all the conventions of the genre. Long legs with numerous route variations were interspersed with shorter, tec...

    Left, Right, or Straight: Leg Analysis #11 Today we'll be looking at leg 1-2 from the men's long WRE distance race in Halden (April 14, 2024) The pine forest in that area is rather open, and if there are no serious obstacles and no nearby roads or trails, you should try to run as close to the line as possible. In my weekly review ( Livelox Pick of the Week; #4) , I provided a link to the headcam video from this event. The first part of the leg to the road fork runs roughly the same for all routes (near the crossing line). Near the road fork, the routes divide into two main variations. The left route offers several advantages: it involves no altitude gain and allows for a confident approach to the control point. However, there are also some drawbacks. The runnability of the section along the slope and near the marsh is less predictable. Additionally, a decision must be made regarding how to navigate the seasonal marsh just after the road—whether to cross it directly or by...

   Left, Right, or Straight #11 Leg 1-2 is from H21E long distance of "Halden O-Meeting" . Which approach to Control 2 do you prefer: from the top (right-side route) or from the edge of the marsh (left-side route)? Source: https://www.livelox.com Aleksandr Alekseyonok, April 18, 2024

  Livelox Pick of the Week; #4 The competition season in the Northern Hemisphere is really heating up!  Let's take a look at the most delicious highlights from the week of April 8th to April 14th, 2024. With so many events happening, it's becoming increasingly difficult to single out just one. When choosing which events to focus on, I'm guided by the excitement of the distance I'm most eager to run. In today's edition of the column "Choice of the Week," I'll be highlighting three such events at once. 1. Swedish Night Orienteering Championship organised by Ärla IF offers intricate terrain, featuring diverse vegetation and, most importantly, minimal trails. It's a true test of wilderness navigation skills. 2. The first day of the WRE level competition in Halden, Norway, was excellent (Halden O-Meeting). Organized by Halden SK one of the world's strongest clubs with a rich tradition in orienteering. Their middle distance  on Saturday April 13 wa...