World University Orienteering Championships 2012, Spain

Representing New Zealand at the World University Orienteering Championships, Alicante, Spain.  2 - 7 July 2012.   

Angela Simpson

The World University Orienteering Championships are held every two years for current students under 28 years of age.  This year the Championships were held in Alicante with athletes representing 30 countries.  I was in the team of 12 from New Zealand.  WUOC provides a perfect stepping stone event for many athletes from JWOC to WOC with previous WUOC winners including legends Minna Kaupi and Simone Niggli-Ludder.

Spain provided an outstanding event with challenges, atmosphere and learning opportunities which I will never forget. 

The sprint distance race was held in the older part of the city of Alicante.  Before the starts we were quarantined (a usual practise at elite events) inside the Santa Barbara castle, from the 9^th century which looks out over the Mediterranean Sea.  This was a very special place to warm up and jog around.  I felt confident and prepared for my race.  The actual start was 200m outside the castle buildings and headed straight into the complex network of alleyways between the old apartments of the town.  I made careful route choices for the short legs at the start of the course trying to avoid extra stairs and too many corners which would be slower.  This course was well set with a loop through the larger building blocks where distance judgement was critical before heading back up the slope via tiring stairs with intricate corners.  It was sometimes hard to see the best route clearly and slowing down to check your decision definitely was worthwhile.  The 2.2 km course finished with a final loop through the flatter part of town and a final control in a water fountain in the main square.  The finish chute was a tough short sprint down the famous palm tree lined esplanade.  This is certainly one of the toughest sprint races I have ever done.  It was an experience of running at full speed and trying to read the way between narrow alleys while being challenged by endless sets of stairs.  I finished this race in 20.41 earning 18^th position less than three minutes behind the winner Iveta Duchova from Chzech Republic.  I was happy to remain fully focused on my own race, but I also know there were a few places I could have improved by saving some distance.  

The middle distance and relay events were both held near Santa Pola, about 40min south of Alicante city.  The terrain consisted of short pine trees on vague flat hills and steep gullies with detailed rocky cliffs.  We were fortunate to train on a map adjacent to this area prior to the event which made me feel much more comfortable with the unusual terrain.  Strong compass bearings and fast running dodging the spiky trees, followed by careful navigation near the control was the best tactic we found.  I learnt that patience is an art that must be mastered in orienteering which enables you to use your speed where it is most beneficial.  I made a mistake in this course by running to fast and onto a hill feature parallel to the one I wanted.  Errors like this are not uncommon in orienteering as it occurred, just after a really good section of my race where I had the 2^nd fastest split leg.  I became too confident and wanted too much to get away from the fellow runners I had caught.  This is another mental lesson in racing orienteering; to get the balance between caution and confidence.  In New Zealand races, with fewer competitors such levels of pressure are not as common and so this is often a challenge when we compete in the big races in Europe.  This year we Kiwi’s have made a pact to pressure each other more in local events in order to practise these skills further.  I placed 53^rd in the middle distance race, which was won by Lilian Forsgren from Sweden. 

The relay race was very exciting.  Kate Morrison came in just behind the lead group on the first leg and I ran second leg.  I had a clean run and was confident on my compass bearings without letting any distractions from other runners put me off.  I finished in 45 minutes and handed over to Greta Knarston who finished off our race for a respectable 9^th nation.  Sweden won the relay and Spain was excited to claim third position.

Aside from the competitions, this trip provided an excellent opportunity to share ideas with similarly motivated athletes from other nations.  We all stayed together and there was great happiness between everyone which was brought together on the final banquet evening.  It is relaxing and motivating to keep in contact with others who are going through similar efforts as you to balance study life with training for orienteering.  In keeping with my study area of plant biology, it was amazing to see a giant 100 year old cactus near the finish of the relay event and massive fig trees growing in the city parks of Alicante.  The summer weather in Spain was delight for a few days as we rejoiced from the New Zealand winter but the heat was tough to run in.  It was lucky we had allowed time before the events to adjust a little.  We were also able to learn about the relaxed, friendly culture in Spain.  Being there while everyone was so excited for Spain to be winning the EuroCup in football was unique.

Thank you very much to U Leisure for assisting with my competition in this year’s World University Orienteering Championships.  I loved the experience.