Elvet Striders

JK2008, 21st March

Colin Blackburn

One of the features of orienteering is the multi-day event. They range from relatively low-key weekend events, such as the North East's October Odyssey, to the world's biggest festival of orienteering, the Swedish O-Ringen which attracts 15,000 runners for 6 races over a week in August. In the UK the two big events are the Scottish 6-day, which takes place in odd numbered years, and the Jan Kjellstrom Festival of Orienteering, which happens every Easter. This year over the earliest Easter weekend for decades JK2008 took place in Surrey. This year easy access from the sourthern airports and the Channel links led to 4,500 people taking part over the course of four days.

The JK is open to competitors from outside of the UK and according to the organisers there were many overseas entrants. They included 100 runners from Ireland, just under 100 from Norway, large groups from France, Switzerland, Sweden and Finland, as well as runners from Australia, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Spain, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Ukraine and the United States.

Traditionally the JK has comprised two "classic" events over the weekend and a club relay on the Monday. The classic events take place in woodlands over a distance, for my class, of about 9km. The relays take various forms but are generally three legs of 5km or less. Over the last few years Friday has usually had a sprint race. This is now destined to be a standard fixture given the rise of sprint orienteering, particularly in urban areas. A sprint course might be as short as 2km.

After spending Thursday night in Oxford with friends who didn't appreciate the need of a honed athlete to stay off the wine I travelled down to Guildford for the sprint with orienteering friends slightly worse for wear. Arriving at the campus of Surrey University there were more than 1500 people milling around on a beautiful clear day. Unlike woodland orienteering sprints can be done in shorts and road shoes though plenty of old gadgies still insisted on wearing their orienteering pyjamas.

Orienteering starts are a strange affair. I was called up four minutes before my start time. Just before call-up I cleared my electronic dibber to get rid of the data from the last event. In the first start box our dibbers are checked, just to make sure we have cleared them. A minute later, in the second box, I collect a set of control descriptions and attach them to the holder on my arm. Another minute...another box and I get to look at a blank map, check its orientation, work out where the start is, worry about how complex it looks! Then into the final box standing by a crate full of maps for course 3. 10 seconds to go pick up a map, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, GO! Of course what I really want to do it stand there, turn the map around, have a good look and then amble off in vaguely the right direction...but there's no time for that.

2 minutes and 32 seconds later I've found the right tree in a quadrangle after what seemed like enough steps to get up that bank in Houghall. The fastest runner did that leg in 1:51. 18 more controls and a confusing 26 minutes later I punched at the finish control. I'd blown 4 minutes at control 6 and a couple of minutes at a couple of other controls. The campus was very confusing and I'm surprised that any drunken students ever find their way back to their rooms! As you can see below the winner was over 10 minutes faster than me, I doubt he made a single error.

The two classic days were held at Leith Hill and Ashdown Forest. On the first of the two days I made a calamitous error about halfway around the course in a very technical area full of the minutest contour details—Tom these re-entrants really are a bugger to find. It meant that I spent nearly 100 minutes out running which certainly has an effect of your concentration towards the end. Luckily I made it back before the blizzard. Many competitors were still out there when the worst of the weather struck.

At Ashdown Forest I had a much better run making no mistakes, though I was still well off the pace I was pleased to dip below 10 minutes a kilometre. Again, the day was hit by bad weather but, again, I was lucky.

The final day, the relays, took place at Eridge Old Park, a typical relay venue with a mix or forest, parkland and open ground. I was running for my club, Northern Navigators, with the only two other NN runners to make it that far south. We ran in the M120+ class, ie three men with ages summing to 120 or more. That meant we were up against the crack teams of three 40 year-olds!

The relay comprises three legs. The first runners all go off at the same time. However, the courses contain gaffling (a Swedish word for fork) which means that not all runners are heading for the same first control. This puts pressure on the first leg runners to navigate rather than follow. The second leg is usually shorter than the other two and allows a faster runner to pick up places. The final leg can be a bit lonely as the teams are all well spread out by then. The key with the last leg though is that the first across the line wins.

Boris ran a good first leg putting NN into 35th place, Rob used the second leg to pull us up to 31st. I took out the final leg and attempted not to blow it! I made no mistakes but I was hampered by some atrocious driving snow and my tired legs. On the final run-in I heard some of the spectators shout at the runner behind me that he 'could easily take him.' That was all I needed to put a spurt on an make sure he didn't. Good job too at he was on my relay and so I had managed to gain NN one more place to finish in a creditable 30th, not bad for a team of old(ish) men.

So, that's it for another year. In 2009 the JK is in the North East, with sprints in Newcastle, classic events near Berwick and relays in Dipton near Hexham. The North East might not manage 4,500 runners but it will still be a great event and as there are open events every day I'm sure I'll be pestering you all nearer the time to come along and take part and see the spectacle.

Route maps for the three individual days are available for those who are interested:
Day 1 at University of Guildford click on Course 3 for my course.
Day 2 at Leith Hill click on Course 13 for my course.
Day 3 at Ashdown Forest click on Course 13 for my course.

Results for Day 1, Class M45

Length 2.4km, 55m climb, 19 controls (course 3)

95 finishers.

Results for Day 2, Class M45L

Length 8.5km, 305m climb, 23 controls (course 13)

125 finishers.

Results for Day 3, Class M45L

Length 8.7km, 390m climb, 15 controls (course 13)

123 finishers.

Results for Relay E: Senior Men 120+

3 laps: 5.3km, 175m, 16 controls; 4.3km, 130m, 13 controls; 5.3km, 175m, 16 controls

50 teams finishing.