Introducing the 2015 New Zealand JWOC Team. Profiles, pictures, and background information…

Photos to tell the story of the successful relay day…. Thunderstorms and a downpour of rain for the start of the relay Wet weather is Tim Robertson’s favourite orienteering condition… Shamus Morrison ran a strong race to maintain the team’s position in amongst the leaders. And Nick Hann smashed out an outstanding run to bring […]

Nick Hann’s hard work, determination, strength through challenging terrain and superb navigational skills have earned him a fantastic 5th place in the 2014 JWOC Middle Distance final. CONGRATULATIONS NBH!  

A sunny day for the middle qualification, so we were glad for the 10.00am start so that we did not have to run in the heat. The middle qualifier always passes quickly as there are 3 runners beginning at the same time. There are 3 courses and the fastest 20 on each course qualify for […]

The thunderstorms continued through the previous night so we were relieved to see clear weather for the Long distance day – though we were not confident it would last in the mountain area. We had an early start with the early runners needing to be at 6.50am bus. The terrain was hilly pine forest between […]

The athletes were quarantined in the Samakov Arena – a large complex with several levels. The warm up area was inside on the basement floor and the prestart was also inside the building. The athletes could hear the thunder outside and the earlier runners had the advantage of dry conditions. The heavy rain had spectators […]

Download the OreinteeringNZ Media Release: Robertson Wins Gold – Media Release 23 July 2014 Thunderstorms did not prevent Tim Robertson from backing up his 2013 Bronze medal with a 2014 JWOC Gold medal in Samokov, Bulgaria   Download the OrienteeringNZ Media Release: Robertson Wins Gold – Media Release 23 July 2014

While the team enjoyed a sleep in and late breakfast, Karen Blatchford and I headed up on the gondola to run/walk as far up Mt Musala (2925m) as we could go before lunch. The altitude made us quite breathless when we ran – well, that is what we told ourselves when we were wheezing and […]

Every year in Greenland around the end of June, the Ilulissat Orienteering Club (IOG) holds the Arctic Midnight Orienteering Competition, which comprises a short, middle and ultra long race. I travelled this year via Copenhagen and Kangalussat to this extraordinary destination to see what it was all about – and I wasn’t disappointed. Ilulissat is […]

Today we headed down to Samakov to run on the feared ‘Vazrajdane’ map (Translation from Bulgarian is “Vicious Great Danes”) If you have not already read NBH’s blog “Who let the dogs out” https://www.orienteering.org.nz/junior-world-championships/dogs-out/, then you need to read this to get background on why we approached this map with fear and trembling! It is […]

We drove 20 minutes, to Reylovo, to run the a middle distance simulation using the same format as the long distance – designated vehicles, model map, start draw and a last chance to practice through the race day routines. The NZ boys achieved celebrity status when an old gentleman appeared and struck up a conversation […]

A lovely feeling to have no alarms set and to know the only deadline in the morning was the finish of the breakfast shift at 10.00am. The morning was spent in a variety of ways; some reading through JWOC Bulletin 4, others converting the sprint map to use on Catching Features, secretive photo sessions for […]

An earlier start to the day, with the athletes expected to have breakfasted and be ready for their ‘JWOC shuttle’ service to the start of the Long distance simulation by 8.30am. It was an 80 minute drive to the town of Marchaevo. We arrived at the finish area, then ‘shuttled’ the athletes up a very […]

We woke to misty rain, enjoyed our breakfast and then headed to “Gorvedarci “ for the morning training. The drive takes us past, what are becoming, familiar Bulgarian scenes – horses grazing on the main street of villages, chooks on the verges of the side streets, people biking or walking with their makeshift trolleys made […]

The team arrived in various stages to our accommodation at the Lion Hotel in Borovets: There was an advance party at midday who established base camp and enjoyed checking out the spacious rooms in the quiet, peaceful hotel set in the trees. Some ventured out for a 30 minute run to check the local surroundings, […]

Image – Middle Podium (Photo Credit: Andrea Cardosi) Another year, another WOC, and here we are in sunny (but also very thundery) Italy on the Altopiano of Asiago in the foothills of the Dolomites. Wh

The College Sport Wellington Prize-giving and Sprint event, held at Victoria University, was an opportunity to fine tune some sprint skills for 3 of the local Wellington JWOCers before they head to Eu