The teams have arrived, the flags are raised, start lists are up, and you can count the hours until your start. This is the period when nerves start to set in. A morning jwalk around the long model map served well to keep our minds off the competition. The forest floor is very clean for […]

In the lead up to JWOC our team along with the Aussies have done a series of simulation races where you are given all the relevant information to simulate a JWOC race. We did a long race, a middle race and a sprint, which Cam has already reported on. The long JWOC simulation was held […]

For our final race simulation, we headed out to what Nick recalls as the “rabid dog” map or the model map in a filthy part of Samokov. After a quick jog of the model map and a small dog scare later, we lined up ready to hit the streets.

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 […]

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, […]

“Today we had fun.” Okay that was Tim’s attempt at a blog post. Maybe I should write the rest. First training with the team was today at a map called Shiroki Dol (pronounced Shreaky Doll). The Australians couldn’t resist spending another day without us so they came along to the training too. We took a […]

Recently I have been staying in Samokov with Brodie Nankervis, Matt Doyle and Ashley Nankervis. We have a small apartment complete with grandpa slippers and dog-skin carpets (probably from some of the feral dogs on the street). What is great about the place is we have our own kitchen so we can cook our own […]

After an action packed 32-hour flight with The Shmoose through Singapore and Frankfurt, we went our separate ways at Milan Central Station. He joined up with Becky and Helena for a 2-day giro in Milan, while I hopped on a train to meet up with Host Family Version 1.0 in Trento (the city of the […]

A couple of days ago our first race in Italia started with a bang! Venice filled with alleyways, tourists and the all-exhausting heat.  First of all, my hat goes well and truly off to anyone who ran the WOC races. I know I couldn’t concentrate well because of the heat, seriously sapped everything out of […]

On Wednesday I ran a long distance training race with the Norwegians on a very steep map with rocks and a network of tracks. This area is likely to be similar to the southern part of the JWOC long distance terrain. Picking the correct route-choices was essential, as was control through the detailed areas. I […]

After nearly 50 hours of travelling I finally made it to Sofia to meet up with the Norwegians. Some slight confusion about when they were arriving but I spotted a Bulgarian wearing a Halden SK jacket who GPS units to give to the Norwegians and we managed to find them together. We are using these GPS units for each training which is useful for analysing how we ran, but also means the coaches can watch us live out at the forest. Good for discussing what happened right afterwards and also finding those runners who are completely lost.

Back in Wellington I couldn’t resist the call of Waikawa, so Becky, The Moose and I drove on up there today for some badass training. Originally The Moose had a hairdressing appointment booked at the same time but after a quick call to him he rescheduled. When it comes to orienteering, Shamillionaire’s perms can wait. […]

Today I ran a good hill session out near Sumner. My Achilles has been improving steadily over the past 4 weeks and I have built up to 90+ min runs successfully. It is great to be running again even if it does mean the amount of study that gets done is considerably less. After seeing […]

I just thought I would do a blog to let people know what I am actually doing while I am away for four months! I am currently writing in Melbourne airport after finally escaping the worries of trying to fit my bike and four months’ worth of gear into my 30kg and 7kg carry on […]

Over the last month or so I have been competing in several Xterra trail runs with local orienteer’s Piret Klade, Tim Robertson, and Jamie Stewart. Xterra is a series of trail runs with breathtaking views, jagged coastlines and lush native bush. There are four races the series this year each consisting of a short, middle, […]

Whether you are preparing for a major race, practicing for a night event or just wanting to just brush up on some of the basics, catching features is the ultimate supplement to your training! For those not familiar with catching features (CF), it is a computer game played by a number of orienteer’s from around […]

The WOA Champs at Queens Birthday this year will see a good portion of the New Zealand JWOC team competing. Queens Birthday is the last big race most of the team will experience before they head off to Europe. With only 7 weeks until JWOC commences, it will give us a good indication of how […]

Whenever you are training the time just seems to fly by, you don’t realise how much you actually spend preparing yourself for some of the most important races that will kick start your international orienteering career. So far I have managed to fit in both university study and training, however I should probably study a […]

The past couple of weeks have been pretty busy with me trying to fit in all the uni work, actual work and training, but here’s a nice summary of what I’ve been up to! Most recently (last weekend) I was (un?)lucky enough to be commandeered into a team for the annual T’Walk event run by […]

Seeing the fresh snow fall on the Alps this week made me super keen to get out there, and climbing some mountains would be the perfect break from study. On a day like this, nothing can beat standing on the top of a big pile of rock. Starting at Porters Pass (942 m), the ridge […]

As I entered the second week of the school holidays I was looking forward to a good week of training finishing with a three day Hillary Challenge training with Middleton Grange School at Lake Heron and the South Island Schools Champs. I’m not a morning person to put it simply, so getting up at 6:15 […]

This year I am going to be maximising my time in Bulgarian terrain before JWOC. The Norwegian team has offered me a spot on their training camp in Bulgaria, from 30th June to 5th July. In 2012 I was on a training camp in the Czech Republic with the Norwegian equivalent of New Zealand’s D-squad. […]

After the fantastic nationals in Wellington, the Moose and I couldn’t wait to get back out on some of those maps. But since Fusilier is embargoed until Queens Birthday, and we didn’t really feel like getting shot down by fighter jets for running around Ohakea, Waikawa was left as our only option. I brought the […]