Overall both the EYOC and JWOC experiences have been amazing and one that none of us will ever forget in a hurry!
Thank you to everyone who has helped support us at EYOC and JWOC as we would have never been able to get there without you! We hope that you have enjoyed reading our blog - and sorry that it has been a bit delayed at points!
We have all now got more fore in our bellies to return for more next year!
Thank you again for all the help we have received.
Niamh Hunter, Alastair Thomas, Daniel Spencer
Sunday, July 15, 2018
Saturday, July 14, 2018
JWOC Relay
Relay dayyyyy!!
The relay terrain was the complete opposite to the middle days - very open with little sections of woods.
This meant fast starts and fast finishes with plenty of time for trains to form out on the courses. All of myself, Alastair and Daniel were in the 'B' teams for GB however after a flyer of a run from Eddie Narbett (1st leg in Al and Dans team), Alastair was sent out in 4rd! Alastair only dropped a few places to finish in 10th and send Dan off. However after 7 days of hard racing over the past two weeks Dan was feeling the heat and was very tired. He unfortunately slipped a bit more down the results but still finished in a respectable position.
In the women's GB1 started strong and finished just as sting coming in 4th! This was an amazing finish to the week and left the team on such a high. My relay team didn't have as good of a start (Emma Wilson - 1st leg) but managed to climb back up the list on both 2nd (Laura King) and 3rd (Myself) legs to finish 21st out of everyone, 5th 2nd team.
In the end we were all just very glad to have finished racing, especially with the relay being the hottest day we had raced in!
After the prize giving which was an amazing feeling for the whole team, we were all ready to hit the spa and get ready for the farewell party. All dressed up in our matching outfits we had our last team talk and headed to partyyy!
The relay terrain was the complete opposite to the middle days - very open with little sections of woods.
This meant fast starts and fast finishes with plenty of time for trains to form out on the courses. All of myself, Alastair and Daniel were in the 'B' teams for GB however after a flyer of a run from Eddie Narbett (1st leg in Al and Dans team), Alastair was sent out in 4rd! Alastair only dropped a few places to finish in 10th and send Dan off. However after 7 days of hard racing over the past two weeks Dan was feeling the heat and was very tired. He unfortunately slipped a bit more down the results but still finished in a respectable position.
In the women's GB1 started strong and finished just as sting coming in 4th! This was an amazing finish to the week and left the team on such a high. My relay team didn't have as good of a start (Emma Wilson - 1st leg) but managed to climb back up the list on both 2nd (Laura King) and 3rd (Myself) legs to finish 21st out of everyone, 5th 2nd team.
In the end we were all just very glad to have finished racing, especially with the relay being the hottest day we had raced in!
After the prize giving which was an amazing feeling for the whole team, we were all ready to hit the spa and get ready for the farewell party. All dressed up in our matching outfits we had our last team talk and headed to partyyy!
Friday, July 13, 2018
JWOC Middle Final
Into the bushy we go....
Today was going to be one of the hardest middles any of us had ever run. Not looking time in the green bushes was going to anyone's best chance at a good result.
After only being in Hungary's unique bushy terrain a few times I was quite nervous about the course. I knew that I did not need to race it but instead just needed to concentrate on where I was and getting the correct line through the bushes. We knew most the course was going to be in the bushes so keeping up the good navigation would be key.
Again, like yesterday I started slow and spiked number 1 which was a real confidence boost so set off to two knowing I could find it if I just slowed down and concentrated but when I got to where I thought the control should be and couldn't see it I panicked and then just lost all confidence so lost time here (I was only about 5 metres away just didn't go far enough). From here I had a couple more wobbles to the spectator run through, then all the last controls spiked and I was finished.
I finished 41st which I am quite happy with however I do know I could've done better. Alastair unfortunately was disqualified as a result of the badly taped spectator run through which even caught out multiple time JWOC champion Simona Aerbersold. Both himself and Daniel (who was running the B final) said they didn't have great runs getting caught out in the bushes aswell.
This middle was definetly an experience for everyone and one that no one will forget!
Today was going to be one of the hardest middles any of us had ever run. Not looking time in the green bushes was going to anyone's best chance at a good result.
After only being in Hungary's unique bushy terrain a few times I was quite nervous about the course. I knew that I did not need to race it but instead just needed to concentrate on where I was and getting the correct line through the bushes. We knew most the course was going to be in the bushes so keeping up the good navigation would be key.
Again, like yesterday I started slow and spiked number 1 which was a real confidence boost so set off to two knowing I could find it if I just slowed down and concentrated but when I got to where I thought the control should be and couldn't see it I panicked and then just lost all confidence so lost time here (I was only about 5 metres away just didn't go far enough). From here I had a couple more wobbles to the spectator run through, then all the last controls spiked and I was finished.
I finished 41st which I am quite happy with however I do know I could've done better. Alastair unfortunately was disqualified as a result of the badly taped spectator run through which even caught out multiple time JWOC champion Simona Aerbersold. Both himself and Daniel (who was running the B final) said they didn't have great runs getting caught out in the bushes aswell.
This middle was definetly an experience for everyone and one that no one will forget!
Thursday, July 12, 2018
JWOC Middle Quali
Today was middle qualification day. We knew that top 20 was required to qualify for the final and that's what we all aimed to get.
After a 30 minute bus journey from the hotel we got picked up by military vehicles to take us along the sandy dirt roads to the quarantine. After about a 45 minute bumpy, dusty journey we arrived.
There was a warm up map just off from the quarantine which after a bit of sitting around I went to find some controls on this map. This was a chance to just get a bit of last minute knowledge of the area and also to get back into the map. Then it was time for me to start.
We all knew that a clean run would be a good chance at qualifying and that's all that I wanted to do. I set off from the start steady so that I didn't loose time early in the course. This worked and I started to pick up the pace a bit at the end in the white, more open bit of woodland. Only 1 slight wobble on the last control and the next thing I know I'm running my hardest down the run in! I knew when I'd finished I'd had a good, clean run and was feeling confident that I was going to be in the running for qualification.
I went back to the team's meeting place and asked Paul what place I was in - I'd finished in 7th so knew if made the final (as I was a late starter). I was very pleased - qualifying for the middle was one of my main aims for my first JWOC.
In the end i finished 9th, Alastair also qualified for the final coming in 18th. Daniel just missed out of the final (he placed 28th). The closely packed heats made it a tough competition for final places!
Anyway...Now time to get mentally prepared to tackle the bushy tomorrow!
After a 30 minute bus journey from the hotel we got picked up by military vehicles to take us along the sandy dirt roads to the quarantine. After about a 45 minute bumpy, dusty journey we arrived.
There was a warm up map just off from the quarantine which after a bit of sitting around I went to find some controls on this map. This was a chance to just get a bit of last minute knowledge of the area and also to get back into the map. Then it was time for me to start.
We all knew that a clean run would be a good chance at qualifying and that's all that I wanted to do. I set off from the start steady so that I didn't loose time early in the course. This worked and I started to pick up the pace a bit at the end in the white, more open bit of woodland. Only 1 slight wobble on the last control and the next thing I know I'm running my hardest down the run in! I knew when I'd finished I'd had a good, clean run and was feeling confident that I was going to be in the running for qualification.
I went back to the team's meeting place and asked Paul what place I was in - I'd finished in 7th so knew if made the final (as I was a late starter). I was very pleased - qualifying for the middle was one of my main aims for my first JWOC.
In the end i finished 9th, Alastair also qualified for the final coming in 18th. Daniel just missed out of the final (he placed 28th). The closely packed heats made it a tough competition for final places!
Anyway...Now time to get mentally prepared to tackle the bushy tomorrow!
Wednesday, July 11, 2018
JWOC Rest Day
Today was the official planned rest day, with a trip around the national park or a house show planned.
However we decided that we would like some last minute practice on some middle relevant terrain and also just a chance to relax.
So in the morning we headed back out to Keskantchu and just had a short jog around the controls in the green to refresh our memories of what was vital to use in this terrain. This was a good opportunity to also relieve any nerves we had about the next couple of races by talking with each other and the coaches.
After deciding we'd got all the knowledge we could get from that session we headed back to the hotel and straight to the spa! The rest of the afternoon was just spent relaxing in the spa and just unwinding from the last two days racing.
In the evening of course it was the England Vs. Croatia football match - the one we'd all been waiting for. The hotel had set up a massive screen outside for everyone to watch on. The atmosphere was great but unfortunately the result was not quite as we hoped.
During the match, at half time we also managed to squeeze in a team meeting for tomorrow's race - of course.
All prepped and ready for tomorrow's race we headed to bed hoping our results would be better than the football's!
However we decided that we would like some last minute practice on some middle relevant terrain and also just a chance to relax.
So in the morning we headed back out to Keskantchu and just had a short jog around the controls in the green to refresh our memories of what was vital to use in this terrain. This was a good opportunity to also relieve any nerves we had about the next couple of races by talking with each other and the coaches.
After deciding we'd got all the knowledge we could get from that session we headed back to the hotel and straight to the spa! The rest of the afternoon was just spent relaxing in the spa and just unwinding from the last two days racing.
In the evening of course it was the England Vs. Croatia football match - the one we'd all been waiting for. The hotel had set up a massive screen outside for everyone to watch on. The atmosphere was great but unfortunately the result was not quite as we hoped.
During the match, at half time we also managed to squeeze in a team meeting for tomorrow's race - of course.
All prepped and ready for tomorrow's race we headed to bed hoping our results would be better than the football's!
Tuesday, July 10, 2018
JWOC Sprint
Sprint day...or spectator day for us three. One of the conditions for running both EYOC and JWOC was that we had to miss out the Sprint at JWOC. We were all a bit annoyed that we weren't allowed to run however if we weren't to run any of the days today was the most exciting one to watch!
There was no previous map of the Sprint so everyone was working their hardest to make a map that would as accurately as possible represent the race map so they could plan courses to look at. They knew that there would be a couple of small technical sections and some artificial barriers in the way but no one had really expected the course to be as hard as it was! A combination of artifial barriers and multiple controls in a multi - level section meant it was easy for mistakes to happen if you were running too fast. Even just standing and looking at the map in the finish I found it hard to find good routes to some controls!
Matt Felbaum (former NWJS member and WCOC's biggest fan) was one of the first GB runners to set off, after watching him on the GPS tracking thrkugh the race it was clear Matt wasnt being phased by the course. We waited for him at the spectator run through and sure enough he was through in a very good time. At the finish (with the help of our cheering) sprinted across the line to come in 1st!!! However as Matt was an early start we all had a nervous wait until the last finisher!
After cheering all the other GB guys coming through, and watching on the GPS it was back to the agonising wait to see of Matt had done it. It came all the way up until the last couple of runners with Matt still in 1st. A German runner, Colin, had got a good start. However everyone seemed to be up on Matt's time at the start of the course and then Matt just flew from there. Colin unfortunately also flew and ended up just pipping Matt to the top position.
We were all however still so excited and delighted for Matt and just couldn't hold our emotions together!! It was one if the most amazing things I have ever experienced. Matt himself said it was more than he'd expected!
Myself and a couple of other GB girls then all had to run around the Sprint arena frantically trying to find flowers and leaves to make a flower crown for Matt when he was on the podium. And that was it, Matt's time was here, he was called on to the podium and I don't think GB have ever screamed so loud in their lives!! All the girls ran up and gave him a kiss on the cheek and put his flower crown on.
What an amazing day it was for everyone!
There was no previous map of the Sprint so everyone was working their hardest to make a map that would as accurately as possible represent the race map so they could plan courses to look at. They knew that there would be a couple of small technical sections and some artificial barriers in the way but no one had really expected the course to be as hard as it was! A combination of artifial barriers and multiple controls in a multi - level section meant it was easy for mistakes to happen if you were running too fast. Even just standing and looking at the map in the finish I found it hard to find good routes to some controls!
Matt Felbaum (former NWJS member and WCOC's biggest fan) was one of the first GB runners to set off, after watching him on the GPS tracking thrkugh the race it was clear Matt wasnt being phased by the course. We waited for him at the spectator run through and sure enough he was through in a very good time. At the finish (with the help of our cheering) sprinted across the line to come in 1st!!! However as Matt was an early start we all had a nervous wait until the last finisher!
After cheering all the other GB guys coming through, and watching on the GPS it was back to the agonising wait to see of Matt had done it. It came all the way up until the last couple of runners with Matt still in 1st. A German runner, Colin, had got a good start. However everyone seemed to be up on Matt's time at the start of the course and then Matt just flew from there. Colin unfortunately also flew and ended up just pipping Matt to the top position.
We were all however still so excited and delighted for Matt and just couldn't hold our emotions together!! It was one if the most amazing things I have ever experienced. Matt himself said it was more than he'd expected!
Myself and a couple of other GB girls then all had to run around the Sprint arena frantically trying to find flowers and leaves to make a flower crown for Matt when he was on the podium. And that was it, Matt's time was here, he was called on to the podium and I don't think GB have ever screamed so loud in their lives!! All the girls ran up and gave him a kiss on the cheek and put his flower crown on.
What an amazing day it was for everyone!
Monday, July 9, 2018
JWOC Long
On Monday we had the long distance race. Thankfully the weather wasn't too hot, a cool 23 degrees, which was lucky for the athletes due to the length of the courses. For the men there was 15k and for the women 10k. We were told that this is the longest JWOC race ever due to the fast nature of the terrain. The area was mostly open with patches of dense vegitation and 2m contours which made for tricky vague navigation in places.
Because of my start time I was by myself at breakfast and in quarentine which probably wasn't the best for pressure which was building right up to when I had to leave for the start. To get there there was a warm up map which had the pre start marked on it, a nice bit of navigation to get you into the race. I made it with plenty of time to go and spent the few minutes before my start trying to stay cool and covering myself in water.
The course itself was challenging and overall I didn't feel I was prepared. I wasn't pleased with my result but Alastair and Niamh performed much better and should be happy with their positions. The first race of JWOC is always going to be tough and some people can cope better with that than others. Hopefully now that we have the experience we can return and achieve the top results that we all want.
Because of my start time I was by myself at breakfast and in quarentine which probably wasn't the best for pressure which was building right up to when I had to leave for the start. To get there there was a warm up map which had the pre start marked on it, a nice bit of navigation to get you into the race. I made it with plenty of time to go and spent the few minutes before my start trying to stay cool and covering myself in water.
The course itself was challenging and overall I didn't feel I was prepared. I wasn't pleased with my result but Alastair and Niamh performed much better and should be happy with their positions. The first race of JWOC is always going to be tough and some people can cope better with that than others. Hopefully now that we have the experience we can return and achieve the top results that we all want.
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