World of O News
– I would love to say, that I was a professional orienteer – but reality is, that I have a full time study at the University besides the training, Signe Søes says in this interview. Nevertheless, Søes has managed to make several big steps this year – going from a 13th place in the overall World Cup in 2007 to a 5th place in the overall World Cup in 2008. Signe Søes is one of the runners we at World of O have had high expectations for, but her results in 2008 were even better than we expected. Below Signe Søes is presented for the nomination “The Orienteering Achievement of 2008″ through an interview made by World of O and Ultimate Orienteering.
About: Two of the major sources for international orienteering news on the Internet – World of O and Ultimate Orienteering – are organizing a poll to name “The Orienteering Achievement of 2008″ and “The Ultimate Junior Orienteer of 2008″. The winner in each category is decided in a vote amongst all the readers of World of O and Ultimate Orienteering after all nominees have been presented. Starting November 12th we present all nominees on a day-by-day basis. The poll is sponsored by Trimtex. Voting will be possible after all nominees have been presented from the voting page. See also all nominees in the initial press release.
Interview with Signe Søes
Give a short presentation of yourself.
I’m one of those runners, that have practiced orienteering since I could walk (and hold a map and a compass). As a child most weekends and holidays were spent orienteering in Denmark and around Europe. Back then I lived in Copenhagen and represented Farum OK. In the fall of 2007 I moved to Stockholm to improve my technical skills, and since then I have represented IFK Lidingö internationally. Now I live together with my boyfriend in Århus where I study Molecular Biology at the University. I represent OK Pan Århus nationally, this is the club where my parents started orienteering some 30 years ago!
What was the highlight of the 2008 season for you?
Of course my 5th place at WOC long was a great highlight although I didn’t actually run that well. –But the 2nd and 3rd place at the World Cup final races meant a lot to me – cool to end the season with a World Cup 5th place overall!
Cool to end the season with a World Cup 5th place overall
What is your thought about being nominated for the orienteering achievement of 2008?
I feels great to be nominated, I must say, that I was a bit flattered
It is nice when people notice the progress that I’ve had this season.
What are your main goals for the future?
One of my primary goals for the future will be to win an individual WOC medal. But also winning one of the big relays such as Venla, Tiomila or 25-manna with my club IFK Lidingö is a dream for me waiting to be fulfilled.
Where is your favourite place to orienteer – where you would advice our readers to travel?
The terrains just south of Stockholm are superb – very detailed and challenging. They are worth a visit, and you may even swing by Stockholm C’s cafés when you’re in the area.
Can you describe your toughest training week in 2008 (day-by-day)? Did that have any specific impact for your great achievements in 2008?
That would be one of the training camps preceding WOC in The Czech Republic. These training camps with the national team are always tough physically – especially when we prepare for competitions in hilly continental terrain.
The terrains just south of Stockholm are superb – very detailed and challenging
Are you a professional orienteer? How many percent is your work/study that you do besides orienteering compared to a full position – and how many hours do you train each year?
I would love to say, that I was a professional orienteer – but reality is, that I have a full time study at the University besides the training. However in racing season I take fewer courses to be able to focus more on performing in the forest but it means that the time of final graduation gets postponed. In 2007 I squeezed about 500 hours of training into my busy schedule.
In your training: Do you put priority on running in the forest or on the road/track? What is your PB in 3000m/5000m?
I try to do as much running in terrain as possible, but more than half of my trainings are on road/hard surface. Most of my fast distance-trainings and intervals are on hard surface. I haven’t recorded a 3000m PB and my 5000m time is around 17.50.
