World of O News
Czech Republic on top and Switzerland on the bottom: That is how World Champion Daniel Hubmann (Switzerland) summarizes the best and worst courses of the year. – I have been running some really nice races this year, but I choose the World Cup race in Czech Republic, middle distance, as my candidate for the course of the year, Hubmann says.
– In addition to the good courses, the organizer has proven that it is possible to make a good event from all points of view: Challenging orienteering, nice TV pictures from the forest, effective forking system, etc, Hubmann continues about his favourite course in 2011 (see map and GPS-tracking here).
Below you see an autOanalysis from Daniel Hubmann versus Thierry Gueorgiou from the middle distance race World Cup race in Czech Republic. If you are adventurous, you can also try out the autOanalysis interactively in the new alpha-version of 2DRerun which gives an even better illustration of how the race developed – see also this route choice comparison for leg 3-4 (Note! 2DRerun does for now not work in Internet Explorer-it does work on the iPad though. There are a lot of bugs to be fixed, so do it for the adventure. Still, from the links given you can continue to explore the race, animate the routes and so on:).
Course of the Year 2011
Which course will take the prestigious top spot this year? The search for the course of the year will be fun, for sure as it was last year! The rules are simple: Suggest a course from a competition or training in 2011 (click here to get to the suggestion page), and state the reason why you think this course deserves to be “The course of the Year 2011″. The best among all the suggestions will be chosen – and there will be a voting process among the readers of “World of O” in order to name “The course of the year 2011″. Prizes from sponsors make it more fun to be in on the suggestions and voting – Croatia Open, Lipica Open, Fjord-O and EOC Tour are sponsoring “The course of the year 2011″ with starts (see below).
Interview with Daniel Hubmann
We also did a short interview with Hubmann to hear more about her 2011 season with respect to maps and courses.
WoO: What is the worst course you run in 2011?
– I was disappointed to find no real technical challenges during the race
At the World Cup final in Switzerland (see map here), I was disappointed to find no real technical challenges during the race. After visiting La Chaux-de-Fonds before and having seen a sprint map of the area, I knew the town quite well and it was more or less a running competition. Runners should not be allowed to visit areas like this (or like Chambéry) before competing there.
Q: What is the race you enjoyed most this year?
This year, I have done most of my technical training in France and I really enjoyed most of the trainings. Especially the trainings in Montagne de Bange I won’t forget (Editors comment: See map from a training of Øystein Kvaal Østerbø here).
Q: What is your favourite map (from the top of your head)?
Hm, I guess you don’t want to hear the same answer every year… Even though the EOC 2008 maps are still my favourite maps, this map is also one that I like (see map here).
WoO: Have you got a tip to young and inexperienced course setters out there about how to make a good course?
In my view, a good course is varying, technically challenging and offers surprises. However, the surprises should be fair and there shouldn’t be any ‘traps’.
Picture: Daniel Hubmann.
WoO: What are your goals for next year – and how do you change your training and focus in order to reach your goals in 2012?
WOC on homeground has been in my head since a long time ago. My main goal is to be on top in forest orienteering again, after a year with victories in sprint ‘only’. Therefore I need to be able to run more again, so that I will be in shape for the longer distances too.
WoO: Thank you very much for the Interview, and good luck with the winter training!
Prizes from our Sponsors
Prizes from our Sponsors always makes it more fun! There will be a prize for the course setter in “The course of the Year 2011″, a prize for the first one suggesting the course which ends up becoming “The course of the Year 2011″, and prizes drawn among the ones suggesting and voting. The sponsors will be presented in more detail later on – for now you can see some information about them below.
For the record: All sponsor gifts/income related to “The Best Course of 2011″ goes directly to the WorldofO.com readers.
