Course of the Year 2013: Submit your suggestions!

What was the best orienteering course of 2013? Last year’s winner had  some great technical orienteering in Portugal – in 2011 the WOC middle distance in France took the first place and the year before a very special Jukola relay won. Which course will take the prestigious top spot this year? YOU are the one to decide – first by submitting suggestions – and then by voting.

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 2013, and state the reason why you think this course deserves to be “The course of the Year 2013″. 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 2013″. And please, please, please state the reason for your suggestion!

3500 Euro worth of prizes for YOU

Prizes from sponsors make it more fun to be in on the suggestions and voting. This year we have more sponsors and finer prizes than ever – with a total value of 3500 Euro. We hope this means more and better suggestions & a lot of interactivity from YOU! The 10 sponsors this year are  Andalucia O-Meeting in Spain February 14th-16th, MOC in Italy March 13th-15th, Bergen Sprint Camp in Norway January 31st-February 2nd, 3+3 Sälen in Sweden June 27th-29th, Ilves-3 in Estonia May 2nd-4th, OOCup or Bubo Cup in Slovenia at the end of July/start of August, Orievents training camp/NAOM in Portugal in January,  Portugal O-meeting in Portugal March 1st-4th, the North Americal Champs in Canada October 10th-13th, and 3 days of Trenches in Italy May 31st-June 2nd. See all details about the sponsors & prizes below – to me all of them are tempting!

Use the comments below, and submit either

1. The course which in your opinion is the best course you run in 2013 yourself!
2. The best course you set this year as a course-setter.
3. The overall best course you have seen/heard about in 2013

Most course-setters surely have to make some compromises, so finding the perfect one is probably not possible. Still, it is interesting to see which is the best course you run or set in 2013! Here are my choices for 2011.

Starting point

To provide you with a starting point, I’ve picked out a few very different candidates for you based on maps and courses I have seen in omaps.worldofo.com and comments on various webpages:

• To be a bit controversial, I put up the WOC sprint final course at the top of this page as one suggestion. All of you might not agree that this is the best course of the year – but it is definitely one of the courses which have been worked hardest on – including a transformation of the terrain from a “boring”, small Finnish town to an area with lots of interesting route choice options.
• The WOC long final should always be considered for the course of the year – in my opinion. But can the course this year compete against the competition? I spent a lot of time with the course setter – and many hours with the map & GPS-data to analyze the course – and especially the women’s course had a lot of nice tricks which worked very well.
  
• But WOC isn’t everything – there are many interesting courses on all levels out there. The most interesting course I ran in 2013 is the OOCup Ultimate course (without paths) on Day 4 this year. Extremely challenging with a good variation between leg lengths and challenges which at least fooled me into making more mistakes than I’ve done in years.
  
• And OK – the Pachacutec race in MacchPicchu or the Glenelg curiosity race at the Gale Crater, Mars will surely not win the prize for the course of the year 2013 – but don’t let it scare you away from sharing some of the more obscure courses you have seen (or run) this year.
  
  

I am sure you have a lot of better suggestions than the one I gave above – this is just a starting point to see the wide variety of candidates there are out there. Submit your suggestions now!

Rules

The following rules are given for “The course of the Year 2013″.

• The course must have been run in competition or training in 2013.
• Suggestions are submitted as a comment to this post – including link to the map with course in a quality which is good enough for the readers to understand the course and the challenges involved. Please add information about location/date if that is not clear from the link provided. Also include which sponsor prize you are interested in if you win.
• You must give a reason for why you think this course deserves to be named “The course of the Year 2013″ (or why it is the best course you run/set this year). All reasons are valid. Examples can for example be “varied orienteering challenges”, “extremely technical orienteering”, “high fun-factor”, “fantastic map”, “spectacular orienteering”, “fantastic nature” – a combination of these – or a totally different reason. To get all the way to the top you should probably have a combination of reasons…
• The course may be any discipline – e.g. a long distance, a middle distance, a sprint distance. It may also be a technical training course – like e.g. a corridor orienteering exercise.
• There will be a voting process among the readers of “World of O” in order to name “The course of the year 2013″. This is your second chance to win sponsor prizes!

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Prizes from our Sponsors

Prizes from our Sponsors always makes it more fun! There will be a prize for the first one suggesting the course which ends up becoming “The course of the Year 2013″, and prizes drawn among the ones suggesting and voting. All prizes are transferable to other persons (you don’t have to travel yourself).

Event sponsor: Andalucia-O-Meeting – February 14th -16th 2014

• Prize offered: Competition Package for 2 persons – including entry to 4 AOM events in 3 days, 5 nights in 4**** Barcelo Punta Umbria Beach Resort and a 4-map training package before or after the event. Value about 640 Euro. Transferable to other persons.
• After 4 very nice years in Canos De Meca (Barbate), AOM moves to Punta Umbria, Huelva province, West of Andalucia! New terrains, maps, accommodations and, as usual, high level competitions in a very mild climate! More info at aom2014.com

Event sponsor: MOC 2014 – March 13th-15th

• Prize offered: Competition, training and hotel package for one person: Entry for one person at the 10th anniversary of MOC Mediterranean Orienteering Championship in Tuscany + MOC sprint training camp in Venice district + accommodation half boards for 7 nights. Value about 500 euro. Transferable to other persons.
• You are welcome in MOC- Tuscany 2014! The Mediterranean Open Championship Orienteering 2014 is organized March 13th – March 15th. Final stage in Florence, UNESCO city. Orienteering with a lot of fun. Great events with world class runners! Read more at www.orienteering.it and www.facebook.com/pwtorienteering.

Event sponsor: Bergen Sprint Camp – January 31st-February 2nd 2014

• Prize offered: 2 packages – each consisting of 2 complete Bergen Sprint Camp packages: Entry for all 4 races + training Friday morning + Saturday evening program consisting of presentation held by World Champion Mårten Boström and dinner. Value about 400 Euro. Transferable to other persons.
• For the 5th time in a row, BSC is held in the city center of Bergen, Norway. We provide all participants with challenging courses, good maps and interesting analysis of the sessions – hoping to improve the sprint orienteering technique for everyone. See more at Sprint-Camp.blogspot.no – including all courses and analysis from previous editions of BSC.

Event sponsor: 3+3 Sälen – June 27th-29th 2014

• Prize offered: 2 BIG training+competition packages – each for 2 persons consisting of: Entry for the complete 3+3 2014 competition week + maps for 8 different trainings during the training camp + TUBE from Bagheera from Fjällmaraton Sälen. Value about 380 Euro. Transferable to other persons.
• 3+3 is a 3 Day orienteering event organized by Malungs OK in Sälen. The event is famous for its open landscape above the “tree-level” and good drawn maps and excellent combination of orienteering and holidays. The 2014 edition returns to the Hundfjället terrain made famous during O-Ringen 2008. More at 3plus3.se

Event sponsor: Ilves-3 – May 2nd – 4th 2014

• Prize offered: 2 packages – each for 2 persons – consisting of: Accommodation for 2 nights in a nice guesthouse (including breakfast) and start fee for the 3 Day competition Ilves-3 in Estonia. Value about 350 Euro. Transferable to other persons.
• Ilves-3 is an awesome 3-day competition weekend on relevant terrain for WOC 2017 in Estonia. Welcome to everybody – from kids to veterans. Get to know Estonian orienteering! More to come at OKIlves.ee

Event sponsor: OOCup / Bubo Cup 2014 – July/August 2014

• Prize offered: 2 packages – each for 2 people – consisting of: Your choice of full entry to either complete 5 day Bubo cup competition or complete 5 days OOCup competition + small Slovenia training package consisting of up to 3 training maps. Value up to 300 euro. Transferable to other persons.
• OOCup is a 5 Day orienteering event organized annually in Slovenia. The event is famous for its Karst orienteering and excellent combination of orienteering and holidays. Bubo cup is the younger brother of OOCup – offering the same excellent orienteering experiences and quality you are used to from OOCup – but with a more relaxed attitude at the events. You can even manage both races with some rest in between. Bubo Cup is organized from July 24th – 28th 2014 – OOCup from August 1st – 5th 2014. More at www.bubocup.com/ and oocup.com

Event sponsor: Orievents /Training Camps, Alto Alentejo, Portugal

• Prize offered: Competition + training package for 2 persons, consisting of: Entry for NAOM 2014 – January 25th/26th 2014 + training camp (6 trainings) + 3 days of accommodation in half board at Castelo de Vide Hotel. Value about 270 euro. Transferable to other persons.
• Orievents / GD4C’s Training Camps “Alto Alentejo” are an excellent training opportunity for Orienteering of good quality during the winter. Start the new season in training camps in Alto Alentejo, Portugal! More at www.naom.pt and about the training camp at Orievents.

Event sponsor: Portugal O-Meeting – March 1st-4th 2014

• Prize offered: 2 packages – each one for 2 persons – consisting of: Entry fees for the 4 stages of POM 2014, model events, night sprint, trail-O and regional dinner. Value about 260 euro. Transferable to other persons.
• Portugal O’ Meeting is already a well-known established international event, normally reaching the highest average points in World Ranking Events, excluding the World Championships. 2014’s Edition will be held nearby Serra da Estrela, on low grounds but with high density of rocky elements in all stages. More info at pom.pt/en/

Event sponsor: North American Orienteering Championships 2014 – October 10th-13th 2014

• Prize offered: A full NAOC2014 Package for 1 person – transferable to other person. Including all three races (sprint, middle, long), accomodation (hardfloor or camping), all model maps, all training maps, food (3 hot breakfast, 3 hot dinners including banquet),transport to and from airport. Value approximately 200 Euro.
• This biennial event is the largest and the premiere orienteering event in North America. With national team spots on the line, the best in North America will be there. The host town Arnprior, just outside Canada’s National Capital – Ottawa, is situated on the stunning Ottawa river and we are working together to bring you the best in orienteering and more. Expect the best that North America has to offer and get ready to take control as Orienteering Ottawa welcomes the world from October 10th to 13th, 2014! More at www.naoc2014.ca

Event sponsor: 3 days of Trenches 2014 – May 31st-June 2nd 2014

• Prize offered: 3 packages – each for 2 people – consisting of: Entry for 3 competitions, sprint, middle WRE and long WRE. A full package of training maps on WOC 2014 training terrains + a shirt for the event. Value about 200 euro. Transferable to other persons.
• The “3 days of Trenches” competitions will be held on 31st May, 1st June and 2nd June 2014 between Trentino and Veneto. Many national teams will use these competitions as final selection races for WOC 2014 so there should be very strong fields. 2014 is a special year for the Asiago plateau because it is the Centenary since the beginning of the First World War. On the Middle and Long terrain all runners will cross a lot of trenches, military buildings and caves used 100 years ago. It will be possible to visit many historical sites. More at the event’s Facebook page: facebook.com/3days2014