Jurenikova: Tiomila favourite course – set 75(!) courses in 2013

– I have counted and so far this year I have set courses for about 75 trainings, Czech national team runner and Halden SK coach Eva Jurenikova answers when asked about how many courses she has set so far in 2013. Her highlight of the year on the course side was Tiomila – in the “open” race.

Eva Jurenikova is interviewed for “Course of the Year 2013″. Read on for the complete interview with Jurenikova – including links to a lot of interesting courses. You can also see all courses suggested so far here in slideshow mode.

Q: What was the best course you run in a competition 2013 – and why do you rate this course as the best?

I had to force myself to finally turn off my computer very late in the night to get a bit of sleep for the last leg

I think Tiomila courses deserve a nomination this year. After running the 4th leg in the women’s race, I was following GPS tracking of the “open” race throughout most of the night. I remember the excitement I was feeling, thinking wow, the course setter has done a good job here, creating those challenges. I had to force myself to finally turn off my computer very late in the night to get a bit of sleep for the last leg I was running in Halden SKs 3rd team in the morning.

Of course, Tiomila was a big goal for our club and we played important role in all classes, but that was only partly the reason for my excitement. Tiomila this year showed that it is possible to have an entertaining event and at the same time high quality terrain, maps and courses.

– What was the best training course you saw in 2013?

This training is designed to get runners running offensively from the start

When it comes to training, I will choose a course set by Tore Sandvik, my colleague coach in Halden SK and former elite runner. Tore has been thinking a lot about how we could train various relay situations. This course is a type of training we do very often – relay intervals – but here with a special twist.

• The course consists of 4 intervals, approx. 1,5km each.
• Mass-start on each interval.
• Points are given in the finish of each interval 10 (to the fastest) -8-6-5-4-3-2-1 but also extra points at the control marked with a thicker line. The first runner at this control receives 5 points but she/he also has to run to the extra control marked with red circle. The second runner receives 3 points and has to run to the blue one.
• This training is designed to get runners running offensively from the start.
• In addition some parts of the map are manipulated for flexibility and direction training.

– You set a lot of courses each year as a coach – now in Halden SK. Do you know how many courses you have set so far in 2013?
I have counted and so far this year I have set courses for about 75 trainings. In addition I have been setting “theoretical” courses on old maps as preparation for Tiomila, Jukola, WOC etc. Course setting is a great hobby of mine while it also is an important part of my job.

Since I started to work in Halden SK about a year ago I have been adding information about most o-technical trainings we have done to a list in google docs , to keep track of which trainings still have controls in the forest, who put the controls and also to store links to the maps or GPS analysis (link to document here).

Not all the courses on the list are set by me. Halden SK has at least 10 people who are able to set courses of very high quality. It is good for the runners to be exposed to different course setting styles and of course it is great for me to be able to do part of my training on courses I have not prepared myself.

I will share an exercise called corridows (map below)- a direction training which is a combination of corridors and windows. The idea comes from Matthieu Puech, French orienteering enthusiast, whose map archive is a source of inspiration for me.

Matthieu also helped me to fix the white fields in this exercise in OCAD. Even if I have been using OCAD since about 2005 I am still learning new things.

Here is another quite cool idea for an o-exercise from Matthieu.

Q: In which race or training did you have most fun in 2013 – and why?

The whole experience was very cool

Alta Badia WRE in September. The race took place in the centre of Dolomites, in altitude of 1600-2100m. There was a cable car to the arena and stunning views. I did not have big expectations on the technical difficulty of the race as I thought it would be easy orienteering in the open and semi-open areas. I could not be more wrong. The whole experience was very cool. After the race I tried to express my gratitude to the organizers for finding the terrain and putting up an interesting race in an area far away from their homes.

Q: What is the race you look most forward to in 2014?
If I will run WOC then WOC long distance. I like the hilly terrain and Dolomites in particular.

Q: What is the worst course you run in 2013?
Probably district championships in night orienteering. The course was OK but it did not work for the number of runners participating. It was a mass-start and only one small butterfly forking was used. In H21 there were 45 people running… You can hardly call something like this orienteering.

Q:  How much time do you typically spend to set a course for a training?

Normally between 0,5 and 2 hours but some courses take longer time, especially some multi-tech exercises, like  Höiås Multitech (see map/course below).

Many exercises I set are some kind of forked courses, so then I also spend some time on printing and on preparation of a special file with all forking alternatives for GPS analysis. For trainings I do not put much effort into the map design (frame, texts, extra graphics) like some other people do, but sometimes I am thinking that it would be fun to make the maps & courses look better. I believe that a nice design can increase motivation for the training.

Q: What are your goals for next year – and do you plan to change your training and/or focus in order to reach your goals in 2014?

I do not know yet. I keep on training, but I am not sure about my motivation for competing. In my head I have many ideas for coaching, club development, event organizing, and even sport politics. I know what it takes to be on the very top as an elite athlete and during the last months I have not been giving it enough, especially when it comes to recovery & sleep. There are so many aspects of orienteering I find interesting and fun to work on so I am fine with what I do right now.

Q: Will you focus on the World Cup even if all races count in the overall next year?

I believe we need more compact solutions for future to make it easier and cheaper for runners from more countries to participate

If I had the money and time, it would be interesting to participate in the whole series because most of the races seem to be more attractive (in terms of terrain and race format) now compared to the recent years . The Czech team has almost never done the whole world cup program (reason: too little fun for too much money). The best world cup season I have experienced was my first one, in 1998. There was no WOC that year but three or four blocks of races in places like Crohane mountain in Ireland (map below) or High Tatras in Slovakia. I believe we need more compact solutions for future to make it easier and cheaper for runners from more countries to participate. It is too complicated and too expensive to organize a world cup event now. If you have to pay 9000 euro for each race (IOF sanction fee), it is difficult for an organizer to put up more than 1-2 races. At the same time it is less attractive to travel to a place to run only one or two races, it is not cost effective. Also counting WOC in the overall world cup does not make too much sense now.

Q: Thanks a lot for sharing maps, courses and many interesting thoughts, Eva.

[Editors comment: Martin posted a better quality map in the comments below – thanks a lot! I could not find a higher quality map from the WC in 1998 – if you have one, then please let me know in the comments.]

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!

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