World of O News
Danish star Ida Bobach has had a great season this year with two WOC silver medals and a World Cup victory. Her favorite course of the year was in Italy at the most important race of the year: The WOC middle distance. – The course was set so that the winner of the WOC middle distance was the one who was best at adapting to new challenges and always stay in focus, Bobach says in this interview. – I very much liked that.
Read on for the complete interview with Ida Bobach about her favourite courses and terrains this year.
Q: What was the best course you run in 2014 – and why?
I think it must be the WOC middle distance. The course and terrain had parts with really diverse characteristics and these were very challenging in different ways. I felt “entertained” the whole way around. In the parts where the technical challenge was not very hard, I had to focus on my running skills: fighting up the hills, running steep downhill or navigating through stony terrain. The course was set so that the winner of the WOC middle distance was the one who was best at adapting to new challenges and always stay in focus. I very much liked that.
Illustration: The men’s WOC 2014 middle distance course. The women’s course (see this link) had many similar elements.
Q: What was the most interesting orienteering terrain you run in in 2014 – and why?
I think Sölvesborgsetappen, the 4. stage of O-Ringen was really interesting. The terrain was changing a lot from east to west and from north to south. There were some really tricky areas with a lot of details and limited visibility, areas with many contour details and great visibility and there were areas with few details, some with good visibility and others with poor visibility.
Illustration: Part of Men Elite course from O-Ringen 2014 E4. See the women’s course in GPSSeuranta here.
Q: Usually the courses in interesting terrains are the ones you remember – so a challenge for you: Can you remember a very good course you ran in “boring” terrain this year?
The last stage of O-Ringen , Österlenetappen (see course), was held in a bit of a boring terrain, but I think the course setter managed to set a course with exciting challenges. The course had some good long legs and generally the course was varied really well.
Q: What is the worst course you run in 2014?
I know EOC has got a lot of negative feedback and I’m not happy to give some more, because I respect all the work that has been put into this championship. But I have to say that the relay course probably was the worst course (see course). The beginning of the course was actually fine but from control no. 6 there was not much orienteering left. The controls were not difficult to find and there was a lot of running on paths.
Q: Did you set any courses in 2014? If so, is it possible to share the best (in your opinion) with World of O’s readers?
I have only set a few courses this year. One of them was a course at a summer camp (see below – click here for full size map). It was a “control picking” course with a few “rest your head” legs.
Q: In how many countries did you run orienteering in 2014 (difficult question, I know – maybe you can even tell how many countries you have orienteered in in total)?
I’ve orienteered in 8 countries this year, and I think that I have a total of 18 countries, in which I have orienteered.
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 2015?
Of course my big goal is WOC in Scotland and I will focus on middle, long and relay. My goal is to come home with at least two medals. I will also try to focus on the overall world cup and I’m going to Tasmania for the first world cup round to do this.
Last year I wasn’t able to run very much during winter due to Achilles problems and I never really had some great long distance training. So this year I will try to get a lot more long runs and also some more long distance competition trainings.
Q: Thanks a lot for the interview, Ida – and enjoy your winter training!
Rules for “Course of the Year 2014″
The following rules are given for “The course of the Year 2014″ (see the intro-article for all details).
- The course must have been run in competition or training in 2014.
- 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 2014″ (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 2014″. 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 2014″, 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 2015. 27th-28th February & 1st March 2015
- Prize offered: AOM Competition Package for 4 persons – including entry to 4 events in 3 days, 4 nights accommodation in apartment and a 4-map training package before or after the event. Value about 600 Euro. Transferable to other persons.
- Sweet terrains and maps, nearby accommodations and high level competitions (2 WREs) in a very mild climate! More info at aom2015.com
Event sponsor: Liburnija Orienteering Meeting 2015. 14th-15th March 2015
- Prize offered: Big club package with entry for Liburnija Orienteering Meeting 2015 for 10 persons! Value about 200 Euro. Transferable to other person(s).
- The second edition of Liburnija Orienteering Meeting will be organized on the snow-free terrains of the island of Krk from 14th-15th of March 2015. Our vision is that this event becomes one of highlights of winter orienteering events in Europe for elite runners so therefore expect demanding courses and extreme terrain. Read more here
Event sponsor: Bergen Sprint Camp – January 30th – February 1st 2015
- 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 presentations and dinner. Value about 375 Euro. Transferable to other persons.
- For the 6th 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: Orievents / NAOM 2015. 31st January – 1st February 2015
- Prize offered: Competition + training package for 2 persons, consisting of: Entry for NAOM 2015 (January 31st – Middle + WRE Sprint (Marvão), February 1st – Middle distance) + training camp (6 trainings) + 3 days of accommodation in half board. Value about 270 Euro. Transferable to other persons.
- Orievents 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 2015. 13th – 17th February 2015
- Prize offered: 2 packages – each one for 2 persons – consisting of: Entry fees for the 4 stages of POM 2015, model events, night sprint and sprint relay. Value about 200 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 and World Cup events. More at pom.pt.
Event sponsor: Lipica Open 2015. 7th – 11th March 2015
- Prize offered: 3 packages – each for 2 people – consisting of: Entry to complete 5 day Lipica Open competition + Slovenia training package consisting of up to 3 trainings. Value about 300 euro. Transferable to other persons.
- In 2015 Lipica open will again be organized as a 5 day event. Again we will add some new terrain and combine diverse areas. Training conditions in this part of Europe are now better than ever – both on forest maps and on sprint maps of nice little towns on the Adriatic coast! More at www.lipicaopen.com – for trainings see www.orienteering.si
Event sponsor: Kopaonik Open 2015
- Prize offered: 2 competition packages, each consisting of 2 entries to Kopaonik open 2015 (5 competition stages + 1 training)
and the Cup of Raska 2015 entry fee (1 competition stage). Value about 200 Euro. Transferable to other persons. - We are offering to you 6 days of orienteering challenges for you, combination of two classical long, two middle and one sprint distance challenges plus one night orienteering challenge with separate ranking, 1 training plus 6 competition stages in total. For more info see www.kopaonikopen.org
