World of O News
Søren Bobach surprised everybody – including himself – by winning the World Orienteering Championships sprint in Venice this year. Although this was his biggest success, there are other courses this year the Dane likes even better.
Read on for the complete interview with Søren Bobach about his favourite courses and terrains this year.
Q: What was the best course you run in 2014 – and why?
The obvious choice would be WOC sprint :) I think that was a really nice sprint with some cool route choices and an amazing scenery. But I wouldn’t say that it’s the best course I have run this year. I think my choice falls on another sprint. Race the Castle in Sterling (see map here) is definitely one of my favorites this year. The reason why I chose this is because it had so many good elements. We started out in the castle of Stirling with a lot of tricky legs where you really had to find the right balance between running fast and reading the map. Later on the course there were some good route choice legs.
Especially the last long leg was tricky. I had to use a lot of time to find a route. I have the feeling that this was the leg this year were i spent most time. So overall I think it was a great sprint and really awesome to run i the castle.
Q: What was the most interesting orienteering terrain you run in in 2014 – and why?
Uhh that’s a tough one. I really liked the terrain around Balmoral Castle in Scotland (see map below – click here for the course in omaps) and I hope that WOC next year is similar in some parts. The terrain was tough but mostly the visibility and runnability was very good. Also the terrain varied a lot in difficulty and type. So you should adapt all the time. This was also a course I could have chosen as the best this year. There were some longer legs were we took different route choices so it wasn’t easy to see the best.
Other cool terrains this year I can mention Italy (WRE short before WOC, can’t remember the name of the terrain), Oringen 3rd and 4th day and finally ‘Lunsen’ in Uppsala.
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?
I was a little dissapointed when I saw the terrain for this years World Cup final but I was happily surprised by the course. I think it was a good course which used the terrain in the best possible way. So they did a really great job with that terrain. Because normally I think these “Mittelland” terrains are a bit boring.
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 haven’t set any courses myself this year.
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)?
This year I have run orienteering in 9 different countries(Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Italy, Switzerland, Finland, Scotland, Portugal and Turkey).
If we look in total I can add: Germany, France, Spain, Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Slovenia, Bulgaria and Australia. I think that is it or maybe I’ve forgot some ;) Ask my mom, she probably knows. But it would only be a total of 18 countries.
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?
At the beginning of next year I really look forward to go to Tasmania for the World Cup races but of course I look most forward to next years WOC in Scotland. That will be the biggest goal for next year.
I can’t pick one race that I look more forward to than another. Next year I will give more focus to both the middle and long distance, but also still the sprint. During the next couple of years I hope that I can gradually change my focus from sprint towards the forest disciplines. But I’ll have to see how my feet react to this change.
Q: Thanks a lot for the interview, Søren!
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
