World of O News
What was the best orienteering course of 2016? The World Champs long distance in Scotland won in 2015 and the World Champs middle distance in Italy won in 2014. Before that we had two years with Portuguese winners: a spectacular sprint between boulders and old buildings in 2013 and some great technical orienteering at Portugal O-Meeting in 2012.
The search for the course of the year will be fun as always! The rules are simple: Suggest a course from a competition or training in 2016, and state the reason why you think this course deserves to be “The course of the Year 2016″. 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 2016″. And please, please, please state the reason for your suggestion – that’s where the fun & the passion for orienteering comes in!
YOU are the one to decide who takes the prestigious top spot this year- first by submitting suggestions – and then by voting. As part of the “Course of the Year 2016″ we plan to have some great interviews from top runners where they talk about their favourite courses and maps from the last year.
More than 5500 Euro worth of prizes for YOU
Prizes from sponsors make it more fun to be in on the suggestions and voting. This year we again have some great sponsors and prizes – with a total value of more than 5500 Euro – that is more than twice the amount we had in 2015! We hope this means many good suggestions & a lot of interactivity from YOU! See all details about the sponsors & prizes below!
Use the comments below, and submit either
- The course which in your opinion is the best course you run in 2016 yourself!
- The best course you set this year as a course-setter.
- The overall best course you have seen/heard about in 2016
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 2016!
Starting point
To provide you with a starting point, I’ve picked out a few different candidates for you based on maps and courses I have seen in omaps.worldofo.com and comments on various webpages:
- This year the world’s best juniors got served some very interesting and varied orienteering challenges at the Junior World Orienteering Championships in Switzerland. The men’s middle distance (map below) offered some really intriguing orienteering – including many interesting (micro) routechoices. Could this be a candidate for “Course of the Year 2016″? You can head over here and read the analysis of the men’s race (and the women’s race) and make up your own opinion…
- From a race in very technical terrain to an urban race; the World Championships Sprint. For the runners, this was the most important sprint race of the year. Was it good enough to qualify for the Course of the Year 2016 as well? That’s up to you to decide (see the men’s race analysis here and the women’s here) – but surely there are lots of other challenging urban courses out there which deserve to be compared with the World Championships course? If you remember a great course from the last year, post it in a comment below and remember to state WHY you think the course was great.
.
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 2016″.
- The course must have been run in competition or training in 2016 (an exeption for courses in December 2015 as they were not covered in last year’s contest)
- 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 2016″ (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 foot-orienteering 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 2016″. 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 2016″, 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: MOC Training Camp. March 4th – 12th 2017
- Prize offered: Package for 2 people consisting of accommodation in half board and entry fee for MOC Training Camp and MOC Championship 4th-12th March 2017. Value 1440 Euro. Transferrable to other persons.
- More information: 5 days of training camp with head coaches Janne Salmi and and Jaroslav Kacmarcik – IOF will test new formulas of sprint! MOC Championship will be organized in two UNESCO sites, Archeological Park of Paestum and Royal Residence of Caserta Park! See Bulletin MOC camp and Bulletin MOC Championship.
Event sponsor: Fin5 2017. July 10th – 15th 2017
- Prize offered: The traditional Fin5 Orienteering week offers one free Family package; participation for the whole Fin5 orienteering week includes max five starts for 2 adults and 1-3 children (age 16 or under) in competition series or in open courses. Transferable to other persons. Total value up to 645 euros.
- More information: Welcome to Tampere, Finland to enjoy the Fin5 Orienteering Week arranged at the same time with the Junior World Orienteering Championships 2017! Competition areas and arenas for Fin5 will be the same as for the JWOC-races. Fin5 offers you orienteering along high class tracks at three different terrains. Two forest orienteering terrains are located within 30 minutes driving distance from Tampere center. Sprint arena is in the city center. The largest inland city in Nordic countries offers versatile accommodation options and lots of activities during your visit. More information: 2017.fin5.fi.
Event sponsor: Estonian Orienteering Week 2017. July 1st – July 8th 2017
- Prize offered: Estonian Orienteering Week package for 2 persons consisting of entries to all 6 races (with the maximum value of 240 Euro) and hostel accommodation in Tartu for July 1st – 8th (value of 350 Euro). The package will be completed with WOC 2017 souvenirs. Total value about 600 Euros.Transferable to other persons.
- More information: Estonian Orienteering Week is the spectator race for the Nokian Tyres World Orienteering Championships 2017 taking place in beautiful Tartu and Southern Estonia. Estonian Orienteering Week allows you to enjoy your own races and be a spectator in the World Championships. Tartu, the WOC 2017 host town is the home of culture and good flavours with many historical landmarks and outdoor cafés. Southern Estonia is characterized by rolling hills, deep forests, blue lakes and quiant towns with old churches, manors and castle ruins. Welcome to Estonia! Read more at woc2017.ee/eow.
Software sponsor: OCAD Orienteering 12
- Prize offered: One licence for the software “OCAD Orienteering 12″. Value about 590 Euro. Transferable to other person (before activation).
- More information: OCAD 12 Orienteering – Perfect to Produce Orienteering Maps. This edition is dedicated for orienteering map making with a step-by-step wizard for analyzing of LiDAR data, mobile geodata capturing, smart editing and drawing tools, generalization tools, desktop publishing, course setting and much more. Read more at ocad.com.
Event sponsor: Antalya Orienteering Festival 2017. October 29th October – November 5th 2017
- Prize offered: One big Antalya Orienteering Festival package for one person: Accommodation + Entry for all 5 races + All Transfers. Value about 500 Euro. Transferable to other person.
- Antalya Orienteering Festival will be held for the 3rd time in Antalya, Turkey. We provide 5 different terrains and challenging courses, good maps and good weather for orienteering holiday. See more at www.antalyaofest.com
Event sponsor: Bergen Sprint Camp 2017. February 10th – 12th 2017
- Prize offered: Package for 2 people consisting of free start for all 4 high quality sprint competitions and accommodation for 2 persons for 2 nights February 10th – 12th 2017. Value about 450 Euro. Transferable to other persons.
- More information: For the 7th time, BSC is held in the city center of Bergen, Norway – established as one of the best sprint weekends organized, with several top WOC runners using it as part of their preparations. 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.
Software sponsor: Virtual-O
- Prize offered: 10 licenses of Virtual-O Founder’s Edition with exclusive content. Transferable to other persons until you activate the license key on Steam. Value about 400 Euro in total.
- More information: Try the new generation of orienteering simulator, and spend your next training in the virtual forest. Coming soon to Steam Early Access. More information at virtualo.org.
Event sponsor: Portugal “O” Meeting 2017. February 25th – 28th 2017
- Prize offered: 3 packages – each for 2 persons – transferable to other person. Consisting of entry to complete 4 day Portugal “O” Meeting 2017 – 2 model event + 4 official races + 1 Urban Night (Middle, Urban Nigth, Long, Middle-WRE, Long). Value about 330 EUR.
- More information: The Portugal “O” Meeting is a foot orienteering event, integrated in IOF’s World Ranking (IOF WRE) and in the Portuguese Orienteering Federation’s Cup. As in 2011 the POM 2017 is back to Alentejo where it merges with our event, North Alentejano “O” Meeting. Three neighbor Counties with excellent conditions for Tourism and Sports of Nature (Portalegre, Alter do Chão and Crato) join hands and work together to create an unforgettable event. Read more at pom.pt.
Event sponsor: Easter4 2017. April 14th – 17th 2017
- Prize offered: 2 packages – for 2 people – consisting of: Entry for the Easter4 competition in Slovenia + 3 training maps each + 4 nights accommodation in hostel. Value about 250 Euro. Transferable to other persons.
- Slovenia will be the place to be in Easter 2017. The new Easter4 race was a success in 2016 – and is again organized with the same high quality maps and courses as you are used to from OOCup, Lipica Open and Bubo Cup. Late easter in 2017 means even better conditions. More at easter4.com.
Event sponsor: Kainuu Orienteering Week. July 25th – 30th 2017
- Prize offered: 2 packages, each consisting of 2 free participations for the whole week in any class at Kainuu Orienteering week 2017 (competition or open). Total value up to 250 Euro. Transferable to other persons.
- More information: Kainuu Orienteering Week is one of the Finlands’s biggest orienteering week and the worlds’ second oldest orienteering week, as it has been held annually since the year 1966. Kainuu O-Week is held in the Kainuu region of Finland and traditionally the event is held in the beginning of July. In 2017 Kainuu Orienteering Week will celebrate the 50th anniversary week and it will be held exceptionally in the end of July. Come to enjoy the orienteering and holiday week for the whole family in the great sceneries and terrains and pure and beautiful nature of Kainuu region in Finland. First entry period will be closed on 30th of november 2016. For more information see www.rastiviikko.fi.
Event sponsor: Bubo Cup. August 1st – August 4th 2017
- Prize offered: 2 packages, each for 2 people consisting of entries for all 4 days of Bubo Cup 2017, Bubo Cup event T-shirt and training map for each. Value about 250 Euro. Transferable to other persons.
- More information: If you want to combine beach holidays under the Croatian sun on the island Cres with technical orienteering, Bubo cup is the perfect choice for you. Surprisingly enough you find very interesting orienteering here – partly Karst and partly the famous olive groves. Events are organized with early starts from 8 AM due to the heat – thus if not all of your family are orienteering enthusiasts, you can still have most of the day together at the beach. Read more at bubocup.com.
Best course i ran: Ösaträffen etapp 2 because the terrain was really nice and the course was difficult:
http://omaps.worldofo.com/index.php?id=177095
Prize: Ocad 12
Thanks for the suggestion, Oskar – looks like a worthy first suggestion. Both course and terrain look nice!
World champs long distance. A few really nice long legs and really nice terrain makes it course of the year for me!
http://www.tulospalvelu.fi/gps/20160825WOCLongM/?v=m3
Would like to have the ocad-prize.
Thanks, DR! Definitely nice course and terrain. I enjoyed both the terrain and many hours of analyzing the course (http://news.worldofo.com/2016/08/26/woc-long-men-2016-gps-splits-analysis/).
Definitely this year’s OOcup stage 2 middle distance:
http://www.oocup.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/S2_M21E.jpg
Spectacular orienteering with very high technical difficulty.
Would like VirtualO.
Agree, this was a very very nice race, such as stage 3
My favourite event this year – very, very nice & fun orienteering!
Swiss O Week Day 4 Maloja: http://karten.guedels.ch/show_map.php?user=remoruch&map=1192
Long distance in 3 different types of terrain made it challenging all the way and was definitely the course I enjoyed the most in 2016!
Thanks Kaspar! Saw the video, and looked fantastic from there at least…
http://www.o-gps-center.ru/viewer/event/1231/
Russian champinonship long. Most exhausting course i ran lsat year. There wasnt place to relax both technically and physically. Really wild terrain.
Prize: Fin5 2017
Nice! I had forgotten this one, looked great! Definitely a good candidate!
Nationale Sud-Est 2016 in St-Régis du Coin (42, France). My first big race in orienteering. All of the map is runable, nice long legs and start under the snow (the race was end of april)!! It was amazing for first experience!!
https://events.loggator.com/eoSlu5i03vzuXf3k
Thanks, RocheD! I hadn’t seen that one before.
London City Race in Rotherhithe (Canada Water), an area of former docklands south of the Thames. For me the definitely most fun course I ran this year: http://www.slow.routegadget.co.uk/rg2/#160&course=1
Area with a lot of variation, different kinds of housing estates and water features (canals, bridges). Interesting extra-long urban route choices! Great ISSOM mapping style. (http://slow.org.uk/racereports/london2016results/)
Prize: MOC
Thanks, Erik! Looks like a nice city race with all those long routechoice legs.
Sprint at World University orienteering Championship
http://wuoc2016.hu/files/sprint/Sprint_men.gif
a race were was and extremly fast running and very technically terain
Prize:Bergen sprint cup
Thanks, Hawell. That sprint definitely had some interesting legs and very varying conditions. I remember enjoying watching that one.
Blodslitet was (as usual) good for a lot of interesting route choices, I was unfortunately sick so I couldn’t run but I followed the race via the live GPS tracking.
Both the men and the women had several legs where the competitors varied significantly in the routes they took, this is very good for a mass start event.
http://www.tulospalvelu.fi/gps/20162210H21/
Thanks, Terje. Many nice routechoice legs in this year’s Blodslitet, indeed.
You already took JWOC middle which was going to be my top choice!
I also enjoyed a lot WOC middle distance, the course was very well planned and the terrain varying from the start to the finish. The course setter could provide high technical level which resulted in many mistakes from the top runners and different people in the lead all the time.
http://news.worldofo.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/map.png
Prize: Fin5 or BSC
Beat you to it, also had a head start:) I also really enjoyed running the WOC middle distance, definitively a good choice. Interesting to see that so many runners took the wrong choices out there…
I would say stage 5 of O’France held near Le Caylar : http://3drerun.worldofo.com/2d/index.php?idmult%5B%5D=181427
Wonderful long distance with long legs and tricky controls. Nice to run this amazing course made by Ludovic Ruiz.
Thanks, Maxime. I nearly chose that one for my intro article, but then I decided that I’d let somebody else have the pleasure (as I was quite sure it would be nominated).
The best course i have seen and run in 2016 is for sure the WOC Middle distance. I was lucky enough to do part of the course after the race and it was a very good course providing interesting orienteering all the way to the finish. For sure one of the most dramatic races of the year with some big names doing big mistakes. It was great to see Matthias Kyburz and Tove Alexandersson winning the race.
I would like the MOC Training camp prize.
Link to the WOC Middle course: https://www.tulospalvelu.fi/gps/20160823WOCMiddleM/?v=m3
Yep, as I wrote to Aaron above: Great course!
I think that stage 5 in O’France was so great that it deserves to be in the competetion.
http://omaps.worldofo.com/?id=181427
It is of course a very demanding area, but i think the course setter made a great job of balancing of hard the course had to be. Meanwhile i think there was good shifts between the technic you needed to use.
Yep, Maxime already suggested this one; and as I wrote to Maxime: I was quite sure this one would be nominated!
Finnish WOC-selection race, long distance M
http://www.tulospalvelu.fi/gps/20160626katsastusH/?v=m3
A couple of really nice long legs, demanding technically and physically as long distance race should be. A lot happened during the race because of route choices and physical differences. Even women’s course is worth of mentioning, traditional long distance orienteering with long and short legs and without any forking (moderate amount of controls.)
I am interested in OCAD 12.
Thanks, Jeba! I didn’t remember this one, but it looks like a really nice course indeed!
The best course of the year was the long HE of the cifo 2016 in Aguiar da Beira, Portugal because the terrain was really nice and very technically.
Have you got the ME course from that race? I seem to only be able to find the M50 course, http://omaps.worldofo.com/?id=172833.
Yes i have. http://cifo2016.ori-estarreja.pt/index.php/pt/mapas-elite-distancia-longa/
And i,m interested in OCAD 12.
The best corse of year 2016 was EOC 2016 sprint final http://www.eoc2016.cz/upload/live/SprintF_WomenA.jpg
Very difficult sprint, many options. Very beautiful countryside and views.
Prize: Estonian orienteering week 2017
Thanks, Ekaterina! I really enjoyed watching live GPS-tracking from it. Many interesting routechoices; the height differences made it extra interesting.
Czech middle champs. Course setter (and also national team runner) Jan Prochazka did really good job. Courses were challenging with both short legs in detailed rocks and longer ones in steep, stony slope.
http://www.tulospalvelu.fi/gps/20160626h/?v=m3
See also post-race analysis (in Czech only, but lot of pictures).
http://o-news.cz/mcr-kratka-trat-rozbor-muzskeho-a-finale/
As a price, I would like Bubo cup.
Thanks, LS! Looks like a nice course. Jan knows how to set courses :)
London City Race was definitely the race where I had the most fun this year. Tricky route choices in an urban area made the race very challenging with long discussions afterwards. That’s orienteering at its best! (http://slow.org.uk/racereports/london2016results/)
Prize: MOC
Thanks, Anna! Already suggested by Erik above; surely a good choice for nomination!
Since WOC long and OOCup day 2 are already mentioned, my next top pick is Lipica open day 2:
http://www.lipicaopen.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/DAY2_Long_Krajna-vas_KON%C4%8CNA.M21E.jpg
Sometimes I feel really sorry for being in organization and not running this races, but on the other side it’s nice to be part of such a great team and deliver races like this one.
Also, it was nice to see this terrain renewed and used again for long distance.
Here are some route-choices from this event: https://www.facebook.com/lipicaopen/posts/1022805051111443
Just love that type of terrain:) Looks like a nice course as well.
Best course I ran in 2016 was WOC long distance – nice (but also tough) terrain, challenging legs and mixture of different route-choice problems. http://omaps.worldofo.com/?id=184947
Best course I set was Slovak Karst Cup stage 1 (middle distance) M21E course: many runners came to the finish really surprised how difficult (both technically a physically) the course was… http://rg.orienteering.sk/cgi-bin/reitti.cgi?act=map&id=91
Prize: POM
Thanks, Krajo! WOC Long distance I am of course very aware of – great course & terrain.
Sloval Karst Cup was organized in a terrain type I really enjoy. Looks like you set a nice course there!
Since Kaspar has already taken Swiss-O-Week E4 (wich was really great!), I will have to go with Swedish League E3. Really though terrain and a course with a lot of routechoices. Also very varried forest.
http://denseln.se/kartarkiv/show_map.php?user=algirdas&map=52
Thanks, color! That’s not one of the courses I remembered from 2016, but it sure looks like a very nice course now when I took a real look at it. So many great courses – I am so happy to have help from all of you to bring the best ones out in the open.
World Cup event in Poland:
http://worldcup2016.pl/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/WC2016_sprint_final-WomenA-1.jpg
http://worldcup2016.pl/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/WC2016_sprint_final-WomenA-2.jpg
“Brilliant combination of high speed and navigation challenges”
Prize: MOC Training Camp. March 4th – 12th 2017
Thanks, Mikhail! Some nice & intricate sprint legs there!
The best sprint course 2016 Sweadish Leuge Sandviken 5 maj 2016 http://www.tulospalvelu.fi/gps/20160505SLMen/?v=m very intresting sprint, difficul selection of options, many of the same builds and the presence of additionall fences.
Prize: Estonian orienteering week 2017
Thanks a lot, Ivan. Incredible how creative course setters can set really nice courses in this type of area with the tools (fences) available now.
The best course i ran was Thierry Gueorgious course in lunsen. It is because it was difficult and it had all types of orientering. http://omaps.worldofo.com/index.php?id=177774
I ran it with Järfälla OK 2016 06 13
Prize: OCAD 12
Thanks, Niklas! I’m still waiting to get to Lunsen to run – looks like a magical place, especially for some night orienteering. I’m quite sure I’d get lost …
Best course i ran in 2016 was the Coppa Italia Middle H21 Elite at Monte Beigua: a mixture of slow and fast terrain, including extremely fast white forest, rocky and green areas, semi-open forest with marshes and streams, that provided continuous variation in the challenges to be faced. In many parts the terrain was more difficult than what you expect from the map. A very technical and funny race!!
https://events.loggator.com/YhvmOaYDBppwS3OV
Prize: Easter4 2017
Thanks, Luigi! Looks like a nice middle distance course with two very distinct ways of orienteering. That’s an excellent starting point for an excellent course.
I nominate Brussel O Meeting (and not just for it’s grerat abbreviation).
Brilliant area, with a good map. Nevertheless I made more error in this city than normally in a forest race (on a much shorter course than this one).
http://www.go78.org/doma/show_map.php?user=Nick.Campbell&map=1136
BOM
Thanks, Bernt! I had missed this one, but I can see that it is a challenging course.
Best sprint course I ran 2016 was the JFM Sprint – Fynsk Sprint Cup in Assens. An old Tobacco factory with detailed back yards set the scene for a busy orienteering experience, where you had to be focused all the time taking out routechoices and navigating them.
http://fynsksprintcup.dk/kort/E3/E3_Bane1.jpg
Prize: FIN5 2017 / JWOC
Thanks, Mads! Looks like there are quite a few nice routecoice challenges there. Good to see some courses from smaller events as well – not only the big events which have good courses.
By the way Emma Klingenberg was the course-setter.
It was a World Ranking Event, though :-)
Doesn’t have to be big to be a World Ranking Event :-) Doesn’t even have to be good courses, but this one did obviously have.
Best course I ran in 2016 was WUOC middle distance in Hungary, great variation between technical short legs and longer legs with different route possibilities.
http://www.tulospalvelu.fi/gps/2016wuocMiddleM/?v=m3
Prize: Bubo cup.
Thanks, DD. I remember analyzing that course (unfortunately GPS-data was not accurate everywhere), finding some interesting legs and microroute-choices.
The best course I ran in 2016 was 2016 North American Orienteering Championships in Hanover, New Hampshire USA – map Burnt Mountain. One of the best terrain-map ever.
http://tero42.free.fr/AP/20160924_naoc_ld.jpg
Prize: POM
Thanks, Todor! Very nice with an out-of-Europe map. And of course a great area; I already enjoyed looking at this course earlier this autumn.
http://www.bestik.cz/mapy/show_map.php?user=standa&map=5413
If the course of the year must be the most technical race, so it’s definitively the 4th stage of O’France.
A lot of people already know that map but the races on are rare.
It was the hardest race I ever run. Very hard to read the map while running but very pleasant due to the yellow ground. If you lose the contact with the map 10 seconds, it’s at least 2′ mistake. It looked like a giant maze’O.
Prize : Virtual’O
Thanks, MB. This region of France is getting higher and higher up on my priority list. Just waiting for an event there which does not crash with something I have to be at (like JWOC this year).
Nice terrain. POM or OCAD or Easter4.
http://www.routegadget.ch/binperl/reitti.cgi?act=map&id=173&kieli=
Nice terrain. POM or OCAD or Easter4.
Thanks, Hans. Looks like this is a regional race in Switzerland? Looks like the course setter had great fun setting the course in those rocks – and the runners probably even more…
O-idol 2016 on Resafjellet, Norway. An extremely interesting terrain – open and with many details. Great course as well, with a mix of long and short legs. Fantastic map and nature gives it a high “fun-factor”.
http://www.tulospalvelu.fi/gps/20160924H16/?v=m3
Prize: MOC Training Camp
Thanks, Simon! I actually nearly chose that one for my intro-article, but then settled on an urban race instead. But terrain looks really spectacular from the map, and the course also looks good.
Swedish League E6 (H21E course) was, in my opinion, the best course of the year. I had the opportunity to run this competition and the terrain was incredible and completely different from any other terrains in Sweden. This specific course was set in a really clever way because it made athletes use very different technics to be able to perform well (it had very fast and also really tricky parts). Many athletes had trouble and did mistakes during this course and I have to mention Gustav Bergam for doing such an impressive race that day!
The link for the course: https://www.livelox.com/Viewer/Swedish-League-6-medel-med-Kuxatraffen-dag-1/H21-Elit?classId=17691.
I would like the MOC training camp prize, please. :)
Thanks, Carolina! Looks like a varied course challenging the runners on different levels. Great – also thanks for the detailed reasoning behind your choice. Just like I like it – a good example for many of the others here!
PWT China tour 2016 stage 2.
25.10.2016 in Beijing Garden Expo Park
http://p-w-t.org/download/china16/map2m.jpg
Best course I ran (actually walked because of injury) this year. Totally unique terrain and a very good course with a good variation of route choices and technical parts.
Prize: Antalya Orienteering Festival 2017
Thanks, Tuomas! I never took time looking at the PWT China Tour courses as I had a timeout preparing for the busy November-December period at World of O, but this surely looks like a unique course. Thanks for pointing this out!
For me one of the best courses of 2016 was JWOC Middle in Switzerland, the terrain was really demanding and running there was pure fun! I hope to return back soon for some orienteering trainings or competitions. Another top race was Relay of the Dolomites in Castelrotto(Italy), typical alpine forest with some steep parts and marshes which made it more difficult. I really enjoyed the course and the atmosphere during and after the race. Can’t wait for next year! :)
https://events.loggator.com/RotD2016
Prize: MOC, FIN5 or POM
Thanks, MD! JWOC Middle was great, yes. And Castelrotto I’ve been enjoying several times, although your course looks a lot more interesting than what I’ve been at in that forest.
WUOC sprint was partly epic! The middle part was challenging. Men’s GPS-tracking: http://www.tulospalvelu.fi/gps/2016wuocSprintM/?v=m3
Interested in: Bergen Sprint Camp
Thanks, Marek. WUOC sprint was already suggested by Hawell above – a great choice!
The MTBO-World Cup middle distance in Panemune (Lithuania) this october offered great and fast-paced orientering, and required the competitior to have the right speed on the right places throughout the whole course. Great competition by the lithuanian organizers.
http://www.mtbo.lt/mtbo-world-cup-2016/#middle
Interested in: Virtual-O
Thanks, Thomas! Although Course of the Year is restricted to Foot-O events this year, it is nice to see a good MTBO-course as well!
The biggest competition of year is of course WORLD ORIENTEERING CHAMPIONSHIP. And historically most prestigious is Long. Sweden-Norway is home country for a mass of orienteers.
Tough weather conditions, challenging route choice on mixed type of terrain (in both Scandinavian countries :)
WOC Long distance course of the year http://news.worldofo.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/leg_06-12.jpg
Price Bubo-cup . Virtual-O
Thanks, Artem! Already suggested by DR above, but definitely a good choice!
Finnish long woc-qualification. http://www.tulospalvelu.fi/gps/20160626katsastusH/
Many good route choices combined with extremely hot weather.
Prize: estonian o week
Thanks, Faabio. Jeba already suggested that one above; still looks like an intriguing terrain and course!
Schellen Ursli OL in Ardez (spectator Event during JWOC)
http://karten.guedels.ch/show_map.php?user=pascal&map=1185
A fun little sprint through a pitoresque village. As no big or important competitions can be held in such a village due to too small passages, this semi-official spactator race was the perfect opportunity to have fun at competition speed. Several days later the capacity of the passages was further tested with a sprint relay training, during wich MMA-skills were an advantage ..:)
Prize: Estonian Orienteering Week
Thanks, Simon. Looks like a great sprint race. I was close by, but didn’t take myself time to go there. Looks like a really nice one, though.
http://doma.haldensk.no/map_images/3268.blank.jpg
Two weeks ago we were finally allowed to race on the WOC 2015 reserve map again, Culbin, one of the fastest, trickiest, and most beautiful dunes’ areas in the world! It was a very challenging course with necessary speed control and fine orienteering; going full speed in the white pine needle carpets to walking pace in the dense, intricate green. A world class area, famous among every British orienteer, and a suitably world class course!
Video here – (control S-1-2) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTrS9wzNiQk
Thanks, Sasha! Course and terrain looks kind of unreal…
JWOC long distance on “Val Müstair”
http://news.worldofo.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/mapmen.png
A good long distance with challenging route choices mixed up with some tricky technical controls.
Rerunning the course with a group of five runners, we could test all the choices and it was clear to us that the course setters did a great job in this awesome terrain.
Prize: MOC or Estonian O-Week
Thanks, Chris! Enjoyed that one – also the analysis of it:)
I suggest POM day 3- probably the slowest terrain, I’ve ever participated. It was a real challenge to avoid wild roses.
http://pom.pt/2016/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/M35-2.jpg
Prize: Bubo cup
Thanks, Aras. Lot’s of great terrain & great course setting in Portugal.
I’d say the Finnish champs long distance final was quite exciting this year http://www.tulospalvelu.fi/gps/2016smpitkaH21/?v=m3
prize: Fin5 / Virtual-O
I remember I enjoyed looking at the GPS-tracking from this one – some very interesting legs there. Not so clear to me why the fastest routes were fastest always. Nice course!
Norte Alentejano O’ Meeting 2016 Day1 Middle. Nice mix between fast sections and technical orienteering.
http://news.worldofo.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/P12-M21SE_Day1.png
prize: Virtual-O
Thanks, Guntars! Good setup for a middle distance there!
JWOC Relay has been a lot of fun to watch and especially to run afterwards. Enjoyable terrain throughout the whole course, a good mix between longer legs and short technical challenges and an area for the final loop which was almost to beautiful to run through (too) fast.
http://www.mysport.fi/mysport/my-doma/show_map.php?user=anton.kuukka&map=4100
Thanks, Philipp! Enjoyed that terrain as well – what a scenery. The courses (& forking) managed to split up the nervous juniors as well:)
Prize: MOC Training Camp
1: Ibearian Champs Middle Distance. Aguiar da Beira (POR). Fantastic terrain, course & cartography (J.Weckman&Timo Joensuu)
http://doma.haldensk.no/show_map.php?user=Tiago+Aires&map=2923
2: Australian Champs (Middle). Cascades (Queensland). Epic terrain, really good course setting and cartography as well.
http://www.numberoneaucklanddoma.com/maps/show_map.php?user=Matt&map=1491
Good choices, Manu! Great to have some help bring these out in the open. Especially nice to see a course from Australia.
Ultralong competition (18 km) on 4 map sheets (A3). Norway’s capital Oslo has a very big forest next to it, with topography and path network that eanbles many interesting route choices. Many of today’s courses have too many controls, leading all runners to follow more or less the same route. This course, on the other hand, has one leg of almost 4 km and several other long legs, but also some short legs for variation.
For actual route choices, please see. https://www.livelox.com/Viewer?courseId=29681. Of these, nobody took the “best” route choices on 1-2, which in my view is to follow the path to SW until the big forest road and then follow road and veichle track. I don’t think tthis route choice will give the best split time on the leg, but preserves more energy and thus gives a better total time.
Prize: Ocad12
Thanks for a very different course, Øivind. Looks like a real challenge – with 18 km in that kind of terrain…
Nomination: Fjord-O 2016, Day 3, H21
Nominated for: Spectacular setting with great views to the fjord, it felt very wild up there in part because there were no roads at all and just a couple hiking paths throughout the course. The final part of the course was especially challenging due to the vegetation mosaic (white, green, and marshes).
Link to the map: http://org.ntnu.no/ogruppa/sportslig/doma/show_map.php?user=Isak&map=8037
Preferred prize: Kainuu Orienteering Week
Close to home:) Thanks, Austris – great with this variation in different terrains and courses!
The best course i saw this year was from the World University Orienteering Championship Sprint Relay. This competition was held in Hungary, in Miskolc. The downtown is amazing. In the course there are several routechoises, lost of interesting places. There are tricky parts too.
http://www.wuoc2016.hu/files/sprint_relay/Sprint_Relay_Leg_2_Leg_3.gif
Prize i am interested in: Estonian Orienteering Week
WUOC seems to have been very nice competitions this year; several courses have been nominated as course of the year here. Thanks for this one, Tamas!
The JWOC Men’s Middle course.
Reason: I ran this repeatedly on Catching Features (I think it has expired now, though the ladies course might still be there), and still couldn’t get a clean run through that the first half, especially controls 2 and 8. Precision was required, which was hard to do at speed (especially when going downhill).
Prize: Finish 5-days. Been wanting to go for the past 30 years…
Loved it as well – that’s why I put it in the intro. Thanks for writing a good reasoning behind why it is a great course, Darren! And interesting to hear you played it so much in CF.
One of my favourite courses this year is the urban middle distance in Vaison-la-Romaine
( http://omaps.worldofo.com/?id=174378 ) a “warm-up” before the french championships in MD and club relay.
The course was like a time travel, starting in the ruins of an ancient roman settlement, then moving on, over the river, to the old medieval town, through the modern (19-20th century) town center, to the last part, around the ancient amphitheatre. The big variation of the area forced the runners to think in many different ways during the course, which made it really interesting. Bonus points for the enlarged map extracts!
Besides, the weather was great, and also the rest of the weekend we were offered great courses, in a beautiful and popular tourist region.
(Preferred prize: Bubo cup)
Great description of why the course is good, Marin. Makes you want to go out there running through the course!
One of my favourite course this year is the 10th swiss national race. Realy nice Jura forest, technical legs and some route choices. http://3drerun.worldofo.com/index.php?id=-385167&type=info
(preferred prize: Ocad or Fin5)
I really like the Jura terrain as well; and this looks like a very nice course as well. Thanks for the suggestion!
EYOC Long distance, Jaroslaw, Poland
Thanks, Malthe! I guess this is the map?
http://omaps.worldofo.com/?id=179781
Reading this discussion, it strikes me what a great sport we are doing but it also makes me a bit sad since I realize how many nice courses I have not run!
Personally the best course I ran was WOC spectator race in the long distance area, mostly due to the great terrain:
http://kart.tyrving.idrett.no/doma/show_map.php?user=bekeberg&map=841
Of course shorter, but tougher and as interesting per km as the real 2 days earlier.
A positive surprise was my leg at 10mila where I think the organizers and course setters made the best possible given the arena position.
http://www.tulospalvelu.fi/gps/2016051410milaH2/?v=m3
However next year’s 10mila will be better!
Nothing to be sad about – still lots of opportunities out there. And I remember meeting you in some great terrains with excellent courses, so I think you’re getting your share as well :)
But suggestions are excellent as well, thanks!
I had a lot of fun running the 6th Stage of Swiss-O-Week in Sils Maria! It was a good mix of technical and physical legs. Since it was a chasing start it was also fun to have some loops that were quite different in length, so you were able to see your opponents even if they were a few minutes ahead/behind you. Also the last 3 controls (after spectator control) were really tricky and you had to pay high attention, not easy if you were together with other runners fighting for a good overall placement!
Part 1: http://karten.guedels.ch/show_map.php?user=remoruch&map=1195
Part 2: http://karten.guedels.ch/show_map.php?user=remoruch&map=1196
Would like the Virtual-O ;)
Thanks a lot, Seba. Swiss-O-Week is always a great event! And even if it is difficult to choose the very best terrains when with all the constraints the organizers have with organizing an event this big, they manage to make interesting courses!
My friend Jonas Gustafsson and I had since two years said that we must go to the map Cap de l’Aljub in Alicante, Spain. When we had a training camp in Alicante in February we told the others we just had to go there, but they asked why we wanted to visit that green mess. The answer was that it would be an extraordinary orienteering experience, and that was exactly what it was! Trying to use the small green areas for navigating was a really big challenge and you really had to adjust your speed, those large mistakes are when I increased the speed just a tiny bit! To be euphoric when I come back even though I have made enormous mistakes says it all!
The training was split up into qualification and final:
http://vagval.snattringesk.se/show_map.php?user=Simon+Hector&map=416
Would take any prize but OCAD 12 sounds really good!
Thanks a lot, Simon! I’ve seen that map many times, and I’ve been wanting to run there as well (but I’m quite sure I’d get utterly lost, at least if there were no controls in the forest).
We had a coach with us to put out the controls but luckily someone had already done it, probably when Kalevan Rasti ran this training some month earlier. Would have been almost impossible to run with any speed without controls!
Ah, that’s good for you:)
My favourite course I ran this year was the Mens WUOC Sprint in Hungary – http://www.tulospalvelu.fi/gps/2016wuocSprintM//map
The course planning made really good use of the area, which was very interesting and beautiful. It was a sprint where you never had a moment spare to think. When I reached the finish I was quite surprised as I was so busy I hardly noticed any time passing!
I’d be interested in the MOC Sprint Camp please.
Thanks, Peter! Already suggested by two further up – which indicates that this should definitely be one of the better courses of the year.
Nomination: Latvian Championship, ultra long distance (men)
Nominated for: Mass start with interesting spreading method, where the first 5 control points (1a-2a..-5a) of the 1st loop were about the same as the first 5 controls (1b-2b..-5b) of the 2nd loop. Half of the runners had control points (1a-2a..-5a) in the first loop, other half had (1b-2b..-5b) in their first loop.
Link to the maps:
http://lof.lv/uploads/zinas_img_k/2016/A3_15_0001.jpg
http://lof.lv/uploads/zinas_img_k/2016/A3_15_0002.jpg
Preferred prize: Kainuu Orienteering Week
Nice with a detailed description of why you liked the course – which also looks very nice. Thanks!
I also run a lot of races in this year, most of them was Sprint races in some countries. All maps are uploaded on my website. After a review through my maps, I remembered labyrinth from Winter Cup Chisinau Competition.
Map is here: http://andreigolovei.ucoz.com/2016/maps/03_map_1.jpg
Were three floors in school. All three hallways were same (with 4 stairs). Second floor was with sporthall.
Was amazing to run for example from 3 to 4 -> first of all searching on same floor, after that search third. And you should expect it very fast. Craziest leg is 8->9, yes they are at same floor, but door was blocked. So, we should run to upstairs crossing all hallway, choose other stair, and run downstairs (same floor with 8th CP). Same leg 23->24. I passed it in 14.24min. I really liked it
Preferred prize: MOC Training Camp
Thanks, Andrei – this is also a very interesting type of orienteering. Good to see it here as well.
I must highlight Finnish Middle Champs men’s course, which shocked the winner Olli-Markus Taivainen so much that, after his performance, he praised the course setter in a very disorientated way on live TV broadcast followed by some 125 000 viewers :-) And in fact, the course was extraordinary middle course because, besides the typical nature of a middle distance (technical map reading and control approaches), the course also included lots of route choices and a tricky 14th control as the final challenge of the exhausting competition day.
The course and http://www.tulospalvelu.fi/gps/2016smkeskiH21/?v=m3
Desired prize: Estonian O-week or Ocad 12 professional
This definitively looks like an interesting middle distance course – thanks a lot for your contribution!
Swedish League was in my opinion of surpringsly low quality this year, maybe the swedes focused on the WOC (which too though was a target for critics), except for the last weekend with both sprint and middle courses with top quality. It might already been selected but I’ts the best course in my opinion. Both the terrain and course is really good. The terrain is varied, tough and includes many difficulties. The coursesetter has really used this map in the best way to test, trick and treat the runners. Truly the best orienteer win this course.
Linked a livelox link, https://www.livelox.com/Viewer/Swedish-League-6-medel-med-Kuxatraffen-dag-1/H21-Elit?classId=17691
Hope even if someone already nominated this course I compete for the prizes. If so I’d like the MOC.
Carolina already suggested above – but thanks anyway. And yes, you still compete for the prizes :)
My favourite of the ones I ran this year in Australia was the New South Wales state long distance championships:
http://routegadget.bigfootorienteers.com/cgi-bin/reitti.cgi?act=map&id=60&kieli=
This is one of those classic Australian areas where it’s contours, and nothing but contours. (For internationals who remember it, it’s next door to Sunset Mountain, used at the 2000 World Cup). The visibility in much of the area is quite low by Australian standards, so you can lose a lot of time if you lose contact with the map (and some people did) – this means you have to concentrate all the way, even on the 2km legs.
The Australian Middle Distance Championships (nominated above by Manu) was pretty good too.
Thanks Blair! Very nice with another Australian course. The different terrains (and therefore also types of courses) you meet all around the world is what makes orienteering such a fantastic sport.
Nomination: Belarus Championship Long.
The best cource I’ve ever been set was in the September 4, 2016.
Long Belarus Champ (cource M21E was held in twoloops with a map change (at control 12).
Location: north of Belarus. Polotsk region. Host club is OC “Eridan”
http://rg.obelarus.net/cgi-bin/reitti.cgi?act=map&id=201&kieli=
The terrain is very similar to the one that will be in Estonia for the WOC 2017. Visibility in white wood is limited. This is required from participants in a constant concentration on map reading and a good physical preparation.
On a relatively small map it turned out to make a real long cource (with not so many contols and some real long legs with chalanging route choices).
Prefered prize is MOC
Nice course – and reminds me a lot of what I saw in Estonia earlier this year, yes (a wet and tough experience!). Thanks for the suggestion,Aleksandr!
I choose the Long race in Hrabětice which was part of Czech A league this September. The terrain was very tough… there were blueberries and stones everywhere so you couldn’t know where would your leg end up. The weather was quite hot and terrain very hilly so I was very tired even after my 7 km track. I can’t imagine how difficult was it for men elite (H21E) with nearly 14 km. Even though my time wasn’t best I enjoyed this race probably the most this year. I must also highlight choice of the race center because when you didn’t run you couldn’t miss the spectacular view on surrounding mountains or you could take a short trip to the nearby watchtower.
Course here: http://www.obpostupy.cz/scripts/reitti.cgi?act=map&id=1135&kieli=cs (category H21E)
Some photos: https://tatran.rajce.idnes.cz/CP%2C_ZA%2C_ZB-Cechy_Hrabetice_-_sobota/
Official website: https://tatran.org/cp2016/en/ (in CZE or ENG language)
In case of winning some prize I choose Bubo cup or OCAD 12 or Virtual-O
Thanks, Matej! Looks like a tough but interesting course. Found GPS-tracking from the race here as well http://omaps.worldofo.com/index.php?id=186608
Hi Jan! Best course I ran in 2016 was the one at home. Nice Holidays 2016 held in two best sandstone terrains in “Bohemian Paradise” area – tough sandstone terrain, rock labyrinth and challenging legs.
For example 2nd stage M21: https://www.tulospalvelu.fi/gps/20160820h/?v=m3 And as you can see at this video also elite runners did huge mistakes! https://youtu.be/6vzzyD78ceo
Most challenging course I set this year was for sure EOC sprint final, it was a lot of work and a lot of compromises because of TV, but regarding to the reactions I think the course was both challenging for runner and interesting for TV spectator. http://www.eoc2016.cz/upload/live/SprintF_MenA.jpg
Prize: OCAD
I’ve wanted to travel to Nice Holidays for some time now, still haven’t manage to fit it into my schedule. These sandstone terrain are really very interesting to run in, and this looks like a very interesting course as well. Nice with the GPS-tracking!
And compliments to nice EOC Sprint course. Also suggested above (women’s course), so the women’s course is the one nominated this time.
My faviourite orienteering experience this year was O-Ringen Stage 4. Here is a link to a W21E map by Ursula Kadan: http://omaps.worldofo.com/index.php?id=182401
First of all the nature and weather were demostrating their grandeur. We had to take a sky lift to get up to the start. It was raining and the mountain was wrapped in clouds. I was running in the mist, rain and wind for the first half of my course, which was a very surreal experience, as I could not see far ahead. Weather cleared up during the long leg to control number 14. I could see far away where I wanted to go, but to reach I had to pass some swamps and very interesting terrain with other people running around, each in their own direction. Last part down the ski-slopes was fast, but very muddy. Incredible experience I had this summer!
Prize: Bergen Sprint Camp or MOC Training Camp
Thanks a lot, Maiki! Very nice area – and the course setters this time really managed to challenge the runners. I was surprised by all the mistakes we saw at O-Ringen in the elite classes this year.
This year’s NAOM edition in Portugal was relly cool. It was composed by three races: two middle distances and one night sprint. The first middle distance was for me the most challenging and exciting race of this year season. Although the heavy rain weather, all runners felt happy in the end.
I think the MSE course was very well planned, with some technical and tricky controls, mixed with bright open areas with good runnability, so you must be focused all the race. You could easily make a mistake by confusing two different stony areas. Runnabiltity was constantly changing.
Most of the legs had an easy route choice but the problem was on the arrival to the control and choosing the right attack points.
This is why I think it should be a finalist for the course of the year 2016
http://3drerun.worldofo.com/index.php?id=-387911&type=info
Prize: Estonian Orienteering Week
Lots of interesting orienteering in Portugal – this was another one. Thanks, Tomas!
The best course I ran this year was without a doubt OO Cup second day. Unique orienteering terrain in combination with sheer epicness of the scenery made this an unforgettable event. My route of Ultimate class here:
http://janistamuzs.lv/show_map.php?user=tamuzs&map=1300
But as OO Cup has already been mentioned before, I would like to suggest a course from Latvia – Middle distance championships in Ventspils, the same terrain where EOC 2008 Middle final was raced. Extremely detailed and still very fast terrain and a course with not many compromises made this one of the most difficult ones this year:
http://janistamuzs.lv/show_map.php?user=tamuzs&map=1319
I myself set some courses this year and one with not particularly special terrain which was made interesting by forking was Latvian Night orienteering championships. Even with mass start it made for an interesting individual race with true orienteering:
http://lof.lv/uploads/zinas_img_k/2016/kartes/6.dist.png
Also quite popular in Latvia is indoor orienteering and just last week I set a course in Latvian National Library (https://www.lnb.lv/sites/default/files/field/image/001143900003_i_sturmanis.jpg)
The course was set on 13 floors and for some people it was quite difficult. Here is the course: http://telpuorientesanas.lv/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/2posms_0001.jpg
And here is a video from the event: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlXgw_s-gv0
Prize: Bergen Sprint Camp
Thanks for good suggestions, Janis! Perfectly agree with you with OOCup Day 2 as I was there myself – very enjoyable, the most fun I had orienteering this year. Thanks also for the Lativan middle distance champs suggestion – also looks like a nice and varied course + the other two suggestions. 13 floors for indoor orienteering is quite something!
<> I am an orienteer from Hong Kong. We do not have this kind of detailed in HK so I decided to join this event all the way from the UK to Netherlands, about 14hrs transportation. The course is set very nicely which became a big challenge after all those long transportation and I broke my magnifying glass just 5 mins before start !
Map of 2days of Drenthe – day1 WRE middle : https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B2Ryog-J1nsbN21SUDVyWTFzNTg?usp=sharing
Prize : Fin5 2017
Thanks, Kin!
https://www.livelox.com/Viewer/SM-natt/H21?classId=13005
An interesting course in a difficult area to get a good course. The planner has been very clever with many route-choices and a good scattering method with different butterfly nests.
You should remeber it is not difficult to get a good course in a good area.
But what is a good course? I think a good course is when the planner has managed to get as much as possible of the terrain with varying distances in length, routing and difficulty. Night Swedish champs meets all requirements and is excellently suitable for night orienteering. Then there is of course very exciting to run in a terrain different from anything else.
Prize: MOC Training camp, please
Thanks for the suggestion, Zaltarn. Setting a good course is definitely easier in exciting terrains than in “boring” terrains – or when you have lots of constraints.
M20 Jwoc long distance (Val müstair)
http://www.jwoc2016.ch/?tab=Monday
very beautiful terrain and very physical race…
technical course with interesting route choices.
Price:fin5 2017 or ocad
Thanks, Walter. Has already been suggested, and is definitely a good choice!
For me this year’s JWOC edition was just amazing! I saw it live in the online TV. All the races were really well planned, with challenging courses and a lot of route choices for almost all controls. I think the winner of this year must be a JWOC course, but it’s hard to say what was the best one. I’ll pick up the M20 sprint in Scuol.
It was really tough, with big up and down-hills, combining with the smart course made by the course-setters. Nobody was expecting the fences in the park and I supose it was an unexpected obstacle for all runners. Most of the controls had two or more possible route choices.
I think the organization did it great with the media covering. This is what we need to share our sport and make it even more exciting to watch: with the TV cameras in some controls, the speaker and the GPS tracking. There is no excuse to the Olympic Comitee not to integrate orienteering in the list of olympic sports.
Prize: Estonian Orienteerin Week or Virtual-O
Thanks, Teresa! With that all the JWOC disciplines have been nominated. I was there, and it was truly a great week with lots of nice courses & terrains.
Like Aras I suggest a stage of the POM 2016. Personally I prefered the day 4 in Serrinha-Dongalinho because it was the perfect mix between the fast terrain of the day 2 and the slow terrain of the day 3. There was also a lot of interesting route choices.
http://pom.pt/2016/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/ME-4.jpg
Prize : Fin 5 2017, OCAD 12 or Virtual-O
Thanks, Archibald. Portugal is always high up on the list at Course of the Year!
Tunturisuunnistus 1st day. Only four controls but with real routechoices and great views. Unfortunately second day was foggy.
http://omaps.worldofo.com/index.php?id=183021
Prize: POM, OCAD12 or Virtual-O
Thanks, Eemeli. This looks like a very special race. Is it a normal orienteering race?
Kinda normal. Map scale is small and you run with your pair. Distances are really long and you get the best of Lapland. Not the most competitive of races but loads of fun. Two days in longest courses gave total of just under 60km of running.
Thanks! Sounds a lot like some of the mountain orienteering races we have in Norway. Nice!
The best course i have seen/heard about.
I was at the competition and i was the most technical course i ever have ran.
http://www.bestik.cz/mapy/show_map.php?user=standa&map=5413
Prize: OCAD, Portugal “O-meeting” and Virtual-O
Thanks, Søren! French 5 Days looked really superb this year – putting this terrain high up on my todo-list for the future :)
My top pick: This year’s Hamburg Sprint.
http://doma.osc-hamburg.de/show_map.php?user=timschroeder&map=42
Difficult terrain (2 levels) and great course which did not allow any lack of concentration. Course setter and main mapper was former national team runner Christian Teich. Many participants mentioned the race as best German sprint race 2016.
Thanks, Tim! Good to see a German course in here as well!
Best course to run in 2016: The Hungaria Cup’s Day 2, which also included the WUOC Sprint terrain. I ran the M16 course and it was technically very-very challenging. You had to make a quick decision but you had to consider different routes. Also, it was very challenging phisically, because it was all the way uphill in the gardens. And I really liked that you had to use 3 different kind of orienteering: first part was a high-speed run with little technical challenge. Second part was in the garden: slow running, good routechoices and not getting lost. The last two were not so good for me :) :) :) Part 3: high-speed park orienteering.
I think the best course of the year is also WUOC 2016 sprint Men’s. Little routechoices in the first part, than high-speed run in the middle, than low-speed techical run in the gardens with a map changing and a park-race in the last. Very challenging phisically and technically. And the garden was amazing! Waterfall, rocks, and labyrinth.
link: http://wuoc2016.hu/files/sprint/Sprint_men.gif
prize: BUBO Cup
Thanks, Marci! I’ll leave the WUOC 2016 Sprint as the nominated course here as these are quite similar.
The best sprint course I ran in 2016 was the WRE at Hallglen East as part of Graham Gristwood’s Sprint Scotland weekend. Planned by Kris Jones, on a typical Scottish 60’s housing estate that had the added complication of steep contours with steps/terrain route choices to add to the complexity of the terrain. The planner gave you no time to relax even on the tricky long leg and there was plenty scope for parallel error and entrapment. The contours made it a physical challenge as well adding oxygen debt into the equation.
http://www.soa.routegadget.co.uk/rg2/#55&course=1
Prize: Virtual O please.
Thanks, Andy! Nice sprint course by Kris there. Thanks for sharing & nominating!
POM 2016 was really good! I was involved in this year’s POM organization by puting out the controls for the athletes. We started working in the maps and choosing the place for the controls one year before the event and since the first day we thought that was going to be hard.
I choose the fourth day MSE course because it combined the fast terrain with the technical and slow areas, both used in the days before separetely. This was also the day that the elite runners started by chasing start, what improved the spectacularity of this race. With this distance, in this terrain, it was almost a ultra-long race.
Prize: Estonian Orienteering Week
http://pom.pt/2016/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/MSE-4.jpg
Thanks, Rafael. Nice course which has already been suggested!
This was regional ultralong this summer in Varvojärvi, Salo, Finland on 26th of june. I didn’t run that many races this year, but among all those 35 control long distances and 24 control middle distances this 11 control 16,2km course was absolutely refreshing to run. Great routechoise legs from start to finish. The terrain is pretty basic southern finnish but one of those really enjoyable ones. Sadly I had to walk home from the 9th control because of severe back pain. I’ll probably go back to run it again this fall. Hopefully I can finish it now.
https://goo.gl/photos/mkZ7uM1q4K7nNPp47
As a price I’d love to go to Italy in march.
Thanks for the suggestion, Peeter; looks like a tough one!
Norwegian Champs in Trail-O: http://org.ntnu.no/ogruppa/sportslig/doma/show_map.php?user=sverrets&map=8236
Reasons: varied orienteering challenges, extremely technical orienteering, high fun-factor, fantastic map, spectacular orienteering, fantastic nature and great prizes!
Thanks, Sverre! Only Foot-O courses will be nominated this year, but still nice to see a good Trail-O course here.
My suggestion is a sprint course, the 1st stage of Lisbon International Orienteering Meeting, the WRE sprint in Alfama, the oldest district of Lisbon: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HDqWENcvQBE/Vq5NPRZcAeI/AAAAAAAAvDg/wRJcCsX0WFw/s1600-h/LIOM_Sprint_ME.jpg
I didn’t run this course “for real” as I was organizing and puting out the controls, but ran several course tests before the event and I really could prove how tricky it was. The winners in the elite classes, Daniel Hubmann and Marika Teini had great performances on it.
I believe this was one of the most interesting sprint courses of the year, in one amazing urban terrain.
Prize: MOC
Thanks for the suggestion, Mariana! Yet another Portuguese nomination!
Many nice courses I ran this year are already nominated, but there is still this one I would like to be between them. It’s the middle distance test race for JWOC. It was in a really nice and difficult terrain, to reach the area you have to drive almost one hour up the moutain. We didn’t use a lot the most tricky part in the slower part of the map, but it was still really enjoyble.
http://doma.scom-mendrisio.ch/show_map.php?user=tobia.pezzati&map=411
This year I set a regional race in my home forest, which is maybe a bit green (dense trees) in Summer, but for the rest of the year it is ok, I think there were still some interesting route choices. (Special for HAL was the lenght of 7.9 km with at least 700 m uphill)
http://www.asti-ticino.ch/co/routeGadget/cgi-bin/reitti.cgi?act=map&id=128&kieli=
Prize: I would like Easter4
Thanks, Tobia! Nice to see some courses from interesting parts of Switzerland here!
My favourite corse it is WOC 2016 long distance Men!
http://www.tulospalvelu.fi/gps/20160825WOCLongM/
Prize: Portugal O meeting
Thanks, Andrey! WOC Long looks to be one of the favourites this year again :)
The best course for me this year was Suunto Games long distance in Haanja. What this course achieved was that it managed to get me away from orienteering and enjoy nice autumn Estonia. Also it would not let me get lazy and forced me to climb two highest hills in Estonia. Showed a lot of promise considering world championships next year.
http://rg.okvoru.ee/cgi-bin/reitti.cgi?act=map&id=154&kieli=
Prize: Antalaya Orienteering Festival 2017
I started that one, but struggled early on. Especially the first part of the course was great, the second part maybe had some constraints due to sharing terrain with the race the day after. Thanks for nice suggestion.
Che course: Belarus Championships Middle. M21E. http://rg.obelarus.net/cgi-bin/reitti.cgi?act=map&id=200&kieli=#
The reason: The WOC in next two years will be in this type of terrain. And of course I chose this course because I won it (-:
The prize: MOC training camp 2017
Thanks, Aleksei – second one from Belarus:)
It’s nice to see so many interesting courses! Although I love technical races and maps, I’d like to suggest something different: the leg I ran from control 2 to 3 of Málaga City Race in September. Who wouldn’t love to admire that stunning view while running? It was an amazing surprise!
Orienteering holidays are always the best! Málaga was particularly nice because we could combine 3 different orienteering races with lovely sightseeing, fine food and drinks, and beach relax. All in just a few days – Spanish festive atmosphere included ;)
Some pictures of the view of leg 2-3: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/p2wwxdubrb89tcv/AADePW8BFVDbQ529FUpAGmuaa?dl=0
Here you can see the whole map: http://omaps.worldofo.com/index.php?id=186638
Preferred prize: Bergen sprint camp
Thanks, Nina – nice with some diversity:)
The best course for me this year was first stage of Bubo Cup 2016 – beautiful middle in olive grove with stone walls everywhere! It was tough to run there, but also very nice to navigate there. You were there too Jan, so I hope you enjoyed it such as I did ;-)
Link to the map with course M14: http://omaps.worldofo.com/index.php?id=185424, in the evening I will post my map with M21 Ultimate – but I cant get to the map right now.
Prize: OCAD or Virtual-O or maybe Bubo ;)
I know all about it, yes. Really enjoyed it a lot – along with the second OOCup stage this was the highlight of my season.
My best experience this year, i would say the 5th stage of O’France in 21 E 16/07/2016, the Larzac area it’s a big challenge. It was my first time in this type of terrain and i cloud say that I had to learn the orienteering from the beginning. Mentally i felt in there like 10 years old discovering what is orienteering about.
Prize: Portugal “O” Meeting 2017
You are the third suggestion the 5th stage of O’France, so definitely one of the favourites this year I’d say!
Hmhm, I’m pointing out one of my favourite O-terrain
– Sprint in Tuscany >> SAN GIMIGNANO M ELITE https://events.loggator.com/UOY66I2cGpdnclt2 with nice scenario all the time, two different parts during the race (city with narrow streets + castle) and a challenging course that makes us forgetting it was raining like hell during the competition
A course at the end of the season..as a remind about how nice is to run orienteering and making us eager to compete soon again!
Prize: Virtual-O
Thanks, Alessio. Many nice Italian sprint courses in a year:)
I propose Finnish Championships Relay M21 in Kurikka
http://www.resultfellows.com/reittiharveli/gadget/cgi-bin/reitti.cgi?act=map&id=326
The course was great and varying with different challenges. First typical Ostrobothnian terrain with flat and green, then a nice hill with a really detailed slope followed by a long route choice leg. Then the end of the course around the biggest hill on the map with some very challenging orienteering directly after passing the arena. Extra plus to the course for offereing challenging orienteering all the way and still managing to queeze in an arena passage.
The terrain was also very nice, much better than typically in Ostrobothnia. The competition center was in a wind tourbine park.
I’m interested in Kainuu orienteering week.
Thanks, Andreas H – both for an interesting course and for a nice description of why the course is good. Different challenges in a course is always a plus!
Hi,
my personal favourite course of the year, besides all WOC and JWOC, which are very nice every year, was I think our Czech club championship. http://www.ok-bor.cz/mcr2016/files/mapy/MCRD2016-DOSPELI-1.gif
Very technical parts in sandstones and dense forest changing with fast parts in open terrain were great for relay!! Also I love to run in sandstone terrain, so there is no way I couldn’t love it.
Prize: Fin5 2017 or Virtual-O
Thanks, Stepan!
I would like to suggest the EOC Sprint Relay courses.
I did not run in the relay, but I stood on the sideline and watched it firsthand. I was amazed by the forking system, which defineatly made the relay more interesting and unpredictable all the way to the finnish line. The forkings made the routechoices very important and people could easily lose time, just hanging on the runner in front. It seem to me, that the runners were more stressed running this courses compared to other sprint relays, we have watched. Its not often that we see top runners making so many mistakes, without the competetion area being a “maze”.
http://www.eoc2016.cz/upload/live/sprint-relay-men.jpg
Interested: Antalya Orienteering Festival
Thanks, Andreas – nice with another sprint race!
I like the WOC Long distance, because it was a tough terrain with nearly no pathes all the time. I big challenge with difficult and long routechoices from the start. Thats how a long distance should look like.
Interested in Portugal O Meeting
Thanks, Matthias – definitely a favourite this year!
Norwegian Championship Sprint Final in Bergen 7th May:
http://omaps.worldofo.com/index.php?id=182625
http://www.tulospalvelu.fi/gps/20160507H21/?v=m3
A lot of short technical legs, in an area with a lot of narrow streets and stairs, mixed with demanding route choice legs, where you in addition to see what is shortest also needed to consider the climbing and runability (in steep stairs). Good usage of fences, with not too many of them, and quite clear to see on the map.
Norwegian Championship Sprint Relay in Bergen 8th may:
http://www.tulospalvelu.fi/gps/20160508ss4/?v=m3
Similar challenges as the individual final. Different route choices being best depending on which forking you have.
Prize: MOC, Estonia, BSC, Ocad 12, Babo or whatever.
A course I know very well – thanks for a nice suggestion:)
I have to say that one of the best courses I have seen this year is Easter4 stage1. I didn’t attend to this competition but last year I was in Slovenia and terrains there are beautiful. That course looks challenging and provides varied orienteering challenges but is still fast. It would be nice to run this course.
Prize: MOC Training Camp
https://events.loggator.com/Ajp-fluU3_lYKcAT
Thanks, Frillberg – enjoyed that one a lot as well! Nice to see that I’ve run at least 7-8 of the courses suggested..
http://wuoc2016.hu/files/long/Long_men.gif
WOUC long distance. The 3. leg is really interesting, severel different routs were choosen. The terrarian, the forest is beautiful, probably the best in Hungary (for me). The valleys are very interesting, and technically tricky.
Prize: Estonian Orienteering Week
WUOC is obviously very popular this year – I think now have all disciplines been suggested. I did enjoy the GPS-tracking from this course, though!
I would like to nominated German Sprint Champs. Couse set by German international Bjarne Friedrichs. The managed to get acces to a lot of private garden areas and create a demanding course. I´m far away from beeing asprinter but this course really impressed me.
M35 (my course):
http://www.doma.leberkaesbriegel.de/show_map.php?user=Steffen&map=718
All courses:
http://www.orientierungslauf.de/routegadget/reitti.cgi?act=map&id=128&kieli=
Thank you, Steffen – the second German sprint race suggested:)
http://www.ifkgbgol.nu/doma/show_map.php?user=tanmvg&map=439
Since it´s OK to suggest a course you set yourself, I submit the H21 course (5.3 km) from OK Orintos national event 8th May.
It´s a good technical area but a challenge is that the area is very small. Tried to create as many routechoice legs as possible to force the runners to make decisions all the time.
Prize: Estonian Orienteering Week.
Thanks, Carl-Henry. Looks like an enjoyable middle distance course!
Non of my courses I run this year in M60- is worth a price. The terrain of O-France Larzac is realy worth a nomination, but this is not the case here. I will vote for Mens long distance in this years WOC. It is always a big challenge for a course setter to find a good long distance leg and test it properly. And I think this is documented very well by the gps tool as well as it also is the remaing part of the course. The runner had to use all their o-technical skills in the ever changing terrain.
If one should be lucky I would like go to fin5, Tampere
Thanks, Bjarne. Yet another nomination for WOC Long, really has impressed many people!
This was the Portuguese relay national championship in Arraiolos. This map is just awesome to this kind of competitions due to the technical, with slow runnability, terrain mixed with the fast and open areas. The course-setter took advantage of it by the best way, creating a breathtaking and non-stop race.
https://scontent.fopo1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/t31.0-8/s960x960/13403367_778551148965239_3465394279868880031_o.jpg
I would really like to go to the WOC in Estonia next year. It is a childhood dream to watch a WOC competition alive and I haven’t had the chance to realise it so far.
Thanks, Ilidio – the last of many Portuguese nominations this year!
I suggest the men’s (“Herren Elite”) course that I set for the German Champs in Sprint Orienteering. It was run on September 10th 2016 in my home town Seesen: http://www.orientierungslauf.de/routegadget/reitti.cgi?act=map&id=128&kieli=
The course is full of challenges: Varying terrain (schools with different levels, sports grounds, private gardens (!), housing estate and park), plenty of long and short route choices and, first ever in Germany, artificial barriers. The special thing about them is that we used a 30m long wooden wall that is built every year for northern Germany’s biggest historical festival. Thanks to this, we could also use a wonderful arena for competition and price giving ceremony: https://planetaradebeul.files.wordpress.com/2016/09/wkz-der-dm-sprint.jpg?w=584
In case of winning, I’d choose the price “OCAD Orienteering 12″ license.
Thanks, Bjarne! Already suggested by Steffen above – but nice to get some thoughts about the course from the course setter.
Jan, which is your time zone? :D
Same as you, but no problem :-)
One more 2016 great race from Australia:
http://www.tulospalvelu.fi/gps/20161001auslongm20e/?v=m3
Portugal O Meeting
Sure it was! Really nice terrain and course well planned.
I’d like to nominate JWOC Relay. It must have been so difficult to plan such a nice course on an area like this, with such a small arena but beautiful terrain. The final result was impressive.
http://www.trent-o.org/doma/show_map.php?user=stefano.raus&map=265
Also I think this year we had JWOC Middle distance and OOCUP 2nd Stage as amazing courses.
Fin5 in Tampere or Estonian Week during WOC, if I’m still in time for suggestions.
And thanks Jan for organizing this every year!
http://www.matrace.fr/gadget/cgi/reitti.cgi?act=map&id=926&kieli=fr
One of the most memorable races of the year was stage 2 of the O’france 2016.
I was not in shape physically but on these grounds, it was not the most important …
The first competitors left under the storm and the rain soon gave way to the fog … arrived at the point 6 (A-Bis), I saw only 30 meters. As if the ground was not hard enough like that!
Luckily the conditions improved afterwards and I was able to catch up with a friend of my club left 15mn before me. We were of the same level and it was very funny to do a part of this race together. He then overtook me on the end of the race on a mistake on my part. Besides the pleasure of running against the weather and with a friend, I really liked the alternating terrain between long itinerary choices in the rocky plain and technical areas in the forest. Five memorable days in Aveyron!