WUOC 2018 – World University Orienteering Championships

A small team of student orienteers are currently competing in WUOC in Kuortane, Finland.

Niamh Corbett, Roisin Long, Aoife McCavana and Paul Pruzina are representing the Irish university students at the competition. Mike Long is team leader for the trip and has been sending regular updates  which have been posted on Social media. For those who abstain from social media I will update this post as I receive further messages so please pop back and check for updates!

The WUOC calendar began with a mixed Sprint relay on Tuesday, the competition was fast and furious with previous WOC and JWOC competitors there was stiff competition. The Irish team did well, with Aoife taking a men’s leg. The team had clean runs and finished in 20th place.

Wednesday was middle distance with a very tough course on vague terrain with 2.5m contours making relocation tricky.  The forest was beautiful but the heat was also getting the best of our runners leaving them disappointed. A section of the map is below.

Thursday was individual sprint classes. Athletes were happy with their runs and results much improved lifting their spirits. Many of the other teams have a full contingent of six members, allowing specialism in distance and a rest day between events.

Friday saw the long distance with temperatures still in the 30’s it was hard going. The plan was to take it at a steady pace and concentrate on minimal errors, the plan worked well and all athletes came home with no significant errors. Smiles from the team post race below.

Above you can see a section of the map which was a decisive leg for the women’s race. Join in the conversation on route choice on instagram or facebook.

WUOC ended with a very technical Relay in the forest. Paul had a good leg within a mixed nation team. The ladies had clean runs and finished 28th place.

A final report can be found at Student Sport Ireland page, I’m not sure who wrote it!