2022 WORLD CUP & EOC

Emily Sorensen’s World Cup & EOC recollections

(ORIGINALLY WRITTEN FOR E-NEWS)

The European Orienteering Championships/World Cup Round 2 in Estonia was one of the toughest orienteering experiences and a huge learning curve for me. This was my first World Cup race and although we’d been at WOC a month before it was still quite intimidating as the teams were bigger so the depth was significantly bigger. On the first day in Estonia, we went to the Model event where we learned lots about the terrain which was quite different to what we have in Australia. However, unfortunately, the Model map was actually quite different to the competition terrain and therefore did not fill us with much confidence! While scattered open would normally be quite dreamy in Australia, on these maps it’s something we quickly learned to avoid. Think head height stinging nettles, or grass with lots of fallen trees and stumps underfoot – my ankles never felt safe when running through here. The green was generally better than the yellow, but notably on the Middle Distance there were patches of thick vine-like plants that felt like smashing through a jungle. The race agenda for the week was Middle Distance qualification, Long Distance, Middle Distance Final, and Relay. Each of these races were challenging in their own way. I found the Middle Distance qualification tricky with a few controls giving me trouble, but overall,

Aussie Team at World Cup Round 2 in Estonia.

I was mostly happy with my performance given the lack of experience in the terrain. My main issue was that what I expected to see from reading the map was different to what I saw in the terrain, which lead to me being easily confused and hesitating a lot. It wasn’t the race I was hoping to have, but I have learnt a lot from it after reflection. The second race was the Long Distance, and I don’t think I’ll be forgetting it anytime soon. Filled with two crossings of a field of head height nettles and getting stuck chest height in marshes, it was a big day out (for everyone). For my 12.9km course I ended up covering 17.2km, which was the longest I’d run for a long time due to an injury I picked up at Easter. After learning lots from the previous day, I managed to pull it together for a long but for the majority clean race. Being a very early starter meant I was also able to watch the boys on the tracking and cheer them in the Finish which was good fun. Running first leg in a Relay is something I’ve only done a couple times before having always tried to avoid the position every time the occasion arose. In saying that, it was very cool to have the opportunity to do so in such a high-pressure situation. I’m still not sure if it’s for me but I enjoyed the experience, nonetheless. When we weren’t racing, our down time was filled with map geeking, bulletin reading, uni work, basketball, a touch of sight-seeing and multiple scooter trips to the supermarket for snacks supplies. All in all, it was an experience I will not forget, and I can say with confidence that it has helped me and all the others on the Team develop as an orienteers.