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After the first 3 days we moved on to the WOC terrain properly and were not disappointed. The forest became a little less challenging physically, but had the same technical difficulty making the orienteering some of the most challenging in the world.

Day 4 was the WOC classic long distance area. Several of the longest courses visited the viewpoint overlooking the Aix/Chambery Lake with spectacular views but I had to be content with a simply sublime Kaast forest. I ran cleanly, very happy with the way I was navigating after the difficulties of day 3. The last few controls were a bit of a cross country race to get us into the main WOC arena, but it was worth it to come down the same run in.

Day 5 for M21B was a bit of a disappointment. I enjoyed my course but felt a little short changed finishing in 30 minutes after a clean run. Our course avoided a technical bit of grot most of the other classes took in and we had a few path route choice options. On the plus side my injury seemed to be getting better enabling me to run significant bits of the course.

And so to Day 6, on the WOC middle distance terrain and one of the best orienteering areas I have ever run on. Complex contour and rock detail in a runable forest with good visibility. I made a huge mistake losing 10 minutes, but this time was revelling in the challenge rather than being frustrated at fighting with the terrain as on day 3. I nailed 2 or 3 particularly tough legs and finished into the WOC arena just as the organisers were getting geared up for the WOC relays in the afternoon. I ended up 7th overall (Stampy was 3rd) on M21B and, given my lack of running fitness, am quite happy with my performances. Hopefully 6 intense days of some of the hardest navigation I have ever done should set me up nicely for the run-up to the MTBO European Champs next month.

Day 3 of the WOC spectator races for me was a total disaster. Our bus to the assembly arena was very delayed, I missed my start, got wound up by the start officials who to begin with said I could have a punching start and then said no on the start line. I then sprinted off in a foul mood and pretty much blew every other control losing countless minutes my head full of every thought other than that of the task in hand.

It was a real lesson in lack of mental preparation. I just could not make the small contour detail on the map fit the ground and felt I was running with a cupboard bare of the skills I needed to get round such a tough course on a physically demanding area.

In the end it was just a case of getting round with out retiring and writing off a bad day, as in the overall results it is the best 5 of 6 to count.

Day 2 of the spectator races for WOC 2011 were back in the same arena as the first day. After the walk of the previous day we opted for the bussing option that worked perfectly, especially as the rain poured down as we wound our way up the mountain. Umbrellas out, it continued to hose it down as we desperately searched the finish arena for some protection. Luckily the WOC competitors shelters were still up, so we stood tall and official-looking and piled into one, glad of the chance to prepare for our runs out of the rain.

Day 2’s terrain was the same map as the middle distance WOC qualifiers of the day before, rough karst limestone, with low visibility and many fallen trees and brashings. A home made cardboard sign on the way to the start read ‘careful many holes’ and ‘very sleepy’. I think by the end of the day a few people were feeling sleepy, judging by how long they were out on their courses.

After a couple of easy controls following tracks to lull us into a false sense of security it was bam, into the wet rough forest, climbing over fallen trees, down crags and slippery moss strewn rocky slopes. It was a primeval experience, expecting any minute a dinosaur to appear from behind a rock or Rambo to jump up with a scary look on his face brandishing some home made weapon.

Eventually we were spat out of the forest into a huge grassy valley complete with cows, but the respite only lasted a couple of controls before a viscous climb took us back up hill before a last encounter with the limestone forest. I had walked almost the entire course but again I think it wasn’t a bad strategy as I lost little time to mistakes.

Afterwards their were horror stories of 1hr per km and people lost for up to 30 mins on legs, but I rather enjoyed by encounter. There is a rest day tomorrow so that we can all visit Aix le Bains and Chambery for the WOC sprint qualifiers and finals.

A 7am alarm clock is not everybody’s idea of a first day on holiday but as the World Orienteering Championships spectator courses (we have decided we are ‘WOCtators’) were run before the Middle Qualification races we had an early start. We also had a particularly steep and long walk up the linear car park which was the access road to the mountain top!

We were expecting roughty toughty courses, with such short lengths and fairly big amounts of climb and boy did we get them.

My psoas injury is still playing me up for running so I decided to walk and perhaps jog some of the downs but this didn’t really slow me up too much as the challenging terrain forced most people to walk. In fact the elites later in the day were struggling to get under 10 mins per km on the rocky steep slopes.

I started well and nailed number one but had a big wobble on two and ran straight past it. Going to 3 I was convinced I was running down into a valley so was on rough navigation, going for the bottom. It then dawned on me that there was no bottom, well not for a long time, and that I had lost contact with the map. After a minute or so I started heading back up the mountain to relocate. Luckily fellow chaser Iain Stamp came piling down with look of confidence. I turned and followed him down the hill, Iain calling the terrain, only it still didn’t make sense. Afterwards he told me he had made exactly the same error, thinking we were piling down to a valley bottom. Eventually, joined by a frenchman, we relocated and found the control. I had a clean rest of my course, taking the straightest routes due to not running but managed a jog up the run in where the WOC runners would come sprinting up through later in the day.

Unfortunately Holly had an encounter with some wasps on her D10 race. The course was bonkers difficult and the combination of 5 stings and a non found control had left her not a happy girl. I got a lift back to the campsite with her while the others stayed to watch the qualifiers. The arena was not brilliant for spectating but the atmosphere was good, with Per commentating as usual. I managed to grab an hour later and cycled back up the gruelling hill to the arena and saw a few finish, but I had promised Holly a swim in the lake so I soon zoomed back down the hill (20 minutes of flat out descent) for a refreshing dip.