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Tuesday 1st: Haughmond, Shrewsbury (WRE)
Sunday 6th: West Midland Relays, Long Mynd, Church Stretton (WRE)
and Trailquest, Haugh Wood, Hereford
Tuesday 8th: Nesscliffe, Shrewsbury (WRE)
Saturday 12th: Rough Wood, Coventry (OD)
Sunday 13th: Black Country Championships (sprint + middle), Himley Hall, Dudley (HOC)
Tuesday 15th: Lyth Hill, Shrewsbury (WRE)
Saturday 19th: Anna-Marie Son-Rise Challenge, Kidsgrove (WCH)
Sunday 20th: West Midlands League, Oakley Wood, Warwick (OD)
Tuesday 22nd: Shrewsbury street race (WRE)
Saturday 26th: Festival Park, Stoke (POTOC)
Sunday 27th (early): Peter Palmer Junior Relays, Sutton Park, Sutton Coldfield (COBOC)
and (later) Llanymynech, Oswestry (WRE)
Here are the maps from the sprint competition I did in Hungary a year ago (and reported on here). Note that the control numbers are on the map, which speeds things up. Hopefully I can organise a similar event in the Midlands next summer.
The large versions are followed by the reduced-size versions.
Oof. Last but two of the finishers. Two and a quarter hours. This after the guy on car-parking had estimated I’d take an hour. An hour! There was only one runner inside one hour on M40 today, and I’d say that was a heroic effort. 8 km with 22 controls and 500 m of climb, in 30 degrees of heat. I’ll save the inquest for later, but I don’t really mind my lowly position – I had an enjoyable run really (except for the pain in my feet towards the end) and hopefully I’ve learned something from it. The stars and the part-timers are all heading north tomorrow for the final day. Follow the Long Final at worldofo.com
I’m finally in the Miskolc area and I ran yesterday in the middle distance event at Bükkszentkereszt (63rd) and the sprint today in Miskolc city centre (55th). This afternoon I went up to Csanyik to watch the WOC sprints. Photos here.
Today was the middle-distance qualification at the World Championships and two Brits have qualified for Wednesday’s finals: Rachael Elder and Oli Johnson, and there were a couple of near misses.
Three live video feeds will be available at a cost of 5 euros per day (sprint+middle count as one day).
Since I was somewhat confused by the recently published Hungaria Cup event details I emailed the organisers and I’ve received a kind and helpful response from Miklós Bogdány. So, to clarify (if clarification is necessary):
1. The first start times are now 12:30, 10:00, 15:30, 12:30, 9:30, 8:30. (The times on the “Invitation” page on the website have yet to be corrected.) Add your start times to those start times! In my case, adding 60, 43, 48, 32, 135, 72 makes 13:30, 10:43, 16:18, 13:02, 11:45, 9:42. Though all of these are, of course, subject to change. 
2. Directions aren’t given to the sprint assembly (“Downtown Miskolc” is somewhat vague) but this info will be available at assembly on the previous days, and if someone tells me I’ll put the address here!
3. If several people are going from the same club, the organisers will prefer to give all those people’s bumf to one person (the “team leader”) at registration. This will not be rigidly enforced though, so separately-travelling team members can receive their bumf separately.
4. By “bib” they mean “rectangular piece of paper or paper-like substance with your competitor number on it”. Clearly it will be best if you get hold of your number before you go off to the start, but you will be allowed to start if you fail to manage this.
5. The warning in Section 5 “Parking” refers to Day 6 only.
6. I was surprised that so few courses will have access to water. It could be blisteringly hot, so I think there’s little alternative but to carry a drink, on the Long days at least.
Here in Debrecen it’s party-day. Not, I have to admit, because of the Tájfutó Világbajnokság, nor even because of the City Carnival, but because five friends and family (including yours truly) have birthdays around now, and (above all) because it’s summer. It’s a typically hot and sunny day today, although – shock, horror – it rained yesterday.
Late last night I decided it’d be easy and fun to arrange a little orienteering race as a kind of party game. The map’s drawn, the lawn’s mown…
Update: results (so far) Norbi 1:41 Matyi 1:55 Pisti 2:05 Zoli 2:23 Laci 2:25 Kati 3:15 Márti 3:28
Miskolc isn’t a shining jewel in Hungary’s tourist crown, but for those people who are stuck there for a week or more, the area does have a lot to offer besides a great deal of orienteering.
Going west from the city centre, first there’s the castle of Diósgyőr, and then there’s the spa resort of Lillafüred. This is the gateway to the Bükk mountains (with its miles of marked trails), beyond which is the beautiful city of Eger. An hour to the south-east is Debrecen, whose annual carnival is taking place on the 20th.
The final day’s competition is in Aggtelek, which has some of the most impressive caves in Europe. If you have even more time, just across the border is Slovakia. Kosice and Presov are interesting towns and the country’s mountains give it a deserved reputation as the poor man’s Switzerland.
After a couple of days staying with friends near Lake Balaton I’m now safely ensconced at my brother-in-law’s, and contemplating the logistics of next week. I’m probably going to miss Monday’s and Tuesday’s runs in order to spend more time with the folks, and I’m probably not fit enough for six runs anyway. The start times for the Hungaria Cup races are now up, though they aren’t clock times. So my Wednesday start time (48) has to be added to the “nulla idö” (zero hour), which in this case is 4 pm (I believe, although in comparison with the world championship races, info is a bit thin on the ground) to give 4:48 pm. I’ve been in Bükkszentkereszt once before; I spent a night there when I walked across the Bükk Hills in June 2000. I’m sure of the date because we saw one of the Euro 2000 football matches on the TV in the B&B we stayed in. (Fascinating fact (!): until 1940 the village – whose name means Holy Cross – went by the rather more prosaic name Újhuta (“new mine”).)
Thursday is the sprint, and I’m looking forward to watching the elite races after I’ve had my go. Friday and Saturday I’ve got the problem of getting to Bánkút, first to watch the relays, and then for my long race. I’m pretty sure I won’t be able to tootle up to assembly in my orange Punto, so I’ll have to investigate the available alternatives. The last day is the big one: the classic race, being held in the Aggtelek National Park. I’ve got to get up there for a 9 a.m. start and afterwards I hope I can stick around to watch the elites. Unlike the Bükk and Mátra, both of which have hosted many O events over the years, getting to run in Aggtelek is something special. The area enjoys the highest level of protection, and permission for orienteering is almost never given.
I wonder if there will be (free) Wifi in the event centres?
Update: More info is now available. The event details are here. The zero hours appear to have been changed. And there does appear to be a car park at Bánkút.
These are the closest approximations I could come up with without resorting to the phonetic alphabet. I’ve broken the words up into syllables (not always logically) and respelled them as if they were British English words. I’ve also given the meanings of the placenames.
magyar mod-yor Hungarian
Bükk book beech
Hernád hair-nahd
Kosice kohsh-eats-eh
Lillafüred leel-loff-oor-ed lily spa
Miskolc meesh-cohlts
Palota-szálló pol-oh-ta sahl-oh palace hotel
Sajó shoy-oh
Tapolca top-ohlt-sa
Tisza teess-sa
Aggtelek og-tel-eck old land
Bánkút bahn-coot lord’s well
Bodzás-rét bohd-zahsh rate elderflower meadow
Bükkszentkereszt book-sent-kerr-est holy cross
Galuzsnya-hegy gol-oozh-nee-a hedge dumpling hill (?)
Hollós-tető holl-ohsh tet-ur raven top
Királyasztal kee-rye ost-oll king’s table
Kurta-bérc koor-ta bayrts short hill
Létrás-tető lay-trahsh tet-ur ladder top
Lófő-tisztás low-fur tee-stahsh horsehead clearing
Nagymező nodge-mez-ur great meadow
Szelcepuszta selt-sep-ooss-ta ? plain
Szép-hegy sayp hedge pretty hill
Szögliget sug-lee-get nail grove
Vivrát-hegy veev-raht hedge ? hill
Áron Less ah-rohn lesh
János Sőtér yah-nohsh shirt-airr
László Solyom lah-sloh shoh-yom
Száva Zsigmond sah-va zheeg-mond
Tibor Zsigmond tee-borr zheeg-mond
Zsolt Gerzsényi zhohlt gair-zhayn-yee
cél tsayl finish
rajt royt start
tájfuto tie-foo-toh orienteer
tájfutás tie-foo-tahsh orienteering
világbajnokság vee-lahg-boy-nock-shahg world championships
Just discovered these notes Dave Peel made a year ago. (pdf)
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