Throwback Tuesday: Never run straight

De koude wintermaanden beginnen er aan te komen en dan zijn er steevast iets minder wedstrijden en O-nieuws te bespeuren in binnen- en buitenland (buiten De Sylvester natuurlijk). Om deze ietwat kale maanden te overbruggen op de laatste post, wordt er een nieuwe categorie in het leven geroepen.

Throwback Tuesday zal voor u het vuile werk en doen en op zoek gaan naar de oude parels van De Laatste Post. TT zal elke week een oud artikel opgraven uit de diepe gekrochten van De Laatste Post en deze 'reposten' met een eervolle vermelding en correcte bronvermelding naar de oorspronkelijke auteur.

Voor deze eerste editie beginnen we met een wiskundig artikel van Dries vanuit november 2006. 

Never run straight

Imagine a leg through 2 types of forest, first forest is slower than the second one. The straight line has an angle of 45° to the contour line. But is running straight the fastest way? You can imagine that it depends on how much slower the first forest is in comparison to the second.

I give the results of some easy calculations.














Conclusion: NEVER RUN STRAIGHT if the speed in the two forests is different. It's easy to calculate in a fast way while running. If you think the speed in first forest (50%) is 2 times slower than second forest (100%) you should aim at about 50% of the angle between red line and contour line.

Run fast but think even faster.

Jeneverrelay review: Thiels defends the title

 5 November 2024, a new chapter in the history books has been written as the Jeneverrelay took place in the Arenbergpark in Leuven. After the 2023 edition was canceled due to the course setter being in Kenya for a training camp, everyone was very excited to put on their orienteering shoes and night lamp to go to the start of the anticipated Jeneverrelay. 

The competition field was very diverse and ranging up to 30 competitors with high and less high orienteering level. Some noteworthy presences were the athletes from Louvain-La-Neuve that were so excited they even took the train on a random Tuesday evening to compete in one of the biggest (orienteering) events for students in Belgium. They were so inspired after their race that they invented a brand new competition on the 29th of November in Louvain-La-Neuve called “Schnaps-O” (Stay tuned for a review on that competition). Another special competitor was old SLOK student Toon Melis who set aside his political career to go back to his roots as a pro orienteer and was ready to perform in the competition.

As usual everyone was divided in teams of 2/3 persons while combining an experienced runner with a less experienced runner. Each runner runs 2 legs and has to drink a cup of jenever before they can leave. This year course setter Julia Krekels made a very nice and tricky course and even put in a special feature. At some controls a map was present that showed the location of  a hidden control which was equipped with sheets of paper that could reduce your total time by X minutes.  The tension was very high as the first leg runners went to the starting line with their cup of delicious jenever in their hands. And then the games began…

After the first leg a group of three runners finished first with Victor Mullens leading the pack followed by Liam Thiels and Jorn Kennis. They handed over to their less experienced teammate. During the following legs only Miel Deferme noticed and used the hidden control and gained 3 minutes subtracted from their total time. Finally the first teams started to finish their fourth leg and we had a podium with A winner in the team of Miel and Gaëlle and a shared third place between the team of Toon Melis and Joris Smet and the team of Colin and Francois. But then a big plot twist revealed itself. The team of defending champion Liam Thiels arrived 21 minutes after the first team (accounting for the time that Miel gained) and was in last position. But then it appeared that Liam also went to the hidden control and managed to grab time subtraction papers for a total of 22 minutes which meant that his team would arrive on top and in doing so Thiels defended his title of two years ago. A nice picture of the podium was taken.

Afterwards some runners went to their homes, others to Louvain-La-Neuve and others went to party like crazy and some of them drank a bit too much. I will not give more details on that but his name rimes with Korn ;) 

Let us now look forward to the brand new event in Louvain-La-Neuve and to the Beer relay in the second semester that will be organised by Jorn Kennis.

Thank you to the organisation and see you next year

Bye

Ophef bij de zuiderburen

Anderhalve week geleden vond het Frans kampioenschap sprint en nacht plaats in Thionville bij Metz. Op zondag werd ook de CNE nog gelopen. De CNE is een aflossingscompetitie waarbij elke club zeven mannen moet samenstellen om een team te vormen of  vijf vrouwen voor een vrouwenteam. Beginnen doet de CNE om zes uur 's ochtends in het donker zodat zeker de twee eerste lopers volledige nachtbenen hebben. Daarna komt de zon op en is het aan de daglopers. Dit jaar deed ook één Belgisch team mee namelijk OK OB. Ze eindigden op een mooie tiende plaats en waren hier zeer tevreden mee. De resultaten kan je raadplegen via deze link . 

Zoals u al kon lezen in de titel van dit artikel liep niet alles van een leien dakje dit weekend voor de Franse oriëntatiebond (FFCO). Dit komt naar aanleiding van een paar nieuwe beslissingen die genomen zijn door hun en, oh jawel, betrekking hebben op ons Belgen. Volgend jaar zullen buitenlanders namelijk geweerd worden van Franse kampioenschappen. Aflossingen zullen enkel uit 'echte' Fransen bestaan en grote aflossingen zoals CNE zullen nog maximaal één buitenlandse loper mogen bevatten. Voor veel clubs zoals bijvoorbeeld TAD (met veel Belgen) is dit een doorn in het oog. Zij doen namelijk hard hun best om veel buitenlanders aan te trekken en zo hun niveau van club te verbeteren en hun club uit te bereiden. 

Afgelopen weekend waren er dan ook enkele duidelijke tekenen van zowaar 'protest' waar te nemen. Zo liepen verschillende atleten het Frans kampioenschap sprint in een Belgisch tenue of met een Belgische vlag op de wangen. Tijdens de podiumceremonie van de heren 20 bereikte het protest zijn hoogtepunt. Als ware verrassingsact trokken de heren op het podium hun clubvest uit en verschenen allen in een (ietwat gedateerd) Belgisch truitje. Vervolgens scandeerde het Franse publiek zowaar de woorden 'Belgique'. Zo ziet u maar ondanks dat er soms ietwat bespottelijk wordt omgegaan met onze oriëntatienatie door onze zuiderburen, is de appreciatie toch iets groter dan men soms zou vermoeden.

Podium hommes 20 FK sprint

Een nieuw begin

 Beste lezers,

Afgelopen weekend tijdens de tweedaagse van de Veluwe werden er weer mooie prestaties neergezet in het pittoreske Nederland. Buiten deze prestaties werd er zoals altijd gekeuveld tussen vrienden, familie en andere.. Aangezien oriënteren een familiesport is en kleine jongens toch soms ooit groot worden (en andere best wel oud) overbruggen de gesprekken dan ook vaker verschillende generaties. Zo werd de Gen Z generatie per toeval twee keer aangesproken, op dezelfde dag, over de 'famous' blog: De laatste post. Blijkbaar een traditie van vroeger om te praten, discussiëren, analyseren en anoniem reageren over de laatste oriëntatienieuwtjes in vooral binnen maar ook buitenland. Eén ding werd duidelijk na menig opzoekwerk. Namelijk dat deze blog al tien jaar zo goed als ongebruikt is en dringend vanonder het stof dient gehaald te worden. 

Bij deze nodigen we jullie maar ook onszelf (de nieuwe generatie) uit voor een nieuwe start. We beginnen met een schone lei en staan open voor allerlei informatie en soorten blogs. Van samenvattingen, reposts en previews tot analyses en roddels. Hoe meer hoe beter. Ook al verwachten we misschien vooral wel leuke discussies en opmerkingen die toch enige aarzeling oproepen tijdens het schrijven. 

Welkom bij een nieuw begin, iedereen is uitgenodigd en van harte welkom om bij te dragen. We weten ten slotte allen wel dat sommige recente gebeurtenissen al tot genoeg stof doen opwaaien om de pen veelvuldig te laten neerdalen.

Gegroet, the new generation

Preview: Belgian middle champs 2020

The startlist for the Belgian championships middle distance next Sunday looks great. Also the map and terrain are one of the best in Belgium. Who will take the medals in the elite classes?

The Weyervlakte offers a fast and tricky terrain. The red line on the map will be close to the best routechoice, but keeping control and focus will be the key factors. You can already take a look at the 2020 version of the map below. The coursesetter next Sunday will be Patrick Wallaert.

In 2014 this map was used for the Junior European Cup long distance event. The results show that the fastest time was set by Anton Johansson (Sweden) with 4'42/km. In womens class the Norwegian Gunvor Hov Hoydal won with 6'15/km pace.

Map Weyervlakte edition 2020

Like mentioned before the startlist looks great, similar to the the cancelled WRE Long championships in Stoumont. In class H21E we can welcome 55 athletes at the startline on a 6.2km course with 28 controls. Ofcourse Yannick Michiels will be the big favourit. Since Euromeeting (in CZE) is cancelled the Belgian middle and sprint champs will be his main goals this orienteering season. He already showed he's in good shape with a victory at the middle distance national race in 'De Witte Bergen' two weeks ago. 

Yannick Michiels won the middle race 2 weeks ago (Photo: J Grauls)

The opponents for the victory and the medals are two +40 years old ahletes. Both Fabien Pasquasy (Belgian long distance champion 2020) and Geert Simkens are in good shape at the moment. Simkens didn't compete in many races in 2020, but confirmed last Sunday that he's ready for it.

Fabien Pasquasy in action 2 weeks ago (Photo: Franks Avonturen)

Benjamin Anciaux has been focusing on mtb-orienteering recently and won the national championships last weekend. But he's also defending his middle distance title and will be strong in this technical terrain. Also national team runners Tomas Hendrickx, Francois van der Ouderaa, Clement Demeuse, Simon Krekels, Evert Leeuws, Wouter Hus and Tristan Bloemen will fight for the podium. 

Marine Sillien at Jwoc 2019 relay

Also in womens class the startfield looks very good. In the elite category 28 female athletes will show up in Hechtel-Eksel next Sunday. The course will measure 5080m and will include 22 controls. Anna Serrallonga will defend her middle distance title and is improving physically week by week. But Ems De Smul (2nd last Sunday) and Marine Sillien (Belgian long champion 2020) will be serious opponents. Also Greet Oeyen likes a technical and tricky map, like 'De Weyervlakte'. Other names to highlight are Aline Hermans, Fanny Tilkin, Lucie Arno, Liesbeth Van de Velde, Hannah Thiels and Laurine Herman. 

Startlist BK Middle - Information BK Middle

Preview: Belgian national Middle race

On Sunday 4th of October Trol is organising a national middle distance event in the north of Belgium (Heerle - Lille). Two weeks later the Belgian championships middle distance will take place (Weyervlakte). Both maps require a similar way of orienteering, so it will be a very interesting test race.

Old version from De Witte Bergen and Bosbergen

The national middle distance race will be organised on a combinations of 2 maps: De Witte Bergen and Bosbergen. These maps have been used for national championships in the past and probably nobody has forgotten the icecold edition during the Sylvester 5-days in 2014 (results - article 2014). Greet Oeyen and Benjamin took the victory in snowy conditions 6 years ago (in the elite classes).

Anna Serrallonga testing the D21E course last month

If we take a look at the startlist in class H21E, we see a lot of strong athletes on the startlist. Ofcourse Yannick Michiels is the big favourite in this fast and tricky terrain. Also for him it will be a good test to optimise his orienteering flow on the way to the Middle champs and Euromeeting later on.

Fabien Pasquasy will be one of his strongest opponents. Last weekend he won the Belgian Long championships with a strong performance. Silver medalist from last week Simon Krekels won't participate because he's helping in the organisation and will activate the elite course in the early morning. Beside Fabien, we are also looking forward to the comeback from Benjamin Anciaux and Tomas Hendrickx. Both athletes didn't participate in many competitions recently, but are for sure ready to fight for the podium.  

Also Wouter Hus showed that he's in good shape and that he can handle the Flemish terrains. Other athletes to highlight are Evert Leeuws, middle specialist Thibaut Derenne, local legend Warre De Cuyper, junior-athlete Cedric Amerijckx, the Hamok-stars Jeroen Hoekx and Thomas van der Kleij and good-old Tommy Janssens. 

Coursesetter Desmond Franssen training on De Witte Bergen

Also in women's elite class the top of Belgium will be present next Sunday. Marine Sillien showed last Sunday that she's in great shape by winning the Belgian Long championships. She'll be again one of the favourits in the detailed terrain of De Witte Bergen. Silver medallist Anna Serrallonga is involved in the coursesetting and won't participate. But Ems De Smul who had a similar speed as Sillien and Serrallonga last weekend, will be motivated to fight for the victory as well. 

The 3rd name to mention is ofcourse Greet Oeyen. She was sad to miss the Long championships in Stambruges and already mentioned on strava that she'll be ready for this middle distance in the o-paradise. And maybe Liesbeth Van De Velde, Mira Scheir or Laurine Herman will surprise us. 

To all participants, don't forget to read carefully the information in the bulletin in O'punch. A warming-up-map will be offered to all ahletes. Goodluck and enjoy the event!

Starttimes - Bulletins - Facebook Event

Belgian Long Champs 2020 - Preview

On Sunday 30th of August the Belgian national championships long distance will take place in Stoumont. We are sure that all Belgian athletes are looking forward to this competition. It will be the first important competition of the Belgian season and that's why we also make a comeback with 'delaatstepost'.

 The race will count as a World Ranking Event. 10 years ago the long champs were organised on the same map with Fabien Pasquasy (H21E) and Greet Oeyen (D21E) as winners. Both athletes are among the favorites again. The coursesetter will be Pierre Marchal. 

The terrain is one of the most hilly mapped areas in Belgium. The Belgian champions will be physically strong athletes, but they will also need a stable technical performance and avoid mistakes on this tricky map.

Map Stoumont (2011)

In men's elite class we count 42 participants. The course measures 13.9km and 590m uphill (37 controls). On the startlist we are missing the Belgian star Yannick Michiels (training in Switzerland at the moment) and also the young talented athlete Mathias Blaise (absent because of exams). Also Tristan Bloemen (recovering after a bike crash) and Benjamin Anciaux (achilles tendon problems) are injured at the moment and probably don't show up at the startline.  

Last years champion Geert Simkens is for sure one of the favorites for the victory. During the summertrainings with the military team he showed that he's ready. Also Fabien Pasquasy made a good impression during the regional races on relevant maps and he knows how to take the victory on this map. 

Geert Simkens on the way to the victory in 2019

Because of the covid-19 situation, we didn't see a lot of results and it's difficult to predict who is in great shape at the moment. Clement Demeuse had some decent results at Oocup in France and finished just ahead of Gilles De Neyer. Also Thibaut Derenne and Francois Van Der Ouderaa competed at Oocup, but in 'ultimate class'. Specially Thibaut performed strong during the last stage (middle distance).

Other names we want to highlight are Tomas Hendrickx, brothers Leeuws (with Evert as champion in 2018), brothers Bastin, Joost Talloen (bronze medal last year), Jeroen Hoekx, Jeremy Bredo, Simon Krekels and Christophe Bernard. We are sure they are all motivated to fight for the podium. 

The last one to mention is Michael Van Baelen who came over from Macedonia where he showed his good shape in some trail racing. We are curious how he'll handle the races with a map in his hands. 

Probably there is still a black horse, who we forgot to name here and will surprise us with a strong performance.

Podium 2019 in D21E

In women's class the course measures 7.4km (370m uphill) and includes 23 controls. Anna Serrallonga always has been the big favorite during the previous years. This year she didn't prepare for a WOC (no forest disciplines) and also had problems with her knee for several months. Her first race will be the middle distance national event in Spa (one day before the Long champs).

Still she will be among the favorites also in 2020, but we expect Greet Oeyen to challenge her. Greet had some good trainings in France last month and will also compete in Fontainebleau next weekend. 

Also Kim Geypen (with for sure the highest running speed), Fanny Tilkin (represented Belgium at WOC in 2019) and Liesbeth Van de Velde (bronze medal last year) are capable to fight for the victory.

We are also looking forward to the comeback from Miek Fabré and the debut from Lucie Arno in elite class. Also Hannah Thiels and Sandrine Defraigne will compete in elite class in the long distance champs for the first time ever. 

Ems De Smul and Marine Sillien are still D20 and allowed to compete in junior class, but both talented athletes are also able to fight for the podium on the highest level. 

Other names to highlight are the foreigners: Daria Moskalenko, Claire Sandevoir and Meri Chkripeska. Daria (10th in sprint) and Claire (31th in middle) had some good results at Jwoc in the past and Meri represented Macedonia at WOC 2019. 

Feel free to guess for the top-3 in both men and women's class in the comments below.

Information BK Long

Startlist (coming soon)

ASOM 2018: Yannick Michiels entered

Antwerp Sprint Orienteering Meeting organisation is delighted to announce that world’s fastest orienteer, Yannick Michiels, has entered Antwerp Sprint Orienteering Meeting 2018.
This year's edition will take place in Ypres and Courtrai (close to the border with France and Great Britain) in the end of June.

Each year they try to focus on a strong startfield in the elite classes and hopefully a WRE race on Saturday will help. With last year’s winner Yannick Michiels already on the startlist, it looks like a perfect beginning. If you also want to be part of this high quality event, you can register here: http://www.asom.be/en/register
Photo: Foto Sherpa
#ASOM2018 #WRE #FlandersFields

ASOM 2018 Website
ASOM 2018 Facebook

Sylvester 5-days: Omova and Bloemen

Last week the Sylvester 5-days took place in the north of Belgium. After 5 stages the victory in womens class was for the Czech runner Michaela Omova. In class H21E Belgian national team runner Tristan Bloemen was clearly the strongest.

Stage 2 - Zwarte Weg - routes Michaela Omova

This 5-days event took place in 5 different places in Flanders. It means that every day you can discover a new kind of terrain. But most maps are rather fast runnable and include many paths and detailed contourlines. The headlight of the 2017 edition was stage 3 on 'Zwarte Weg' in Leopoldsburg with a lot of controls in the trenches.

Podium D21E: Michaela Omova (1), Tereza Janosikova (2) and Greet Oeyen (3)

In class D21E Michaela Omova won 3 out of 5 competitions. For the overall ranking it was a close fight with her Czech friend Tereza Janosikova. The JWOC silver medalist won the other 2 stages and finished in 2nd position overall. The Belgian Greet Oeyen finished in 3rd position, just ahead of the Finnish runner Anna Moilanen.

Omova during the last stage (Photo: Frank Weyler)

The winner Michaela Omova commented about the Sylvester 5-days: This competition was a very nice choice for me how to spend last days of the year. It was perfect to spend it by activities I love, with my orienteering friends, who want to spend it by the same way. I had great time in Belgium and i'm thankful that I could be there. I liked to run every stage in a bit different type of terrain even though it was still flat. But this real flat terrain with a lot of micro relief is not common here in the Czech republic so I enjoyed to explore something new very much. Thanks a lot to the organizers for the efforts, i've enjoyed it very much.

Podium H21E: Tristan Bloemen (1), Joost Talloen (2) and Desmond Franssen (3)

In H21E the fight for the victory was less exciting. Tristan Bloemen won 4 stages and obviously also the overall ranking. Specially the last stage he won with a clear lead. In 2nd spot (with 1 victory) we had Joost Talloen. Desmond Franssen (3rd), Thomas van der Kleij (4th) and junior Mathias Blaise (5th) made it a Belgian top-5.

Stage 1 Horensberg: routes Michaela Omova

Next year same place and same time, we hope to welcome you for Sylvester 5-days 2018 with other interesting maps and terrains.

Website Sylvester 5-days

Sylvester 5-days: next entry deadline

The next entry deadline for Sylvester 5-days in the end of December in Belgium is approaching. Still 3 days to go if you want to experience this event at the cheapest price.

Map extract Zwarte Weg (stage 3)

At the moment we have 140 foreigners who've already entered for the 30th edition of Sylvester 5-days. We also expect more than 300 participants from Belgium. And hopefully even more.

In women elite class we can already announce the participation of JWOC 2017 medal winner Tereza Janosikova (CZE). Also in men elite class we already have athletes from Finland, Russia, Germany, France and Switzerland.

Tereza Janosikova at JWOC in Finland

Sylvester 5-days website
Registration page