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

30th edition: Sylvester 5-days

Interested in participating at a great 5-days orienteering competition in the end of december? Then the north of Belgium will be the place to be with the 30th edition of Sylvester 5-days.

The Sylvester 5 days are held every year between Christmas and New Year in the northern part of Belgium. It is an organisation from several Belgian clubs. With the Scandinavians training in the snow, there will probably be no white surface during this event. Some years we have had a little bit snow, but never enough to keep the runners out of the forest!

Ausrine Kutkaite (winner WRE Sylvester 2014) in action at WOC2015 and hopefully also at Sylvester 2017.

Fast terrain and high level:
You can’t expect very the most difficult maps in an area like Flanders, but the high running speed combined with a lot of paths and details will still be a challenge. Some of the maps will have tricky sand areas and detailed countourlines as well (specially stages 2 and 3 in 2017). On day 2 you can expect a demanding stage on the map Kattenbos. Day 3 will take place in Leopoldsburg, on a map (Zwarte Weg) famous for its tranches.

Map extract from Sylvester 2015.

It will be fast definitely, with the elites probably running under 5’00/km some days, so it's definately good speed-training! Ofcourse most of the Belgian top elites will be racing there. The previous years always some strong international runners showed up in the elite classes. In class H21E Philippe Adamski (France), Hannu Airila (Finland), Yannick Michiels (Belgium) and Tristan Bloemen (Belgium) were the last winners of the world ranking event. In women's class Amelie Chataing (France) and 2 times Miek Fabré (Belgium) took the victory in 2011-2013 at the Sylvester 5 days WRE. In 2014 the winner was the Lithuanian Ausrine Kutkaite and in 2015 Anastasia Denisova (Belarus).

Tristan Bloemen - last winner Sylvester WRE. Will he succeed to win again in 2017?

Besides the orienteering there is a lot to see and taste in our country:

A lot of tourists come to Belgium for our beautiful cities, and cities like Antwerp, Brussels (see picture), Gent, Leuven and of course Brughes are less than 2 hours by car or train and definitely worth a visit!


Belgium is ofcourse famous for our great beers and chocolate. I haven’t been to many orienteering events in other countries where people are drinking strong beers like Leffe after their race :).

Belgium is pretty central in Europe and has very good transport possibilities. Ryanair has an airport in Charleroi and the airport in Eindhoven (the Netherlands) is even closer to the races. Trains and buses can bring you close to the competition areas from the airport within 2 hours. The national airport near Brussels (Zaventem), also offers quite cheap flights to Brussels.

The website of the event has some suggestions about accomodation.
Because Belgium is so tiny, most orienteers just drive from home every day, so there won’t be a camping site or sports hall or so where everybody stays.

Entries have to be made before 1st of december. Entry fee is only 40 euro for 5 days of orienteering!! (late entry is more expensive).
Registration is possible on the orienteeringonline website.

Invitation Sylvester 5 days 2017

If you have any questions about this event, add a comment to this post or contact the organizers from the event’s website!

Antwerp Sprint Orienteering Meeting 2017

Only 12 days left to register for ASOM 2017, a 2-days sprint event in Antwerp (Belgium) at 13th and 14th of May. The highlight of the Belgian Sprint calendar includes 2 sprint races on Saturday and a middle/long distance urban race on Sunday. 

Also this year the organisation has the same concept and ambitions, although the races will take place on 3 new maps (Mastvest, Kielpark and 't Steen). The goal from ASOM is to introduce orienteering to non-orienteering people and convince them about the beauty of our sports. On the other they want to organise a high level sprint competition with international athletes and the best Belgians at the startline. This years event will be the first time ever that SportIdent Air+ will be used in Belgium (provided for all participants).

Tim Robertson (2016) and Yannick Michiels (2015) both won ASOM before

The top-5 in men and women elite at ASOM 2017 will win prize money (500 euro for a victory). The best elite runners will be rewarded for their performances. Also a lottery will take place for all participants with as best prize 1000 euro.

The coursesetter posing at 't Steen

At the moment the previous winners of ASOM in class H21E have already announced that they will show up at the startline. Both Yannick Michiels (BEL) and Tim Robertson (NZL) are motivated to take a 2nd overall victory. In womens class Anna Serrallonga (ESP) and Laura Robertson (NZL) already confirmed their participation.
Also the best Belgian sprint athletes will show up because it counts as a Belgian testrace for WOC 2017 in Estonia.

Only 12 days left untill the registration of Asom closes for the weekend runners. You will have untill Sunday 30/04 to register at asom.be !! Don't miss this unique event in Antwerp!

ASOM 2017 website
ASOM 2017 Facebook

Antwerp Sprint Orienteering Meeting 2016

Tomorrow it's the last day to register for ASOM 2016, a 2-days sprint event in Antwerp (Belgium) at 25th and 26th of June. Last year the first edition took place with 2 sprint races on Saturday and a middle distance urban race on Sunday. 

ASOM 2016 mapsample

Also this year the organisation has the same concept and ambitions, although the races will take place on 3 new maps. The goal from ASOM is to introduce orienteering to non-orienteering people and convince them about the beauty of our sports. On the other they want to organise a high level sprint competition with international athletes and the best Belgians at the startline.

In class H21E we expect for sure the Belgian sprintspecialists Yannick Michiels and Tristan Bloemen on the startlist. Probably also some other national team members will show up. The international athletes for 2016 are: Tim Robertson (NZL), Jonas Gvildys (LTU), Andrea Seppi (ITA), Chris Smithard (GBR), Dane Blomquist (GBR), Rafal Podzinski (POL), Soren Riechers (GER), Marc Serrallonga (ESP),...

ASOM 2016 mapsample

Also in women's class the participantslist starts to look good. We already can announce Galina Vinogradova (RUS), Lea Vercelotti (FRA), Charlotte Ward (GBR), Kirstin Maxwell (GBR), Ona Rafols (ESP), Anna Serrallonga (ESP), Tekle Gvildyte (LTU) and some of the best Belgian athletes at Asom 2016 edition.

One day left untill the registration of Asom closes for the weekend runners. You will have untill Friday 23.59 to register at asom.be !! Don't miss this unique event in Antwerp!

ASOM 2016 website
ASOM 2016 Facebook

Sylvester 5days: final stage

The final stage of the Sylvester 5-days took place in Ravels. The race was organised in the same forest as yesterday, but this time the south part of the map was used. The runnability was better than yesterday and most participants enjoyed it more.

In class H21E Christoph Brandt showed again why he won the overall ranking by also winning the last stage. While his opponents got more tired day by day, he kept his best performance for the last stage. He almost made no mistakes and also his runningspeed was impressive. Finally he won the race by 1'42" ahead of Marvin Goericke.
Pieter Hendrickx and Bojan Blumenstein were still in a close fight for the silver medal in the overall ranking. The Belgian worldchampion finished 2 seconds ahead of Blumenstein (4th today) and secured his 2nd spot. Ueli Werren and Moritz Dollgast completed the top-6 today.

The German delegation enjoyed the Sylvester 5-days and the sunny weather

In women's class Greet Oeyen again performed strong today. She won the final stage and the overall victory. She enjoyed the course very much and specially wanted to thank todays coursesetter for his great job.
By absence of Josephine Greiner, Liesbeth van de Velde could secure the 2nd spot in the overall ranking today. She finished 2'41" behind Oeyen. Salome Schweizer from Suisse finished 3rd and completed the podium today.

In junior class, the Flemih junior coach organised the Junior Cup (a competition with a knock-out system). Today the finals took place between Klaas Mellebeek and Simon Krekels. Mellebeek succeeded to win the overall 5-days competition, but the Junior Cup was won by Simon Krekels.

Klaas Mellebeek and Simon Krekels posing for delaatstepost-camera

Thanks to the Flemish federation, the clubs and the volunteers to make the Sylvester 5-days again an enjoyable event. Thanks to the participants for their presence and performances. Hopefully we'll see you again in the end of december 2016.

Results stage 5
Splittimes stage 5
Map stage 5 (H21E - Desmond Franssen)
Map stage 5 (H21E - Bojan Blumenstein)
Overall ranking
Ravels-zuid (old map by other mapmaker - 2013)