JROS Training Camps 2024

Jonah - Deeside 2024

This summer I was lucky enough to be selected for the JROS camp in Deeside. In total there were four of us going from the West Midlands Junior Squad and we all travelled up on the train together.

Over the course of the week we orienteered on the following areas: Birsemore, Easter Clunie, Balmedie, and Glen Dye. Balmedie was a sand dune area next to the sea with very big sand dunes and was very runnable. Easter Clunie was a forested area on the side of a hill and was quite runnable but had steep terrain in parts and lots of boulders. My favourite area was Glen Dye which was open runnable forest and was fairly flat.

Over the course of the week I improved my bearings and my abilities to read contours and am already seeing the benefits as I just won the West Midlands champs. I also enjoyed being able to swim after orienteering every day and enjoyed the trip to the lido and the excellent sprint on the rest day.

Adam - Deeside 2024:

This summer I was selected for Deeside, the national camp for 15-year-olds along with three other West Midlands juniors. We had a great time competing in Races, doing lots of training and much more. For travel on the way there, most of the juniors travelled via the train from various stations to Aberdeen where we were met by Iain the head coach with the minibus we would be using for the week. We had to bring our own tents and sleeping bags and if we wanted to sleep with friends, we had to organize it ourselves. My bag weighed about 20Kg due to the camping equipment and those essential unnecessary things like the over trousers (which were never used).

For the accommodation, we all slept in tents in a field. The tents were great and comfortable other than when it rained, we had lots of space for our bags and everything else. The boys were in tents of 1 to 3, but for the girls all slept in one big tent. The coaches were lucky and slept in bunk beds in the main building. The toilets, dining area, kitchen, and athlete’s room were all located in the main building.

Eden – Lagganlia Report 2024

I got the train from Stafford early Saturday morning and arrived at Aviemore station around 4 with a lot of other juniors and we got picked up on minibuses and taken to Lagganlia. Once we arrived I unpacked and we went and looked around the site before tea. After tea we played some icebreaker games just getting to know all the juniors and coaches who we would be spending the next week with.

Day 1 – On the first day we went to an area called Heathfield. It was a nice woodland with easy contours just to get us into the new terrain that I don't have back at home. I practiced my bearings and pacing with some pick courses throughout the day. In the afternoon we did a clock relay which was lots of fun. Once home everyone chilled for a bit and after tea, we had a power point talk about pressure presented by Dan Heppell.

Day 2 – On day 2 we were told in the morning briefing we would be going to North Granish and making our own sketch maps to run once we arrived. My sketch map went well, and I learnt that I could simplify each leg down into 3 big features making sure I tick them off as I go past. We focused on hills and depressions and spotting them in real life and on the map. In the afternoon we all got soaked doing an odds and evens relay but luckily it was the only time it rained the whole week which was lucky!

Day 3 – That morning, we all took the hour and a half bus journey to Roseisle. In the morning I practiced using techniques I'd learnt over the past 2 days on tricky contours on different courses. In the afternoon we did a distraction race which was fun as there was random starts, a camera man following you around and some of the coaches running with you asking you random questions. Only 11 out of 24 people made it around the course without getting disqualified though. That evening we chilled for a bit for the “rest day” tomorrow.

Day 4 – Was the rest day but we still did 3 sprint courses. That morning, we went to Glenmore lodge to run the qualifiers for the sprints we had start times at a 2-minute call up which made it feel like it was an actual British or JK sprint. Once everyone was finished, we headed over to Badaguish. Here we had the sprint semis and finals and I made it into both of those. After lots of people went on the rings which was fun to watch people fall in then we headed into Aviemore where lots of people stocked up on snacks for the rest of the week, sadly there was no McDonalds. Once back everyone played lots of football and waited for the night O, we were doing that evening which didn't start until 10. I went around 2 courses with Poppy, an orange and a light green as I had never done a night o before, so it was nice to finally do one.

Day 5- On day 5 we went to Loch Vaa but it was a lot less runnable than I thought it would be so I just took it slow that day resting my legs for the tour champs the day after. That day I practiced control flow and my contours. In the afternoon we did a peg relay then went back to Laggnalia.

Day 6- Day 6 was the tour champs and it was held at Nethy Bridge which was just a white forest with one side of the road having no contours to the other side having a lot more. I had a good run apart from number 1 where I lost about 4 mins looking for it. Overall, I came third, which I was happy about as my training throughout the week helped me. When we went back to Lagganlia we did a monster relay around the camp and then somehow it turned into a water fight. After we had a nice meal and played more football before having a little prize giving in the evening. The next day we all packed up, said goodbye to everyone and left for the station to go home after an enjoyable and memorable week at Laggnalia!!!!!

Thanks to the WMOA and POTOC for funds for the tour. Also, thanks to all the coaches at Lagganlia for helping out throughout the week.