HISTORICAL WOC RESULTS?

[Kitch]

You could argue that physical fitness is always the limiting factor.

conside the satement made by a top Norwegian
"its never a matter of whether you can find the control, only how quickly"



The fitter you are the more capacity, "time" you have to process the navigational demands

The fitter you are the less psychological pressure you feel to "race" (or rush) leaving you in a more relaxed state to navigate.

The fitter you are the more time you will be able to spend practising navigation at a racing pace.

When racing at elite level fitness will determine your performance not only as a result of the pure capacity to move through the forest quickly but it also dictates how quickly you can navigate.
A level of fitness that allows you to be quick, smooth and victorious domestically gets pushed to the ragged edge in an international race.


Its is possible to observe this phenomenon in a cross country race held each year in Edinburgh.
In a Scottish national XC or league race you can watch people like Scotia cruise serenely round at the front of the race, composed and controlled, whilst the likes of me can be seen to be straining every muscle in a ragged and doomed attempt to keep up.
When, each January, Kenenisa Bekele and the Kenyan cohorts turn up to run the international XC around Holyrood the best of the Scots and indeed the best of the Brits line up with them. As the world champions of track and country cruise serenely round at the front, our boys are straining every ragged muscle in a vain attempt to keep up.

All of which is not to say that you don't need to train your technique
you do, it has to be able to keep up with your running speed.
and training navigation so you get it right more and more builds psychological confidence.
But at elite level these things have to be tuned to your fitness.

[AndyO]

Are there other big events out there that our top athletes should be getting supported to attend but arent?

I'm not aware of any lack of opportunity in that area, but those in the know might confirm. Perhaps a more relevant question is whether UK forests and course planning for elite athletes are giving squaddies and those who aspire to be enough of a physical and technical challenge? The length of courses has been discussed; are the quality of terrain and planning acting as barriers to international success?

[harry]

I'm not aware of any lack of opportunity in that area, but those in the know might confirm.

Support might be less than you think? This is the support I've had from BOF this year:
*entry fees to Nordic Tour (~£100?)
*text message with my start time for the 1st race of Nordic Tour (~50p?)
*fantastic support during WOC week itself (flights paid for ~£200, nice accommodation, entry fees, most of the food, physio support, team manager, coaching + more?)
*coach and physio available by email (response time & usefulness vary..!)

Feel lucky to get even this much, it will probably be less in the future. The majority of the hard work, cash and logistics are taken care of by the athletes along with whatever support network we are able to set up for ourselves. For me it would not be possible without good flexible part time job plus support of a Scandinavian club.

Those living in the UK and/or younger athletes will have had a bit more support ie domestic training opportunities, more funding for World Cups + Slovenia tour. There may also be some support for World Cups / training camp in the Autumn but probably they prioritise younger athletes for that too.

This is a hobby/ lifestyle that costs thousands of £ per year plus thousands of hours of effort but in return you get experiences that money can't buy!

[Gross]

Harry... you forgot to mention all the staff costs at BOF that go towards sending you that 50p SMS message

[harry]

True true. I am so ungrateful.

[Big Jon]

Harry wrote:
"This is a hobby/ lifestyle that costs thousands of £ per year plus thousands of hours of effort but in return you get experiences that money can't buy! "

I'd second that feeling - there are memories and experiences from races and training camps, some good, some bad, that will last me the rest of my life.

[AndyO]

I didn't have any expectations of the level of support, Harry, it really was an open question, but your notes are very informative.

I suppose the follow up question then is were there events that you wanted to attend but couldn't because of a lack of funding (or other) support?

..and of course, how does the level of support you have outlined compare with other European nations?

[Kitch]

Jon
Drammen - sitting on a toilet sheltering from the rain and huddled up to the radiator waiting for the afternoon so we could go out again...
Eating pasta out of half a 2 litre fanta bottle.

all good

[Big Jon]

I did same some were good and some bad...... but all memorable!

[graeme]

Feel lucky to get even this much,

Doesn't it make you wonder where the £300,000 in the BOF talent budget actually does go?

[harry]

Doesn't it make you wonder where the £300,000 in the BOF talent budget actually does go?

Maybe but I'm too old to be considered "talent" anymore!

I suppose the follow up question then is were there events that you wanted to attend but couldn't because of a lack of funding (or other) support?

I find a way to do the things I want to do. Even if it's a bit compromised at times eg living in the back of a transit van for a month - as advised by Angela Mudge!

Our programme is probably on a par with eg. the German and Austrian teams? The big guns like NOR, SWE, FIN, SUI, CZE have a lot more training camps (FRA already discussed at length above I think). SUI athletes have a sliding scale, the top ones pay almost nothing for camps I think -apart from the additional camps arranged by the athletes with help. NOR also get quite a few fully funded camps and competition trips but again the best ones are putting in a lot themselves too. Often it's not the money that's the biggest issue but the time and effort it takes to organise a camp yourself.

[Big Jon]

WOC 2015 training will be organised in Deeside - at reasonable cost. Hopefully some will also be organised in Strathspey, but I can't offer to help there.

[harry]

it's a lot of crashing on people's floor/ sofa/ spare room and asking to join in with others training. The Swiss and Norwegian teams have been open and helpful and let me join training sessions in eg. Norway, Portugal, France. There is always a way and usually when you ask people they want to help you. You need contacts!

It's probably no different than in Yvette's day pre lottery funding.

And like I said you get new experiences with great people all the time. It's a choice and I'm not complaining!
But it's obviously a bit different from the Swiss and Norwegians who can often just turn up and focus 100% on training and recovery instead of all the time checking can I scab a lift to here, can I get a map of here, can I afford a hire car.. etc

With no national team help you really need good club environments (and people like Big Jon, Ravinous etc) to help you progress & stay motivated and enjoying the sport, otherwise you constantly use so much time and energy on logistics.

One of the big differences I've noticed is the Norwegian team athletes always have a coach calling them up and checking how they're getting on, what they need etc wheras with us it's the other way, people will really help you if you ask for help but you have to be very proactive, take responsibility and make things happen. The Norwegians are making sure their talent does not slip through the net. We are saying go out and find the net and dive into it please!

[EddieH]

I remember travelling round Australia and training with Arto Rautinen, one of Sweden's elites before his tragic early death. He was friendly and helpful throughout and I was just an also-ran.

[AndyO]

Harry, you have painted a tough picture of life as an elite athlete in the GB team, and it really illustrates the kind of dedication needed to even exist at that level - even if it does leave you with some good memories. Reading AP earlier, Craney notes that he felt that to get more success he would have to change his lifestyle, and he realised he wasn't prepared to do that. I didn't expect life to be a bed of roses, but my respect for you guys is now definitely up a notch. I suppose for up and coming elites and those on the periphery of the squad it must be even harder as they may not have developed the network of contacts that has helped you on occasion.

Funding will be a perennial problem (unless we can get Olympic status of course ) and Graeme's point about the use of the money we now have is valid. Your comment about the Norwegian team members being in regular communication with a coach does surprise me. It strikes me that this kind of contact should be made with all squad members at all levels as a matter of course, and it wouldn't surely cost a lot? Even to have some admin support to help make arrangements for travel etc would take a huge burden off athletes so they can concentrate on performance.

Seems to me that even that assistance might help improve results.