Run Without Mistakes

Kent Olsson, World Champion

Oringen Clinics

5 minutes of mistakes in 5 years of world championship classic events.

What is orienteering?

Running
Map reading
Route choice
Thinking
Decision

1000m on a track: 2:30 for a fast runner, 2:50 for someone not so fast

Only a 20 second difference, yet on a 1000m orienteering leg it would be very easy to have differences much greater than this. Much more improvement can be made by focusing on orienteering rather than pure running speed in your training.

Where do we make mistakes? Typically, 80% of the mistakes are made in the last 200m to the control.

How does one train to fix these type of mistakes?

The 2 best ways are Control Picking and Line Orienteering.

Kent Olsson rarely uses his compass. Once broke his compass in the Swedish Championships going to the first control and still finished second.

If the first leg is very long, will walk the first 500m to get in contact with the map.

Training to have the right speed.

Take a compass bearing on the last 200m.

There could be a good route choice behind you, but when you leave a control you typically only look at the routes between you and the next control. To find these potentially easy route choices, look over the overall course when you can.

When you are running on a path
During the 1 minute start in the Oringen (you can look at your map 1 minute before the start)
etc.

The course setter wants us to make mistakes (it gives them great pleasure).

On long legs it is okay to pick a route off of the straight line. On shorter legs, you should be more direct.

Just before the start, have the following 2 things fixed in your mind:

Remind yourself to do the first 3 controls and the second to last control perfect
Identify north.

How to get good

Analyze
Plan
Do it
May have to change
Do

Analyze

What are you doing good?
What are you doing bad?

Planning

Competitions. Which ones? Why?
Training camps. Which ones? Why?
Train. Which types of training? Why?
Before starting a competition have a plan for route choices
- Always go around the vegetation or straight through
- Up and over or around.

Do It

Kent plans one week for mapmaking in the summer. This helps with map reading.

Do the climb early so that you are fresh entering the control.