Inspiration

It was the World Orienteering Championships in Denmark last week and there were some excellent results from the British team. Most notable were the bronze medal for Jamie Stevenson in the long distance and 6th place (a podium position) for Helen Bridle in the sprint championships. Helen used to be a member of Wimborne Orienteers, one of our neighbouring clubs, so her success should mean a bit more to SOC members. (Results at www.woc2006.dk)

I've known some of the people in the British team since they were young juniors. I still remember Dave Currie shadowing Graham Gristwood around a training exercise in Burnham Beeches when he had to stop every couple of minutes to tie his shoe laces or look at his map. Things have changed - Graham was placed in the top ten in the sprint race, so is definitely at an international level. Anyway, the point of this story is that all these people seem normal and just like us until they decide that they could make it on the international stage. Don't get me wrong, there's a lot of talent there as well, but what counts for a lot more is the attitude.

So, the first step to winning your course is to really want to win your course. The next step is to really believe that you could win your course. Unfortunately, what follows is a lot of hard work - hours spent running in the dark and the cold over the winter and a lot of technique training. But just think of the glory ...

Christine