The World Orienteering Championships (WOC) were held in Østfold, Norway from August 13-18. The Yukon was represented by two orienteers, Pia Blake and Jennifer MacKeigan.

Blake was reached in Sweden, where she is attending university, via email. Her first race was on the 13th and was a middle distance race, her preferred event.

“My favourite distance is the middle, which tends to be the most technical of the distances,” said Blake.

Competing in the Women 2 heat, Blake reached all the controls in 41 minutes and 56 seconds coming in 27th. Her heat was five-kilometres long and had 12 controls.

MacKeigan was in the third heat which was five kilometres and had 13 controls. She placed 32nd in 71:26.

Blake’s other race of the World Orienteering Championships was the relay. She competed with fellow Canadian orienteers, Emma Waddington, who ran the first leg, Emily Kemp, the second, and Blake the third and final leg.

The Canadian team placed in the top 20 with a combined time of one hour, 58 minutes and 24 seconds.

Blake said being on a team there were some anxious moments before it was her time to compete but that those feelings quickly evaporated.

“I definitely felt some nerves before the relay - especially as I was running the last leg - but I turned those nerves into excitement and by the time Emily (second leg) passed the map over the fence with a ‘have fun’ and a smile I was just excited to race,” said Blake.

The Yukon Orienteering Association has been holding regular races throughout the spring and summer. Although the terrain was different than the Yukon she believed the local events had her prepared.

“I got a good base from local meets and training sessions in Whitehorse, but the terrain is quite different in Norway,” said Blake. For one, the forest in Norway is quite a bit wetter, with a carpet of blueberry bushes everywhere. While those provide a quick snack mid-race if needed, they also make running a bit more challenging!”

Blake noted the atmosphere around the Championships were incredible.

“I am always amazed at how many people come to competitions in Europe and (the) WOC was no exception,” said Blake. “There is an energy to these big competitions that makes me motivated and eager to keep orienteering and keep improving.

“I really want to improve my running speed. I am pretty consistent technically but tend to struggle with running in rough terrain.”

Blake said she accomplished the goals she had set for herself before competing in Norway.

“I went into WOC with my biggest goal to have clean technical races, even if I had to slow down physically,” said Blake. “I managed to do this pretty well with a few smaller errors but no major moments of getting lost.”

Being around fellow team Canada orienteers and athletes, Blake said she was able to get some guidance from them.

“Some of the more senior members of the team were kind enough to share their advice, ranging from strategies in the unfamiliar terrain to how to keep my nerves intact,” said Blake. “Our coach also had some local knowledge of the terrain and we had daily team meetings to talk strategy for the upcoming races.”

After her performances in 2019, Blake’s world ranking jumped a few hundred spots.

She is currently ranked at 379. MacKeigan is ranked at 651.