Long – Glen Affric

Friday 7th August

The Long race takes place in the beautiful, remote Highland wilderness of Glen Affric. The forest is a mix of pine, birch and oak, with steep slopes, complex contour detail, and few paths.

Glen Affric is classic Scottish orienteering terrain, and hosted the Long race the last time the World Championships were in Scotland in 1999.

Last edited: 09th Aug  

What is the Long?

The Long race tests athletes’ physical endurance. The navigational emphasis is on choosing the right route, often with distances of one or two kilometres between controls. Athletes might have to choose between going over or round a big hill or steep-sided valley, meaning that they need to pick the route that plays to their strengths.

Each country is allowed to enter up to three men and three women, depending on the country's performance in previous World Championships, and the reigning world and regional champions are also entitled to a place.

Medallists

Men
Thierry Gueorgiou	France	99:46
Daniel Hubmann	Switzerland	100:11
Olav Lundanes	Norway	100:43

Women
Ida Bobach	Denmark	75:35
Mari Fasting	Norway	78:19
Svetlana Mironova	Russia	78:39

Weather Forecast

Terrain

With steep wooded slopes and few paths or tracks, Glen Affric should be a real test of athletes’ ability to run and navigate through tough terrain.

Although the terrain is hilly, it is generally runnable, with localised deep heather and very little bracken.

Course Details

Timings

All times are in British Summer Time (BST).

Extended Start Lists

Provided by Jan Kocbach, World of O

World of O header image

Start order is determined by the athletes' World Ranking.

Athletes to Watch – Men

Thierry Gueorgiou | Start: 13:54
Age: 36 | World Ranking: 4th | Best WOC Long: Gold (x 3)
The reigning champion – and winner of three of the last four World Championship Long titles – is France’s Thierry Gueorgiou. A fourth win this year would cement his reputation as one of the finest all-round forest orienteers of all time.

Daniel Hubmann | Start: 14:03
Age: 32 | World Ranking: 2nd | Best WOC Long: Gold (x 2)
Last year’s runner-up, Switzerland’s Daniel Hubmann, has a grand total of sixteen World Championships medals. He last won the Long title in 2009, but he's already take gold in the Middle at this World Championships and he will start this race as one of the favourites.

Matthias Kyburz | Start: 14:15
Age: 25 | World Ranking: 5th | Best WOC Long: 5th (2014)
Hubmann’s Swiss teammate Matthias Kyburz has an excellent record in Sprint and Relay competitions, but has never won an individual medal in the forest. However, he will be hoping to change that this year, and he goes into this World Championships on the back of some very strong performances in the 2015 World Cup, including wins in both of the Long races. 

William Lind | Age: 30 | World Ranking: 7th | Best WOC Long: 25th (2010)
It's been confirmed that William Lind will not be running in the Long.

Gustav Bergman | Start: 13:51
Age: 24 | World Ranking: 8th | Best WOC Long: n/a
Gustav Bergman of Sweden has never successfully completed a World Championship Long race, being disqualified from his only previous attempt in 2012 after failing to record his visit to a control. He is in good form this season, having finished third in both the World Cup Long races so far in 2015.

Athletes to Watch – Women

Svetlana Mironova | Start: 13:19
Age: 28 | World Ranking: 6th | Best WOC Long: Gold (2014)
Russia's Svetlana Mironova ran a technically perfect race to beat the favourites and take last year’s title. She has continued to show her class with good results in the World Cup Long races so far in 2015, and will be hoping to repeat her performance at this year’s World Championships.

Judith Wyder | Age: 27 | World Ranking: 3rd | Best WOC Long: Bronze (2014)
Judith Wyder has been struggling with a back injury throughout this World Championships, and it's now been confirmed that she will not be running in the Long.

Tove Alexandersson | Start: 13:07
Age: 22 | World Ranking: 1st | Best WOC Long: Silver (x 2)
Tove Alexandersson of Sweden, last year’s silver medallist, had won five individual silver World Championship medals before 2015 without taking gold. However, she has been in imperious form in the World Cup races this season.

Alexandersson withdrew from the Sprint Final, Middle and Relay at this World Championships due to a foot injury she picked up at the O-Ringen, but it's now been confirmed that she is fit to run in the Long.

Mari Fasting | Start: 13:16
Age: 30 | World Ranking: 5th | Best WOC Long: 4th (2014)
Mari Fasting of Norway is one of the more consistent performers on the international circuit, and came close to winning her first World Championship individual medals last year, with fourth and fifth place in the Long and Middle respectively.

Cat Taylor | Start: 12:19
Age: 25 | World Ranking: 18th | Best WOC Long: 10th (2013)
The last time a British woman won a world title was in 1999, which was also the last time the World Championships were held in Scotland. Cat Taylor, who picked up a bronze medal in the Long at last year’s European Championships and finished fifth in the Middle at this World Championships, is perhaps the British woman most likely to repeat that achievement this time around.

2014 Medallists

Men	Women
Thierry Gueorgiou	Svetlana Mironova
Daniel Hubmann	Tove Alexandersson
Olav Lundanes	Judith Wyder

IOF LiveCenter

Because Glen Affric is such a remote wilderness area, it has very poor mobile phone coverage, and so there will be very limited live GPS tracking available for the Long race until each athlete has finished their course.

TV Coverage

All times are in the local time of the broadcaster.

Travel Directions – Public Transport

Tomich, which is approximately 4.5 km from the race arena, is served by three buses per day from Inverness on Stagecoach route 17. See Stagecoach for full details of routes and timetables.

The nearest railway station to the race arena is at Beauly, approximately 36 km away. See National Rail for details of train times and connections.

Travel Directions – By Road

Follow the A82 south-west from Inverness for 23 km to Drumnadrochit. Turn right (“Orienteering Race Arena” sign) on to the A831 and follow this road for 19 km, across the stone bridge and then left into Cannich Hall. Continue on a further 500 m to the junction signposted “Glen Affric, Tomich, Fasnakyle”. Follow this minor road for 2.5 km, past the power station, then bear left towards the Tomich junction (500 m). Do not follow the sign to Glen Affric (signed “No Through Road for Vehicles”). Turn right towards Tomich and follow this road for a further 2.5 km through Tomich Conservation Village before turning right over the bridge at Knockfin. Do not follow the road signposted “Plodda Falls” (Forestry Commission Scotland). Follow the narrow gravel road a further 2 km to the race arena (IV4 7LY).

Access for vehicles to the race arena will be closed after 12:00.

The Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival is taking place in Beauly, and traffic should not use routes such as the A833 or A831 from Beauly.

Typical travel time from Inverness: 65 minutes

Officials

Images

You can use any of these images in publications as long as you credit the source. Click/tap to preview a larger version

Glen Affric, control 42 (Full size)

Men Long map (Full size)

Women Long map (Full size)