The British Middle Distance Championships 2026 were held at Brown Clee Hill, Shropshire, on Saturday 18 April. Thirty WAOC members competed at the event organised by Harlequins OC. The courses were very technical and very fast and the day drew large and competitive fields across the classes. Careful reading of contour detail and fast descending were rewarded. It was easy to get dis-orientated amongst the pits, marshes and vegetation!

Congratulations to Alys Powell for her Silver Medal (2^ND) in W14. Other top ten results in Championship classes were: Hebe Darwin (4^TH, W20); Emma Jarrett (4^TH, W50); Alex Wetherill (5^TH, M21); Hana Powell (6^TH, W12); Erik Biernacki-Jablonski (7^TH, M16); Esther Eaton (8^TH, W12); and Dil Wetherill (9^th, M60).

Full results and photos are available here: https://www.britishmiddlechamps.org.uk/page/results

The JK 2026 was held over 3-6 April 2026 in Perthshire. This was the first JK in Scotland for 14 years, and followed the traditional format of Sprint, Middle and Long (combined for an Overall Result), and Relays. Over 20 WAOC members took part with some notable results in all the competition races.

JK Sprints

On Day 1, twenty-two WAOC members sprinted around the streets of Perth on what was quite a cold afternoon. Courses were relatively simple but made use of artificial barriers and required some dodging and weaving around shoppers and diners. Early starters enjoyed bright skies, but later starters had to deal with rain and wet cobbles.

Many congratulations to Erik Biernacki-Jablonski for his Gold (1^ST) in M16 and to Ursula Oxburgh for her Gold (1^ST) in W90. Other top ten places in the Championship classes were Emma Jarrett (5^th, W50); Hana Powell (6^th, W12); Hebe Darwin (6^th, W20E); Hazel Bickle (9^th, W75); Dil Wetherill (9^th, M60); and Mike Bickle (9^th, M75).

JK OVERALL

The JK Day 2 (Middle) and Day 3 (Long) were held at Rannoch, near Pitlochry. This is a fantastic forest, rarely used for orienteering. Nineteen WAOC members had made the long journey to compete in the JK Overall. The Middle was technically tricky, with areas of contour detail, deep marshes and tough green. Thankfully all runners finished before the incoming Storm Dave on Saturday afternoon!

The storm meant that the Long was in doubt overnight. By the morning, the weather was better, but the overnight snow made conditions more difficult with unmapped marshes, streams and water features, as well as extensive windblown trees. During the day, there was further snow fall making the Long a really tough physical and technical challenge befitting the event. Not all starters finished! It was hard work just making the long, uphill slog to the starts in blizzards of snow! Congratulations to Hebe Darwin for her 8^th in W20E. This was WAOC’s only top ten result in a Championship class, but kudos to the 10 members who managed to achieve an overall JK placing.

JK RELAYS

The final day of the JK 2026 was at Tullochroisk for the Relays. The snowy weather meant that the changeover area had been moved, making the courses slightly longer than advertised. Entering the parking field was very dicey, but the weather thankfully thawed over the morning to allow for enjoyable racing over a contoured, technical area.

WAOC fielded five relay teams, including Junior Alliances with HAVOC (in M/W40-) and HAVOC/NOR (in M48-), and an Ad-Hoc team with SBOC. All teams completed successfully and had great fun. The best results were 8^th in Intermediate Men (M48-); 9^th in Ultraveterans (M/W120+); and 11^th in the Junior Relay (M/W40-).

Full results and photos for the JK can be found at: https://www.sportident.co.uk/results/JK/2026/JK/

The Midland Championships 2026 were held at Brown Clee Hill on Sunday 19 April and hosted by Octavian Droobers. The courses were tough in the (relatively) warm weather and used many excellent parts of the area not used at the British Middle Distance Championships on the previous day. Thirty WAOC members competed. The weekend drew very large fields as both races were important selection opportunities for squad camps and national teams. WAOC had plenty of podium places across the classes in the Midland Championships.

Congratulations to WAOC’S Midland Champions 2026:

W14A Alys Powell

W20E Hebe Darwin

M16A Erik Biernacki-Jablonski

M21E Alex Wetherill

M65L Peter Haynes

Full results for the Midland Championships are at: https://octavian-droobers.org/index.php/results/2026-results/1076-19th-april-2026-brown-clee-midland-championships-ukol-results

The British Orienteering Championships (Long distance) 2026 were hosted by SBOC at Carreg Goch in the Bannau Brycheiniog on 28 February. Twenty two members of WAOC enjoyed the courses planned by former World Champion Megan Mitchell, which were a true test of physical endurance and technical ability on a fantastic map. The weather was variable with early runners treated to sunshine and breathtaking views, and later runners suffering brutal hailstorms. WAOC’s top ten results in the Championship classes were Hebe Darwin 6^th in W20E, Johanna Powell 7^th in W50L and Kathy Haynes 7^th in W65L.

The Welsh Championships 2026 were held at the same event, with WAOC’s Johanna Powell winning Silver in W50L and Alys Powell winning Bronze in W14A.

The following day, 1 March, SWOC hosted the British Relay Championships at Margam Country Park. WAOC fielded six teams, including a Junior Alliance with SOS. The racing would have been fast and furious, had it not been for the horrendous mud! Notable results were 4^th in W14 (Alys, Lulu and Hana), 5^th in Women’s Short (Hebe, Kathy and Kate), 6^th in W50 (Emma, Camilla and Johanna), and 8^th in M18 (Erik, Alistair and Alex).

The results of the 2025 East Anglian League are now available on the EAOA website. Well done to all the WAOC class winners:

Congratulations to all the WAOC runners who ended up top of their age class in the 2025 East Anglian Urban League.

Full results of the EAUL can be found on the EAOA website.

The overall totals of our WAGAL league are now finalised for 2025 following our event at Mildenhall North on 30th November, which was the last of the five WAGAL scoring event of the year.

The WAGAL scoreboard shows the final standings (click on 2025 Results).

The overall winner is Dil Wetherill, with the next two highest scorers being the contenders for the top female score: Emma Jarrett and Sue Hartley. Emma ends up ahead by the narrowest of margins, having earned extra points for organising an event earlier in the year.

Congratulations to all this year's class winners:

WAGAL Class Winners 2025