West Anglian Orienteering Club

WAOC’s Midland Champions 2026

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

WAOC at the British Middle Distance Championships 2026

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

WAOC at the JK 2026

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.

WAOC at the BOC and British Relays 2026

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.

WAOC's EA Urban League Winners

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

WAOC's EA league winners 2025

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

WAGAL Winners 2025

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.

JabberWAOC magazineThe Newsletter of WAOC

And, as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!