WAOC at the JK 2026

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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/