Mediterranean 0pen Championships 2006 - Orienteering

Mediterranean 0pen Championships 2006
S c ly and Basilicata - 3rd l\4arch - 12th l\4arch
It's early morning 0f the last day in February and our plane is llying
thr0ugh cl0uds 1ooometres above Sicily. In sho momenls, in the qaps
between the clouds, you can see lhe country beneath us. The scenery
is breathtaking. Steep mountains up l0 1.500m climb up hom the sea.
Nestled belween them 0n a coaslal plain. we can see Palermo, the city
aboul which s0 much has been written; the cily which is s0 olten the
setting l0r Mafia dramas. However, this time the purp0se 0f our visil,
as usual l0r 0T, is orienteerinq. We've come here t0 report 0n the lirst ] NG X ONG TIO, DAV D BR CKH LL-]ONEs AND KA]SA N LSSO\ POS NC FCR THT IAL AN IV
internati0nal 0rienteering event l0 be held 0n lhis beautiful island. In l,V'IH IHE TOP OF ETNA N THE BACXGROUND PI]OIC LL]C I NA!'AÈ'!II
the coming lortnight we'll see walch a series ol races thal make up
lhe Mediterranean 0pen Champi0nships, the highlight being tw0 Park
World l0ur races: one in the capital Palermo the 0ther in Laqonegr0 in March sth - Piano Pomieri
the region ol Basilicala.
After a day of rest fo owed lhe Park Wor d Tour race n Palermo. lhe
C"a"po'.1^ps co'_'Les ^rÈ d racó rp
However lhis s not aboul lhe PWT you can read the stores n lhe
ssue 01112006, where we COVefed ther.r in detai. This tme we are
return ng to this charm ng s and lo report on the Mledilerranean Open
Champìonsh ps: a project of Gabrie e V a e the V ce President of the
Ita an Federal on A project whose rna n goal is to spread or enteef ng
nlo lhe l\lediterranean area where there is st ll very ttle known about
t. fh s ls certa nly a ong term projecl and achiev ng the goa is by
no means easy. but lhis second edilron of the annual charapionships
proved t may nol be a.Vlission mpossible Follow us w th lhe story of
our encounteTs on the or enteer ng loLrr through S crjy
_ rtse roLrra ì . -ie b-_
can es us on a 2 hour dr ve up lo 1200m. Whi e lhe wealhef n Palerrno
was exlremely warrn lwo days ago. now lhe whole tour js about to learn
about the less friend y side of the Slcilian c lmale. The lemperature drops
do^r 'o "bo.1
,l dFgr.es ollo.e'rè /ero a rd qL.l. of lLé .'or!,ó.,.::':l'.
'f
,d /,
:

I Sm0la's G0lden R0ute Ar0und the T0ps
of Monte Pelegrino
As la ways do of Nlidde dstance cours€s, my mah sfat€gyjorthis
race was to rur on compass, be careful0n lhe way out oilhe contro s
(as l6 very dlficulllo correcl any devialton lrom the ootimum llne on
s'Orl eqs\ d-d d0_ l lorgFt o -meddtpty
srop and f-!ct ùe rap
wnPnere l'opl,n9ec- q db0LI îy pocrlor, oerin.otv -ot lo (onl fue
runninq regardless
Slarl - 1 | am realy surprised how rccky the lerrain rs but for me
!0in0 round lhe palh almost a I lhe way lo the conlro was nol af
opl0n. slrugge to opl, y_emood. h gh as úou0 i + to m q0,g
r@-qtì'Èp opr a oa and wdl oseethe oelanlw.lndso-r
rhch nooe \ y' D. c ed lv v s ble, 45 (oon d5 , qel ,Do-t-plerat.
Drake,
-
I can see the flag.
2 lh-e drp re^ .w Lole(t,_grpdlures
'0'0w
on lhF eq so tjùsl
l"P ompasc dnd malP rU p OOn l loco IOO î_Ch heúht I
k'row e (orl o s on lhe stppp gopp co a, soon ds Igelh {sloot.
lrase my Ìread and see lhe tlag. I have nol re ied on ltìe paúìs oí tiis
eg, srnce lhaven l been cefa n aboulhow v sìbie dìey are itì leíain.
2 - 3: one ofthe lels where savin0lhe controt s he key to ÍÌìdin0
1"o rollownq orp easr lL pcl 3
m! oipft,o" m òegÍing ol he
leo dnd hq- i i-

The \4 cld É d stancc at [4onte Pe egr no lhe moL]nla n lou/er:g cver
Palcfmo was a ioig artic paled î gh ght oí the Pa erm.r seci oÌr of rre
ioLtr [4onte Peegrno s a nalL]Te feseTve vr'hch evervone n the crlv s
r'aLdof andwhenyoLr askthe ocasalloLrt ntefest ng p aces to v s i
_voJ can be cerlaln that th s ll'or]fta a loil s ir'/hefe yoLr be d feclec
FcLr hùndred melres hgh ls sts rqhl above the sea anc the ci_v A
ilrealhÌak ng afdscape spread oLrt bafore you On one sde of l'e
. ro
.oò lì .d b.é ,,.eo )e. o Leo e
'
o.o'Doe' oope . I o o,
Whal s so great abort [.4ofle Peegrno. fron] an orlenleern! po nl c:
v e\4/ s the iact that Is a.f aÌ mclnlalî E!,ef f is orvef sroc,.s a.e
s:eeo cnce yoL get to the top trefesa4km2patea!\t/alrll fa yorl
a p aleau covered w th thousand cf boL ders anc oihelockV feal!r-.s
as r,r'e as rnany spec es ol st cky. pr ck v p anls. The good th flj s
desp le lhe rocky gfounc t sst TuÌìna!e.vr'hchcanroibelakenior
cr l..d tr.è
. I. a..o..)oc. .. i o e .L..
is a rrost rnposs b e to !ul yoLr feei coTrf \ryrthout tv'isl ng your ank es
The [.4idde oislance organsed |rp on the moL]nla r s an amal rll
exan'p e of very lechn ca orlerl-oer ng ard ih s I rne il s Kalsa N sson
of Sr"/ecien afc LlchaeL Srnoa of lhe CzÉrch Rerub c ,rho are ll'e
tr nneTs
Thc Ìaccs around Pa ermoaTe
over a ìd on lh s day ihe !,!'ho e loÍ
rnoves 250 kra easi lo
'ooo-o(,,o
the
acl ve volcano
The 4tf, stage ol [.4OC 2006 s hed n Bfonle a pclr]res.iLre to'rn at
Ìre western fool of Etna rrilh abyr flrs of t Ìry w nding anes. Ho!./e',,e
'o.J' -oq t- d boÒ o , '. r o o o
'"!aim. sunny,r'/eather forllna 'as p a_ved a lrck or tlìern Fof ììe
lfst trnc n 5 yoa's. sro!^/ is fa ng r Bronle and lufns lhe 'ace r:o
sonnethngcfasurvva cha enge for nany of lhe rLrnners Aga rsi a
li.e ollstac es the Czech rlrnner S|rro a aga n coÌnrrates the men s
c ass and h s team-male Bro:kola the .,.Jomef s.
. ,l-.oot oo r,. . ..tol. .
J oo o.
laiar TV near some of Elras sma ,/ocanoes. Paying I lhe s.oú/
lnderneath the brealhiakfg veW ol lfe vocano s llfeal fln lor
everyone presenr...
BRIT SH TLIfE ORIENTEER NICK BARRABLE PUsHING HARD
N IHE IOI-]GH AND ROUGH TERRA N OF N4ON'II PILEGRINO
PHOTO LL]C ' NÀIIAFOVA
ilf',.'..,,
:tj/
THE B G STAR OF [iOC 2006, CZECH NATIONALTEAN4
RUNNER
ÌllCHAL SNIOLA. PH0r0: LUc E NAVARoVA
'.*8r.

March glh - Fardela
Fardela is the second ìast stage of IVIOC 2006 and the whole Tour travels
another 400 km to get there. This time, we are back on the main ltalian
peninsula, in the region of Basìl'cata. Fardela is again a typical ltalian
town, full of narrow lanes. Again there are many tricky moments waiting
for the runners out on the course and 100% concentration is required,
as everywhere in urban areas in ltaly.
Denamrk's Christian Nielsen scores another victory in the men's class
ahead of Switzerland's Thomas Hodel. Among the women Dana
Bro:kové again reinforces her lead in the overall slanding. Fardela, as
with all ltalian towns is a wonderful historic lreasure and the only thing
which prevents everyone from enjoying it is the slill unfriendly weather.
3. SMiHàMàIidó FINLAND
2 zuana Macùchoql CZECN REP 4405
3. Sèlnè Slaldér Sì/VITZEFLAND .14i16
4. .ga Damb6
2.ThomasHodal SWIzEALAND
3. oav d BickhillJo n€s G REAI BBllAlN
4 Scofi Fraser GFEAI BRllAlN
2. Dana B.ozkovS CZECN REP
3. Chne wafd GFFa{T BRTTATN
3. M.nuèrNègf€no rúLY
3. Kalri Ke*o a FINLAND 33143
2 lhom.sHodè SW IZEFLAND 12132
3 Michalsmoa CZECH BEP
a. David Br ckhill.Jon€s GREAIBRllAlN 1241
2. S€lln6
srardèr sw rzERLANo 14144
3. K4sa Nilsson SWEDEN
Although this time it is really not as bad as it was in Piano Pomieri. But,
it is not over yet, the PWT race in Lagonegro is still to come. The race
which will go down in the history of PWT as the race run in the worst
weather conditions ever... (see issue 01/2006 for details)
But this is southern ltaly. Sometimes the weather can be incredibly nice
there and leave you wondering if you are really in Europe, or whether
you've been accidentally taken to another continent. However, this is
not a rule... although you can always hope for the best. This year's l\4OC
showed once again, that southern ltaly has a lot to offer orienteers, and
that the sport is slowly but surely setting its roots there.
Another positive thing about the championships this year was the
participation of a group of 120 Scandinavian tourists who came to
Sicily for orienteering with PWT Travel. The participation of this group
certainly meant another important step in the development of the MOC
concept: Starting from next year, the organisers plan to divide the event
into two parts - the Medìterranean Open Tour and the l\,4editeíanean
Open Championships. The Tour will be aimed at hobby orienteers and
the plan is to also visit other countries in the lvlediterranean area, Greek
among them. The Mediterranean Championships will become a strictly
elite event, with three races (Long, Middle and Sprint) in three days.
Time will tell if this concept will be successful and a step in the right
direction. We'll learn next year, in lvlarch, the month which in southern
Italy belongs to orienteers from all over the world!
Te)dr Jan Skfièka