Canadian Orienteering Champs

Back to the future? Waddington and de St. Croix in the finish line of the Canadian Champs

The Wadd Squad spent the weekend in the "Headwaters" region of southern Ontario visiting friends and also attending the Canadian Orienteering Championships near Orangeville. There were three races on the weekend. A sprint in Orangeville, middle distance at Terra Nova and a long distance at Mono Cliffs. We all raced in the middle distance event, only Mike ran the sprint and only Emma ran the long. Unfortunately the weekend of orienteering was not well organized (and Mike plans to write about that another time) but we still had a good time visiting friends for the first time in several months. Mike got clearance to run in one race for the weekend from his physio therapist and somehow managed to win a silver medal despite the knee injury. His 'optimistic' goal prior to the race was top 5 so he was quite surprised with the result. He enjoyed the terrain and course so much in the middle distance that he also ran the very fun sprint race in the afternoon. It was Emma's first Canadian Championships and she had a great time. Emma was 4th in the middle distance and 5th in the long and made a few new friends along the way - literally. The middle distance course was difficult for the kids that started early as a trail they had to take was not very visible or well marked. A big gang of kids gathered in the woods and figured it out together - along the way. This resulted in a mass finish of kids in the finish chute. The photo above is Emma racing Nicole de St. Croix to the finish line in the middle distance. "de St. Croix and Waddington" Haven't we heard those names before in Canadian Orienteering?

What's next for the Wadd Squad and orienteering? Well Mike doesn't plan to race again until January but the North American Champs are in Milton and Hamilton in 6 weeks. Mike is an organizer and Starr and Emma will participate in some of the races that Thanksgiving weekend.