ESOC at World Cup Round 2, 2015Norway / Sweden, 3 - 7 June
Helen Bridle and Claire Ward were selected to run for Great Britain at Round 2 of the 2015 World Cup, held last week in Norway and Sweden. Helen ran the Sprint Relay in Norway and the Sprint in Sweden, whilst Claire ran the Sprint Relay as well as the Long in Norway and the Middle in Sweden.
The first race, on Wednesday 3 June, was the Long Distance at Prestebakke in Halden, Norway. The race saw a welcome return to form for Claire, after recent disappointments. She finished top British woman in 29th, just over 12 minutes behind the winner, Ida Bobach of Denmark.
The Sprint Relay followed on Friday 5 June, also in Halden at the Fredriksten fortress. This was definitely not like the typical terrain we associate with Sprint in Scotland, but looked terrific nonetheless. Claire and Helen were in the same team, UK 3, along with Dave Schorah (DEE) and Chris Galloway of Interløpers. They ran well and finished as the 33rd team overall.
The next event, the Sprint, on Saturday 6 June, at Lysekil in Bohuslän, Sweden was declared null and void after problems with some of the touchless controls being in “Eco” mode, which meant that punches were not always registered, or many seconds were lost as the card transmitted to the control. It isn’t possible to see the results online but Helen is reported as a mispunch.
The last event was the Middle at Munkedal in Bohuslän. Claire ran a steady race, finishing in 34th place (3rd British runner), just under 6 minutes behind the victor, Helena Jansson of Sweden.