On Good Friday Loughborough University will again host a major sprint orienteering race. It's the first day of the four-day JK Festival. Runners are in 40 classes (ages 10 to 90) ,and the top classes for men and women are World Ranking Events with 310 entries.

The JK Festival continues with middle and long races at Beaudesert in the West Midlands on Saturday and Sunday. and it finishes with Relays on Monday back in the East Midlands at Stanton Moor. The total number of entered participants is 2,400.

Results, which will be updated during the races.

The JK

The Programme - Final Details

It's the biggest competition in the UK. With forest orienteering being, like cross-country, primarily a winter sport (especially once winter has helped the vegetation fall back) it is, alongside the British Long Champs, the season's climax.

The JK was not held in 2020 or 2021 because of COVID.

Last year the JK was held in the Lake District. The overall JK Champions were Megan Carter-Davies and Sasha Chepelin. The JK Sprints were won by Will Gardner and Megan Carter-Davies. The Relays were won by the Oslo club Nydalens (Women) and the Edinburgh club Interlopers (Men.)

In 2022 the JK was in Wales. As in 2023 the overall JK Champions were Megan Carter-Davies and Sasha Chepelin. The Sprint races were won by Alice Leake and Sasha Chepelin. The Relays were won by Swansea Bay (Women) and Octavian Droobers (Men), both winning for the first time.

Sprint Race

The University is long established as a terrific place for many sports.
"To win forty consecutive BUCS (British Universities) championships is something we’re all extremely proud of."

Part of the (previous) Loughborough Campus Map

(Full) Map of the Loughborough Campus from 2019 British Sprint Championships on Routegadget.

As well as being a big race in its own right, there is extra interest this year with the World Championships in the three orienteering sprint disciplines in Edinburgh being in July. There have been sprint races in Scotland as part of the World Cup build-up, and there are several younger GB athletes seeking to compete with longer established GB team sprinters.

Euromeeting Sprint Races last October.

These races are however only a secondary factor in the GB selection process - the primary selection for the GB team for the early international races is Sprint Scotland at the beginning of May.

World Ranking Event (WRE) Start Times for all runners

The men have 4.1km with 65m of climb, the women 3.7km with 50m of climb. At the European Champs in Verona last year the fairly straightforward courses had distances of 3.5km +20m and 3.0km +20m respectively.

Runners are seeded based on World Rankings, therefore it is the favourites who are starting last.

Final Starters in the Women's Race

• 14:26 Pippa Carcas (Interlopers)
• 14:27 Kaia Joergensen (OK Linné) - New Zealand
• 14:28 Niamh Hunter (Edinburgh University)
• 14:29 Isobel Howard (Edinburgh University)
• 14:30 Kirstin Maxwell (Roxburgh Rievers)
• 14:31 Helen Bridle (Edinburgh Southern)
• 14:32 Mairi Eades (Interlopers)
• 14:33 Fiona Bunn (Edinburgh University)
• 14:34 Chloe Potter (South Yorkshire)
• 14:35 Laura King (Airienteers)
• 14:36 Rachel Brown (Edinburgh University)
• 14:37 Laura Robertson (South Yorkshire) - New Zealand
• 14:38 Cecilie Andersen (Bristol)
• 14:39 Charlotte Ward (Humberside & Lincolnshire)
• 14:40 Megan Carter-Davies (Swansea Bay)

Final Starters in the Men's Race

• 14:46 James Ackland (Interlopers)
• 14:47 Noah Howlett (Edinburgh University)
• 14:48 Alex Wetherill (Edinburgh University)
• 14:49 David Bunn (Edinburgh University)
• 14:50 James Hammond (Forth Valley)
• 14:51 Boyan Ivandjikov (Edinburgh University) - Bulgaria
• 14:52 Jim Bailey (Bristol)
• 14:53 Freddie Carcas (Interlopers)
• 14:54 William Gardner (Octavian Droobers)
• 14:55 Peter Molloy (Forth Valley)
• 14:56 Peter Hodkinson (Interlopers)
• 14:57 Eddie Narbett (Interlopers)
• 14:58 Chris Smithard (Forth Valley)
• 14:59 Nathan Lawson (Octavian Droobers)
• 15:00 Jonathan Crickmore (South Yorkshire)

Forest Races

Map of Beaudesert from 2022.

Beaudesert was the location for the JK Relays in 2018 - our report from what was a well-organised and fun, but very wet day.

The JK Middle is a top race in the UK, and the JK trophies, awarded on the basis of combined times for the two forest days, are very prestigious.

Our report from last year's JK - with links to short clips of the champions, Megan Carter-Davies and Sasha Chepelin running in (fast!)
Megan and Sasha are entered this year.

Start times for Saturday are arranged with the stronger runners starting last.

Start times for Sunday are in reverse order of finishing time for Saturday.

Final Starters Saturday Middle Race - Women

• 13:11 Mairi Eades (Interlopers)
• 13:13 Aoife McCavana (Interlopers) - Ireland
• 13:15 Lucy Walker (Devon)
• 13:17 Emma Wilson (Clydeside)
• 13:19 Niamh Hunter (Edinburgh University)
• 13:21 Helen Bridle (Edinburgh Southern)
• 13:23 Clodagh Moran (3ROC) - Ireland
• 13:25 Eilidh Campbell (Edinburgh University)
• 13:27 Alison O'Neil (Edinburgh Southern)
• 13:29 Laura Robertson (South Yorkshire) - New Zealand
• 13:31 Fiona Bunn W21 (Edinburgh University)
• 13:33 Cecilie Andersen (Bristol)
• 13:35 Chloe Potter (South Yorkshire)
• 13:37 Rachel Brown (Edinburgh University)
• 13:39 Megan Carter-Davies (Swansea Bay)

Final Starters Saturday Middle Race - Men

• 13:32 Philip Vokes (Octavian Droobers)
• 13:34 Ben Mitchell (Swansea Bay)
• 13:36 Peter Molloy (Forth Valley)
• 13:38 Simon Harden (South London) - Sweden (also a member of GB Development Squad)
• 13:40 Peter Taylor-Bray (Southern Navigators)
• 13:42 Graham Gristwood (Forth Valley)
• 13:44 Nathan Lawson (Octavian Droobers)
• 13:46 Matthew Gooch (Edinburgh University)
• 13:48 Alex Wetherill (Edinburgh University)
• 13:50 Sasha Chepelin (Interlopers)
• 13:52 Chris Smithard (Forth Valley)
• 13:54 Thomas Wilson (Clydeside)
• 13:56 Boyan Ivandjikov (Edinburgh University) - Bulgaria
• 13:58 William Gardner (Octavian Droobers)
• 14:00 Jonathan Crickmore (South Yorkshire)