The Jan Kjellström International Festival of Orienteering 2025, set to take place in South Yorkshire over Easter weekend, promises an exciting four-day event featuring World Ranking competitions, TrailO challenges, and Festival Fun activities, with the Best Western Sheffield City Hotel offering convenient accommodation for participants and spectators alike.
Sheffield City Centre Sprint
The Sheffield City Centre Sprint, scheduled for Friday, April 18, 2025, kicks off the JK 2025 festival with an exhilarating urban orienteering challenge. Competitors will navigate through the heart of Sheffield, testing their speed and decision-making skills as they race through streets, parks, and university grounds. This World Ranking Event promises to be a spectator-friendly showcase, with runners darting past iconic city landmarks and spectators able to catch multiple glimpses of the action.
- The event is organized by South Yorkshire Orienteers (SYO) and will require numerous volunteers to ensure smooth operations and safety in the bustling city environment.
- As part of the UK Orienteering League, the sprint will attract elite orienteers from across the country and internationally.
- The urban setting offers a unique opportunity for newcomers to witness high-level orienteering up close, potentially inspiring more people to try the sport.
TrailO at Crookes Valley
The TrailO competition at Crookes Valley on Friday, April 18, 2025, offers a unique orienteering challenge as part of the JK 2025 festival. This event combines TempO and PreO Sprint formats, taking place in Crookes Valley and Weston Park near Sheffield city center. The competition is designed to be inclusive, allowing participants with limited mobility to compete on equal terms with able-bodied orienteers.
- The event features two courses: Elite and Standard, both including 4 TempO stations with 5 problems each, followed by a PreO Sprint section.
- Elite course: 18 A/Z controls with a provisional 20-minute time limit.
- Standard course: 14 A/Z controls with a provisional 23-minute time limit.
- The assembly area will be at Weston Park Museum, with pre-starts within 50m.
- Participants should note the parking restrictions and the Clean Air Zone in the area.
Tankersley Middle Distance Race
The Tankersley Middle Distance Race, scheduled for Saturday, April 19, 2025, offers a challenging and fast-paced orienteering experience through Tankersley Woods. This World Ranking Event will test competitors’ navigation skills across complex terrain shaped by centuries of industrial activity, including bell pits, bomb craters, and a maze of paths.
- The race features 24 courses of varying difficulty, with distances ranging from 1.5km to 6.2km.
- Competitors can expect to navigate through natural oak woodland with springtime bluebells, as well as areas of maturing shrubs and younger trees on reclaimed spoil heaps.
- The arena will be located in Westwood Country Park, with parking at nearby business parks and shuttle buses provided for older and younger participants.
- Maps will be at 1:7,500 scale for shorter courses and 1:10,000 for longer courses, with recent updates by Dave Peel for JK25.
