TROMS ORIENTEERING FEDERATION

- information in English -

Troms Orienteering Federation is the second northernmost of the Norwegian Orienteering Federation's 18 regional federations, and it was established on the 19 January 1958. As of today, there are 18 clubs in Troms O-federation with approximately 600 members. The largest clubs are BUL Tromsø and Sørreisa O-team with 96 and 94 members respectively.

The most renowned event in Troms O-Federation is the Midnight sun gallop (MG), a traditional multi-day race which has been held every other year since 1967. The number of competitors varies from year to year, but on average there are approximately 600 runners that attend MG every time. The record for the most compretitors was in 1995 when Sørreisa O-team held all four races. Nearly 2000 competitors participated.

The most renowned runner produced in Troms is Gjermund Alfonsson Urset (previously Hanssen) from BUL Tromsø. His best international result is a 7th place in the world cup in Slovakia in 1998. He has also acheived a 9th place in the open Nordic Championship, long course, in Finland in 1993. He has won a national title for the ultra-long course in 2001 and silvers for the long course in 1998, 2001 and 2003.

The Norwegian Orienteering Championships have been held in Troms several times: 1971 NM senior, 1981 NM ultralong (Skånland), 1988 NM junior (Senja/Finnsnes), 1992 NM-week (Storsteinnes/Bardu/Silsand) and 1996 NM ultralong (Harstad). The Nordic Championships have also been held in 1984 (Malangen) and the Military World Championships in 1990 (Inner Troms). In 2008 the NM-week will again be held in Troms, this time in in Tromsø. Two year afrter that, in 2010, Sørreisa will host the NM ultralong.

In 2008 Troms Orienteering Federation reached it's 50th anniversary, in connection with this the Norwegian Orienteering Federation's general assembly was held in North Norway for the very first time. It took place in the city of Tromsø.

The federations that are our nearest neighbours are Nordland Orienteering Federation in the south and Finnmark Orienteering Federation in the north. Nordland, Troms and Finnmark Orienteering Federations are all part of the Barents Sports Alliance in the Barents Region. Every year the Barents match/Championships in Orienteering are held. Teams from Northern Norway, Northern Sweden and Northern Finland compete against each other. North-Western Russia are also a part of the alliance, but they only compete sporadically.

Troms is Norway's second most northern county, and covers an area of 25848 km2. 155000 people live in Troms county. The county council is located in the county's largest city, Tromsø. Tromsø has 65000 inhabitants. The other cities in the county are Harstad (23000 inhabs.) and Finnsnes (municipal centre in Lenvik with 5500 inhabs.).

Chairman of the board of Troms Orienteering Federation:

Eli Blomseth Helgesen

Club: Sørreisa O-team
Address: Nordliveien 67, N-9310 SØRREISA, NORWAY
Phone: +47 77 86 11 88 / + 47 932 18 093
Fax: +47 77 87 51 61
E-mail: elivar@bluezone.no / tromsorientering@gmail.com

Other information:
Fixtures (regional federation events and training events)

Trekorienteering (find controls when you want yourself)

Discussion forum (post a message, greeting or whatever you want)

Watch movies from Troms:
Movieclip (0.30)
Movieclip (2.20)

If you would like to hear more about Troms Orienteering Federation do not hesitate to send an E-mail to tromsorientering@gmail.com or helgejon@online.no

(Thanx to Mr. Iain Malcolm Simpson, Englishman who has settled down in Troms and is representing Målselv IL in orienteering, for helping us with the translation)