Duncan Birtwistle

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 First up on the new profile page is Wrekins latest signing, Duncan Birtwistle. I asked Duncan a few probing questions to kick us off..




  • Great to see you joining up with Wrekin Orienteers, what brings you to Shropshire?
I've been living in Shropshire for about six months now after moving to the area for work. I'm in the Dams & Reservoirs team at Severn Trent Water and we have the responsibility for managing the company's portfolio of reservoirs. I have been working with the Survey section, based out of Shifnal, who cover the whole region so I have got to really understand how we supply water to our customers.

Too be honest, before I moved I didn't really know much about Shifnal, Telford (where I live) or the rest of Shropshire! Apart from that Mercia Fell Runners were loosely based in these parts and that there was a bit of a downhill mountain bike scene.

Coming here though I really love it, particularly the Wrekin, Long Mynd and the network of paths around my house. Shrewsbury and Bridgnorth are nice and it's pretty easy to get the train east into Birmingham and beyond, or west into Wales.


  • Congratulations on an excellent JK, was your 22nd in the elite in the sprint your best result of the weekend?
Thanks. The  whole JK went really well for me and I'm pleased with my results. The sprint put me up there getting close to some big elite names like Baptiste Rollier and Philippe Adamski who I've always thought of as untouchable. In the other races I was consistently ahead of the guys I normally finish around which was good to see.

I thought our Senior Mens relay team did really well too setting great times on the longest relay course to finish 14th. Thanks to Craig Storey and Clive Richardson for being up for racing against some elite foreigners!


  • How did you take on Bigland both mentally and physically?
From looking at the map and final details before the race I worked out roughly were the start and road crossing should be. I decided it likely that we would do a loop though the open fell, then move into the flatter wooded areas, before taking on the steep rocky slope for the final part of the course.

Due to the steepness and technicality of the final section it was clear that the running wouldn't be too fast in that part - meaning I should run extra hard everywhere else. That worked pretty well and I came through the spectator run-through hearing I was 2 1/2 minutes down on the lead which I was satisfied with.

Knowing it was technical going into the steep stuff I slowed right down. On one checkpoint though, perhaps due to tiredness, I didn't slow down enough and lost 5 minutes by being on the wrong side of a big spur. This meant I was caught by Alasdair McLeod and got to see how he raced the rest of the course.


  • I see you're up to 17th in the UK rankings, do you see yourself in the top ten soon and are you looking at the selection races for the world champs?
It's good to be moving up which should give me a better starting position in future races. Graham Gristwood has very recently started the UK Elite Orienteering League which I am probably going to follow a bit more closely than the ranking list as I'm higher up in it! It's based on position at this season's major domestic races in the lead up to the World Championships in Scotland this summer. Off the back of the JK I've just learnt I've been selected for the GB team to run in the Long Distance at the Norwegian World Cup races at the beginning of June which is really cool - making my senior British team debut. I'll be trying my best at the selection races.


  • I guess your running in the BOC 2015 at Forest of Dean whats your target and do you have any local knowledge you can share?
Yep I'll be running and representing Wrekin. New Beechenhurst is a decent area but I've never run on Brierley before. It's mostly fairly runnable but needs some digging in on the hills - no problem if you've been running up the Wrekin. The countless ditches on the flatter part of New Beechenhurst will be tricky if you don't hold your bearings well or lose track of how many you've passed. The green covered spoil heap is a fun little part. Mark Dyer and Trevor Crowe are top planners so I'm looking forward to some challenging courses.


  • You are clearly a talented endurance athlete what ambitions have you for other sports?
I train a couple of times a week with Telford AC who are a fun club. Over winter I did a lot of cross country races but I got a bit bored of them after doing so many, I am very glad we're now into the orienteering season proper. Though I might try and get my PB's down on the track if it fits in with my training.
Complimenting Wrekin's Tuesday evening orienteering (starting 28th April at Edgemond Hall) the Shropshire Fell Race Summer Series on Wednesday nights will be fun and hopefully I'll beat Lloyd Taggart the next time I race him.
I took delivery of a cyclocross bike off eBay this week and once the summer is over I'd like to record a sub-4hr time in the Yorkshire Three Peaks Cyclocross race.

Thanks Duncan