Michael Hock

When did you start orienteering, and why?

I was 11 years old in 1984 when I was invited to discover Orienteering together with my neighbor (2 years younger); his parents were friends to a founding member of ARDOC who proposed a little training course in the St. Vith forest for us (map).

What’s your earliest orienteering memory?

My first memory really is the National race I took part in the Beginners class, one month after this initial training… all seemed to have gone well, except the error towards the end… see map.

PS. It was not until decades later that I scanned all my orienteering maps into the digital archive, but I had collected all of them in binders!

What’s your funniest or most interesting orienteering story?

Between 1987 and 1993 I went 7 times to the German town Siegen. Why? Well, the Belgian army was stationed there and offered Orienteering. The terrain was nice, they organized two-day events and a famous Marathon. I started with the ¼ one and ended with the ½ ones (even as winner) (maps). But what it made so really special is that we were housed inside the military camp, between the tanks and so on, and we could go to the bar and drink very cheap Belgian beer (0,50€ at that time), because it was tax-free.

Do you have any photos from your orienteering past that you’d be willing to share and say a few words about?

This is the Belgian Relay Championship 1985 organized by my club ARDOC (map). I was last runner, did a great race, but when I came back, we heard that the second runner had missed a control… I think I didn’t like him that much anymore afterwards.

Are there any results you’re particularly proud of?

Absolutely! Several Belgian titles in my youth and master age (nothing in between). Final A qualification at several WMOCs and a couple of Brazilian titles.

Would you dare to share your biggest mistake in orienteering?

Too hard to remember one specific event… A couple of times I skipped controls or an entire loop, but I’m really not often NCL.

What is your favourite terrain? Do you have a least favourite?

My favourite terrain nowadays does not have too many rocks on the ground or brambles, and not too much climbing.

Obviously, the opposite is what I don’t really enjoy. Of course, may factors decide if I go somewhere or not, but I have a few areas in Belgium where I don’t go anymore!

Give an example of a typical control point in your "home terrain".

I would say, probably root stocks or little knolls. map

How did you find out about orienteering in Luxembourg?

I’m not so sure anymore, but I guess by meeting many of you at our Belgian events.

But already in 2005, I did the timing of a Scandinavian WWOP tour group in Bambesch.

According to my DOMA, my first race was the World Orienteering Day 2017 in Sandweiler (map).

Why do you think orienteering is a sport worth doing? What has orienteering given you as a person?

Orienteering has accompanied me for the last 43 years; I never stopped and never did any other sport. Running without a map quickly becomes boring.

Orienteering gave me basically everything: I used club computers for developing timing software and map drawing since the end of the 80^th, thus enabling my studies and career paths.

Also, through this software I was invited to Brazil in 2006 and started to love a different world.

Rapid fire:

•             Sprint or forest? - Actually both for their different characteristics

•             Thumb or plate compass? - Always a plate compass. I never used anything else, maybe because I’m left-handed and thumb compasses didn’t exist yet for left handers?

•             Night or day? - Day

•             Beer or crémant (after a race)? - Beer

•             First leg or last leg (in a relay)? - First, then I don’t need to wait for my turn…