The European City Race Tour is an international orienteering competition, taking place in various European cities, and for the first time this year, it will be organized in Zagreb as well!
The event will take place on the weekend of the 21st and 22nd of September in Zagreb, joining other numerous activities planned in Zagreb during European Mobility Week. In addition to Zagreb, this year's European City Race Tour races will be held in Rome, Barcelona, Liverpool, Porto, Graz...). The organisers, the Vihor Orienteering Club from Zagreb, have reported that over a hundred international participants have already applied for the race, from 47 clubs coming from 19 countries - Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Czechia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Norway, Portugal, Russia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, and Great Britain.
The events of the weekend will start on Saturday, with two races: one in the morning, held in a park near the never-finished hospital in Blato, and the one in the afternoon at the Trešnjevka islet on the Jarun lake. On Sunday, the European City Race Tour race will be held in the centre of the city, with the finish at Europski trg (European square).
We've already written about orienteering, but let us remind you that it's a sport in which the competitor is moving around in unknown terrain, using just the map provided by the organiser and a compass.
The goal is to get to the control points, marked on the map, in as little time as possible, and in the order by which they're numbered on the map. You must confirm that you've found the control, in this day and age mostly using an electronic chip. You compete with the other competitors in your own age group, and the male and female categories are separate. The length of the trail depends on the format, type of the terrain, etc. For the races in Zagreb, on Saturday the winners are expected to finish their races within 12-15 minutes, and on Sunday, times of 40-45 minutes are to be expected.
The detailed schedule of the events, as well as additional info (including how to apply), can be found on the competition website:https://vihor.hr/en/zgcityrace/. You can apply until September 14th, and possibly before the race starts, if any vacancies remain in the starting lists.
