Heather heats up

Top class orienteer Heather Monro is turning up the heat in her preparation for this summer’s World Orienteering Championship in Japan. She is training for this event in the University of Teesside’s environmental chamber.

Heather, 33, has been a member of the British Orienteering team since 1986. Orienteering is a speed and endurance event which requires each runner to use a map and a compass to navigate a variety of gruelling outdoor terrains. She will be using the chamber, which can create temperatures from -30ºC to +55ºC, to help acclimatise her body to the conditions she will experience in Japan.

Heather and staff at the University of Teesside’s sport science section made contact via the English Institute of Sport. The Institute contacted the University about the possibility of athletes using the environmental chamber in preparation for sporting events, with Heather being the first to take part. The chamber, based at the £6.5m Olympia Building, is used by sports science students to assess the impact that different temperatures have on the body .

Originally from London, Heather spent 10 years living and training in Norway and now lives in Durham. She said: “The appeal of the outdoors is why I love orienteering. Road and track running can be boring and repetitive, but with orienteering you have to use your head as well. It’s as much a cerebral sport as physical and just losing a few seconds by not taking the best route can cost you a race.

“I’ll be using the chamber to help acclimatise to the conditions in Japan where we are expecting hot and humid conditions. I’m looking to do about 15 or 20 training sessions in the chamber and we’ll be able to monitor the changes in my body caused by the heat. It’s a good facility and I’m sure it will help with my preparation.”

For more information about the range of Sport Science courses at the University of Teesside, call 01642 342308

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