THE Ilkley Grammar School pair of Lucy Haines and Laura King have won silver medals competing for England in the 2015 World Schools Orienteering Championships.

This biannual event, organised by the International School Sport Federation, involved teams from as far afield as New Zealand, Ukraine, Israel and China.

The championships were held in the Antalya region of southern Turkey. An area of steep, rocky, forested terrain lying between snow-topped mountains and blue sea.

Orienteering is a very international sport. The race format and organisation meet international specification. Orienteering maps have no text, only internationally agreed symbols. Consequently, language is no barrier to fair competition.

However, the very warm spring climate and dry thorny vegetation would have been very unfamiliar to most of the North European runners at least.

The races comprised a model event to acclimatise, long and middle distance races and a friendship relay.

King and Haines entered the W1 Selected category. In the long distance race at Tekirova, Haines was fifth and King13th in a field of 68 runners.

The middle distance race at Beycik saw Lucy take sixth place and Laura 17th. Overall, England's five-strong W1 Selected team took the silver medal just behind Austria and ahead of Sweden.

The week included plenty of opportunity for the athletes to mix including opening event, medal ceremonies, nations night and the friendship relay.

Set in the coastal town of Kemer, the friendship relay comprised over 200 teams of three with runners drawn from different countries. The mass start, intense racing and international teamwork all provided a fitting climax to the championships.

Haines and King run for Airienteers, the Orienteering Club for Wharfedale and Airedale. They are also members of the Yorkshire and Humber Junior Orienteering Squad which provides regular training opportunities.

If you or your family would like to try orienteering Airienteers will be hosting a series of local 'Come and try it' events in Wharfedale this September. Further details will be found at: http://www.aire.org.uk