Danish Spring 2015: Third victory in a row to Søren Bobach and Maja Alm

The Danish Spring is over. As in the previous two steps, Søren Bobach and Maja Alm were the big winners of the Long Distance step that put an end to this important competition.

Clearly, Søren Bobach and Maja Alm won the Long Distance stage that ended the Danish Spring 2015. Organized by OK Øst Birkerød and the Allerød OK, the event called to the Danish region of North Zealand eight hundred participants from 17 nations, having in the two Danish athletes its big stars.

In the Men Elite class, Søren Bobach (OK Pan Århus) was even stronger than in the two previous stages, achieving a course full of regularity and completing the 17.9 km in 1:25:45. Less able physically, the Swedish David Andersson made a course virtually error-free, but the cumulative of time lost over the 42 controls (!) made the difference for the winner, in the end, translated into large 3:48. With just one more second than Andersson, the Finnish Jere Pajunen (Kalevan Rasti) concluded third.

In the women elite class, Maja Alm (OK HTF Haderslev) quoted up once again as the best athlete, accomplishing the 12.0 kilometres of her course in 1:07:01. As in the previous stages, the athlete's entry in the course was not particularly well done, but from the moment she sat her race - in this case, even before the course's first half - no one else could stop her. With two major mistakes that cost her two minutes, Ida Bobach (OK Pan Århus) was the second placed with more 2:11 than the winner. The Norwegian Kamilla Olaussen (Fredrikstad SK) finished third, at 2:39 from Maja Alm.

As in the Elite classes, also in the Junior classes the names of Danish Emil Øbro (Tisvilde Hegn OK) and Josefine Lind (OK GORM) were highlighted in the first two steps, recording victories in the Sprint and Middle Distance. In the Long Distance stage that ended the event, however, the things would come differently, with Thomas Knudsen (OK Melfar) and Miri Thrane Odum (OK Øst Birkerød) being the strongest this time.

Results

Men Elite

1. Søren Bobach (DEN OK Pan Århus) 1:25:45

2. David Andersson (SWE Malungs OK) 1:29:33

3. Jere Pajunen (FIN Kalevan Rasti) 1:29:34

4. Olle Böstrom (SWE Järla IF) 1:30:33

5. Mikko Siren (FIN Angelniemen Ankkuri) 1:31:00

Women Elite

1. Maja Alm (DEN OK HTF Haderslev) 1:07:01

2. Ida Bobach (DEN OK Pan Århus) 1:09:12

3. Kamilla Olaussen (NOR Fredrikstad SK) 1:09:40

4. Sofia Haajanen (FIN SK Pohjantahti) 1:12:58

5. Lena Eliasson (SWE Domnarvets GoIF) 1:13:02

Full results at http://www.danishspring.dk/results/

[Photo: Carsten Nøhr Nielsen, Frame The Action / facebook.com/danishspring]

Joaquim Margarido