10MILA 2017: IFK Göteborg is the winner

IFK Göteborg was the brilliant winner of 10MILA 2017. It was the recover of the title achieved two years ago and the 8:35 advantage over OK Linné was the widest triumph since 2004, when Halden SK got the winning over Kalevan Rasti by 9:40. It was also the third year in a row that a Swedish team wins the Men Relay, something that didn't happened since 1990.

Partille, near Gotebörg, hosted the 71st edition of 10MILA. Divided by Youth, Women and Men Relay, close to 7,000 competitors from all over the World took part in the event, which had in the Men Relay its highest moment. The race started at 21.00 p.m., with 324 teams reaching the forest for a long and exciting orienteering night. Martin Regborn (Hagaby GoIF Örebro) did a perfect first leg, finishing with a four-minute advantage over a large group, led by MS Parma, OK Trian and Hiidenkiertäjät. Viktor Larsson managed to keep Hagaby's boys in the lead in the end of the second leg but things changed after that, with Lauri Sild (Koovee) reaching a two-minute advantage over the crowd in the end of the third leg. Always expected as one of the most significant moments of the course, the fourth and longest leg was tightly contested, finishing with the first six teams separated by seven seconds. IFK Göteborg, Lillomarka OL, IFK Mora OK, Koovee, MS Parma and Lynx had a unique opportunity to conduct the course towards the final victory, having at the moment a good eight-minute lead over the remaining teams.

In the end of the fifth leg, the leading group was reduced to three teams, with Koovee in the first position. But it was during the sixth leg that IFK Göteborg's victory turned out to be a real possibility. Jonas Pilblad performed amazingly, finishing his course 3:51 before Steinar Kollerud (Lillomarka OL), second placed, 4:59 before Jarno Parkkinen (Koovee), third placed and 9:12 before Baptiste Rollier (Kalevan Rasti), in the fourth position. Oleksandr Kratov could reduce Koovee's disadvantage to 54 seconds in the end of the seventh leg, but became clear after the eight leg that IFK Göteborg would be the winner, after Max Peter Bejmer's achievement of nearly ten (!) minutes. Eskil Kinneberg, first, and then Fredrik Bakkman would confirm an amazing victory with the overall time of 10:57:14, the second in the club's history after the winning in 2015. 8:35 after the winners, OK Linné got the second place and Södertälje-Nykvarn OF, the winner in 2016, stayed in the third position with the overall time of 11:06:18.

Results

Men Relay Kavlen

1. IFK Göteborg 10:57:14 (+ 00:00)

2. OK Linné 11:05:49 (+ 08:35)

3. Södertälje-Nykvarn OF 11:06:18 (+ 09:04)

4. Koovee 11:06:31 (+ 09:17)

5. Tampereen Pyrintö 11:10:16 (+ 13:02)

6. Lillomarka OL 11:14:09 (+ 16:55)

7. Kalevan Rasti 11:15:18 (+ 18:04)

8. IFK Lidingö SOK 11:15:41 (+ 18:27)

9. Halden SK 11:22:44 (+ 25:30)

10. IFK Mora OK 11:32:49 (+ 35:35)

Complete results and further information at http://online.10mila.se/.

[Photo: Mårten Lång / svenskorientering.se]

Joaquim Margarido

10MILA 2017: Stora Tuna OK wins Women Relay

Exciting from the beginning and with a dramatic ending, so it was the 2017 10MILA's Women Relay, won by the Swedish team of Stora Tuna OK. It was the return of the Swedish club to the first place of the podium of this prestigious competition, nine years after the last great achievement and an unique moment of joy for Anna Mårsell, Magdalena Olsson, Julia Gross, Frida Sandberg and Tove Alexandersson.

313 teams lined up for the 10MILA 2017 Women Relay. After an excellent performance by Marianne Andersen, Kristiansand OK took the lead after the first leg with a 31-second advantage over Järla Orienteering. NTNUI followed in the third position, almost three minutes (!) after the first placed. The second leg was dominated by Halden SK, with Mari Fasting taking the lead, two seconds ahead of Kirsi Nurmi, from IFK Göteborg, and a twenty-second advantage over Emma Silvennoinen, from Paimion Rasti.

Although the longest, with 10.7 km, the third leg just came out shuffling the standings, since in the end were 13 the teams that stood in the lead, separated by only 12 seconds from each other. The 14th ranked, MS Parma, already had a six-minute disadvantage for the front group, which was led by Stora Tuna OK. In the fourth leg, the shortest out of the five, with only 4.5 km, Venla Harju got a good advance with his team of Tampereen Pyrintö, leaving for the decisive leg with a 1:40 advantage over IFK Göteborg and 2:56 over the IFK Lidingö SOK, respectively second and third placed.

Victory of IK Hakarpspojkarna in the Youth Relay

With a tremendous pressure on her, Saila Kinni was still able to keep Tampereen Pyrintö's leadership during the first two thirds of the last leg, over the distance of 8.3 km, but the final moments would be dramatic. Doing an incredible race, Tove Alexandersson was able to recover more than six minutes and take the Stora Tuna OK to the third place with just 500 meters to finish the race. Next to her was Judith Wyder (Göteborg-Majorna OK), a little further ahead Saila Kinni that was now the runner-up and ahead Natalia Gemperle (Alfta-Ösa OK), leading with a 30 second advantage. But the momentum of victory was on the side of Alexandersson and Wyder, who eventually benefited from a big mistake of Gemperle and imposed their class until the last meters. Stora Tuna OK won with a 2 second lead over Göteborg-Majorna OK and 7 seconds over the Tampereen Pyrintö. This was Stora Tuna OK's fourth win at the 10MILA's Women Relay after the triumphs in 1982, 1984 and 2008.

Starting this wonderful journey in the best way, IK Hakarpspojkarna (Viktor Gunnarsson, Emma Ling, Joar Hertin and Hilda Holmqvist Johansson) won the Youth Relay with the time of 1:37:26. The fight for the next position was really hard, with five teams separated by less than 30 seconds. Paimion Rasti (Jarkko Rantoja, Essi Hölsö, Vilma Wahlsten, Topias Arola, Klaus Haanpää and Milja Väätäjä) got the second place with 1:38:59 and Espoon Suunta (Ida Haapala, Topias Uusitalo, Lauri Puupponen, Topias Kemppi, Emil Laaksonen and Maria Määttänen) achieved the third placed, 1:42 after the winners. 300 teams participated in this competition.

Results

Women Relay Damkavlen

1. Stora Tuna OK 4:25:04 (+ 00:00)

2. Göteborg-Majorna OK 4:25:06 (+ 00:02)

3. Tampereen Pyrintö 4:25:11 (+ 00:07)

4. SK Pohjantähti 4:26:20 (+ 01:16)

5. Järla Orientering 4:26:22 (+ 01:18)

6. IFK Lidingö SOK 4:26:25 (+ 01:21)

7. IFK Göteborg 4:26:41 (+ 01:37)

8. Alfta-Ösa OK 4:26:51 (+ 01:47)

9. Halden SK 4:27:14 (+ 02:10)

10. Paimion Rasti 2:29:40 (+ 04:36)

Youth Relay Ungdomksvalen

1. IK Hakarpspojkarna 1:37:26 (+ 00:00)

2. Paimion Rasti 1:38:59 (+ 01:33)

3. Espoon Suunta 1:39:08 (+ 01:42)

4. Nydalens SK 1:39:19 (+ 01:53)

5. Freidig 1:39:23 (+ 01:57)

Complete results and further information at http://online.10mila.se/.

[Photo: Lars Rönnols / facebook.com/lars.ronnols]

Joaquim Margarido

Jonas Leandersson: A moment, a comment...

“When I woke up I was told we were in the lead. It was great to see all guys running so well, being offensive and following our plan.

The race itself was a great experience and I tried to just enjoy going out in the lead with Kalevan Rasti. Early on in the race I focused a lot on making the perfect technical race, but when I made a small mistake I saw Eskil from IFK Göteborg in front of me in the forest. After about half the course we caught up with Kalevan and Thierry again, and I thought to myself that this will be a fight till the very end.

At the end of the race I put my focus on staying close to Eskil. The plan was to be the first one to punch at the last control, but it turned out to be Eskil's plan too. Even though he punched first, I knew that there was still a chance if I just pushed hard enough the last 100 meters. And after that no one could say who will be the strongest; sometimes you got all the extra power you need, and sometimes you don’t. Fortunatly, this time I did the strongest finish.

The moment when I crossed the finish line and realized that we were the winners of 10mila 2016 was one of the best moments of my career so far. I just went with the moment, screaming out the happiness and the relief I felt inside of me. To be able to do this together with the guys and the club is just fantastic.”

Jonas Leandersson, Sweden

2016.05.15 – 10MILA 2016, Falun-Borlänge, Sweden

[Photo: Stina Loman / orientering.se]

10MILA 2016: Södertälje-Nykvarn OF got the Men Relay's victory

With the echoes of OK Pan Århus' victory in the Women Relay still sounding everywhere, 341 male teams were vanishing through the forest for the longest night. Ten and a half hours later, with thousands of adventures in between, Jonas Leandersson would be the first to cross the finish line, giving to the Södertälje-Nykvarn OF team its sixth victory in the mythical Relay's history.

Its 8.30 pm and the night falls on Falun, about 200 km northwest of the Swedish capital, Stockholm. The main focus of the world of Orienteering is here, in what will be the 71st edition of 10MILA, classical Men Relay that joins every year, since 1945, the world's best teams. Once again, the competitors were present at the start for 10 decisive, unpredictable and exciting legs through all night. Although the final result of each team is the combination of strengths and weaknesses of the individual performances - and here, for very good or very bad it can be, every moment counts - the truth is that the last leg was the decisive one. But the story of this edition of 10MILA is made from the sum of the parts, and it's possible to highlight some really interesting moments.

The first intense moment was, of course, the start, with 341 teams fighting for the best possible result since the beginning. The first finisher was the Spanish Antonio Martinez Perez, from the Norwegian team of Halden SK, doing the best time in the initial leg. Fredrik Edén would be first on the second leg, showing that IFK Göteborg was in Falun to hardily defend the amazing victory achieved last year. At the end of the third leg, Lillomarka OL was in the lead, with an advantage of almost two minutes over the second placed, but in the end of the fourth leg everything changed and Södertälje-Nykvarn OF was in the lead, after another great performance from a Spanish athlete, Andreu Blanes Reig. Erik Liljequist enhanced the Södertälje-Nykvarn OF team's advantage, which was higher than 3 minutes after the 5th leg.

Södertälje-Nykvarn OF athletes were able to keep the lead during the next three legs but, in the end of the 9th leg, it was Kalevan Rasti who took the first place, with Thierry Gueorgiou starting for the last leg with an advantage of 3 seconds over Jonas Leandersson (Södertälje-Nykvarn OF) and 1:55 over Eskil Kinneberg (IFK Göteborg). With four and five minutes, respectively, to the lead, IFK Lidingö SOK and Koovee were almost definitely out of the podium. The fight between the three first teams was incredible, with Eskil Kinneberg performing amazingly, managing to reach Leandersson still in the first half of the leg and then catching Gueorgiou and taking the lead. The difference between the three athletes would remain in a few seconds and the corridor to the finish was, once again, the place of all the decisions. The strength of youth was against Gueorgiou and Leandersson was faster than Kinneberg in the final metres. Eleven years later, Södertälje-Nykvarn OF recovers the 10MILA sceptre!

Results

1. Södertälje-Nykvarn OF (B.Pawlak, K. Ohlsson, I. Lundanes, A. Blanes, E. Liljequist, R. Ohlsson, J. Enmark, R. Street, E. Börjeskog, J. Leandersson) 10:28:26 (+ 00:00)

2. IFK Göteborg (M.P. Bejmer, F. Edén, J. Pilblad, F. Gonon, A. Sølberg, T. Noborn, N. Jonasson, J. Högstrand, T. Nörskov, E. Kinneberg) 10:28:28 (+ 00:02)

3. Kalevan Rasti (J. Metsälä, A. Asikainen, S.-P. Fincke, J. Pajunen, S. Silvennoinen, H. Airila, J. Prochazka, B. Rollier, J. Petrzela, T. Gueorgiou) 10:28:35 (+ 00:09)

4. IFK Lidingö SOK (F. Schneider, H. Haines, A. Carlsson, Ø.K. Østerbø, J. Dent, E.I, Sandberg, N. Simonin, F. Dahlgren, M. Boström, F. Bakkman) 10:33:52 (+ 05:26)

5. Koovee (J. Hirvikallio, T. Anjala, J. Parkkinen, O. Kratov, J. Myllärinen, L. Sild, K. Kivikas, T. Sild, J. Lakanen, D. Hubmann) 10:34:38 (+ 06:12)

6. Malungs OK Skogsmårdarna (E. Rost, R. Börjensson, J. Lööf, V. Tregubov, L. Åhlund, T. Carlsson, J. Bäckman, D. Hájek, D. Andersson, W. Lind) 10:37:44 (+ 09:18)

7. Järla Orientering (I. Kuchmenko, M. Härberg, D. Bejborn, A. Denzler, P. Hemmyr, E. Andersson, K. Hägler, H.J. Westergård, E.H. Weltzien, O. Boström)10:37:49 (+ 09:23)

8. Stora Tuna OK (I. Sirakov, J. Svensk, W. Pommer, J. Svensk, R. Claesson, M. Lang, V. Svensk, A. Sjökvist, H. Sjökvist, E. Svensk) 10:45:13 (+ 16:47)

9. Ärla IF (O. Vångell, R. Kantarp, E. Andersson, P. Eriksson, A. Tynong, S. Hedlund, H.E. Nielsen, R. Zernis, V. Silvemark, K. Walheim) 10:45:25 (+ 16:59)

10. Ikaalisten Nouseva-Volma (M. Knuuttila, E. Savolainen, V. Parkkinen, A. Karppinen, V. Taanila, J. Luoma, J. Ylinen, M. Mamleev, T. Linnainmaa, D. Tsvetkov) 10:48:30 (+ 20:04)

For further information, please visit the event's webpage at http://www.10mila.se/index.php/en/.

[Photo: Svensk Orientering / facebook.com/svenskorientering]

Joaquim Margarido

10MILA 2016: OK Pan Åhrus wins Women Relay

It was a really intense battle. Halden SK's girls took the helm and led the barge almost to the end. But it was OK Pan Århus and Nydalens SK who sprinted for the victory. In the last leg, Maja Alm got to the Danish team its second victory in the last three editions of 10MILA.

The clock showed 2:15 pm when in Falun - Borlänge started the Damkavlen, the 10MILA 2016's Women Relay. On the start line, 323 teams of five members each handed out to another great adventure with the ultimate goal of achieving the best possible result, which means, for the best world teams, to think exclusively in the possibility of crossing the finish line in the first place. As usual, all really well balanced in the first leg, with the strong Norwegian team of Halden SK getting the leadership by the Swiss Elena Roos, with less than one minute on eleven other teams, including the defending 10MILA Damkavlen winners, the Swedish from Domnarvets GoIF. Recovering of a less good start on the second leg, Ida Marie Næss Bjørgul did a really consistent race, expanding in the end the Halden's advantage to 1:35 over Koovee, 1:37 over Fossum IF and 1:38 over Domnarvets GoIF.

With a really strong start on the third leg, Hollie Orr came to give to Halden a three minutes advantage over the second placed, but some mistakes next the finnish allowed Judith Wyder (Göteborg-Majorna OK) to draw nearer Orr, shortening the difference to narrow 35 seconds at the start for the 4th leg. In this moment, the teams of IFK Lidingö SOK, Nydalens SK and Koovee ran approximately 1:30 after the lead and Domnarvets GoIF was sixth placed, with 2:02 more than the leader. The shortest leg is here and the duel is now between Anni-Maija Fincke (Halden SK) and Viktoria Ernstsson (Göteborg-Majorna OK). A small mistake of Fincke is enough to Ernstsson to take the lead, but the last part of the race is quite dramatic to the Swedish team, with Ernstsson loosing time after time and finishing 1:49 away from Anni-Maija Fincke. Will it be enough to Halden SK to get back to 2012 and recover the 10MILA scepter?

Inappropriate for cardiacs

The start field for the last leg is amazingly strong and the Swiss Sabine Hauswirth will have everything but easiness to keep the first place. Lina Strand (Göteborg-Majorna OK), Anne Margrethe Hausken Nordberg (Nydalens SK), Maja Alm (OK Pan Århus), Anna Bachman (IFK Lidingö SOK), Svetlana Mironova (Koovee) or Emma Johansson (Domnarvets GoIF) are just some of the major names expecting for a mistake in the lead. And Sabine Hauswirth breaks. With half of the last leg completed, she falls to the 7th position, while Lina Strand gets the lead now. But Lina seems also breaking in the decisive part of the race and, with few controls to the finish, there's four teams separated by 9 seconds: Strand, Bachman, Nordberg or Alm? Göteborg-Majorna OK, IFK Lidingö SOK, Nydalens SK or OK Pan Århus? Who will be the winner?

We are approaching to the Prewarn and the Finish line and Lina Strand and Anna Bachmann lost in the meanwhile precious seconds. In the lead, Alm and Hausken Nordberg fight shoulder by shoulder for the victory. It's a duel inappropriate for cardiacs. The winner will be found in the final sprint and, here, Alm's greater youth will be decisive. The Danish girls of OK Pan Århus are jumping again to the top place of the podium, like they did two years ago. Cecilie Friberg Klysner, Josefine Lind, Signe Søes, Ida Bobach and Maja Alm reached the first place with the overall time of 3:57:36, 5 seconds before Nydalens SK and Anne Margrethe Hausken Nordberg. With more 42 seconds than the winners, Göteborg-Majorna OK was third.

Results

1. OK Pan Århus (C.F. Klysner, J. Lind, S. Søes, I. Bobach, M. Alm) 3:57:36 (+ 00:00)

2. Nydalens SK (M. Sørensen, T. Lye, S. Ulvestad, A. Ulvestad, A.M.H. Nordberg) 3:57:41 (+ 00:05)

3. Göteborg-Majorna OK (K. Berglia, A. Forsberg, J. Wyder, V. Ernstsson, L. Strand) 3:58:18 (+ 00:42)

4. IFK Lidingö SOK (J. Sanderi, A. Hugosson, H. Karlsson, A. Gustafsson, A. Bachman) 3:58:22 (+ 00:46)

5. Domnarvets GoIF (J. Tullie, K. Højsgaard, D.S. Brozkova, J. Lindberg, E. Johansson) 4:00:13 (+ 2:37)

6. Alfta-Ösa OK (G. Vinogradova, J. Engström, S. Eskilsson, Y. Kindlundh, N. Vinogradova) 4:01:00 (+ 03:24)

7. Koovee (J. Huikkonen, M. Niittynen, M. Niittynen, U. Uotila, S. Mironova) 4:01:01 (+ 03:25)

8. Halden SK (E. Roos, I.M.N. Bjørgul, H. Orr, A.-M. Fincke, S. Hauswirth) 4:01:36 (+ 04:00)

9. Järla Orientering (I. Myhre, E. Jansson, E. Klingenberg, S. Klinting, K. Ohlsson) 4:05:22 (+ 07:46)

10. Fredrikstad SK (M.R. Kahrs, M. Kahrs, E. Johansson, L.M. Solberg, H.Ø. Bagstevold) 4:06:07 (+ 08:31)

For further information, please visit the event's webpage at http://www.10mila.se/index.php/en/.

[Photo: Svensk Orientering / facebook.com/svenskorientering]

Joaquim Margarido

Bruno Nazário: "We want to be Leicester"

Tiomila and Jukola are approaching and the Portuguese Orienteering Blog met Bruno Nazário, current coach of the winning team of Jukola's last edition, Kristiansand Orienteringsklubb. Besides some important tips on the two important Relays, we also had the opportunity to make the point regarding Portugal and Nazário's future plans ahead of KOK.

About to complete 36 years old, Bruno Nazário is experiencing a new period in his life. Physical Education teacher in a School of Golegã, in Portugal, he moved by three months to Kristiansand, in southern Norway, where he took over the head coaching of the local club Kristiansand Orienteringsklubb, one of the biggest orienteering clubs in the World. The starting point of our interview was centered in the big Relays - Tiomila and Jukola - the last one having in the Kristiansand OK the big winner in 2015.

Bruno Nazario can't say he participated in many big Relays and, above all, he didn't do it when he was at his best as an athlete. The opportunities came more recently and his participation occurred mainly in a recreational way. But, after all, what is it Tiomila and Jukola? Nazário explains: “Tiomila and Jukola are those events that all orienteers have to experience at least once in their lives”, he says. Highlighting the fantastic atmosphere in both Relays, Nazario notes, however, an important difference between them: “The Tiomila will be mostly for Elite teams, perhaps because a big part of the competition takes place at night, but the Jukola has an incredible popular dimension, at the major world marathons' level. Just think that will be about 1,500 female teams of four athletes each, plus 1500 male teams with 7 elements each, and we'll be talking about more than 15,000 competitors who come together for an unforgettable weekend. We find there the world's best athletes, those who enter for the competition, but also the recreational side, people masquerading as if they came for a Carnival party. It's an amazing experience which I recommend to everyone.”

The importance of belonging to a Nordic Club

Bruno Nazário likes to recall his own experiences in the big Relays. In 2013, for example, he managed to find a Finnish team and running the first leg. “It's unbelievable to start for an orienteering event with 1500 people around you. When I got to the first control, I waited about one minute to get to pin it up”, he recalls.

The truth is, however mythical that Tiomila and Jukola are, very few Portuguese athletes have a presence on it up to date. Bruno Nazário recalls that “during the years I was leading the Portuguese national team, I always tried that athletes realized the importance of having a Nordic club. The truth is that it never happened or happened rarely. I understand that not all clubs have the resources to pay the athletes' trips, but this has to do with the personal investment if an athlete wants to reach the top.” And will the Nordic clubs easily open their doors to any one? Nazário says, "I think there is, on the Portuguese athletes' side, some fear and they don't want to make this effort to try to find the clubs for which they wish to run. The Spanish, for example, are much more open when it comes to establishing exchanges; we are very closed. I tell you, honestly, that all clubs I have contacted were wide open. I think you don't have to be afraid, it's just to move forward, to take this step.”

Recover the tradition of a Night Ranking

Therefore, a first tip for those who have never participated in a big Relay is to try to find a Nordic club. But the lack of a Nordic club doesn't mean “the end of the world”. It is, at least, what appears from the following words: “Of course, it always helps to have a Nordic club, but we have in Portugal terrains of excellence, high quality maps and courses extraordinarily well organized. What is lacking sometimes is even the will to get the top. Of course, in a society like the Portuguese, where financial resources are low, things end up not being so easy. Here, for example, a youngster finds easily a part-time work, winning enough money to live on and still having lots of extra time to devote to orienteering. This, in Portugal, is much more difficult. But our athletes just have to be motivated and work to reach the top”, Nazário says.

Another great tip has to do with racing at night. Bruno Nazario assumes that he prefers to run a night leg, even if it turn out to be extremely difficult, as occurred in 2015, with some controls in green areas. But the truth is that we don't have in Portugal this tradition of nightly events and Bruno Nazário has, on it, his own opinion: “In Portugal, many years ago, a nightly ranking in the summer came to be a tradition and I think it would make sense. A country that wants to be developed in orienteering just can't stop two months in the summer, as in Portugal. This is a time when, normally, take place the major competitions like the World Championships; and this is the same time when our athletes should be in a competitive period but, simply, there's no competitions at all. If the problem is the high temperature during the day, so it makes sense having nightly competitions and recover the tradition of a Night Ranking.”

Growing together as a team

Bruno Nazario is in Kristiansand, where he took the place of KOK's head coach. The truth is that Kristiansand is not just any team. “If we used the football's language, what club would be Kristiansand OK”, we wondered, talking about Bayern Munich or Schalke 04 as a comparison. “This year I would say we want to be Leicester”, replies Nazário. He explains: “We lost several athletes, Daniel Hubmann, Baptiste Rollier, Mats Dahlen, who was both Elite athlete and the club's coach. Martin Hubmann is grappling with his studies and most likely will not run this year neither Tiomila nor Jukola. So the challenge is very big in terms of team rebuilding and allows me to work in a more intense way with the talented youngsters in the club. Incidentally, this corresponds to a paradigm shift on the club, working with athletes on a daily basis and wanting them to be here, unlike what happened with the previous team, in which only the coach was in Kristiansand. Training together and growing together as a team, this is my wish and this is the challenge I'm facing right now.”

Although short, the experience is going “very well”, Nazário says. For the KOK's new coach, “we're turning the mind set, as some of these young people saw the first team as something unattainable and now things changed. What I expect from them, whether or not in the first team, is to keep the motivation to work in the coming years. Just as important are the first team's athletes as the second team's athletes and all the work should be in the same direction”, he says.

“It's very difficult for me to be away from my family”

With the interview coming to an end, we learn that Bruno Nazario's experience as coach of Kristiansand OK “will last three months, because it was the time I had permission to leave my school in Portugal”, he says. But the plans for the future are centered in this Norwegian city, although it now depends on other factors, and particularly in getting to bring the family there. “The job is really motivating but it's very difficult for me to be away from my family”, he confesses.

Finally, Bruno Nazario shares his wish for the Kristiansand and the coming months in Norway: “My wish is that athletes have motivation to work and to help each other. This is the secret of success for any team, either in orienteering or other sport whatsoever. That all athletes work with the same goal, heading for the same place and keep the motivation and the spirit of mutual help. Only that way we'll do something big.”

[Photo: Kristiansand Orienteringsklubb / kok.no]

Joaquim Margarido

Tiomila 2015: "Double" for Sweden, ten years later

IFK Göteborg and Domnarvets GoIF were the big winners of Tiomila's 70th edition, offering to Sweden a tasty "double" that have not been seen since 2005. At Skepptuna, not far from where the first edition in 1945 was ran, the races lined up to unpredictability and excitement, with the winners to be found in the last meters.

Orienteering “classic” for excellence, Tiomila called this year to Sweden the best of the best (again), being a great party for 5.297 participants distributed by Men, Women and Young relays. And it was precisely the youngsters who opened the hostilities with 257 teams classified at the end and the victory belonging to the Norwegian team of Nydalens SK. Ragne Wiklund, Ingvil Ahlsand, Lukas Liland and Elias Jonsson needed 1:57:52 to complete their course, imposing to Konnerud IL by the wide margin of 6:25. It was the third time that a Norwegian team won the Young Relay and Nydalens SK's debut in the highest place of the podium.

Who had passed through the highest place of the podium and repeated it for the fourth time in the sixteen previous editions was the Swedish team of Domnarvets GoIF in the Women's race. With Elin Dahlin, Karolina Højsgaard, Dana Safka Brozkova, Lena Eliasson and Emma Johansson, the Swedish covered the whole course in 3:57:09 against 3:57:48 of the Swedish Järla Orientering. Very technical and all of them with loops, the first three legs were important for the definition of the candidates to the victory. At the end of the third leg it was possible to see eight teams still struggling for the victory. In the lead, Karolin Ohlsson retained an advantage of 40 seconds for Järla Orienteering over Leksands OK - with Helena Jansson running an absolutely fantastic third leg and recovering 51 positions in the table, after more than three minutes (!) earning to all her most direct opponents.

The fourth leg, with 10.5 km, reduced to six the number of pretenders to the final victory, with Järla Orientering still in the lead, but with the Alfta-Ösa and Domnarvets GoIF with differences less than 10 seconds. In the decisive leg, Sara Eskilsson soon proved unable to hold one of the first three places for Alfta-Ösa, so the fight for victory was between Elin Hemmyr Skantze and Emma Johansson. Skantze stayed in the lead in the first half of this last leg, but the victory eventually smiled to the Domnarvets GoIF athletes, thus recovering the title they won in 2013. Who was very early out of the race was the Danish team of OK Pan Århus, the big winner in 2014 and that couldn't do best than the 24th place this year.

The most waited moment

With the night settling down slowly, it was given the start for the men's race. Jesper Lysell would be the fastest in the first leg, giving to BK Rehns the first advantage. But everyone knew that the first great moment was saved for the third leg, a 16.5 km long distance without loops, in which to keep in contact with the head of the race would be essential. The teams with higher aspirations launched to this leg some of their most valuable assets and Södertälje-Nykvarn came into the lead, with Andreu Blanes Reig, followed by Kalevan Rasti, with Kiril Nikolov. But the lesson was well studied and only 1:16 separated the 50 (!) first teams at this stage of the race. Out of the race were, however, teams like the Vehkalahden Veikot (Janne Weckman and Tero Föhr), the OK Ravinen (Gustav Bergman), the Järla Orientering (Olle Boström) and ... the Nightfoxes International, a real women Dream Team who dared to face the Long Night and ended out of the race when Tove Alexandersson was disqualified precisely in this third leg.

From the sixth leg, to keep in touch with the head of the race became even more difficult for many and, in that moment, followed in the lead a very compact group of ten elements, separated by 1:12. Mattias Karlsson was giving the lead to the Halden SK, but the usual suspects - Kalevan Rasti, IFK Lidingö SOK, Vaajakosken Tera, Södertälje-Nykvarn - remained in the fight for the victory, very close to the leadership. Fabian Hertner, takes the lead to Kalevan Rasti at the end of the eighth leg with an advantage of 2:09 over the second-placed IFK Lidingö SOK, but loses the precious minutes to his opponents in the next leg. Everything will be decided on the last leg and there were “five cocks for a perch”. Fredrik Johansson (IFK Lidingö SOK), Magne Dæhli (Halden SK), Thierry Gueorgiou (Kalevan Rasti), Wojciech Kowalski (IL Tyrving) and Eskil Kinneberg (IFK Göteborg) are separated by 14 seconds. A new day was born and by the end of this long line, 17.5 km away, the laurels are waiting only one of them. Thierry Gueorgiou is the favourite and he is about to repeat the successes of 2013 and 2014. But ...

Surprise!

Fredrik Johansson leaves very fast, moves away from the group. But then he makes a mistake, yet another mistake and quickly realizes he's out of the race. The next to fall will be Kowalski: facing the small loop alone, while Dæhli, Gueorgiou and Kinneberg have the same combinatorial and go together. The rest of the race will be a game of cat and mouse with the Norwegians to slow down towards the limit and to force Thierry Gueorgiou to pay the costs of the race. Everything ends up decided in a Sprint, with the King losing the parade to his two direct opponents. Eskil Kinneberg takes his bet until the end, beating Magne Dæhli for three seconds. The IFK Göteborg write, for the first time, its name in the Tiomila's Book of Honour.

As for the Portuguese, there were six athletes in the race, with different results. Tiago Romão and Tiago Aires ran for the Swedish team IFK Umeå and concluded on the 59th place. Both secured key legs of their team, with Romão improving 21 places in the third leg and Aires to lead the team from the 62nd place to 59th final place with more 1:59:46 than the winner. Tiago Gingão Leal ran the first leg of the CopenhagenO team, leaving it in the 143rd position, at 8:23 to the leadership. The Danes were to finish in 118th place with a final time of 13:27:05. Diogo Miguel also ran the third leg, leaving the Köping-Kolsva OK team in 132nd place, precisely the same as when he started. Bruno Nazário concluded the 5th leg in 160th place, contributing to the 133rd final place of Köping-Kolsva OK. Finally, Carolina Delgado ran the first leg of the Danish group of CopenhagenO, passing the testimony in the 159th place. Anita Sørensen made the team to fall sixty positions in the second leg and Camilla Larsen was disqualified in the third leg.

Results

Men

1. IFK Göteborg 10:13:50

2. Halden SK 10:13:53 (+ 00:03)

3. Kalevan Rasti 10:14:02 (+ 00:12)

4. IFK Lidingö SOK 10:15:54 (+ 02:04)

5. Södertälje-Nykvarn 10:16:25 (+ 02:35)

Women

1. Domnarvets GoIF 3:57:09

2. Järla Orientering 3:57:48 (+ 00:39)

3. Stora Tuna OK 3:59:42 (+ 02:33)

4. Paimion Rasti 3:59:48 (+ 02:39)

5. Kalevan Rasti 4:00:19 (+ 03:10)

Young

1. Nydalens SK 1:57:52

2. Konnerud IL 2:04:17 (+ 06:25)

3. Turun Suunnistajat 2:04:33 (+ 06:41)

4. Fossum IF 2:04:38 (+ 06:46)

5. Södertälje-Nykvarn 2:04:49 (+ 06:57)

Please find the complete results and much more at http://www.10mila.se/index.php/en/.

[Photo: Jan Kocbach / worldofo.com]

Joaquim Margarido

10Mila 2014: Victory for Kalevan Rasti in Men's Relay

It is usual, in Portugal, to say that “first maize is for the sparrows”. And it was so, once again, in the men's competition of 10Mila's 70th edition, that called to Eksjö over than three hundred teams of ten athletes each. With the first seven legs to meet six different leaders, only at the final part of the Realy began to draw the victory of the Finnish team Kalevan Rasti.

After the Women's Relay, the 10Mila 2014 focused its attention on the male course, preparing for “the longest night”. Three hundred and eighteen teams of ten men each lined up at the start, with the favouritism to fall, by far, on the winners of four of the last five editions, the Finnish team of Kalevan Rasti. Afetr the start, the inaugural leg saw Antonio Martínez Pérez (IK Vista / Eksjö SOK 2) deliver the testimony in the first position, an historic achievement for the Spanish Orienteering and a fair prize to the work and effort of the great athlete. Julian Dent (IFK Lidingö SOK) and Wojciech Dwojak (IL Tyrving) stepped forward slightly on the second round, but in the next leg all the pretenders to the victory were again reorganized, with the first thirty-seven teams separate by “skinny” 47 seconds. With slight changes, the group remained relatively compact until the beginning of the sixth course, when the teams began to play their major trumps with the fall of the night.

At the end of the sixth leg, were eighteen in number the teams that followed in the front of the race, separated from each other by 1:07. With the teams of Halden SK and Kristiansand OK out of this group, the suspicions of a comfortable victory for the Finnish team of Kalevan Rasti swelled up. Suspicions that would be strengthened further when, in the eighth leg, the Finns played a major move, putting in evidence his “Chef de File”, Thierry Gueorgiou. With the best time, the great French athlete puts Kalevan Rasti in the leadership, launching Fabian Hertner for the penultimate track with a lead of 1:28 over Eric Börjeskog, of the Swedish team Södertälje - Nykvarn OF, and 2:01 over Fredrik Johansson, from the also Swedish team of IFK Lidingö SOK. The truth is that the things went not so well to Hertner and, in the end of the second longest route of this 10Mila edition (15,6 km), the Swiss delivered the testimony alongside with Johansson, the bronze medalist in the Long Distance final of the recent European Orienteering Championships, held in Palmela.


Prochazka made the difference

With the third team at distant 4:55 to the leadership, the Czech Jan Prochazka and the Finnish Mårten Boström faced in the decisive leg. This Boström, however, is far from the Boström who won emphatically the Sprint world title in Vuokatti, last Summer, while Prochazka is decisively stronger at the moment - he demonstrated it in Palmela, having been 4th place in the Long Distance Final and arriving, along with the Czech Republic team, to the silver medal in the Relay. So it was no surprise when we saw Prochazka to keep away Boström since the first meters, ensuring an advantage at the end of 1:51 and thus offering a much celebrated victory to the “Rossoneri” of the Kalevan Rasti. In the third position, at distant 7:11 of the winners, were classified the Swedes of Södertälje-Nykvarn OF, with Ralph Street in the last leg.

This edition of 10Mila still had the presence of three Portuguese athletes who, on the whole, had meritorious performances. At the service of the Swedish IFK Umeå, Tiago Romão ran the sixth leg, receiving the testimony from Oskar Malmberg at the 75th position to deliver in the end in the 73rd place. In the end the change was not significant and the Swedish team finished in the 75th place, at 2:35:19 of the winners. Luis Silva assured the penultimate leg of the Swedish group of MS Parma, coming in the 90th position and falling eight places until the end. Eero Jalli, his teammate, was much worse, finishing on the 119th place, with more 3:13:45 than the winners. Finally, Tiago Leal, on behalf of the Danish CopenhagenO team, also ran the 9th leg, exiting at the 175th position and improving four places in the end. The CopenhagenO, however, would in the end fall to the 188th place with more 3:25:03 than Kalevan Rasti, after a final leg less well done by Anders Bachhausen.

Results

1. Kalevan Rasti 11:12:13

2. IFK Lidingö SOK 11:14:04 (+ 1:51)

3. Södertälje-Nykvarn OF 11:19:24 (+ 7:11)

4. IFK Moras OK 11:21:23 (+ 9:10)

5. Vaajakosken Terä 11:23:53 (+ 11:40)

6. IFK Göteborg 11:24:55 (+ 12:42)

7. Hiidenkiertäjät 11:25:19 (+ 13:06)

8. OK Denseln 11:25:19 (+ 13:16)

9. OK Linné 11:26:43 (+ 14:30)

10. Järla Orientering 11:26:46 (+ 14:33)

Everything to know at http://www.10mila.se/

[Photo: kestävyysurheilu.fi/]

Joaquim Margarido

10Mila 2014: Pan Århus win women's Relay and make history

One of the orienteering highlights in the Spring, 10Mila celebrated 69 years of existence. Involving more than three hundred teams, the women's race saw the Pan Århus make history, leading to Denmark's first victory ever in this “classic”.

The Danish team of the Pan Århus made history again. After the victory in Venla 2013, Ita Klingenberg, Signe Søes, Maja Alm, Ida Bobach and Miri Thrane Ödum jumped once again into the spotlight, winning emphatically the 10Mila 2014. A historic result, because this was the first victory ever of a Danish team in 70 editions of the 10Mila.

Without one of the usual elements, Emma Klingenberg, it was the junior Miri Thrane Ödum who take the first leg, which made not really safely, passing the testimony in the 43th position with a disadvantage of 4:15 to the front group. The recovery began early, in the second leg, with Ita Klingenberg climbing 35 places and putting the Danish at 2:12 to the leadership, at the moment held by Sweden's IFK Lidingö SOK. It was then the turn of Ida Bobach do an equally brilliant race, coming forward and sharing now the lead, apart from IFK Lidingö SOK, also with the Swedish IFK Mora. The big moment arrived with the incredible performance of Maja Alm in the fourth leg, to leave behind her all the competitors and launch Signe Söes for the last lap with a lead of 4:09.

Having behind her the greatest names of the moment - Simone Niggli, Judith Wyder, Annika Billstam, Mari Fasting, Tove Alexandersson, Helena Jansson and Anastasia Tikhonova were just some of the big names “reserved” for their teams to run the decisive leg - the European Champion of Middle Distance knew to manage properly the lead, reaching the victory with the total time of 3:58:24 and a 4:06 advantage over Goteborg Göteborg OK and 4:17 over OK Tisaren, respectively second and third ranked.

Results

1. OK Pan Århus 3:58:24

2. Göteborg-Majorna OK 4:02:30 (+ 4:06)

3. OK Tisaren 4:02:41 (+ 4:17)

4. Järla Orientering 4:02:56 (+ 4:32)

5. SK Pohjantähti 4:03:12 (+ 4:48)

6. OK Linné 4:04:30 (+ 6:06)

7. IFK Lidingö SOK 4:05:19 (+ 6:55)

8. Halden SK 4:05:33 (+ 7:09)

9. Hidenkiertäjät 4:05:49 (+ 7:25)

10. MS Parma 4:05:53 (+ 7:29)

Everything to know at http://www.10mila.se/

[Foto: Jan Kocbach / worldofo.com]

Joaquim Margarido