Discussion: Those

... are about the two best opening paragraphs I've read to an o article. And could you imagine if T/D read "At all levels, there is something refreshingly low key about this sport."?

Thanks for posting, and kudos to the author.

It is good, isn't it? It's cool that it's written from the viewpoint of someone who's obviously fit and has done it a few times, rather than someone who's been walked round a course by an expert.

... and the hey, I've run a bunch of 10ks, but sheesh this 3k was tough!

I've run a bunch of 10ks and I would much rather run in the woods any time.

Nice article.

Ha, the mythos of the mainstreamness of orienteering in Norway exists in England, too!

Article's good, it's not the author's fault she repeated a false claim about Norway. ;-)

Well, at least most people in Norway will know what you're talking about if you mention the sport. Unlike here where people generally pull a weird face and then run away as if you're crazy. (You are probably crazy, I guess).

Very true. There's certainly a lot more general understanding of the sport here. It's just not even close to being a primary sport, contrary to all the tales I heard when I first started orienteering. "Oh, in Sweden *everyone* orienteers, and they're all really good!" Although I guess it does seem that way sometimes, like if you hang out in Uppsala.

Same story here, unfortunately.
Everyone knows what we´re talking about - and may have tried it in school (too often with a negative experience coming out of it) - but it´s very much a minor sport even in Sweden. And participation is getting smaller nation-wide, but as with everything else there are exceptions, like Uppsala and Borlänge ;)

The Norwegian O Federation is shooting for 1% participation in 2020. That's a small %age of total population, but can you imagine if the US had 1% participation (3 million!)? Or even .1% (300,000!)?

We're probably within striking distance of 0.1% in Australia - would dream about 1%...

Finland's an interesting case, in that the sport's overall profile is probably not too different to that in Sweden and Norway, but Jukola has a very high profile as a sporting event in its own right. It was certainly a bit of a culture shock a few years back when I visited the Finnish Meteorological Institute on the following Monday and discovered that having run Jukola in a vaguely decent team was enough to make me a minor office celebrity for the morning.

It also helps that Minna's a star in Finland as well. It's nice that we have Annika now in Uppsala - the people recognize her and she gets good press in the local paper. But yes, it's true that everyone in Sweden has heard orienteering, and even tried it in school, but most of them do not enjoy it. :) Great article!

In the coffee room today my praises were being sung by a renowned Finnish mathematician here in Jyvaskyla... according to him, coming top 500 in one's Jukola leg is a good achievement, so top 200 must be fantastic... I kept quiet.