Tiomila. What a fun event this is. CSU Tiomila embodies all the reasons why I will never stop orienteering. A big thank you to Boris for organizing and motivating the trip and to Matthias for signing us up for everything on eventor. Our last attempt at Tiomila had been 2008, and I never managed to log any of the details of that adventure, just a note saying that it was amazing.
This time, at least, we had a halfway competent first leg runner and Giacomo really set the tone for the whole event. He finished only a few minutes back from the leaders in 159th position and thus established our team ahead of all of our lofty team goals. It was exciting to cheer for him and to send Boris out as dark was falling. The wifi in the arena and the excellent radio control coverage made it possible to track Boris and see that he was continuing to race well and hold our position well. When he came back in it was time to send Ian off on a long night leg and me off to the tent, because although I was not tired and was really much more interested in staying up and cheering, I knew my job was to be rested and to get ready to race in the morning.
So I bundled up as best I could, and tucked deep into my sleeping bag with my iphone out. Every hour or so I would wake up out of sheet excitement and nervousness and then I would check our team progress on the phone, and try to get back to sleep. I got through most of the night this way before it became too much like christmas morning and I had to get out of bed and go stand in front of the big screen and watch everything in real life.
Ali was out running the 8th leg and I was anxious but eager and practically champing at the bit. We knew there was no hope for beating the cutoff for the mass start, but I thought it might be possible with a good race to catch up to Eric Kemp out there in the forest and to make up a few more places. Ali was blazing and sent me out in a really great position.
I felt strong and in control as I started my course though I did miss the first control by a few meters when I did not see the boulder that the flag was on. I corrected quickly and felt quite strong for the next few legs. On the 4th I misread the swamp and thus turned the wrong way along the hillside and that's when Tommy Lindberg from Roslagen caught me. He's a crafty runner that I often compare myself against in local races and I was not happy to see him punch the flag in front of me. We took slightly different routes to the next control and I caught up a little time though in the process I managed to scratch my right contact lens badly while pushing through a sprucey bit of forest. A little blurry for the rest of the race, though nothing serious. I snuck back ahead on 6, and went the long way around to 7. I thought I was being careful coming into the 9th but managed to miscount cliffs and made my biggest mistake of the day losing a couple of minutes and watching Tommy get away for good as I struggled to relocate.
15k is a long race and most of the time I felt like the navigation was simple and straightforward, but I had my share of silly blunders. I got lost in a green swath on the 15th, and then ran a really funny extra loop on my way back north. A pack of 10th leg runners swept past me as I made it through the cut area on the way to the spectator control, and I didn't have enough oomph to keep their pace. I was conscious of wanting to orienteer well all the way to the finish and perhaps I took a few more conservative routes at the end but I was pleased with the end section of the race. I was also super glad that I did not need to keep running after the finish as Peter had already mass started and so i could skip running to the changeover zone :)
Peter had a fine race and a strong finish sprint to bring us up to 145 spot in the end. I think we were all satisfied.
Quickroute
Winsplits
The minibus ride home was great. Lots of fun conversation and banter. Pizza dinner back at the apartment and finally dropping off the stalwart set that decided to overnight at Arlanda. Already looking forward to next time.