Discussion: Tactics

On afterthought I agree in general with your tactics. This may be the best way for an 'average' team to have some fun and be running with the good guys a bit longer.
First leg is always crucial and apart from the fact that a good first leg keeps you running in faster packs longer into the relay it also does wonders to keep up the high spirits of the team.
There are also some other factors to consider - which I suppose the 'CSU selection committee' have done by picking Boris and Will - good runners should be available also for 'long night' and last leg. They don´t necessarily have to be your best technical orienteers but fit enough to run fast with others if necessary for 16-17 km.

Using best men first can end up as disaster too. Those best runners can have bad runs too. And you need to have geen enoug runners for the next legs to get advantage of those night trains. This tactics work only for those teams who are not so far behind and are able to run in those trains. Bas choice for top teams and also last 25% teams. But I think would suit team CSU pretty well. Pretty strong runners but not so much experience in nordic terrains, so night trains would help them a lot.

Ross is a fast runner, probably as fast as an injured me. There is no guarantee that I would have run any faster than him on the first leg, and he got to experience running leg 1 at a major relay, while I got to run Långa Natten for the first time, which were things each of us wanted to try.