The first stage of NORT was held in Poorvo in Finland, with two races in one day. In the morning it was a Middle distance (on sprint standard map in forest). I was felling tired during the race and lost also some time on less good route choices and small mistakes. My result was a 23rd place, 3 minutes behind Olav Lundanes. Results, splits and GPS tracking
In the evening it was a normal sprint race in the old city centre of Poorvo. I did and OK race, but lost time in parts of the course by being passive and taking a bad route choice on the first part of the leg to the 8th control. I was still feeling very tired, and my running speed was not as it use to be in sprint races. My result was a 14th place, 52 seconds behind Matthias Kyburz from Switzerland. Results, splits and GPS tracking
After the races in Poorvo I travelled an hour further east along the coast to Hamina, where I meet my team mates in IFK Lidingö for participation in Jukola. We had a strong team, but unfortunately we got some health problems on the forth leg, and lost a lot of time. I did not run a good race either, and did some bigger mistakes on my 6th leg. My team finished only on a 42nd place, but the girls ran great and came 3rd in the Venla relay. Results, GPS tracking and TV broadcast
NORT continued with a Knock out sprint in Gothenburg. In the morning it was a normal sprint course, and the 30 best qualified to the different finals later the same day. After Jukola I got a sour throat, so I was unsure about my shape, but the Qualification went well. My running speed felt actually better than in Finland, and I came 7th, 25 second behind Matthias Müller. Results and splits
In my Quarterfinal all runners in my heat except Alexey Bortnik lost 20 seconds on a bad route choice to the 7th control, but I was still able to qualify for the Semifinal after a strong finish. Results and splits
The Semifinal was held from Götaplatsen in the centre of Gothenburg. Matthias Müller set a high speed from the start, and was tight followed by Jerker Lysell and Frédéric Tranchand. I had to give them a few seconds gap, and was never able to catch that, even if I tried another route choice to the second last control. So I finished 4th in my heat, and was not able to qualify for the final as lucky looser since the times in the other semifinal was faster. GPS tracking and TV broadcastJerker Lysell was really strong, and won the Final in front of Daniel Hubmann. Results, GPS tracking and TV broadcast
The final stage of NORT was a Chasing start arranged in connections with Norway’s biggest orienteering event O-festivalen, this year held on Nesodden just south of Oslo. After 3 tough sprint races in Gothenburg my sour throat got worse, and I did only one short and easy training the day before the race. I started as 12th runner, with several runners just before and after me. On the long leg to the 3rd control I was alone on my route choice, and could advance to a 9th place. But I could already then feel that my body had not recovered after being sick, and I felt really tired the last half of the race. I did no big mistakes, but was not able to follow runner who caught me. I finished alone on a 19th position, 7 minutes behind Daniel Hubmann. My club mate in Lidingö Annika Billstam won the women’s class. Results, splits, GPS tracking and TV broadcast
I think NORT is a great concept, with cool types of races like Knock out sprint and Chasing start. But the different races have been spread out on a too long period, with only 3 stages in 10 days. Next years program looks better, with 5 stages in 8 days, and by having the tour in September we avoid the conflict with Jukola coming in the middle of the tour.This week the Norwegian WOC team was selected, and I will at least run the Sprint:-) Tomorrow I am travelling to France for the last one week long training camp before WOC are held in the middle of August.
