Elitserien Long in Mora

This long weekend three races in the Swedish Elitserien are arranged in Dalarna, as a pre EOC before next years European Championship.

The first race was yesterday, with a 20 km long mass start in Mora. The terrain was very nice, and made it possible to run really fast. Olav Lundanes showed again how strong is, and won clearly. After a strong finish I came on 5th place, 4 min behind Olav, and less then one minute from the second place. I was satisfied with my performance, and did only a few 15 seconds mistakes during the race. But in the middle part where I was running mainly alone I did not managed to keep fast enough speed, and on the long leg where I was running on paths to the left I lost almost one minute compared to the ones running straight. It was a good day for IFK Lidingö because Fredrik Johansson came 3rd and Annika Billstam won the women’s class. Results, splits and GPS tracking

Elitserien continues tomorrow with Middle distance, but I will not run that race since I want to some good training this weekend and found 3 races too tough. The Middle distance can be followed live from 11.00 – 13.30 on Saturday. The last Elitserien race is a Sprint in Falun on Monday.

This weekend my Norwegian club Wing OK will arrange Trondheim Open. Sunday’s chasing start has GPS tracking that can be followed live from 12.00.

NM Sprint in Arendal

Last weekend the Norwegian Championship in Sprint were arranged in Arendal at the south coast of Norway. Both the Qualification and Final had finish in the city centre, which was a great place for a sprint race.

In the Qualification I found it difficult to find out where you could run on several legs, since the map had many small details and narrow passages. To the 2nd control I thought I could pass between the pond and cliff just before the control, but had to give up and lost more than one and a half minute, since the organizers had put up some stripes and I was afraid to be disqualified. I ran OK the rest of the race, and could still qualify for the afternoons Final. Results and splits

In the Final I did a quite good race, without any big mistakes. To the 4th and 8th control I lost a few second on my route choice, and to the 17th control I almost ran up some wrong stairs. Olav Lundanes finished 7 seconds faster than me, but got disqualified because ha had passed a forbidden are just in front of the 5th control. The forbidden area was smaller then the standard and almost impossible to see on the map, so I found it not so fun to win the race that way. Elise Egseth won finally her first title in a Norwegian Championship, so it was a great day for Wing OK. Results, splits and GPS tracking

Sunday a Middle distance in the Norwegian Craftcup were held from Myra, north of Arendal. I did an OK race, and lost only around 15 seconds some places. My result was an 8th place, 2 minutes behind Anders Nordberg. Results, splits and GPS tracking

Today I am going to run a 20 km long mass start in the Swedish Elitserien in Mora, and the race can be flowed live from 13.00.

Stafettdrømmen kan ryke for Østerbø, Adressa 30th May 2011
Hvem disket Olav og er det ok?, Halden SK 31th May 2011

WOC training camp in France

After the WOC selection races one and a half week ago the Norwegian Team stayed in France some more days to prepare for the coming WOC. Monday some of us did easy running and hiking to the top of Grand Veymont 2340 m.a.s.l. The view was fantastic, as you can see on my pictures.

Tuesday we had two trainings in Vercour, before we travelled to Annecy. Wednesday we had middle distance training in the morning and I was running sprint orienteering intervals in the centre of Annecy in the evening. Thursday the training camp was ended with route choice testing.

I did also some training sessions before the selection race, and you can find all the maps in my DOMA.

WOC selection races in France

Last weekend the Norwegian team was running two selection races for the World Orienteering Championship in France together with the French team and some runners from Sweden.

The first race was a shortened Long distance in a very challenging slope called Prepoulain, and the map was really difficult to read in scale 1:15000. The start of my race was OK, before I did several smaller mistakes, and I ended my race missing more then 15 minutes on the 16th control. Most of the time I was inside the control circle, but I was not able to find the control. Thierry also lost 10 minutes on the same place, and according to our coach the map was totally wrong in that area. Olle Boström was fastest, followed by Audun Weltzien who was the best Norwegian in front of Anders Nordberg and Olav Lundanes.

The second race was a Long distance on Herbouilly. It went much better for me, and I did only some smaller mistakes in the end of my race. Thierry passed me on the long leg to the 9th control, and I had contact with him for half the race. Thierry won the race with more then 6 minutes, so it was interesting for me to watch how he is able to orienteer so fast in this challenging type of terrain. My result was a 4th place, less than one minute behind Audun Weltzien and Anders Nordberg.

Some more info and results:
Orientering.no from Saturday and Sunday
OPN from Saturday and Sunday

10mila, DM Sprint and NOJM Long

One week ago 10mila was arranged south of Stockholm. My team mates in IFK Lidingö did a great job during the night, and kept us among the first teams the whole way. On the 9th leg I was running out as 5th runner. I did some mistakes and did not have the best flow, but was able to keep the position. Totally we ended as the 8th team. Our women’s team came on a 2nd place, so in total it was a great 10mila for Lidingö. Results, splits and GPS tracking

Last Thursday the District Championship in Sprint in Stockholm was held in Järfälla. I was running quite well the first part of the race, but in the forest on the end of the race I got really tied, after much training in the beginning of the week. I also lost 15 seconds on a bad route choice to the 19th control, and ended on a 4th place, 34 sec behind Olle Boström. Results and splits

Last Saturday I was running my first Long distance this season, when a competition called Nordic Open Junior Meeting was held from Tyresta south of Stockholm. This was the race that should originally have been the Nordic Championship, and the terrain was really nice. I did a stable performance, and finish 2nd, 3 minutes behind Gustav Bergman (Junior World Champ from 2009, that have showed great shape this spring). Results and splits

Today I have travelled to France, where I will do some days with training before the Norwegian WOC selection races are held the coming weekend. I have tried to keep up good training this spring, and so far not done much to sharpen my shape, but still I hope to perform well if I manage to stay focused and keep the map contact through the whole course in the tough and demanding terrain.

3 weeks in Sweden – ready for 10mila

3 weeks ago I moved to Lidingö, and the first period has gone fast, since I have been busy with moving into my apartment, working with hittaut.nu for Lidingö, training and running several competitions.

Except the weekend with SM Night and Sprint on Gotland I have stayed in the Stockholm area. Together with my club mates in IFK Lidingö I have been running the relays Rånässtafetten and Stigtomtakavlen, which have been good trainings before 10mila. I have also been able to do several orienteering trainings on different maps around the 10mila area. In the beginning I found the quite flat, stony and diffuse terrain around Stockholm difficult to both run and orienteer fast in. But last weekend I was able to do some good sessions here, since I was skipped the Elitserien in Jönköping, and now I feel a much better flow when I run in the terrain. In my DOMA you can find maps from all the races and some of the 10mila trainings.

This weekend the big relay 10mila is held just south of Stockholm. I will run one of the last legs for IFK Lidingö. The atmosphere in the club is great, and I am looking forward to an exciting weekend. IFK Lidingö was last year 7th in the men’s class, and won the women’s class, so we have to perform our best to follow up these results. You can follow the whole relay live through 10mila’s online services.

Kvaal Østerbø blir «svensk», Adressa.no

SM on Gotland

Last weekend I was running my first Swedish Championship, when the Night and Sprint where held on Gotland. The highlight for me was the Sprint held in the old city of Visby.

Before the entry deadline I was not sure if I should enter for Friday’s night race, since I have only trained a few sessions with headlamp the last year. But I like night orienteering, and found it a good challenge to enter, sine I anyway was going there the whole weekend and the terrain on Gotland is quite special since it an island.

On the Night race it was a really long leg to the first control, and even if I tried hard to keep a good direction I lost the control in the diffuse area just before the control. After searching for the control some minutes I went out to the road, and took the control from the opposite side after having lost more then 6 minutes. After the huge mistake I had lost the chance for a good position, and I was running in cruising speed the rest of the course. It went quite well until the map change, but in the end I started to be tired, and did some mistakes. When I finished I was told by the organizer that I was disqualified, since I had punched the control just west of the first control I should have had. All in all a really bad night race for me, even if the area was cool. Oleksandr Kratov won, as he also did last year. Results and GPS tracking

The Sprint Qualification on Saturday was in a nice area just North of Visby centre. Unfortunately most of the course was really boring, with only a few interesting legs, and not many route choices. I did a clean race in “qualification speed”, and finished on 2nd place in my heat, 8 seconds behind Patrik Karlsson. ). Results and splits

Sunday’s Sprint Final was held mainly in the old city of Visby. It was several route choices and many narrow streets. I was satisfied with my race, but think I lost a few seconds on my route choice to the 2nd, 4th and 11th control. Jerker Lysell won, and I came on 4th place, 15 seconds behind. My running speed was OK, but I felt more tired than I had hoped, so maybe it would have been smart to skip the night race (like the 3 runners beating me did). Results, splits and GPS tracking