An experience in Finland
We started talking about going to the Jukola nearly 12 months ago. Seeing Karen and Andy French’s presentation at the AGM confirmed our decision. There were some in the room who thought we were mad!
Flights were booked and entries and sleeping space at the event sorted out – fortunately most Finns speak and write very good English. We decided to have a comfortable first night and booked ourselves into an Airport hotel on the Friday.
Because of the proximity to the airport the event attracted the largest entry ever. First you really had to be there to appreciate the organisation and infrastructure. 3,000 teams, 17,000 competitors and 70,000 spectators (yes really). Live TV coverage. A media centre the size of large Gym. Orienteer shopping facilities about the size of ASDA, catering facilities about the size of a football pitch and a beer tent not much smaller! Army accommodation tents spread over countless fields etc etc. Us lucky ones had a classroom in a local school about 400 metres from Assembly and Start/Finish
WIM and WSX (plus 1 SOC) entered combined teams in both the Venla (ladies race) and Jukola (open race). Saturday was brilliant hot with temperatures reaching 31 C and we spent the morning looking at all the orienteering equipment and facilities and event layout. Also we managed to get a training event map and walked round several controls to get a feel of the area (this event was only 100 metres from Assembly)
Just before 2pm we joined the crowds of spectators and managed to find a vantage point to take photos of the start (approx 1km from the start and less than halfway to the start kite which was
another 1km straight run). Just under 40 minutes the first runner was back followed by hoards of other runners.
The Ladies team of Kay Sayer, Julie Astin, Kirsty Staunton and Wendy Bullen would have come 1117 out of 1272 in 7:44:27 but unfortunately they were disqualified due to a missed control.
Simon, Chris and Gavin getting in some Venla spectating, photographed by Ben Roberts
The Jukola started at 10.30pm. It is hard to imagine a mass start of over 1600 runners with headlights on. Not all men either – many females run as they consider the Venla for ‘wimps’.
Our aim was to get at least 5 runners out before the mass starts at 9am and possibly even 6.
There are no mass starts until then when at 9am all last leg runners go and at 9.15am all other remaining leg runners.
We achieved our 5th runner just after 8am but knew that we would not manage a 6th. At 9am only 500 teams had finished and over 1000 runners started the last leg mass start. At 9.15am a further 1000 or more runners went off (some from legs 2 onwards)
The men in the Jukola: John Whittingham, Chris Branford, Gavin Clegg, Ian Sayer, Philip Cooper (SOC), Simon Branford and Jason Falconer had a really good result finishing in 17 hours to the second in 1172th place out of 1689. The winning team took 7:56:02. It’s hard to describe the forest as it’s so different to over here, but think forested rocky Lakeland fell top, but not quite so wet and you are getting close. Distances were commensurate with the standard. Legs were from 8km to 15 km and night legs nearly 13km plus considerable climb. In total we ran the equivalent of two marathons plus climb!
As for results, well we were only really there for the experience. There is no allowance for age so we really were running against some of the best in the World.
Would I do it again! At 4am I thought ‘never again’ by 7am ‘possibly’ and after a good breakfast of porridge and yoghurt ‘yes’. But not next week.
I was a bit tired on Monday!
Chris Branford