To Sweden

Now the time has come to leave beautiful Finland and go by ferry to another beautiful country, Sweden. Ran a course in forest behind Jyvaskyla yesterday, between the thunderstorms. Was really nice forest in places and also big ski and forestry paths. Would be good for running training just like Whaka in Rotorua (:

Very excited for racing at Oringen with 10,000 competitors!! The terrain will be tough I am sure. The courses are all quite long so it will be fun. 115 girls in my grade. I am just aiming for tidy races and minimal losses. Compass and confidence are two things I will need to use. I will also focus on accurate entry and exit from control sites, this is where I figured my mistakes began in Fin5. Yay lets keep going (=

Finland!!

Fin 5 was a really fun week of orienteering. I had 2 training's in the forest with a local before the first race. This was very helpful. I was suprised by how rocky the forest was. Maybe a bit like Australia. Broken rock on the ground made it hard to run. Navigation was not too bad as there were big hills and cliffs to use. I learnt the Finnish technique of going straight no matter what. (= This worked pretty well although I think I was still not as fast as it as the top girls. This requires confidence that just comes with experience. I came fifth overall for the week of racing in D20E.

I was lucky enough to get a start in the elite sprintrace. One of the best sprints ever. So many controls and a mixture of forest and town. There were a few tricky walls. I had a fairly clean run also so I was happy. Lost time on one leg (13-14) near the end when I had a plan but did not stick to it definately enough.

After Fin 5 I had a day in Helsinki to see the city. A quick visit to Suomenlina was interesting. A very historic fortress on an island in the harbour. I then had a few days staying with Petteri Mukkonnen in Kangasala. The terrain there was even trickier than Fin 5. We trained on the Ponsa map twice. It was much flatter and less definate features than around Lohja so you really need to use your compass. The forest was so nice for running though. Petteri made a contour only map for one training at Ponsa. I was okfor the first 3 controls on this map but once I was slightly off the bearing on a leg and it was very hard to relocate. Continued with the normal map. We also trained at a map on edge of Tampere city which was off depression terrain type. The terrain is definately quite heavy running so you get tired faster. I see now why you need to dointervals up an overgrown hillside.

I am now staying in Jyvaskyla for a few days with Hanna Raitenen. We will do a few trainings before heading to Oringen on Friday. We did a small sprint race today in the town of Multia. It was a ´typical´Finnish sprint race with lots of vegetation and not so many buildings. I lost 30sec getting stuck in some shrubs. I was 2nd junior girl.

It is Thursday now. I was about to go out for morning training on map behind Hannas apartment. However the sky got darker this morning and now there is a massive downpour and thunderstorm! Lightning too! crazy! Hopefully it clears up soon. The forest map is of a hilly area with many paths and a downhill ski jump.

I will take rest on Friday and maybe easy jog on Saturday to prepare for Oringen. It will be a tough week of long races (-: Very exciting

Podium finish in the JWOC Sprint!

It was really amazing to get up on the podium along with the best in the world. I felt so proud of New Zealand and the teams abilities. We are totally able to make it when we stay in control.

We had a model event in Lebork on Saturday which was a good chance to check out the mapping style and get a feeling for the terrain. The model allowed us to see both forested and urban areas. I was excited for the race and tried to stay confident.

On the morning of the race we were all quarantined within a 500msq area until our respective start times. The warm up map was basic and we tried to stay relaxed as we watched others warming up around the sand track. My start was in the middle of the field so not too long to wait thankfully. It was a good temperature and not too hot.

The sprint in Lebork town started with a challenging mixture of park/forestland and then finished with fast legs through the town centre. I started cautiously to allow myself to get into the map. There were a number of impassable hedges to read your way around and the route choice to control 4 caught me for a few seconds but I chose to run hard up the 15m of uneven cobbled stairs as opposed to contouring up through the forest. I had caught the Polish girl who started 1minute ahead of me by about number 6. This was a good boost but I tried to maintain my own focus.

After passing under the bridge the next few controls in the buildings were tucked in corners of little alleyways. I felt I was slowing down each time to check them. It was exciting coming through the spectator control with so many people shouting. I made sure to keep focused on the next leg. About this time I saw Laura Robertson (NZ) who had started a few minutes ahead of me. In hindsight I took wrong route choice to number 17. I didnt take time to notice the covered alleyway south out of the control which would have provided a more direct entry into number 17. Instead I ran back out the way I came in and zigzagged all the way around to 17. Control 21 was a neat site tucked right at the bottom of the stairs. It was great to sprint down the finish chute with so many people and New Zealanders cheering.

At the finish I was suprised and very happy to be in a good position. I knew other good girls were still to finish so it was a nervous wait but I am very glad that I could make it onto the podium. It was a special moment for New Zealand and the team.

I would like to say thank you very much to all our suppporters, coaches and team sponsors, Vitasport, Leppin, Compasspoint, Puma, USL, Inov8, University of Waikato.

Almost JWOC time

Very excited to race now. The training is over and I have a feeling for the terrain. The opening ceremony is tomorrow evening and the first race is on Sunday. Today we went for a short 30min easy jog around the middle/long/relay map. Very similar to other training areas we have been on. The distinct features were pits, of which there were heaps and only those over 1m deep marked. Also many small 2x2m fenced areas in the forest shown as black crosses.

Tomorrow we will go to Lebork for a model of the sprint area. This will be a good chance to see exactly the mapmakers style. I am planning to do another short jog and a few strides/short sprints. The official opening ceremony is at 8pm in the town center of Wejherowo.

Internet access is limited here so you can follow the team progress on the New Zealand Junior World Orienteering Championships team blog page. We will update this regularly to keep you informed. (-:

All going well. Thanks