Training Log Archive: Ollie

Varsity Match Relay Race, at Hågadalen, a small "urban wood" area right beside the OK Linné club hut on the edge of Norby, Uppsala, in Sweden.

I was in the mass start for an all-JOK team, handing over to Tony and Pauline. I had a poor start, making a mistake on the way the first control, and felt like I was at the back of the field. I made steady progress after that, the controls coming thick and fast. Half way around, Ian W (distracted) was right behind me, I lost him at a gaffle, and joined Helen, Chris M and Matt L in a group. Unfortunately for me, a trio of dodgy route choices and mistakes right at the end meant they got away from me, but I was in the finish field only just behind them, Tony ready to run on.

A great little area, certainly an easier race than I was expecting (Särtryck ur Nåsten, just across the river and used for the training exercises earlier in the week, looked really tough.)

Ultrasprint race on a 1:1250 map (1m contours!) of a very small wooded area surrounded by housing blocks, in Central Uppsala. Absolutely crazy. 29 controls, which were tiny bits of yellow tape stuck to the ground, or even small yellow post-it notes. It might be an "ultrasprint", but most of my race at least was spent standing still trying to work out where exactly I was and how big the feature on the map really was. Bare bits of rock 10cm high were shown as cliffs, trees were represented seperately as trunks (green cross), canopy (white) and canopy edge (green), and a childrens' slide at one point was a large and obvious feature! Great fun, after realising how small the controls were having spent a while almost standing on top of No. 1, unable to see it! No. 2 was only 10m away, so I (and around 10 others) shot forward, only to realise a few second later we had again overshot... Absolute chaotic fun and a great way to wind down after the relays and VM proper.