WOC 2008 & Public Race for ordinary people in Czech Republic

I called us ordinary people as we were only the background for the whole pack of stars like Thierry, Dani or Minna. However, we were having a really good time there and I wasn't looking forward to come back home.

Our so-called 'Orientuś superelite' who visited Olomouc consisted of 10 people: Gwoździk, Gosiaczek, Amelka, Ewuś, Ala, Zielu, Piotrek, Kamiliusz (Swedish runner), head coach Pasza and me.

As far as our results are concerned, Piotrek and Kamil managed to reach the podium (2nd and 3rd in M21B). Congratulations!

Now it's time to tell you something about my races in Orienteering Festival 2008. My main goal for this competition was to take a little rest after hard 3 weeks of trainings and JWOC 2008 in Norway and Sweden. So my running speed wasn't supposed to be at its best but my technique should have been at the highest level possible and I must admit that day by day it was getting better and better - that's why I am so satisfied with this 6 days O-competition.

I would also like to add that my stay in Czech was not only the relief for my legs but also for my brain because reading the map in continental terrain is not as difficult as in Nordic countries.

But now to the point...

OF 2008 - first day (long distance)

I had been looking forward to this first start in Czech Republic since my comeback from Sweden. I started my race pretty well. After 5th and 6th control I was leading. Unfortunately, I didn't manage to avoid a really huge mistake at control number 12 and landed almost 0,5km away from the point. Nevertheless, the biggest problem which appeared almost every day during OF was the difference in size of rocks, rocky walls and mounds that were unbelievably smaller than their 'friends' in Sweden. The winner of the race was Pole - Rino!

By clicking on the 3 items above you can see my route choices, comments & my own mark of the race and split times as well.

OF 2008 - second day (long distance)

The course parameters looked quite encouraging for me as it was quite a lot of running but the course was supposed to be fairly smooth. The only thing that didn't suit me was the fact that I was the second one to enter the forest and it meant slower speed in bushy and grassy areas. The terrain and course planner turned out to be really demanding and there were some controls hidden in green areas. Furthermore, the end of the course was quite tricky as there was a huge bushy area near the finish which included a lot of tiny clearings. Moreover, the scale 1:15000 made it even more difficult! It was definitely my worst performance at OF 2008.

OF 2008 - third day (middle distance)

Middle distances in Sweden were a great technical challenge and they almost ruled out the possibility of fast running. But after two days spent on Czech maps I realised it won't be the same and I was right. I don't think the course was much more difficult and my pace was even better than before. That day my category showed how important every second is. I lost 3:13 to the winner and was only 13th. If I had lost the same amount of time in middle distance at Polish Championship, I would have been the owner of bronze medal...