WOC 2008 Middle

The day for the Middle Distance Qualification and Final had come around and we had an early start to get Neil to the check in (he was the first runner). The Qualification and Final were held in the same area on a rolling hillside in the drizzle which persisted most of the day.

Neil charged into the finish first giving it everything. The finish shoot was grueling as we could see runners for at least 2 minutes before they crossed the line so they had to run hard for all the cheering! Ross came in next having had a great run and qualified in 15th spot...the first Kiwi to qualify for all 3 finals at a WOC. Chris flew into the finish running very strongly, but we knew he had made some mistakes because his time was too sow to qualify.



Ross, Maja and Jim shot off to the quarantine zone while we persuaded Neil and Chris to drown their orienteering woes with a blast around the spectator course. The course was a middle distance with dense forest and some tricky rock sections which made for a fun course. Chris came past me and completely bungled it up leading me astray! He then charged off into the forest giggling while I floundered more slowly along behind him cursing myself for following him.

After the race we headed back to the Final area to watch the exciting mens race broadcast over the big screens, followed by the womens. Ross had a strong finish, but we were all gutted when he was disqualified due to a failure of his Sport Ident to register the final control...even though the whole crowd and TV crew saw him punch it! Stupid IOF rules.

All feeling a bit knackered we drove back to Olomouc. Today we ran a fun spectator race in some open fast forest with a few rocky features. Chris, Michael and I arrived so late the start was closed but they let us start and I ran they whole course as fast as I could terrified the controls would be collected in while I was still out! Luckily they took down the finish 2 minutes after I arrived in, phewee.


So tomorrow is the Long Final which we will try to attend, however Chris and I are about to depart on our way to France. Chris was asked to compete in the Mountain X Race in Bourg St Maurice near Chamonix. It is an area I love (snowy mountains, cheese etc.) and Chris was tempted because he thought the race sounded fun. He is racing with Nike Beaver Creek - against his usual team mates Mike and Michael, so that will make things exciting.

For some extra time wasting next week check out the Mountain X Race website, I'm sure it will provide plenty of entertainment (and it has really dumb music). After that we are off to Freiburg to hang out with Julian and Jana for a while. Happy adventuring!

Comments

Greig said…
You are looking very happy after your orienteering race. Is it because of the large bag of goodies you seem to have received? :-)
July 20, 2008 at 3:15 PM
Shoeless Joe said…
I can't imagine what such a goodie bag would contain. there appears to be a near naked woman on the front bending very low!? is it cheese? perhaps not.
August 1, 2008 at 5:58 AM
Unknown said…
Man you guys are silly (-: It is a goody bag full of yummy drink and a muesli bar...and the naked lady, well Joe you can just keep imagining, hehehe.
August 2, 2008 at 2:53 AM
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