Kalevan Rasti wins Jukola 2007

(English text from jukola2007.net) Saturday evening 22.00, more than 1300 runners appeared at the start of jukola 2007. It wasn't totally dark, but everyone was wearing a headlamp and was waiting for the start.
When the sign was given, all teams started with an amazing speed, visible on the picture below. Jukola 2007 has begun!

Zaterdagavond 16 juni 22u - meer dan 1300 lopers verschijnen aan de start van de jukola-aflossing 2007. Helmaal donker wordt het deze periode in Finland niet meer, maar al de startlopers droegen toch een hoofdlamp. Zo stonden ze allemaal ongeduldig te wachten tot het startschot gegeven werd. Op dat moment vertrokken ze bijna al sprintend, zoals te zien is op de foto hieronder. Jukola 2007 was begonnen!


Rasti-Kurikka to the lead
Sami Löfbacka from Rasti-Kurikka brought his team the leading position at the first changeover. Löfbacka had run the entire length close to the lead but managed to squeeze a 2-second advantage over Stora Tuna IK from Sweden.
Löfbacka says he knew he was close to the lead ever since the third control. At times the top men advanced together and at times they parted ways toward different controls.
"I had to be careful throughout the leg as the terrain is rather subtle in features. There was no room for losing focus."
On the 2nd spot we found the young (22) Czech Republic runner Jan Prochazka (Stora Tuna IK) and in 3th postion our national hero Fabien Pasquasy (SNO3).
Last year's winner Vehkalahden Veikot was also fighting for the lead. Jonne Lehto was 7th to arrive at changeover, 20 seconds behind Rasti-Kurikka.
Halden SK (Bjorn Eriksen) lost 5min. Also Frenchman Philippe Adamski from one of the favorites, Kalevan Rasti, however made a big mistake and was left over 7.5 minutes from the lead despite the fact that he was able to improve his orienteering towards the end of the leg.
An other Belgian opening-leg-runner, Bart Delobel (if brahe) became 104th.

Als eerste kwam Sami Löfbacka ui het bos te voorschijn. Gedurende de hele wedstrijd had hij meegelopen in de voorste gelederen. Uiteindelijk had hij 2sec voorsprong op de Zweedse ploeg Stora Tuna Ik (met de Tsjechische loper Jan Prochazka, lid van de nationa A-ploeg). Op de derde plaats vonden we Fabien Pasquasy terug, hij komt uit voor SNO3. Een andere Belgische startloper, Bart Delobel werd 104e, op bijna 6min van de winnaar.
Topteams Halden SK en Kalevan Rasti verloren respectievelijk 5 en 7 minuten.


Rasti-Kurikka keeps its lead
Rasti-Kurikka kept up its speed on the second leg of Jukola Relay. Matti Vainionpää was the first to reach changeover and was followed by Swedish teams Södertälje Nykvarn and Stora Tuna IK.
It was easy for Vainionpää to smile after having sent Mikko Hölsö off to the third leg.
"Course Setter Petri Saari said that this is a competition for experienced men and it does look like he was right", says 39-year-old Vainionpää.
Rajamäen Rykmentti was 4th at changeover, 2.41 minutes from the lead. The remainder of Rajamäki's orienteers are extremely strong and thus the team has risen to be one of the favorites. Vehkalahden Veikot kept its position close to the lead positioning 6th after the changeover.
Samuli Launiainen from Kalevan Rasti lifted its team up to 17th place.
"Everything is still possible despite the time difference", says Launiainen.
One of the surprisers of the second leg was 18-year-old Olli-Markus Taivainen of Pellon Ponsi whose time was one of the fastest despite a couple-of-minute mistake towards the end of the leg

De baanlegger voorspelde dat deze editie een jukola voor ervaren orientatielopers zou worden. En hij kreeg zijn gelijk, want de 39 jarige Vainionpäa presteerde zeer sterk en zorgde ervoor dat Rasti-Kurikka zijn koppositie kon behouden. Iets later overschreden ook de Zweedse teams Stora tuna Ik en SNO1 de finish.
De revelatie was de 18jarige Olli-Markus Taivainen van Pellon Ponsi, hij liep een van de snelste tijden, ondanks een fout van enkele minuten naar het einde van de wedstrijd toe.


Södertälje takes the lead
After the 2nd leg Rasti-Kurikka was still in the lead, followed by SNO and Stora Tuna Ik. Swedish team Södertälje Nykvarn Orientering took the lead of Jukola Relay as the third leg drew to a close with all the teams having had run the exact same distance at 35 kilometres. Second at changeover was the defending champion Vehkalahden Veikot 1.5 minutes behind the lead.
Rasti-Kurikka was still leading the race 10 kilometres into the leg but dropped to the 5th place after Mikko Hölsö's big mistake. Kalevan Rasti was 10th, 4 minutes behind Södertälje.
Norwegian-born Jon-Are Myhren of Södertälje now represents the Dutch national team as he wants to take part in international championships.
Simo-Pekka Fincke from Vehkalahden Veikot experienced some difficulty early in the leg. First he struggled finding the first control and then his compass broke.
"Good job I had a spare compass with me", says the relieved Fincke.
Joost Talloen (OK Skogshjortarna), the 3th Belgian participator also run the 3th leg. He finished in 246th position, 23min slower than Topi Anjala.

De derde lopers liepen de lange nacht. Rasti-Kurikka leek lang op weg om de eerste plaats te behouden. Maar op het einde Mikko Hölso toch in de fout, en nam de Nederlander van SNO de koppositie over.
Simo-Pekka Fincke van VeVe ondervond heel wat moeilijkheden in het begin van zijn wedstrijd. Om te beginnen ging hij al in de mist bij de eerste post en vervolgens brak hij zijn kompas. Gelukkig had hij een reserve kompas meegenomen!
Ook Joost Talloen liep hier mee en legde beslag op 246e plaats, zo liep hij 23min trager dan de snelste tijd van Topi Anjala.


4th leg:
The final scene is starting to take form after the fourth leg which was approximately 7.5 kilometres in length. Swedish team Södertälje Nykvarn kept its leading position but Vehkalahden Veikot squeezed the gap down to less than a minute. Hannu Airila from Kalevan Rasti had a superb leg and was third at changeover just over 3 minutes behind Södertälje.
Tore Sandvik from Halden SK was 8th at changeover and thus ensured a good position for the team to start from for the last three legs. Vaajakosken Terä was lagging over 15 minutes from the lead.

Na 4 lopers behield SNO (Horachek) de eerste plaats, maar kortbij gevolgd door VeVe. Hannu Airila van Kalevan Rasti liep een superwedstrijd en schoof op naar de 3e plaats. Ook Halden SK was ondertussen opgerukt naar de 8e plaats, na hun zwakke start.


Vehkalahti snatches the lead
Vehkalahden Veikot moves to the lead as the 5th leg draws to a close. Babtiste Rollier from Switzerland brought Vehkalahti to the changeover 51 seconds before Södertälje. Kalevan Rasti was 4 minutes and Norwegian team Halden SK 5.3 minutes from the lead.
"I am happy with the leading position but my leg was not completely error-free. I had to take the trickier parts very slow", says Rollier.
Miika Hernelahti from Kalevan Rasti thinks the course setter has managed to put together a demanding course. "The orienteering was not all pottering about, there was some serious running, too", says Hernelahti.

De Zwitser Rollier leidde, ondanks enkele foutjes, zijn ploeg Veve naar een virtuele overwinning. Aan de aankomst had hij 51 seconden voorsprong op de vorige leider SNO, Kalevan Rasti volgde op 4' en Halden SK op 5'. Nog 2 lopers te gaan!

Kalevan Rasti in the lead at the final changeover
Simo Martomaa organised a good position for Kalevan Rasti and anchor Thierry Gueorgiou to start from for the final leg. The Frenchman dived into the woods before Halden SK's anchor Mats Haldin was handed the map by Emil Wingstedt. The gap between the two leading teams at the final changeover was exactly a minute.
"I didn't run very well at the beginning in particular but luckily I had no trouble finding the controls. I took some minor risks at the end of the leg in order to make sure our anchor could take off alone", says Martomaa.

Martomaa van Kalevan Rasti zorgde ervoor dat zijn team terug helemaal vooraan verscheen. Hij liep een goede wedstrijd en zette 4' achterstand om in 1' voorsprong. De tweede ploeg was nu Halden SK door toedoen van Emil Wingstedt. Het gevecht Gueorgiou-Haldin kon beginnen!


Kalevalan Rasti is the Jukola winner 2007
Kalevan Rasti is the Virkiä-Jukola winner. The victory ended up being very clear indeed as anchor Thierry Gueorgiou finished 4.10 minutes before Halden SK's Mats Haldin who was second to cross the finishing line.
Kalevan Rasti got off to a bad start and seemed to have lost any chance for victory, but leg by leg the team drew closer to the lead. Anchor Thierry Gueorgiou ensured the victory with his error-free final leg. He read the map accurately without letting his pace slow and made an ideal choice for the route.
Vehkalahden Veikot, who came third, lost the game to Halden SK after Tero Föhr's mistakes at the final control points. Mats Haldin even had enough time for a mistake at the second last control as Föhr had to search for the third last control long enough to be caught up by IFK Lidingö SOK's Emil Lauri, who had a good run towards the end. Föhr, however, was able to hold on to his lead and eventually finished third with a 7-second difference.
Virkiä-Jukola turned out to be a feast for Finns with both the Venla and the Jukola Relay victories being gained by Finnish teams.

Wat een spannende strijd tussen 2 toplopers moest worden, liep enigszins anders af. Al na enkele posten bleek duidelijk wie de Jukola 2007 op zijn naam mocht schrijven. Haldin ging in de fout en verloor ettelijke minuten. Hij mocht blij zijn dat Tero Föhr van VeVe op het einde nog in de fout ging, of hij verloor ook de tweede plaats. De winnende ploeg werd dus Kalevan Rasti door weer een zeer knappe wedstrijd van Thiery Gueorgiou!

Results:
1. Kalevan Rasti (FIN) (Philippe Adamski, Samuli Launiainen, Tommi Tölkkö, Hannu Airila, Miika Hernelahti, Simo Martomaa, en Thierry Gueorgiou)

2. Halden SK (NOR) (Björn Eriksen, Sami Hämälistö, Erik Axelsson, Tore Sandvik, Mattias Karlsson, Emil Wingstedt, en Mats Haldin)

3. Vehkalahden Veikot (FIN) (Jonne Lehto, Tuomas Mattila, Simo-Pekka Fincke, Janne Weckman, Baptiste Rollier, Marc Lauenstein en Tero Föhr)

All results

Source: the perfect Jukola website: jukola2007.net

Pics: jukola2007.net

Map: Okansas