What's up in Kristiansand?

Sandy Hott reporting from Kristiansand, Norway.

With the spring rush of national cup races and the relays Tiomila and Jukola over, things are starting to quiet down for the summer here in Kristiansand with our club Kristiansand orienteringsklubb. Summer vacation is a big thing here in Norway, and there isn’t much action on the local orienteering scene during the summer. Instead, people will go on vacation, maybe taking in Sørlandsgaloppen or O-ringen or another multi-day event during the summer.

The last club event before the summer was the Club Championships, held on an island at the edge of town. It was a beautiful summer day, and the meet site was appropriately set near the beach which was a great place to hang out before and after the race. Although the race had an informal tone, the courses were very good: Steep and physically tough (especially in the 24 degree heat!), and with lots of good route choice problems to solve underway. I pre-ran the course so that I could switch off with Holger for child-care, and so I was undisturbed by other runners in the forest. I had a decent race, but had a bit of trouble staying ahead in my route choices the whole time, and didn’t manage to run as aggressively as I would have liked. I had several small time losses here and there, mostly due to hesitations and being wimpy downhill. My biggest time losses were going to the wrong pit first at number 5, and getting caught on some cliffs on the way in to control 10. There were some problems with the timing system, but my unofficial time was 1 second behind my club-mate Irene Arnevik who became club champion in D21.

Link to results

After the race we enjoyed BBQ hot dogs and chocolate cake in the evening sun with our club-mates. In all, a great way to bring in the summer season!