Announcing the 2012 WOC Men's Relay Team!

After 3 weeks of hard racing, ups, downs, and a bronze medal, we've come to the final race in the 3 week European World Championship tour ~ the WOC relay. Running for Team Canada is Patrick, Will, and Robbie. Magnus announces the running order in the video!

We asked Robbie, Will, and Patrick how they are feeling before tomorrow's big finale. Here's what they had to say:

Robbie: Feeling quite confident in this type of terrain after the long qualifier. Looking forward to a fast and furious race, and "Canucking" as many teams as possible.

Will: I'm expecting somewhat scrappier terrain than the last time I raced. Since the course is relatively short with many controls, I expect more straight routes rather than longer trail runs. My goal is to beat everyone, of course.

Patrick:I'm getting really excited for the relay and the nerves are starting to set in. I am fully rested and recharged and looking forward to fighting for a top spot with Robbie and Will!

We hope that "Canucking" becomes a (positive) well used orienteering term after tomorrow!

There are 36 teams starting the men's relay at 1:30pm local time (that's 4:30am PST or 7:30am EST). According to the bulletin, some teams will have GPS tracking, but probably not Canada or the US :(  You can follow the live results, TV, and so on at the live centre. You can view the full start list of teams here. Special mention to Team USA ~ Eric Bone, Boris Granovskiy, and Giacomo Barbone. We wish you guys the best of luck for the race, but we still hope to beat you!

Canada has no women's team this year, but good luck to Team USA ~ Ali Crocker, Sandra Lauenstein, and Samantha Saeger. The women start at 11:30am (that's 2:30am PST or 5:30am EST). Check out the full women's start list. 

Thierry Gueorgiou is running the second leg for the French team. He has a terrible record with relays ~ in 2008 he got stung by a bee on the tongue and had to pull out, and in 2009 Martin Johansson of Sweden got a stick in his leg, so Thierry, Anders Nordberg, and Michal Smola stopped to help him. Last year he beat the odds and won gold with team mates Phillippe Adamski and Francois Gonon. This team are running together again this year; can they make it gold for a second year? The Swiss team are also looking strong, and you can never count out those Scandinavians!

On the women's side, the Swedish team are looking particularly strong, with Switzerland, Russia, and Denmark fielding one or two strong runners. It'll be a tight race!

We'll bring you the relay round up tomorrow!