WOC - The End

Robbie celebrating his birthday

 WOC 2013 has come to an end. The last competition was the relay on Saturday afternoon.
Friday evening after our team meeting, the whole team went down to a table by the lake to celebrate Robbie's birthday and relax before the final race.

After our celebration, Toni attended Azerbaijan night (a mixer hosted by the new IOF country Azerbaijan). The head of the Azerbaijani Orienteering Federation gave some souvenirs to Emily for helping him practice his English.

Emily with her Azerbaijani swag

 Team Canada was fairly happy with its relay results. Will ran the mass start for the men but had difficulties on the 2nd control and lost the pack. He made up a considerable amount of time and places in the later part of the race. Eric was especially happy with his solid race after his disaster in the middle qualification. The Canadian Men finished 25th, 3 places higher than last year.

Robbie, Eric and Will after the relay

 Both Emily and Louise were satisfied with their relay runs. Kerstin ran the anchor for Team Canada and accidentally took her control description holder with control descriptions from the middle distance race even though the control descriptions for the relay are only on the map. She was fine for the first few controls but when she reached number 4 she checked the descriptions on her arm and saw that the codes didn't match. She relocated to the control twice before realising her mistake. She was disappointed that such a small thing ended up losing her so much time. The team assured her that it was a learning experience and that it was a mistake she was unlikely to make twice. The women finished in 20th position.

Team Canada

With the relay over, the team unwound at the WOC banquet before heading their separate ways on Sunday morning. 

WOC 2013 was a tightly run ship with all events, trainings and accommodations close by. Many of the team members have said that this was their favourite WOC in terms of organisation. Thank you to the organisers. We would return to Vuokatti any time!

Team Canada's Banquet Outfits