WOC - Long Distance Qualifier

The 30th World Orienteering Championships kicked off today in Vuokatti, Finland. Canada was represented in the Long Distance final by Serghei Logvin, Kerstin Burnett, Louise Oram, Eric Kemp, Emily Kemp and Robbie Anderson.

The courses were long and physically difficult and almost all the athletes said that they felt more tired than expected for the speed they were travelling.

The long leg between controls 4 and 5 on the men's course and the same leg on the women's course was critical in most people's races. All of the Canadians lost time on the route choice with some ending up slogging through an exhausting marsh. The optimal route is still being debated.

The Long Leg

Serghei was the first Canadian finisher with Kerstin finishing soon after. It was the first time at WOC for both Serghei (22nd place Men's Q3) and Kerstin (21st place Women's Q3).

Serghei Running Fast

Louise had a solid race but was unsure of her choice on the long leg. She was surprised that her route took her through a series chicken coops. She was generally pleased with her race and waited anxiously to see if her result would be good enough to qualify for the long final.

Emily said that she was surprised how exhausted she felt in the forest and how uncomfortable it was to push herself physically. She is looking forward to a rest day tomorrow.

Both Emily (12th place Women's Q2)  and Louise (14th place Women's Q1) qualified for the Long Final on Tuesday.

Eric found the race very demanding and ended up in 27th place in Men's Q1.

Robbie (24th Men's Q2) started in the late start block. He knew that the qualifying would be tight. After losing time to 5 he knew that his chances were probably gone and found it difficult to push to the end.

Robbie near the end

Serghei, Kerstin and Robbie (as well as a fresh Will) will have to recover mentally and physically from the long distance before the sprint qualifier first thing tomorrow morning.

Let's get ready to race!

Thanks to Ken Walker Jr for the photos