WUOC Sprint Relay

The first race of these World University Championships took place in the beautiful city of Kroměříž an hour’s drive from our home base in Olomouc. I haven't run very many Sprint Relays but I was super excited to be able to participate in this one and run the first leg to boot! Unfortunately the announcer counted down in Czech so I really had no idea when we were supposed to GO! Thankfully, in the list of countries Czech Republic is just after Canada so as soon as she took off I was close on her heels!

Me, Emily Kemp, in the mass start.

 In the wise words of Coach Toni, I knew that I was there not for running, but for orienteering. This was key since from the map below you can see how much forking there was. And I can tell you that it was definitely best to keep one's nose glued to the map because there were people running EVERYWHERE!! The majority of the course being in the park meant that visibility was at 100% and sometimes I could see multiple controls at once!

It was a fast paced race but I made sure to always make my own choices so it turned out that I was able to send Damian off in 5th just 40 sec off the leaders!

Damian Konotopetz pushing the pace at the spectator control.

"I was excited to go out close to the leaders but I was still able to do my own race". -Damian
Not only did he do his own race but he did a great race sticking with the countries he had gone out with and sending off Tori in 8th position.

The last meter until Tori Owen passes off the relay to Graeme Rennie.

The long leg in the park was tricky and the stinging nettle hidden in the grass was extra stingy but Tori did a superb job under the pressure of sprinting for your team!

Graeme Rennie finishing off the relay with speed and style!

 Graeme was on last leg which is a tough job in the best of times but even more so when it was his first time running a Sprint Relay! He blasted through the course bringing us into a beautiful 17th position!

Way to go Team Canada!!!!

A happy relay team!!!

All photos are courtesy of the talented photographer Robert Svoboda.