"Live" reports from the men's relay race go here.

-- Michael (meglin@juno.com), April 29, 2000

Answers

1:40 p.m. CDT.

They're off....at least they should be.

-- Michael (mike_eglinski@kcmo.org), April 29, 2000.

3:06 CDT Wow!!! Just a minute or so ago the Tio-Mila site started spewing out the men's results after the first leg. They are running about 71 minutes at the lead. Umea OK leads. OK Orion is 11th, Haldens SK is 12, Baekkelagets is 27, Farum is 28 (I think that's the dutch club with people like Mogensen and other top runners). IF Thor 2 is 30th (wow!) IKHP 1 is 37th, 42 seconds off the lead. IFK Lidingo 1 is 119th about 3.5 minutes back, IKHP 2 is 124th (the team Swampfox should have been on). Ha! the dreaded Linkoping 1 team is 128th, Lidingo 2 is 149th, 4:10 back and IKHP3 is 183rd, 6:25 off the lead.

-- Mook (everett@psi.edu), April 29, 2000.

4:30 CDT.

The second leg runners are coming in. It is still looking close towards the front. No teams have managed to pull away from the pack. Lidingo 2 (my sentimental favorite...I ran for several Lidingo 2 teams) is sitting in 22nd place after a stellar run by Casper Giding. Casper pulled them up 129 places! His time looks to be within seconds of the fastest time for the second leg.

Still no sign of IKHP 3....but IKHP's first team -- one of the favorites to win -- is struggling a bit. They're over 15 minutes behind the leaders.

Still no sign of IF Thor 2.

-- Michael (mike_eglinski@kcmo.org), April 29, 2000.

6:35 p.m. (CDT)

Third leg results -- Lidingo in the lead! The second team is in 8th. Of course, there is still a lot of orienteering left. Casper's big brother, Jonas, brought Lidingo 1 to the lead with a very good run (looks like it might be the best time for the leg).

Looking further down the third leg results, I see my friend Lennart Gustavsson (Boxholm-Mjolby) managed to pull his team up 39 places to 72nd overall. Lennart must be in his 40s. He is an extremely good orienteer and definetly at his best when it matters most.

IKHP 1 is falling further back -- 25 minutes off the lead and in 141st. This must be a real disappointment. But, there is still a lot of racing left...

Wow! Tied -- yes tied! -- for 195th place are IF Thor 2 and IKHP 3.

-- Michael (mike_eglinski@kcmo.org), April 29, 2000.

After the 4th leg, Lidingo's team have dropped off the pace a bit. They are now sitting in 15th and 31st.

The lead team, Pargas from Finland, is a couple of minutes ahead and is alone. I think this is the first time that a gap has formed. Don't look for Pargas to be able to stay out alone for the entire 5th leg. The 5th leg -- "The Long Night" -- is over 15 km and there is no forking. So, packs will form and will move quickly. A small group of runners will probably catch up to Pargas.

-- Michael (mike_eglinski@kcmo.org), April 29, 2000.

7:05 p.m. CDT

Not live, but still interesting, are photographs from the competition center. Currently, there are four pics posted that show the junior relay. The junior event took place before the women's and men's races. More photos might be posted soon (if you are to believe the web page from the club that posted them). Go to:

http://vasby.orientering.nu/grafik/tiomila00/

-- Michael (mike_eglinski@kcmo.org), April 29, 2000.

7:40 p.m. CDT

IKHP 3 has pulled away from IF Thor 2. IKHP 3 moved up 30 places and finished the third leg in 165th. IF Thor 2 is no where to be seen.

-- Michael (mike_eglinski@kcmo.org), April 29, 2000.

8:37 HDT

Now, as Spike predicted, the 5th leg caused everyone to bunch up. There is a string of runners, roughly 30 at the front of the field. Leading is Haldens, with Delta right after them. Two of the big names in the relays. Lidingo 1 is 5th in the pack.Orion is 8th, Pargas is still in the pack and tied with Lidingo 2 at 13th place. Baekkelegets is 53rd, behind the leaders and no sign of even IKHP's first team yet.

-- Mook (everett@psi.edu), April 29, 2000.

Where is Magnus's team?

-- Mean Gene (gmw@ukans.edu), April 29, 2000.

Spike's old nemisis club, Linkoping OK 1, is 66th after 5 and 10 minutes off the lead. At least something is working out!

-- Mook (everett@psi.edu), April 29, 2000.

Nice to hear from you Gene... Magnus' team, IF Thor 2, was 203rd after the fourth leg. Their place after the 5th leg hasn't been posted yet (only 66 places after 5th leg so far).

-- Mook (everett@psi.edu), April 29, 2000.

Tio-Mila seems to be posting results about 15-20 minutes after the finishes. Something like that. It depends on whether the race started on time.

-- Mook (everett@psi.edu), April 29, 2000.

Gene -- Do you have Yahoo Messenger? If you do, my id is okansas.geo and Mook is Mooook_2000.

-- Michael (mike_eglinski@kcmo.org), April 29, 2000.

Is anyone out there? Anyone at all?

There's not a whole lot going on with the race right now. Spike and I are chatting a bit, waiting for new things to be posted. We expect the 6th leg runners are coming in now, but haven't seen the posts yet.

-- Mook (everett@psi.edu), April 29, 2000.

When I spent a half a year living in Linkoping, I ran for Skogsstrovarna. They're looking good after five legs. They are in 97th place. The guy who ran The Long Night is a guy I remember as a very strong runner, but an uneven orienteer. The Long Night must be tough -- over 2 hours of hard running in the dark.

-- Michael (mike_eglinski@kcmo.org), April 29, 2000.

9:30 p.m. (CDT)

The sixth leg runners are streaming in. After the un-forked Long Night, the short sixth leg (forked) spread the runners out a bit. Lidingo 1 is right in it -- 8th place.

-- Michael (mike_eglinski@kcmo.org), April 29, 2000.

9:30 now... Delta, the good Finns, have dropped back quite a bit. There are still several teams at the front that the pundits like: Haldens, Orion, and SK Pohjantahti Oulu.

-- Mook (everett@psi.edu), April 29, 2000.

The seventh leg is underway. This is the last leg where runners will need headlamps. The sky will be getting light by a few minutes after 4 a.m. (Stockholm time!). This is also the time when the big-guns start getting ready for their legs. If a club has a national class runner, they'll be on one of the last four legs. You'd probably save your strongest orienteer for the last leg (15+ km). The 9th leg is rather short (aroudn 5.5 Km). So, you might put your second and third best runners on the 7th and 8th legs (both over 12 Km).

-- Michael (mike_eglinski@kcmo.org), April 29, 2000.

Baekkelagets SOK is only something like 5 minutes back. From what I saw they may have the best 3 runners of any single team. Two WOC99 champions and someone else, Bjorlo maybe?

I would think that 5 minutes is possible to make up for guys who can put minutes on a world class field. All they need to do is run faster than everyone else. I bet Valstad will run the anchor for them.

-- Mook (everett@psi.edu), April 29, 2000.

Ooops I guess they're really 11 minutes back. My mistake. I don't think they'll contend this year.

-- Mook (everett@psi.edu), April 29, 2000.

While Mook and I are following the race and updating the OK forum, we are also chatting on messenger....This race update will be a transcript of part of our chat.

mooook_2000: IKHP 2 posted after 6. They are 107th and didn't move much through the field. They are almost 45 min back. I bet IKHP is going to regret they didn't put Swampfox on the 2 team.

okansas.geo: It is always interesting to see how 2nd teams do against other 2nd teams.

mooook_2000: IKHP 3 posted after 5 in 188 place. IF Thor 2 is 182. Is Bengt Ohlund the son of ????. He dropped down quite a few places. Ugh!

okansas.geo: It looks like IKHP2 is about the 12th or 13th second team. Lidingo 2 is the top 2nd team. Bengt is a son of Goran and Ingrid Ohlund.

mooook_2000: Do you want to update the Forum?

okansas.geo: It'd be my pleasure

So, there you have a quick update.

-- Michael (mike_eglinski@kcmo.org), April 29, 2000.

10:19 p.m. HDT (i.e. Homeland Daylight Time)

Magnus is either just starting his leg or just getting ready to start. Best of luck, Magnus. Still, it must feel like a let down after having run on the OK relay team!

-- Michael (mike-eglinski@kcmo.org), April 29, 2000.

10:34 p.m. (HDT)

We are anxiously awaiting the seventh leg runners. This is where the race should start to get really intersting, really tense. Magnus is certainly up for the task. As Mook pointed out "Of course Magnus anchored an OK relay team. There's nothing quite like that, but the Tio-Mila would be fun too I suppose."

-- Michael (mike_eglinski@kcmo.org), April 29, 2000.

The leaders on the seventh leg are streaming in. Halden has pulled out in front by four minutes. But, behind Halden there are a lot of teams within striking distance. The terrain is technically difficult, so a lead can't be considered safe. Especially not with three legs left.

The results from the 7th leg give me some inspiration -- guys in my M35 category (Micke Whelin and Anders Berg) have had outstanding runs...

I'm getting very sleepy. So, I'll be going to bed. Mook, do your best to keep the news flowing. I'll be anxious to read your reports when I wake up.

-- Michael (mike_eglinski@kcmo.org), April 29, 2000.

It looks like Mook is alone to hold down the fort. Actually I consider the opportunity quite an honor. (Of course if there is anyone else out there please jump right in!).

I will try to keep writing and watching and analyzing to some extent. --- 11:01 HDT.

-- Mook (everett@psi.edu), April 29, 2000.

For the record, Spike sputtered along until 11:16 HDT before calling it a night. It was good to have him there for company, kind of pushing me along, but now I am on my own. I dare not let OK down. As they say... in some ways Mook is the Dennis Rodman of OK. Noone ever really knows what's going on, but when it comes to crunchtime you can count on him to give his all.

-- Mook (everett@psi.edu), April 30, 2000.

Alternativet is saying something about IKHP and the long night leg. I sure wish I understood it. I hope it is good news, not bad, but we haven't seen anything from them yet.

-- Mook (everett@psi.edu), April 30, 2000.

11:27 HDT. I don't expect to see any 8th leg times posted for another half hour, although the first ones in will be coming in in just over 15 minutes. I'll try to take a short break to rest up for the big push ahead. The 9th leg will be short and things could get fast and furious at the keyboard!

-- Mook (everett@psi.edu), April 30, 2000.

The Tio-Mila page is going through its slowest, quietest period yet. Alternativets is reporting on the leaders. If I understand anything they are saying Haldens is still in the lead (I guess they are finishing around now). I think they are talking about lead times of 6 or 7 minutes. Tore Sandvik is running for Halden on this 8th leg.

IKHP is mentioned too. A new best time for the 7th leg! Hakan Ohlund, better known as the Devil Runner, I think he may have beat Ivarsson by 4 minutes! If so, that's just incredible. --- 11:50pm HDT

-- Mook (everett@psi.edu), April 30, 2000.

They are talking about Baekkelaget and Malung now. I think these are teams moving up quickly. A lot of the big guns like Rostrup are running. --- Midnight HDT

-- Mook (everett@psi.edu), April 30, 2000.

Some of the 8th leg times are just coming out now at 12:03am HDT. Haldens SK holds a commanding lead of almost 7 minutes. It looks like their race to lose. As NLH Orientering is 2nd and a close 3rd is Paimon Rasti which moved up from 12th place. A bunch of clubs still follow closely on these two including Kristiansand in 4th, Leksands, OK Orion, Rajamaen Rykmentti, Delta. Pargas got back into the race a bit and are 11th now. Baekkelagets SOK is 16th and a bit over 4 minutes behind 2nd place (HH Johansen ran the leg). I think Altern. said that Rostrup was running the 9th (short) leg. He is the world short course champion and specializes in it. Perhaps he can move them even farther up and then... who could they possibly have saved for the anchor leg? Could it be... no... maybe it's Valstad!

-- Mook (everett@psi.edu), April 30, 2000.

the short leg is going by fast! There are people through the forvarning control. Halden still has a 6 min lead.

Delta is a strong team here. The good runner Carsten Jorgensen is running the short leg for them.

-- Mook (everett@psi.edu), April 30, 2000.

Things are heating up! I did interpret correctly that Hakan Ohlund ran the very fast time on the 7th leg. IKHP 1 is 51st after he moved them up 23 places with a 75 minute leg. A Finnish guy also ran near him with a fast time it appears.

IKHP 2 is 103rd after the 7th.

Still waiting on some more important splits from the 7th leg. --- 12:17am HDT

-- Mook (everett@psi.edu), April 30, 2000.

12:21am HDT ... some more 8th leg times coming in now. Lidingo is in 17th, dropping one place. Per Ek ran that leg for them. They are near Malungs and Baekkelagets who are 15th and 17th. Sodertalje has dropped to 19th at this point, losing 17 spots.

IKHP is 38th after the 8th, up 13 spots. The runner was Klas Karlsson, a name OKers should recognize.

-- Mook (everett@psi.edu), April 30, 2000.

Sounds like Yuri Olmetchenko (sp?) is running the short leg for Orion. He is a PWT kind of guy. I guess they like to put some fast runners on this leg to open up a gap for the anchor leg... kind of like Spike, who can break open a field and put Mook in a nice position to bring home the bacon. --- 12:26 HDT

-- Mook (everett@psi.edu), April 30, 2000.

Haldens 9th leg time is up now at 12:27 am HDT. Kjetil Bjorlo ran it for them. No others listed yet.

I think Altern. is saying that As has dropped to 10th place. They had been in second, or "my Swedish" could just be rusty.

They are still slow listing the 7th leg times... sorry folks. Magnus should have finished quite a while ago now. I'll keep checking and bring you the news when I get it.

-- Mook (everett@psi.edu), April 30, 2000.

IFK Lidingo 2 is 49th after the 8th. They are still the first number 2 team I think. There is one number 2 Finnish team 3 minutes behind them.

-- Mook (everett@psi.edu), April 30, 2000.

Some news from the 9th leg is spewing out now. Halden had and 8 minute lead over Leksands and Paimon Rasti then its Orion just a bit back and then 5 teams right together including Lidingo. Another group of at least 3 teams is 1.5 minutes back of them. Baekkelagets is still a bit over 4 minutes out of 2nd place. --- 12:36 am HDT

-- Mook (everett@psi.edu), April 30, 2000.

Few more notes after the 9th leg. Malungs is moving up fast still and is in 5th. As and Kristiansand dropped down a lot.

-- Mook (everett@psi.edu), April 30, 2000.

It looks like the winners will finish around 1:45am HDT, then IKHP 3 a fair time after that. I must persevere. --- 12:44am HDT

-- Mook (everett@psi.edu), April 30, 2000.

12:45am HDT --- YES!!!! the news you've been waiting for. Magnus has been posted. He moved IF Thor 2 up 11 spots with a time of 1:43:51. The best times for the leg have been about 1:15 something. He started somewhat by himself and also finished somewhat by himself. That, I think, marks a good run. IF Thor 2 is 165th after his leg.

IKHP 3 lies in 178th after the 7th leg. They moved up 10 places with Henrik's run. He ran almost as fast as Magnus.

-- Mook (everett@psi.edu), April 30, 2000.

12:51 am HDT -- back at the 9th leg finish, IKHP still moving on up picking up 10 spots with Mats Envall's sub-30 minute run. That's one of the fastest times so far.

-- Mook (everett@psi.edu), April 30, 2000.

Alternativet is describing some of the splits on the anchor leg. I wish I could understand it more. Lidingo is a topic of discussion. I think that they and Malung are together. Since Malung started ahead of them just a bit, that would be a good sign. More importantly some of the teams may have dropped by the wayside. They are talking about Haldens too. Presumably they are still leading by quite a bit. There doesn't seem to be too much excitement over them as there would be if they really boomed a control!

-- Mook (everett@psi.edu), April 30, 2000.

IFK Lidingo 2 was just posted after the 9th leg. They are still leading all number 2 teams. --- 1:06am HDT

-- Mook (everett@psi.edu), April 30, 2000.

I may not understand, but I think Altern. is now saying that Haldens leads by 4:05 over... Lidingo!! Malung is just behind them. Could it be?

There is maybe 35 more minutes of racing to go. The race may still be undecided! --- 1:12 HDT

-- Mook (everett@psi.edu), April 30, 2000.

Alternativet just posted some english commentary... Lidingo and Malung are going very strong and taking different routes than Haldens. --- 1:18 HDT

-- Mook (everett@psi.edu), April 30, 2000.

More english commentary from Altern... they say that Haldens lead is shortening and is now under 3 minutes at a radio control. Malung and Lidingo are still together. --- 1:21 HDT

-- Mook (everett@psi.edu), April 30, 2000.

The race up front continues to be exciting. Haldens lead is dropping and stands at 2:35 now over Lidingo and Malung! --- 1:25 HDT

-- Mook (everett@psi.edu), April 30, 2000.

We're doing it all for you guys!!

-- Alt. (team@alternativet.nu), April 30, 2000.

1:29am HDT--- IKHP 2 is 109th after 8 legs, dropping 6 places. IKHP must be kicking themselves now saying "Where is our Swampfox?" Live and learn is what I say... the Swampfox will make an example of you!

-- Mook (everett@psi.edu), April 30, 2000.

The english commentary coming from Alternativet is just great! Your web site is by far the best source of information out there and the Tio-Mila web site has some learning to do. I'm not sure how many of us are still awake around here, but thank you very much! We appreciate the updates.

-- Mook (everett@psi.edu), April 30, 2000.

OKers should know that the Alternativet site has changed their language to English for the benefit of North American listeners.

OK has apparently made a splash with the Swedish commentators.

-- Mook (everett@psi.edu), April 30, 2000.

We are now close to the finish... hang on. It could be a tight race --- 1:38am HDT.

-- Mook (everett@psi.edu), April 30, 2000.

Halden won!!

-- (team@alternativet.nu), April 30, 2000.

Halden won!

Lidingo 2nd and Malung 3rd.

This is apparently the third year in a row for a Halden victory, and they are the first team to have done that. --- 1:54 HDT

-- Mook (everett@psi.edu), April 30, 2000.

2 am HDT --- The Tio-Mila site is now posting a few results... Halden won by about 2.5 minutes and Lidingo lead Malungs by 12 seconds. 4th-6th were Paimon Rasti, Farum, and Delta. It was a good race and undecided until the end.

-- Mook (everett@psi.edu), April 30, 2000.

I'll try to stay up a bit longer to see what happens. I will have to walk around a bit to stay awake! At least I'm on MST, not HDT right now. --- 2:10 HDT.

-- Mook (everett@psi.edu), April 30, 2000.

Right now N3 Sport is looking like the place to be. They have published some 10th leg times. IKHP 1 was 26th... I see that the Tio-Mila people are also updating their site too. IKHP 2 moved up 4 places to 106 after the 9th leg. Still waiting to hear more from IKHP 3. --- 2:44 am HDT.

-- Mook (everett@psi.edu), April 30, 2000.

So far IF Thor 2 hasn't been posted at the end of the 8th leg. They have posted 170 places and Magnus put them in 165th to start that leg. Ugh! --- 2:47 HDT

-- Mook (everett@psi.edu), April 30, 2000.

Oooops! I apologize. I didn't look high enough up the list to pick out IF Thor 2 who finished the 8th leg up 17 spots to 147th. I think Magnus has them really inspired now! --- 2:50 HDT

-- Mook (everett@psi.edu), April 30, 2000.

IFK Lidingö finished up in 56th place. They were the best number 2 team, I think. We're still waiting on other results. They are trickling in slowly. --- 3am HDT

-- Mook (everett@psi.edu), April 30, 2000.

Swampfox is somewhere in the first part of his course or at the starting line if the IKHP runners before him didn't have a disaster. There is no information beyond the 7th leg for his team however. Good luck out there! --- 3:03 HDT

-- Mook (everett@psi.edu), April 30, 2000.

IKHP 173rd after the 8th leg. That's up 4 places on that leg.--- 3:09 HDT

-- Tired Mook (everett@psi.edu), April 30, 2000.

Things have really dried up in terms of output from both the Tio-Mila and N3Sport web sites. I haven't seen updates for about 50 minutes! I don't know what to do, but I should stick it out a bit longer. If things don't loosen up then I'll call it a night. I may miss Swampfox's time, but at least I'll get a bit of sleep tonight. I'm supposed to wake up early for a long training run. Oh well... at least my Forum stats got a big padding today! --- 4 am HDT.

-- Mook (everett@psi.edu), April 30, 2000.

Well... I think I'm going to have to call an end to this internet session. Is there anyone else out there? Fritz?

There haven't been updates for the past hour. None. I can't say for sure that there will be any more, atleast today. Perhaps there was some kind of horrible catastrophe with the computer system. I wanted to be there for Swampfox when his results came in ,but I guess that wasn't meant to be. I looked at both IF Thor and IKHP's web sites to see if they are updating things there. I don't think they are tracking things on-line. I guess everyone is watching things live. I hope you've enjoyed this as much as I have. Come back next year! --- 4:11 am HDT

-- Mook (everett@psi.edu), April 30, 2000.

Put your post event discussions on the thread for "Post event discussion -- Tio-Mila 2000." Thanks.

And a huge thanks to Mook!

-- Michael (mmike_eglinski@kcmo.org), April 30, 2000.

Great job, guys. You made the race come alive! Is OK going to send a team next year?

-- Grafton Potter (gpotter@bokf.com), June 16, 2000.