The men's race begins at 12:30 Central Daylight Time (7:30 p.m. in Sweden). The race is expected to finish at 11:01 p.m. CDT.

We -- Mook, me and anyone else who happens to be following the race via the internet -- will provide as much info (and other stuff too) on these pages throughout the race.

-- Michael (meglin@juno.com), April 26, 2003

Answers

One minute to the start!

There they go!

-- Michael (meglin@juno.com), April 26, 2003.

The first reports will come from the second control. Look for it to be a big pack at that point. About 11 minutes to the first report.

They're interviewing Petter Thoresson who istalking about Halden and the importance of a team feeling. He compares it to a soccer team. He doesn't think there are many who train more night than Halden. Halden is a big club -- not just elite but all ages. [Keep in mind that I have a bit of difficulty listening to Norwegian].

Earlier they interviewed Niklas Jonasson from Sodertalje Nykvarn (SNO). He said that SNO has had a bit more focus this year on quality night training. They're a favorite.

-- Michael (meglin@juno.com), April 26, 2003.

Looks like the leaders past the second control (a boulder) in 9:40 when they expected the teams to come through around 11-12 minutes. It is really going fast.

-- Michael (meglin@juno.com), April 26, 2003.

Next report is from the fourth control.

The announcer out in the woods is reading the team numbers of the teams that are coming by. I'm not writing the numbers down (at this point it is just a stream of runners). The announcer compares it to a x-country ski race where the pack is a string of skiers (as opposed to two lines). That tells you they are running fast.

As it gets dark in Sweden, maybe those of us sitting at our computers in the USA should put on headlamps (solidarity with the night runners, you know).

-- Michael (meglin@juno.com), April 26, 2003.

Now come the reports from the 8th control....

They're expecting teams to reach the control at a pace of about 5 minutes/km -- fast!

The 8th control is a cliff. It doesn't seem to be an especailly tough control.

We can hear the runners coming. Sundsvall and TP are slightly ahead.

40, 71, 37, 149, Nydalen, IKHP, Orion, 13, 2, Halden hasn't yet come by...

Now Halden comes, looking relaxed. There is now a very long line of runners.

-- Michael (meglin@juno.com), April 26, 2003.

I'm not sure if anyone other than Mook and I are reading these pages. If someone is, I can give you a bit of info about how we are following the race. First, we're listening to the live streaming audio (plus a web cam image that is updated every minute or so) from www.alternativet.nu. Even if you can't understand the Swedish, you can listen and get a sense of what is going on (plus they play lots of music).

As results come in, they're posted regularly at www.tiomila.se/2003/

You can also check out the UOKH Tio Mila page at: http://uokh.netfirms.com/tiomila03.html

-- Michael (meglin@juno.com), April 26, 2003.

Our next report is coming in minutes from the 12th control.

Looks like they're slowing down a bit...

There they are. Delta in the lead with Orion, TP, and more right behind. Whoops, TP punched first. Halden is up there. Linkopings OK. Goteborgs Majorna. Sundsvall (who was leading earlier is now 30 seconds or so back). The Swiss national team is up there. So is Baekelaget. TuSU. Ravinen. One runner from Linnea comes through with a lamp (wimpy).

SNO's first team still hasn't gone through. Deltas first team just came by, the lead was their second team. Now, SNO arrives...

-- Michael (meglin@juno.com), April 26, 2003.

An IF Thor team just went by. We are hoping it is IF Thor 2, but we don't know for sure.

The first 100 teams came by in 3 minutes. That's a bit more spread out than the women's race.

-- Michael (meglin@juno.com), April 26, 2003.

16th control is a cliff. There are two ways to take the control. You can come from above over the top of a knoll or you can save a bit of climb but then you go through some thick forest.

The controls before 16 can be a bit tough. So, maybe there will be some booms before they reach 16.

Now they are coming.

Team numbers...37, 16, 2, 368, 10, 137, 40, 369, 265, 1, 8, 47, 13, 4, 71 (so far 25 seconds back), 58. These teams are a bit ahead.

-- Michael (meglin@juno.com), April 26, 2003.

Three teams -- Tu Mets, Linkoping and TP are together. Then about 5- 7 teams within 30 seconds (including Halden). It is dark in the forest now.

More teams are coming now, among them are Jarfalla, IKHP and SNO (plus a bunch of other teams).

The runners are splitting up a bit, but still they aren't so far apart. The runners are on their way to the warning control near the end of the second leg.

They are going slower than the first leg (same length). But, the leaders should be under an hour. I'm guessing they're running around 5:30 min/km.

Having trouble posting because of "server busy." Hope it passes soon.

-- Michael (meglin@juno.com), April 26, 2003.

Not only did Anders Holmberg have the best time, but he is just a junior. His time works out to 5:09 min/km (and remember that about 70 percent of his race was night O'). Strong!

-- Michael (meglin@juno.com), April 26, 2003.

Sources close to IF Thor are reporting that the club has ordered out to get some fish burritos to their runners. Will this be a key to their success?

-- Mook (mook@mook.com), April 26, 2003.

There is some prestige in winning the first leg. But, for the overall result it doesn't usually make much difference how well you do on the first leg -- as long as you don't do anything really bad and lose a load of time.

They're running at 5:07 min/km. Tomas Jensen, Pan Kristianstad, wins the first leg. They're also about 7 minutes ahead of the expected time.

As detailed results start to show up on the offical web page, look for Mook to post some of his thoughts/analysis.

-- Michael (meglin@Juno.com), April 26, 2003.

An interview with the guy who won the first leg. Here is some of what he said, "It went very fast in the start and I stayed back a bit...But, I was in the lead the last few controls...It went fast, but it is fast terrain. It was almost as fast to run in the forest as on a trail. It will be a little tricky at night."

-- Michael (meglin@Juno.com), April 26, 2003.

Next report is from the second control on the second leg.

It is still light enough that you can see in the forest and don't need the lamp. But, you need a lamp to read the map in the darker parts of the forest.

I stepped away from the computer and lost track of what teams have gone through, but I can tell you that the announcer has spotted some orienteers booming.

-- Michael (meglin@Juno.com), April 26, 2003.

I just found a couple of American's running Tio Mila. Team number 351 has Carl Fey (!) on the first leg and John Fredricks (which I think must be Fredrickson) running the fourth leg. The rest of the team looks like Russians (by the names).

-- Michael (meglin@Juno.com), April 26, 2003.

At the end of the second leg, Grant Bleutt had brough Malung to the lead. Halden was up there to.

The top teams are out on the third leg now.

Hopefully we'll get an interview soon (maybe with Grant)

-- Michael (meglin@juno.Com), April 26, 2003.

Grant, Malungs OK is a bit of a "dark horse"

"I Don't know why, We have a good team. We miss Jimmy Birklin [who is injured as usual], but we'll do ok. It went well, I went straight the whole time. I think a lot went wrong to the first control. I was mostly alone for the first half of the course, then I was with the leaders. Staffan Eriksson is out now and can come finish in the lead."

-- Michael (meglin@Juno.com), April 26, 2003.

At the end of the 2nd leg a lot of the pretenders have fallen off of the lead. Who was CA Rose anyway? Things are shaping up well for some of the favorites...Malungs, Halden, TuMet, TP, Linkopings OK, and Nydalens formed a lead group. A long string of other clubs came in a minute or so off of the lead, including IKHP, Beak., IFK Goteborg, and DELTA 1.

The best run was probably Grant Bluett on this leg, pulling his team Malungs into the lead from several minutes back.

-- Mook (mook@mook.com), April 26, 2003.

The fastest time on the 2nd leg posted so far was by Anders Holmberg, for Järla IF OK, one of my dark horses. Way to go Anders!

-- Mook (mook@mook.com), April 26, 2003.

The 8th control on the 3rd leg is a cliff. A small unmapped felled area is nearby, but the control itself is fairly easy to find.

The first two teams to 8 are Linkoping (LOK) and TP. Then about 50 seconds behind comes Malung.

The next teams are more like 3 minutes behind and there are a bunch of teams. But, Halden isn't among them (I think IKHP and Orion are). Finally, Halden comes through, 3:50 behind the leaders.

-- Michael (meglin@Juno.com), April 26, 2003.

Carl Fey ran the first leg in 2:03:25 (well over an hour behind the leaders). Ouch. If I were putting a team together, I wouldn't put Carl on the first leg.

-- Michael (meglin@jUno.com), April 26, 2003.

Linkoping is in the lead now and is alone at after seven some Km. Malung is about 30 seconds behind. Now there is a big group.

Looks like the weather is very nice -- about 6 C right now (almost 10 p.m.). The forecast calls for a chance of some rain tonight.

-- Michael (meglin@Juno.com), April 26, 2003.

my money is on orion. with yuri omeltchenko and michael mamleev at the end, there's no stopping them (since carsten doesn't seem to be here...)

love the owl in the background of the commentary. it does seem to be live!

-- Matthias Mahr (m_mahr@yahoo.com), April 26, 2003.

I'll stick with Halden. Orion looks good, but they're not at full strength on all the legs (apparently a couple of runners are staying at home with wives who are expecting any day). Yuri is so strong, but he also has a bit of a history of mispunching on last legs. Still, Orion is a good bet.

-- Michael (meglin@Juno.com), April 26, 2003.

I've lost track of where we are. I think there is just a bit left on the third leg.

-- Michael (meglin@Juno.com), April 26, 2003.

Kangasala SK is in the lead. I missed that. The teams will arrive at the warning control in a minute or so.

-- Michael (meglin@juno.Com), April 26, 2003.

The runners are out on the 4th leg and we've started a new question for that leg.

Here is the rest of Halden. This is a scary team...Petter Thoresen 7,9-8,1 km, Øystein Kristiansen 16,8 km, Tore Sandvik 7,9-8,1 km, Kjetil Bjørlo 7,9-8,1 km, Jarkko Huovila 12,4-12,5 km, Mats Haldin 6,3 km, Emil Wingstedt 14,0-14,2 km

-- Michael (meglin@juno.cOm), April 26, 2003.

it's amazing you can get from 50th to 2nd place within 1 leg...

the 6 teams that got away a little at 2nd leg are all caught back up again now, top 15 teams within 1 minute after 3 legs!! anything can happen.

-- Matthias (m_mahr@yahoo.com), April 26, 2003.