The runners are coming toward the finish of the first leg, so it is time to start a thread for the 2nd leg.

-- Michael (meglin@juno.com), June 19, 2004

Answers

We're in the second leg now and once again I've lost the online results. So, I'm not really sure what is up.

-- Michael (meglin@juno.com), June 19, 2004.

So, with the results down (at least for me) I'm stuck relying on the speaker. Most of the time it is Finnish. Not much help, though I recognize team names and "rasti".

185 teams have finished the first leg, within 6:30 of the leader (SNO was the leader).

5 Swedish teams among the 7 top teams at the exchange.

-- Michael (meglin@juno.com), June 19, 2004.

300 teams are out on the second leg after about 10 minutes since the leader passed.

-- michael (meglin@juno.com), June 19, 2004.

The attackpoint team is still out on the first leg and not near the front. They're 26 minutes back after 10.2 km of the first leg.

And closer to the front, it looks like we're getting results from the leaders...Tore Sandvik is alone and in the lead at the first radio (Sandvik runs for Halden SK).

-- Michael (meglin@juno.com), June 19, 2004.

I've lost all results from Jukola again. But, I can still hear the audio quite well.

Hakarpspojkarna has lost something like 60 positions so far in the second leg.

-- michael (meglin@juno.com), June 19, 2004.

The audio report from the forest sounds exciting. Unfortunately it is in Finnish, so I have no idea what the guy is saying. I can hear some birds in the background (or is that in my backyard?)

-- michael (meglin@juno.com), June 19, 2004.

The latest news from the Jukola web page is that no results servers are available. THe audio is still fine. While I wait for results to return (I hope), I'm going to go work on the dough for tonight's Jukola pizza.

-- michael (meglin@juno.com), June 19, 2004.

I just got some results! From 3 km in the 2nd leg. Halden leads. Delta (Mook's pick) is up there. KOK, my pick, is 10th (with a guy who is either a junior or a very young senior). Halden's second team is 12th with Oystein Kristiansand. Think about that -- you're strong enough that you can put a WOC medalist on your second team. SNO was in the lead at the start of the second leg but has drifted back to 29th place.

Sandvik (Halden) did a little mistake after the 3 km point and his lead isn't as big as it was.

Ok, time to go work on the pizza.

-- Michael (meglin@juno.com), June 19, 2004.

7.4 km in the second leg (around 33 minutes of very fast running) and the leaders are more-or-less together. Delta is just ahead of Halden SK. But, it is Halden SK's second team. I'm not sure where Halden's first team went. Kalevan Rasti is up there (one of the teams I'd like to see do well).

Reports from the next online control are expected soon.

-- Michael (meglin@juno.com), June 19, 2004.

Latest report is the two Halden teams together at the front. I don't know how I missed Tore Sandvik.

And attackpoint is out on the second leg after changing just inside the top 1000.

-- Michael (meglin@juno.com), June 19, 2004.

Haldens two teams are in the lead. Wow. That's quite impressive. They are just over 10 km and just under 50 minutes.

Joakim Ingelsson is 11th and Stefan Karlsson is 12th. Ingelsson is, I think, a couple of years older than me (that'd be 42 or so). Karlsson is a guy I ran with on my first Tio Mila back in 1988 (he was still a junior at the time).

-- Michael (meglin@juno.com), June 19, 2004.

I picked KOK for my favorite to win. But, then as I'm looking at their team I'm wondering, where is Holger Hott Johansen? So, I check jrostrup.com and discover that HHJ isn't running the anchor. I'll hope the team rises to the occasion (they still look like a strong team).

-- Michael (meglin@juno.com), June 19, 2004.

Halden's two teams are still in the lead with about 1 km to the exchange. Jarkko Houvila goes out for Halden 1.

-- michael (meglin@juno.com), June 19, 2004.

It looks like Sweden is dominating awesomely, with teams taking the first 32 spots. Of course, I'm counting Finland and Norway as part of Sweden, since all of that land used to be Sweden. Apparently there are still even today some Finns who are not especially fond of Sweden.

-- Swampfox (wmikell@earthlink.net), June 19, 2004.

Now there are some very gutteral, strained whispers coming from Jukola. It sounds like someone out in the forest must be dying, and is trying to broadcast their last will and testament with their final breaths. I hope they get it all out! I wonder who will get the prized compass collection?

-- Swampfox (wmikell@earthlink.net), June 19, 2004.