ADVENTURE RACING >> Results & Comments 2002
I write not only about the adventure races but also about the inline and running races I have participated in during the year 2002.
2002-11-16 Ravinen
Litepac Power Bar Rogaine, Stockholm - Nackareservatet
With EmelieT (Team Silva), 1st place women-class.
6 hours orenteering (on a real orienteering map) in a great terrain. The
goal is to visit as many controlls as possile and collect points. Last
2,5 hours in the darkness. I am responsible for the navigation and make
a big mistake in the beginning (10') but in the women-class there are
no teams who could beat us so we take it a bit easy at the end. No problems
to run almost 6 hours. Nice race!
2002-10-12 Salomon
X-Adventure/Raidseries, 5th stage, Spain - Sierra Nevada, http://www.raidseries.com
With Human Link (Mats, Andreas, Anders), 13th place.
Quite a disappointment. We do some orienteering mistakes again. Some of
the maps are of a bad quality and some tracks are just missing, but it
is the same for everybody... However, a spectacular landscape. On the
3rd section one of the check points is almost on the top of the highest
mountain - Mulhacen 3500m and I note my new altitude record. The guys
force me to use poles on this section and they are right. I must confess
that the poles actually help me a lot - both uphill and downhill. We run
down about 2000m veritically in about 1h and my thighmuscles are still
quite fresh afterwards. The weather is a bit tricky - very windy and rather
cold up in the mountains but a lot of sunshine and hot (about 25 degrees)
down by the sea. I almost get a sunstroke and don't feel well at all in
the evening of the first day but I manage to recover a bit. There is a
lot of cycling in this race - about half of all of the sections. It doesn't
make me happy at all because my MTB-downhill-technique is far from what
it should be. I guess that we lose quite a lot of time because of that,
perhaps more than half an hour. Another new experience is a section called
canyoning (running, jumping, absailing & swimming down in a canyon).
There are some jumps - and I am pretty scared and hesitate a bit in front
of the first one which is about 6 m high. But I do not have any choice....
Actually it is quite fun. However, I get very tired at this section. My
energy is gone, I have problems to keep balance jumping on the stones,
start to be apathetic and am on the verge of tears. Because of a big mistake
on the previous MTB.section and bad time at this canyoning section we
miss next section and together with most of the other teams get a time-penalty.
The race ends with seakayaking and short orienteering on a very unprecise
map of a nice historical town in which the finish of the whole race is
located. I take care of the navigation and made some mistakes so that
we lose about 5 minutes and 3!!! places.
The Raidseries 2002 is over. Even if we do not make any good result at
this last stage, we - Human Link qualify for Raid Galouises 2003 in Kyrghyzstan
where the guys will compete without me.
2003-10-12 Salomon
X-Adventure/Raidseries, 4th stage, Germany/Austria - Kitzbühel/Rupholding,
http://www.raidseries.com
With Human Link (Mats, Anders, Peter), 9th place.
A lot of climbing again (about 8000m totally), MTB, some white-water canoeing
(which is new for me). We make a big orienteering mistake in the middle
of the night even if we all are orienteers in the team. It costs us about
half an hour. It is snowing and raining up in the mountains and it is
not easy to hold a metal cable on the way down from a pass because my
hands are totally frozen. It is a tough race and I can hardly walk afterwards
but I recover much faster than after the first race in June.
2003-09-07 Gruvbragden,
Falun
With Human Link (Mats), 1st in mix-class.
Very short race (winning time less than 1,5). Biking with start on the
bottom of the Great Pit (in the cooper mine), running and canoe. The lactate
is running through my blod as if it was a 1500m run on a stadium. Mats
is pushing me forward and at the end we manage to overtake Human Link's
second team with Micke and Björn.
2002-08-23 City
Challenge, Stockholm, http://www.citychallenge.nu
With
Team Silva (Anders, Aaron, Jari), 4th place.
First time competing for my real team - Team Silva. The rules are different
here compared to Raid Series - the number of sections which the woman
in a team can skip is not limited. I participate only in running/orienteering
sections (responsible for the navigation), inlines and rope activities.
No biking or paddling. In the beginning of the race we run through the
centrum. I have a tough time during the first tyrollian traverse (pulling
myself on a horizontal rope) over Sergels Torg. The sling connecting my
harness and the rope is too long and I have to both lyft and pull myself
backwards which is very, very hard at the end. The most exciting section
is orienteering inside an old factory in the darkness and on several floors
and absailing from the highest floor.
2002-08-11 Inline
One-eleven, Switzerland - St. Gallen, http://www.one-eleven.ch
Individual - inlines. 111km (the longest inline race in Europe), 23th
place.
Probably one of the crazies races I have ever participated in. Inlines
is quite a big sport in Switzerland and there are almost 1000 skaters
standing on the start line even if it is raining dogs and cats. I have
never skated on a wet asphalt before but the start fee was pretty high
and I am already there so at least I have to try.... It is a nice feeling
to cross the finish line after more than 5 hours. My back is sore like
never before and I am not able to lyft anything but I am very happy to
finish the race. Longer
story from the race and preparations - written by me in Swedish.
2002-07-27 Swiss
Alpine Marathon, Switzerland - Davos, http://www.swissalpine.ch
Individual - running. 42,2km/1890m climbing, 10th place. Time: 4:24:32
My first marathon and I do not know at all what I should expect. It is
not a normal marathon - it is a mountain one, with almost 2km climbing.
It has about 4000 participants. I arrive to Switzerland 2 days before
the race and try to run a bit. I can feel that the air is thinner already
at 1500m what makes me worried because we are going to run over 2 passes
at 2600m. However, I run pretty well and finish 10th - a place which I
am satisfied with. I am afraid to get cramps and perhaps drink and eat
a bit more than necessary. The last 15km are downhill, my legs start to
feel heavy and I am overtaken by a few girls. It is a great experience
to participate in a such race and I hope to run it some more time.
2002-07-06 Värmlands
Inlinelopp, Karlstad,
Individual - inlines. 30km. 6th place. Time: 66min.
My first inline-race. I am not used to skate in a group and waste a lot
of energy by skating in the front. The start is the decisive moment -
I try to find a right group (holding a speed which would be fine for me)
but I am a bit late and end up in a group which is a bit too slow.
2003-06-08 Salomon
X-Adventure/Raidseries, 1st stage, Sweden/Norway - Riksgränsen/Narvik
http://www.raidseries.com
With Human Link (Mats, Mikael, Andreas), 6th place.
My first adventure race. The most experienced Swedish Team Human Link
asks me two weeks before the race if I want to compete with them in this
race. I say yes and they "borrow" me from my real team - Team
Silva. The guys help me a lot. They try to explain everything about the
race and I have a feeling of security to compete just with them. But I
still don't know exacly what to expect and especially how my body will
react. I am nervous before the race, which is a good sign.
I think I manage quite well (only having some "small problems"
on a technical downhill-MTB) untill the second last section which is mountain
- orienteering with some shorter skiing parts (short skis with loos heel).
I more or less "hit the wall" here and the only wish is to be
in the finish. Even if I am really exhausted and have a terrible pain
in my legs, I think that a big part of this break down is caused by my
own negative thinking. Now, one year later, I know that the most important
thing in adventure racing is to keep on struggling, even if everything
goes wrong. We slow down and lose some time on this leg but it is still
quite OK - we finish 5th totally. The guys say that the reasult is OK
and seem to be satisfied with my performance - more than I am. I am very,
very tired, can hardly walk, have a big bruise on one of the hips from
a fall on the inlines and plenty of other ones on the rest of the body,
especially from all the MTB-falls. I am tired in about 3 weeks after the
race, but I want to compete again. I have an experience which I am going
to remeber for quite a long time.