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10mila 1981 – Leg 8

After running in my club’s second team 1979 and 1980, I was now required to the first team. It was a great honor, and a little stress too. Our first team was in ninth place 1979, but were disqualified 1980, now it was time for revenge.

I found the first seven controls perfectly. I was the last one in the group of runners on our way to the eight control. I was strenghtend by confidence from the first controls, and I was in good shape. I was just going straight ahead and up that hill, so I intensified my running and took the lead. It felt like flying through the forest and the night.

After a while I noticed that there wasn’t anybody running behind me, I was alone. That mountain hadn’t been seen, so I started worrying where I was. I’d better keep going a little. Maybe the others were going to another control?

I found something looking like a hill, so I started looking for the control. And I looked and I looked. At last I found out that I stood on a hill 500 meters south of the hill where the control was. After saying some well-chosen words, I gathered my thoughts and headed for the right hill and my control. I made a small mistake taking the control, and a small mistake on the penultimate control. Disappointment!

I got myself some kind of revenge the same year but later, on Jukola. I ran as fast as the lead on my leg, in the bad weather. It gave me some strength after the disappointment in 10mila.

Click the picture to view a larger version

Namn: Thomas Nyberg

Club 1981: Rotebro IS OK

Current club: Attunda Orientering

To keep the series going until 10MILA in May, we need You to Send us your story just like Thomas, Kent, Elin, Per, Sverker and many others have done. Do you want to share your experience of 10MILA in Kungsängen 1947, 1981 or 2005? Send a mail to tiomilaupplevelsen@gmail.com for more information.

Wow, now it’s my turn to tell my story. It doesn’t feel too got that the latest 10-mila I ran was 2005 in Kungsängen, and I almost don’t remember it. But whatever, I’m going to tell you as much as I can about my second 10-mila.

The year before (2004) I ran my first 10-mila. I ran for Mälarö SOK but we didn’t have a team. Bromma-Vällingby needed a girl for their team, so I ran in a combined team with them. I was twelve years old, I hadn’t competed much in orienteering earlier. Hollbeck family picked me up for the trip down to Kolmården. Never before have I been so quiet in a car. Anyway, it’s actually 2005 I’m going to tell you about.

Just like the year before I was picked up by Hollbeck family. We headed for the competition center, and even though I knew the family better this year, I didn’t say very much. My own family is not orienteers, so I didn’t understand how big 10-mila was. My leg was the second, short and non-forked, for Bromma Vällingby’s team. I guess I was really nervous, and I wasn’t calmed down when Simon on the first leg came in to the change over as number ONE! I wish I remembered my thoughts at that time, but I don’t. The only thing I can remember is that I ran as fast as I ever could. And that the fifth control was so tricky!

I held my position pretty good, and changed over to David Bejmer as number 10, only 11 seconds after the lead. He changed over to Henrik Berg on the last leg. He ran good and finished in ninth place! Ninth place for such a small club as Bromma-Vällinby, it really felt great!

Helena's map

Bromma-Vällingbys team 2005

Name: Helena Karlsson

Club 2005: Bromma Vällingby SOK

Current club: IFK Lidingö SOK

We need more stories to keep it going until 10MILA in May. Send us your story just like Helena, Kent, Elin, Per, Sverker and many others have done. Do you want to share your experience of 10MILA in Kungsängen 1947, 1981 or 2005? Send a mail to tiomilaupplevelsen@gmail.com for more information.

Kungsängen 1981 – My first and only 10MILA victory

Ravinen was that time about what Halden is today. A club with great success both individual and in the big relays as 10MILA, Jukola and SM. For example Ravinen won 5 of 6 swedish championships in M20 between 1973 and 1978, and won M21 1978, 1979, 1980. Ravinen won the men’s relay in 10MILA for the first time 1977, which was kind of a surprise with an average age of 21 in the team. They also won 1979 and 1981 and was probably favourites without winning 1978, 1980 and 1982. Ravinen won the women’s relay in 10MILA 1979-1981.

I was relatively inexperienced when I was chosen to run in the team full of national team runners and other stars. Of course it was fun, but I was very nervous.

My season had been good, so my confidence was good. I was the only one in the team who hadn’t won 10MILA before, so I felt stressed. This was my debut running the really important relays.

I tried to calm myself down. My mission was to transport my team safely through the course. The men on the six last legs were supposed to really fight for the results. It was important for me to run safely and stable. My leg, the 4th, was only 9 kilometers. With a good position in the start, it wouldn’t be any problems. A small detail which worried me was that half the course was calculated to be in the dark, and I wasn’t a good night runner.

This 10MILA was extremely muddy and dirty. The day before the competition it came about 10 cm snow which melt and turned the arena into an ocean of mud. But I didn’t think too much about that during the competition.

Our team didn’t start the relay too good. After two legs we were on 153rd place, about 9 minutes after the lead. The team leaders had put Björn Rosendahl, national team runner and one of our teams best runners, on the 3rd leg, but the question was how much time he could take.

When I was warming up I felt nervous not knowing if we were closer to the leaders or not. There wasn’t any electronic timing, so it was hard following the results while the runners were in the forest. With only a few kilometers left we were reported a few minutes after the lead. Maybe I would get a good position to start with.

Down to the changeover comes a quite big group of runners, with Björn changing over to me in 3rd place, only 6 seconds after the lead. Now it was my turn, my task was to run safe and keep the position.

The tempo was very high in the beginning, with a long transport run in the beginning to come out of the arena. I almost had hard to keep up, but when we came in to the forest it felt better. My tactics was to follow the group and check my map constantly to avoid mistakes. It gradually became darker, directly when we came into the forest I turned my headlight on, and half way through the course it was black as the night. I scared my team leaders up by not being reported from the radio control, sure the leaders needs some excitement too. I did a good race, and I changed over to the 5th leg only 16 seconds after the lead, in 9th place. Mission accomplished!

It was a night filled of excitement, where we lost time on the 6th leg. But soon it was fixed again by our night specialist Olle Nåbo. When Olle changed over to the last leg and Lars ”Löken” Lönnkvist in 2nd place, two second safter, I felt we had a chance to win. Löken ran very good the last leg, and we won 10MILA 1981 6.25 minutes before Malmby.

Kent's map from 1981

We need more stories to keep it going until 10MILA in May. Send us your story just like Kent, Elin, Per, Sverker and many others have done. Do you want to share your experience of 10MILA in Kungsängen 1947, 1981 or 2005? Send a mail to tiomilaupplevelsen@gmail.com for more information.

Slovenia is for the first time participating in 10MILA with their own, full team. Klemen Kenda, one of the orienteers coming to Kungsängen in May, tells ut about the Slovenian’s 10-MILA dreams and how to fulfill them.

“Slovenia is a small orienteering nation with long tradition of orienteering. It was developed (in a form of team activities) within scouts, mountaineers, event firemen and others after WW II. There were a few contacts with the IOF in 80s.

Independant way of orienteering in Slovenia started in 1988 when the first club was formed in Ljubljana, a few of the others clubs a bit later. The federation (Orienteering Federation of Slovenia) was established 19. 3. 1990. In 1992 the federation joined the predecessor of Slovenian Olympic Comitte and became an official sports discipline.

Orienteering is developing quite steadily. In 1998 we had around 90 registered members in 2012 we crossed number of 300. We have 14 clubs, most of them relatively small as the whole federation has fewer members than a decent Scandinavian club. We however have almost the same number of orienteering maps around here (ISOM, ISSOM, Ski-O, MTB-O, school maps). Terrains are attractive, from various versions of karst terrain to central european continental terrains to alpine terrains in the mountains. Slovenian federation however didn’t manage to take advantage of that potential with organizing a big international event. The biggest events we have here are unfortunately privately held and don’t support development of orienteering as much as they should.

Consequently our finance is quite limited. Youth team (which I am the leader of) was working with less than 3500 EUR last year, and with that we organized 7 weekend training camps, joined EYOC with almost full team, had a JWOC contingent (training camps + races), organized a national race (and prepared a new map near a suitable training centre), we took part in Alpe Adria – regional championships. Senior team usually gets around 1000 EUR per year.

So, most of the support comes from parents and there is a bit more of money available locally, for the clubs. In last few years we revived working with youth within a few clubs and reestablished good work with youth and juniors. Of course, we lack quite some knowledge. In last 2 years we held 2 clinics for trainers. For the technical part we took advantage of few “top” orienteers we have, namely Andraž Hribar, who is a regular WOC participant since 2003. For physical training part we had lectures from professors of the sports faculty, which come from athletics and don’t have experience with orienteering.

Why did we decide to come?

10mila is a long never fulfilled wish for us. I do not have the statistics, but only 2 Slovenians participated in it recently. We have one member studying in Trondheim and he joined with NTNUI and the other is Andraž Hribar, who was running for Vasteras if I am not mistaken. There has not been a Slovenian full team, which would ever join any big night relay. This year the venue is well connected (also to airports near Slovenia) and it is therefore much easier for us to come.

Who is going?

Andraž Hribar (the best slovenian orienteer, probably ever; his best performance was in LD qualification in WOC 2011, where he missed the A finals for 45 seconds)

Jaka Piltaver (also one of regular Slovenian WOC participants)

Nejc Zorman (physically strong runner with limited international experience, one of the most active trainers for the youth)

Jure Zmrzlikar (JWOC participant, also from Goteburg; joined WOC in Ukraine, talented runner who did lack some motivation to be able to reach the top)

Boris Bauman (a veteran, participated in WOCs 1991, 1993; also a legend of slovenian orienteering)

Gregor Anderluh (participated in WOCs from 1991 – 1995, and in 2003, where he was 43rd in sprint, which is place-wise the best Slovenian result at WOCs)

Klemen Kenda (I am far from top athletes, have participated WUOC 2006 in Košice, my role is motivational and organizational as I lead the youth team, am secretary general of the federation and president of the largest club around here)

Rok Močnik (a member with experience, currently living in Trondheim and involved with NTNUI)

Andrej Borštnik (regular member of EYOC/JWOC teams, fresh senior this year)

Iztok Rojc (strong runner, joined WOC 2008 in sprint)

Women:

Ana Pribakovič Borštnik (a veteran, but still very strong in the slovenian field; joined WOCs from 1989-1995 with exception of 1991, 1992 Andrej was born 🙂

Mojca Flerin (best orienteer of recent years, joined WOC 2011, 2012)

Jerca Bernik (regular EYOC/JWOC team member)

Ajda Flasker, Jona Mirnik (both joined orienteering recently and compensate with their entusiasm)

We have a bit of problems with injuries and illnesses; one of our best runners fought and is still fighting cancer.

Our tactics in both categories would be to put best members in the beginning as a little few of our best members should be able to run as fast or a little bit behind the leading group. But the whole team is too diverse to be able to follow, so we are aware that we will finish far behind.

Joining 10mila is a milestone for most of the runners, an opportunity to taste a big competition, an opportunity to even taste Scandinavian terrains for the first time. Although we realize where our place is, we are preparing to get the most out of it. So – although we might finish far behind this would also be a competitive experience for us.

We are organizing weekly 10mila night trainings near Ljubljana every Wednesday and publish invitation via our federation website.

Best regards from Ljubljana,

Klemen”

Do you want to share your experience of 10MILA in Kungsängen 1947, 1981 or 2005? Send a mail to tiomilaupplevelsen@gmail.com for more information.

I am now a well-worn, last year M40-man, bald and with a match weight of 84 kilos.
That time, my first 10MILA, with a match weight of 60 kilos, I ran faster than I do now – but with less technique. It was very special representing my team (Rotebro IS), 10MILA in Skeppsta 1983.

When I started running my leg I was still 14 years old, and when I ran passed the finish line in the morning the 8th May, I was 15! What a great birthday present. I ran a 9 kilometer leg in the dawn. Before I, by the terrain and the length was exhausted, I remember ran very fast.

As a very unused relay runner, my strongest memory wasn’t the course, it was more the mental experience: man to man under high stress. I remember that I ran out on a clearing, but I was a bit unsure so I turned around looking for someone to follow. For the first time I saw one of these real “10MILA pearl necklaces” in the forest: more than 30 men are running in my footsteps. Why are all these people following me? Don’t they understand that a kid like me is totally lost? But as I learnt through the years – uncertainty is hard to see on the runner. If someone is running fast, you start following them. It would sure be interesting trying to trick people in the forest by rushing in different directions! When you think about it… I think many people do that already 😉
No matter how you run your course, it is my pleasure as a marketing manager to invite you to 10MILA 2013, which will be great! We have so many news for this year, among them 10MILA Night Trail Run (night running for “ordinary people” among small reflexes), and the competition on Sunday, 10MILA Korten. It will be a great weekend, see you in Gällöfsta 2013!

10MILA-wishes // Johan Redtzer – Attunda Orientering – This spring I’m well prepared to run H45!

Name: Johan Redtzer

Previous club: Rotebro IS OK

Current club: Attunda Orientering

Do you want to share your experience of 10MILA in Kungsängen 1947, 1981 or 2005? Send a mail to tiomilaupplevelsen@gmail.com for more information.

Kalevan Rasti’s winner team from 1983 are participating in 10MILA 2013. The team wants to challenge the other 10MILA winning teams and their former rivals from 30 years back, to do the same.

In Finnish media, the 10MILA winners were Kalevan Rasti was called a ”team of school boys”. The average age of the runners in the team from Tammerfors was under 22.

-With four juniors we were probably 10MILAs youngest winner team, says Urpo Väänänen from Kalevan Rasti. He remembers the competition and the victory which wasn’t really predicted, but which was a struggle between eight teams. One of the team members, Hannu Pulli, was in the lead in the ninth leg, but the victory wasn’t definite until the last leg and the finish lane.

-The terrain was tough. Even though we had run for 14 hours, still four Finnish teams and four Swedish teams were fighting for the victory, says Urpo Väänänen about the final battle. He means the Swedes ran fast, but it was Kalevan Rastis last runner, Mika Ruuhiala, who secured the victory.

Urpo Väänänen is one of the nine runners in the winning team from 1983, who comes to Stockholm in May. Timo Alaphia from the winning team can’t participate because of a leg injury, but he is replaced by Jukka Inkeri who was reserve already in 1983.

-We ran 10MILA 2003 with the same team and celebrated 20 year anniversary. We came in 203^rd place then. This year we will follow the competition together with our club and we would like to see our boys fight for the victory again. For us it’s more about accomplishing the relay, says Urpo Väänänen and sends out a wish from the orienteerers from Joensuu:

-Kalevan Rasti challenges all the other 10MILA winning teams to participate in 10MILA in Stockholm 2013! It would be fun to meet all the team friends, rivals and to re-experience the “Long Night”.

The teams and the runners who fought for the victory in 10MILA 1983 was:

From Sweden: OK Orion (Kent Olsson), Hagaby (Hans Melin), Gustavsberg (Anders Nilsson) and IFK Göteborg (Joakim Brinkenberg)

From Finland: Pargas IF (Arto Virtala), Vaajakosken Terä (Kimmo Rauhamäki) and Angelniemi (Ari Paganus)

Kalevan Rasti's winning team 1983

Club: Kalevan Rasti

Name: Urpo Väänänen

Do you accept the challenge? Or do you want to share your experience of 10MILA in Kungsängen 1947, 1981 or 2005? Send a mail to tiomilaupplevelsen@gmail.com.

Early May 1981, there was no sun over Garpenberg. Instead there was grey, deep snow and freezing cold. This city of old mines is geographically placed very high. Going to south Kungsängen, I thought it would be warmer.

After Bro came a surprisingly big sign, ”10MILA”. I was right. I turned off the highway but soon stopped, hesitating. I calculated my arrival, and thought of a strategic visit to the toilets before my last leg in Hellas’s first team. That’s how it was, all the club’s seniors and juniors ran the first legs, and a pretty good 35 year old man had to run the last leg.

It wasn’t only snow. There was so much mud on the parking fields. Eivin Retsloff, one of my team mates that I miss very much now 31 years later, was a functionary and let me place my red SImca 508 on a better parking.

Eivin also gave me a small flashlight. ”You could need light for your map”, he said putting the very nice and for sure expensive light in the front pocket of my nylon trousers. When I later started running I found the light heavy to run with, it was distracting me. I held it in my compass hand first, then I let it fall to the ground, to be hidden and forgot in the snow.

I could read the map well; my team wasn’t really as fast as winning OK Ravinen. The darkness Lasse Lönnkvist ran through earlier, was now more of a bright dawn. The first control, a stone I think, was in quite open terrain. Suddenly the control was there in front of me.
There was no drama during my race, but I ran the wrong way at the control next to the competition center. My club mates screamed but seemed pretty entertained. It was embarrassing. I ran together with my ex- club mate Pelle Ljungström, who I think ran for Kumla OK. It was a fight, a lot of prestige being the best. I passed the finish line before him, the displayed showed me “100”. Good, among the hundred best. And I hadn’t lost very much time to the leaders, maybe 12 minutes?
I was frozen after the finish, not willing to wander through the mud and snow to some kind of outdoor shower, and then do my duty as a functionary (my club was organizers). Lasse Lönnkvist (who won with OK Ravinen 1981 and other years too), was one of the people who got my respect after doing his duty as an organizer. Our leaders in Hellas used to point it out, that all the elite club’s runners certainly should work with the competition. In the opposite of what they said to us mediocre runners in Hellas.

I went back to my Simca, happily drank my hot and sweet coffee, ate frozen cheese sandwiches, chocolate and a banana, and thought of that flashlight. I assessed it as definitely lost. I started my car, driving away with mud splashing all around the tires.

In the rearview mirror i saw Eivin Retsloff’s face, with a suprised look I’ll never forget.
I started driving back to Garpenberg, the car was warm and drowsy. Quite soon I stopped for a nap, but after ten minutes I woke up freezing.

Afterwards I heard about Hasse Nilsson, the strong runner who got ran the last leg in Nyköpings OK’s lag, and who ran the Marathon in 2.16. I heard the story about him suddenly stopping, in the end of the course, and froze stuck in his place. He fell down just as a cut tree. A young runner, James Brown, who ran for OL Pan, happened to be the only one to witness this. He discontinued his race when he saw Hans Nilsson lying motionless with his face in the snow. James Brown carried Hans to a path, where he got more help.

At the hospital Karolinska sjukhuset, it was confirmed that Hans Nilsson’s body temperature was 31 degrees.

James Brown felt guilty for stopping, not finishing his race. His team was disqualified. He felt like a betrayer, and he felt some kind of shame. He left 10MILA, “I didn’t want to say it was me”, he told me thirty years later, in 10MILA 2011. He has MS since many years back, so he struggled to keep up with the others in the VIP when we were going out to watch the young runners in the tiomila-night.

James Brown was (and is) very kind, he spoke modest about that happening 30 years ago. I didn’t know how to show my respect. My admiration and helplessness almost came out as tears.

What about Eivin Retsloff? Precisely after passing the finish line in Höstlunken, November 2010, I received a text message that his life, after 81 years, was over. Cancer won. In my memories I could see his surprised face when I abandoned that miserable 10MILA. It must have been other people cleaning it all up? In all snow and mud. Sure it was, when I was so tired after my long and crucial last leg.

An extract from Tiréns Tirader, Sverker Tiréns blog on Hellas Orientering’s webpage.

Picture by Rune Palm, the functionaries are working in the mud

Name: Sverker Tirén

Club: Hellas Orientering

Do you want to share your experience of 10MILA in Kungsängen 1947, 1981 or 2005? Send a mail to tiomilaupplevelsen@gmail.com for more information.

My experiences of 10MILA on Livgardet’s training grounds in Upplands Bro

I had just moved to Tureberg in 1955, when I got to know about 10MILA 1947 in the public sauna at the old Turebergs IP. Once a week the sauna was invaded by Tureberg’s orienteering runners, and I who was an athletic, just sat there and listened. Many histories were told and like today many of them were about 10MILA. In 10MILA 1947, 67 teams started at the Sten Sture monument in Uppsala. My to-be club mate Malte Larsson won leg 7, the long night, 17.3 kilometers between Håtuna and Bro with a time of 2 hours and 9 minutes. After that the course continued through the forests in Kungsängen, passed the bridge at Stäket to the goal at Helenelunds IP. Tureberg came second, after outstanding winners MatteusPojkarna.

After some years as an athletic hearing all the stories in the sauna, I was inspired to try it myself. In 1958 I was selected to run 10MILA in Tureberg’s team, leg 8 between Stavsvik and Råby-Rönö in Sörmland.

23 years later, 10MILA 1981 at Tranbygget, was very close being cancelled. After some negotiations between the competition management and the police, the competition went on. My memories of running leg 2 for Tureberg’s team are very vague. But I do remember the passage of the wet ditch, all the mud and the cold weather. Our team ended in 174:th place.

When 10MILA 2005 once again took place in Kungsängen, I got the reliance to be a course controller after five years as a course planner between 1990 and 2002. The two later times together with Janne Olsson from Bromma Vällingby who once again was course planner in 2005. Two earlier missions as course planning together resulted in good teamwork in the forest. The fastest ladies relay in the history, with a highlight in the struggle of finding last course’s 10^th control, between Domnarvet and Ulricehamn. The Norwegians showed that making your own choice of route can give you advantages. Kristiansand proved this on the long night in the men’s relay, the first year with GPS tracking in 10MILA.

2013 I am responsible for the trademark 10MILA concerning forest, maps and course planning. This year we joyfully have a newly produced map from scanned grounds. The competition will be audience friendly both in the arena and for those who chose to follow the competition at home. The competitors will experience a very nice, fine-cut technically challenging terrain. I look forward to 10MILA in arena Gällöfsta Konferens.

Lars Roos

Name: Lars Roos

Previous club: Turebergs IF

Current club:   Attunda Orientering

Do you want to share your experience of 10MILA in Kungsängen 1947, 1981 or 2005? Send a mail to tiomilaupplevelsen@gmail.com for more information.

My spontaneous thought was that I hadn’t any memories or experiences to share, because I didn’t run 10MILA in 1947, 1981 or 2005. But there are many people having memories from the competitions as supportive parents or organizers, so I’m going to give it a try.

My memory from 10MILA 1981 was that I, as a not so successful runner for a club from southern Dalarna, trained all winter and all spring hoping to run in the 10MILA-team. Sadly I didn’t get to run in the team, but I wanted it so badly I took my car and I drove to Kungsängen. I was hoping my club would notice my interest and let me run in the team. After walking around in snow and mud for an hour without even finding my club I gave up and went to my sister in Stockholm. The fact that I couldn’t find my own club might explain why they didn’t let me run in the team. Partly because of this, I abandoned orienteering a few months later to focus on my studies at Linköpings Tekniska Högskola.

About 20 years later my daughter started running orienteering and after some months the entire family was activated again. When it was time for Rotebro IS to arrange 10MILA 2005 I got to work with IT and administration. I worked with different things here and there, but my main task was to program the SI-units and ensure all the radio controls worked. During the days at Kungsängen’s firing range I met lots of competent people and I learnt a lot: how to register SportIdents, how to arrange serial cables to the radio controls and goal controls etc. The coolest memory is from the men’s first radio control when lots of runners punched the control and then started climbing a cliff I thought wasn’t possible to climb. I also remember the excitement at the women’s last leg, where one of the radio controls was hidden in a green and really hard to find. It really ruined the relay for some of the top teams.

After 10MILA 2005 I have worked with IT and administration in 2006, 2007 and 2010. My expectation and conviction is that we will use all our experiences from earlier arrangements and take the competition one step further.

Well, my premiere running 10MILA was first in 2007 at the age of 45 years. The latest years Attunda OK has had a “senior team” for those who can’t really run in the top team. My hope is that more teams can take the challenge and run with more teams like ours – of course women also should!

Name: Erik Daniels

Club: Attunda Orientering

Do you want to share your experience of 10MILA in Kungsängen 1947, 1981 or 2005? Send a mail to tiomilaupplevelsen@gmail.com for more information.

I belong to the group of people who started running orienteering as an adult, mostly because my daughter wanted to run orienteering. (Thank you Felicia!). In difference of many other sports, it seemed to be a well organized sport which made me as a parent glad to support the club we ran for. Before I knew it I was in Kungsängen and ready to help with the IT of 10MILA.

The competition 2005 in Kungsängen was my first 10MILA. As young I followed the live reports on the radio during the hours and I  was fascinated by the whispering forest speakers that reported accompanied by twigs breaking in the forest. Night orienteering is definitely a good sport to follow on the radio.

I remember I was very fascinated of seeing the arena growing, being used and then disappear.

The arrangement went well. One very interesting incident was when we lost all power with less than one hour left until the womens relay’s start. It was the students from NTNUI who had connected their music system in the wrong way, with a power outage as a result. We could soon report to the competition director that we still could start the relay. Laptops combined with UPS to the server computers made us tolerant to this kind of problems. Anyways the power came back after a while.

Even though I wasn’t selected to run in our club’s team i brought my competing clothes and equipment. After all I got to run in the team because of a late cancellation. You can’t say no to that. I got to run leg 7. I slept a couple of hours under the table where the results are covered with plastic.

I was supposed to run in the night hours, but when I was changed over to, as team number 259, it was just before dawn. It was a little bit nervous in the beginning and I remember taking it very easy to the first control. After that I ran good. From the 4^th to the 5^th control I ran north, over the clearing to the trail and then over the hill to the control. Afterwards I discovered the other alternative, following the road to the control.

Daylight came and the headlight was turned off. I was lucky following the right runners in the forest ant I found the controls in perfect position. And when you have this flow, that’s when you start relaxing. That happened between control 9 and 10, and all by sudden I lost a couple of minutes. Same thing happened to the 11^th control. After that it went well and my friends looked surprised when I turned up a little bit earlier than they expected. My total time was 1:09:25 on the 7,8 kilometer long course. My first time running faster than 10 minutes per kilometer in a competition!

When I came back from the shower and sauna I searched for my name in the results. I felt satisfied seeing my name there, 9 numbers better than the leg before.

My first acquintance with 10MILA started some kind of fascination of the competition. The size of the event, TV-production and of course the lights from the runner’s headlights. My interest still stays strong. To 10MILA 2013 I have taken the role as communication leader. I still wonder how It all happened.

Name  Stefan Knorn

Club 2005:  Rotebro IS OK

Current club: Attunda Orientering

Other: Communication leader 10MILA 2013

Do you want to share your experience of 10MILA in Kungsängen 1947, 1981 or 2005? Send a mail to tiomilaupplevelsen@gmail.com for more information.