10-Mila
The
58th men's relay, the 27th women's relay and the 12th youth relay took
place on 25th April in the municipality of Kungsör, situated about 140 kilometres west
of Stockholm.
The 10-Mila is a 10 stage relay for men, which takes place predominantly during darkness, and is the event which inspired Combine Harvesters to launch the Harvester Trophy in the UK. The start of the men's race was at 19:30.
The favourites for this year's event were Halden Skiklubb 1, from Norway. However, Halden SK were one of several teams, which were almost disqualified some weeks ago, when runners from these clubs were found near the event centre. The problem arose because this years event centre lay within the embargoed area for the event. Following an investigation by the Swedish Orienteering Federation (SOFT), these clubs were found in breach of the rules, but were allowed to compete on a technicality, namely that the event centre in previous 10-Mila's had been in bounds during previous competitions.
Halden SK were favourites due to their team containing current Norwegian internationals Øystein Kristiansen and Tore Sandvik, and previous internationals Petter Thoresen and Kjetil Bjørlo.
The 10 legs for this years race were as follows:
Leg Distance (km) 1-3 10,3-10,4 4 7,9-8,1 5 16,8 6-7 7,9-8,1 8 12,4-12,5 9 6,3 10 14,0-14,2
Old maps of this years area were available to view prior to the event, as well as sections of this years map.
Coverage of this year's event was available over the internet via Alternativet who took the announcer's feed from the event. There was also 6 hrs of coverage on Swedish radio, from 00:30 this morning.
The women's relay is a 5 stage event, and the youth relay a 4 stage event. These are both run during daylight hours on Saturday.
Results of the Men's race are available. The event was indeed won by Halden SK 1 (NOR), who regained the lead on leg 6 and never lost it thereafter. Jamie Stevenson anchored IFK Göteborg 1 (SWE) to second, with OK Orion 1 third.
Results of the Women's race are also available. The event was won by Turun Suunnistajat 1 (FIN), second were Tampereen Pyrintö 1 (FIN), and Heather Monro anchored Halden SK 1 to third.
Last Updated : 28.04.03