Tio Mila

TIO MILA!

Tio Mila is one of the World's great orienteering relays (along with Jukola). The race attracts several thousand orienteers with four races (youth, women, masters and men). The men's race has teams of 10 with a winning time of about 10 hours.

Mike ran the Tio Mila in 1993 with Umea OK and to this day considers it the most enjoyable orienteering experience he has ever had - way more fun than a World Champs. So when the opportunity came to run with Umea OK again this year he had to take it. This year Mike led off the Umea team against 350 or so other teams. Mike isn't known for leading off relays (he had only ever done it once before) nor his night orienteering skills but this was an experience he couldn't turn down (well actually he tried 2 nights before the race, but his club wouldn't let him). So there at 11PM he lined up back in the 9th of 12 rows waiting for the big canon to sound the start of the race. Oh did we mention that this race was being covered live on the internet and TV? So back in Uppsala Starr and Emma were watching the event live in the comfort of a warm house....

BANG! Off they went. 350 people with 20W lights on their heads heading off for a 14.7km course in the night. 5 seconds into the race Mike found him self backed up on the top of pile of orienteers. Some poor guy was on the bottom getting crushed and Mike couldn't move forward or sideways. The guy was screaming and swearing at the bottom of the pile. A quick elbow to some guy and Mike was off but then behind some old fart (although some would argue that Mike is getting old himself). A quick hop over a meter and then behind another guy. Still moving too slowly so he put his arm on the guys shoulder and the guy rightfully jabbed his elbow back into Mike. "Oh, so this is what the first leg is all about" he thought as they rounded the corner and off to the first control. A quick look up and the forest was filled with headlamps and people racing every which way. Frustrated, Mike thought he was already in 150-200th place. 260th to be exact. Grrrr.

A few easy checkpoints and they were through a tunnel to #4. "Crap" Mike thought. They are all running straight. Surely the trail is faster. But not wanting to lose the peloton (lets call it a train now -a several hundred metre long single line train weaving through the woods) he stayed in the group. The pace was frustratingly slow so he used the time to maintain exact map location and when an opening came a quick zip out and back in again. Between control 3 and 4 Mike estimates he passed over 100 people. Imagine that. More people than in a 'big' Canadian local event. Sorta puts the size of this race into perspective eh.

Control #4 - spike, Control #5 - spike, this is absolutely so much fun, Control #6 - what!?, the train is going too far right. Lacking the confidence again to break from the group he goes with them. The train stops. Lots of Swedish, Norwegian and Finnish breaks out. Translation: "where are we" "&^%^&$", etc. Aha, but Mike knew where they were so he took off north only to miss the control (he should have run NW) and suddenly he was alone. This is NOT what you should do. Rule #1: Stay with the train. A minute later he found the control at the same time as 3 others. But the damage was done. The train had left the station (and was already likely a station #7). The what seemed slow pace of the train was now frustratingly slower and Mike and a Finn took turns leading the new small group of 4. A miss on #7 and Mike could see the train was already crossing the marsh from #9 to #10.

A few controls later was a long leg back to the tunnel and Mike took off trying to catch the train. But it was only darkness. Fortunately the train had made a small trail that allowed him to run fast and pull away from the group but not fast enough to even see the caboose. He was losing time with every step. A quick spectator control after the tunnel and the lack of people cheering people on was Mike's first real evidence of the damage of the costly mistake at #6. He was in about 270th of 350 teams. "How embarassing!" Mike thought. I can't make any more mistakes he also was thinking as he left on the final loop. The next section seemed easy but it wasn't. It was three short controls after the spectator control. He had seen the woods during the day. Wide open visibility. At night with no lights it was not so easy. A maze of trails (and a few new ones from the participants). He got close to the control but saw nothing. Then a glimpse of the reflector. Rushing over it had the wrong code. Huh? The disappointment quickly turned to fear as he stared at the map trying to figure out what was up and down? What was a hill and a depression? (NOTE: Mike bought a magnifier attachment for his thumb compass after the race to use with 1:15,000 maps, no old comments please). Fear! "What if I can't find this control?", "How much more time am I losing?" "Crikey!" Mike was wondering...

Then he remembered a hint from the coach. "If you miss the control, look for people bending over to punch". And there he was the Finn - he had caught back up and he was punching the control. Back into the group and over the bridge and off. The last section went reasonably well except for one control. "I am looking for #117" the Finn says as Mike stops the check the map. How did he know to speak English? Aaah the GHO jersey. ;-)

A strong finish but Mike was a disappointing 261st. Even got beaten by his club's 2nd team. A lack of night orienteering and first leg relay experience really showed but it was a lot of fun - and that is what it is all about.

After the run Mike went to the showers. 1:30am and bloody cold sandy ground but the hot water was welcome after running through many cold marshes. Racing back to get dressed he noticed the organizers had created a make-shift sauna. 50 orienteers in a wood furnace sauna. Ahhhh. Relaxing. Time to reflect on the highs and lows of running the first leg of a Tio Mila. Frustration, fun, elbowing, fun, this is cool, fear, elation, etc. Nope it wasn't as successful as 1993 but it was still a heck of a lot of fun. In the sauna a guy offers Mike a beer. A nice Carlsberg beer. Orienteering at Tio Mila - now this is the life!