Those that were able to, went to the model map on Thursday afternoon. The terrain was lovely classic Scandinavian terrain with lots of hills and marshes. Very soft underfoot and difficult to get going quickly. Nevertheless, it was important to fight all the way and some quicker and easier running could be found on the tops of the hills. Strong compass and sticking to your route was important so as to not run any unnecessary distance.

Friday 30^th September - Long Distance

Due to a demanding programme over the weekend the long distance was slightly shorter than usual for an international race. The women had 9.3km, 275m climb, 13 controls with an estimated winning time of 65 minutes. The men had 13.6km, 425m climb, 16 controls with an estimated winning time of 80 minutes. The Swedish team were the dominant nation with Tove Alexandersson winning the women’s race and Gustav Bergman winning the men’s race. Best British runners were Charlotte Watson in 36^th place and Ralph Street in 30^th place. Unfortunately, Megan Carter-Davies was unable to start due to a cold.

Saturday 1^st September - Middle Prologue and Pursuit

Saturday’s programme consisted of a prologue in the morning and a pursuit in the afternoon. Starting order for the pursuit was determined by time behind the winner in the prologue multiplied by 2. The winner of the prologue started first with the rest of the field chasing them down. So, for example, Anastasia Rudnaya started 2.46 after Tove Alexandersson. The pursuit was unforked therefore a good result in the prologue would be crucial to secure the best possible start position for the pursuit. Again the Swedes dominated in the prologue making up 60% of the medal positions across men and women. Best British runners in the men’s race were Ralph Street in 22^nd and Alexander Chepelin in 28^th. In the women’s Charlotte Watson was best British runner in =39^th position with Megan Carter-Davies just 7 seconds behind in 42^nd.

In the pursuit, Tove Alexandersson took the win in the women’s race after securing a clear lead in the prologue. Karolin Ohlsson and Anastasia Rudnaya also held onto their medals but Ohlsson outsprinted Rudnaya at the end to secure the silver. Out of the British runners both Charlotte Watson and Hollie Orr managed to pull up some places; with Charlotte finishing in 30^th and Hollie in 61^st. In the men’s race, there was a sprint finish to the line resulting in a dramatic last-minute change in the medal positions. William Lind of Sweden took the gold, just ahead of teammate Gustav Bergman. Ralph Street was top Brit maintaining his position of 22^nd from the prologue.
 

Sunday 2^nd September - Relay

Great Britain had several strong teams in both the men and women's races. The women’s race kicked off at 9.15 on Sunday morning. Unfortunately GBR 1 mispunched. GBR 2 finished in 22^nd position and 14^th nation. In the Men’s race, Hector Haines and Matthew Speake both ran a strongly on the first leg to hand over their second leg runners in 18^th and 20^th position around 3.30 down on the lead. Alasdair McLeod ran strongly on 2^nd leg pulling GBR 1 up to 14^th position. Peter Hodkinson pulled GBR 2 up two places to 18^th position. Ralph Street ran the final leg for GBR 1 pulling them up one more position to finish in 13^th and 8^th nation. Will Gardner ran the final leg for GBR 2 finishing in 19^th position. Unfortunately, GBR 3 didn’t finish due to Alexander Chepelin being ill and unable to run the final leg. Matthew Fellbaum and Ben Mitchell both ran consistently on their respective legs for GBR 3. 

A big thanks to Ed Nicholas for all his help in organising the logistics and coaching support over the weekend. Full results from all races can be found here and all maps from the weekend can be found here.