WOC 2007, Kyiv

Independence Day, Sprint Race by Daniel

An afternoon start gave a few people the chance to get a morning session in. The keenest checked out another map on one of the islands in the huge river which rolls through Kyiv.
The sprint race was on the edge of the long embargoed area. This means it was well within the city limits so has an extensive path network and involved some spur/gully terrain. Following narrow misses on our challenges the day before, today’s challenge was to beat 5 minutes per kilometre for the guys and 6 for the women.
The race was varied with some semi-technical forest orienteering and minor route choices as well as some very easy park orienteering. Despite several significant climbs, almost all the athletes beat the min/km challenge and we won champagne all round. Only some legendarily bad bottle opening skills could spoil the night now…
Key skills in this terrain are speed over a tough cross-country race, planning ahead so you always know where you are going and route choice.
For Independence Day, the main street in Kyiv is shut down and hundreds of thousands of people descend on the centre to see fireworks and to party. There was a great atmosphere and plenty of fun had by all.

posted by daniel @ 2:48 pm