The Stockholm tour was simply wonderful.

:We stayed in the OK Ravinen club hut, sleeping in the basement, quite literally with the mice (more fun than it sounds).  The club hut is located just opposite Lake Kalltorpssjon, which was simply beautiful.  Shortly after we arrived, we went and ran a lap around the lake, going across the cliffs at the head of the lake to get the full effect of the sun setting.  After we went down to the boardwalks and jumped in.  This was a regular occurrence.  There was a small island close to the middle of the lake, which was perfect for swimming to and lounging in the sun.

Each day, we were up and out by 9 a.m., either travelling to areas for training or to events.  We typically used public transport, but when needed, hitchhiked with other orienteers.  On the first full day, we were helping to run an event called La Fallegan, which is a midweek event for retired / older people.  We arrived early to help set up, before running the courses ourselves.

On the other days, when we were training, we would head out to one area for a few hours and run loops focusing on different skills.  For example, some of the maps would have removed all features but contours or have just the paths removed.  We would then travel to another area for the afternoon before returning home for swimming.

We were very welcomed in by the club.  We joined them for their midweek training sessions, running and chatting alongside them.  These usually ran from the club hut, meaning we had to do a rushed tidying up before they all arrived (probably a good thing).  On the two weekends we were there, we ran at the regional events.  The events were brilliant but really tough going.  After the events, we would head to the edge of the field with a thumb stuck out, asking to be dropped at a bus stop.  This meant we had the afternoon off to explore the city.

On our rest day, we ran some silly fun micro relays, dressed in team colours, before heading to the Gröna Lund theme park.  I'm really not a fan of roller coasters, and my friends may have regretted persuading me to board one when they found out how tightly I was gripping their hands during the ride!

Overall, it was a cracking two weeks with wonderful people and truly testing yet incredible Swedish orienteering.

         

         

         

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