The first registration period to Louna-Jukola ended yesterday at midnight. At the moment, it looks like Louna-Jukola will break all previous records in terms of the number of teams. Instead of cautiously achievable, the organizers’ goal of at least 17,000 participants seems very probable.
At the moment of the first period closing, 1,011 teams had registered for the Venla Relay and 1,229 for the Jukola Relay. The number of individuals runners is up to 2,000 ahead of the corresponding point in time last year.
Nearly 200 more teams compared to last year have registered in both relays. When comparing to the average of three last years, the increase is approximately the same, being even a bit more at the Venla Relay.
In addition, the range of registered teams’ home countries is wide. Teams from 17 countries have registered, most distant of them coming from Spain. At the moment, 17 % of all teams are non-Finnish.
– The large number of participants tells us we’ve done right things. In spite of this being just “a mid-term result”, after a couple of years of volunteer work this feels like pay day, rejoices event manager Janne Virtanen.
The high numbers confirm the impressions of that orienteering and Jukola interest people, especially those new to the sport of orienteering. And there’s plenty of room more people in Paimio, and no plans need revision.
– This increases the will of the whole organization to make Louna-Jukola the best Jukola ever. In 128 days it’s time for the H-hour and everything will be ready, Virtanen continues.
However, this wasn’t all – there are still several months left for you to register for Louna-Jukola! Come and be a part of history!
Most likely, the herd of orienteers at Louna-Jukola will be even more numerous than at this start of Kuopio-Jukola. Photo: FOF / Pirjo Valjanen.
