Thoughts of the Chief Course Planner

This year´s Youth Jukola Relay will be raced in Mutaanmäki and Kulomäki hill / bare rock terrain. The first controls are on top of the hill Mutaanmäki, approximately 40-50 m higher than the competition center. Some of the courses also reach the hill Kulomäki, when the total climb for the courses is apx. 150-200 m, so don’t use all of your strength in the first few meters. Because the there is a big hill right next to the competition area and there is a lot of vegetation near the competition center there is no public control in this year’s race. On the contrary there is at least one online-control on each leg in addition to the last control.

There are outdoor rails in the terrain which can be used as help. But be careful to run in the right direction, when you come out of a dense forest or down a slope it is easy to make mistakes in identifying your location.

There is an old landfill in Mutaanmäki. After the winter it seemed even and easy to run on, but right now towards the end of the summer there are growing high nettles there and it is marked as a forbidden area.

As the Chief Course Planner I have been able to walk in the terrain in peace and I have had time to admire the scenery from the high hills and pick some blueberries near the controls to put into the freeze, even the first lingonberries are soon red.

Welcome to orienteer in the landscape of Aleksis Kivi

Riitta Karppinen
The Chief Course Planner