The article was written by Klas Karlsson -- a top Swedish orienteer -- for his club newsletter. The article is a bit Sweden- specific, but even if you don't recognize the names of clubs or races, it might give you some ideas.

I think the translation is ok, but I take responsibility for any errors.

After reading the article, you can discuss it on the OK discussion pages. Check out this thread.

Michael, [email protected]

Relay tactics -- What is that?

In Gaardsby IK (GIK) we have always had high expectations. We compared our individual results with other clubs' runners. After that, we have concluded how we ought to do in the relays. Usually we haven't met our expectations (the exception was the Swedish Champs in 1988). Why? This is what I am trying to answer.

I am convinced that runners who read this article will become better relay runners. That might sound cocky, but I think that even if you question my theories about relay tactics you will at least have taken some time to either accept my ideas or come up with your own. We are in an individual sport and team-thinking often comes after thinking about your own race. My hope is that before a race we have a clear tactic. Then we have to, of course, be flexible if something unexpected happens..

A few examples:

In the fall (1993) I have been in the worst condition of my life. So, I have been able to see relay running from another side.

Example 1:25-Manna

I was with the lead pack for the entire run. What did I notice? On the way to the first control I was passed by several runners -- among them Tomas Jonsson from Jaerfaella (an old competitor of mine from M14). The speed he was going made me think -- he will be at least five minutes ahead of me at the finish. On the way to the last control I heard a runner coming up behind me. Tomas ran by me like a bat out of hell. The difference turned out to be ten seconds not five minutes. This might just be one case, but let me use it as an example.

Example 2: Smaalandskavlen.

Night orienteering has never been my strength. But since the terrain was so nice, I was psyched for the race. Since I thought it was so fun, I led the pack that I was running in. In the pack behind me was a guy from Halmstads OK. Nothing against him, but if it was an individual race I would beat him by several minutes. On this night I only beat him by a minute. He used the pack very well! He didn't waste any energy running, reading the map or taking the lead. Instead he used all his energy to make sure he was on the right "fork." While I was leading the pack, he could keep track of my small turns and had an easy trip. His splits for each leg were the same as mine!

After these two example, I am going -- as usual -- to generalize.

A GIK runner is out in the forest during a relay:

-- I felt great during my 8 Km training run the day before yesterday. I am in good shape! 12.5 Km at Tiomila -- it will be easy. Now here comes the runner on the leg before mine. Great -- he is right in a big pack. I feel strong and I'm checking the map a lot. There ahead is Anders Bengtsson from Eksjoe (a former club mate) -- I have to beat him. Let's go guys. Damn crowd, but at least I am ahead of Anders. It definitely seems to be going a bit faster now. Control! Wrong fork! Oh well, only a half minute mistake. Did Anders punch? We are still in a pack. But, it is going slowly. How can it go so slowly around 50th place at Tiomila?...Finally, I'm up near the lead of the pack. After Stora Tuna's first team (they were better before!). Perfect! We seem to be on the same fork. But, isn't it going too slow? I should probably take the lead for a bit. This is fun! Too bad I made that small mistake. The Tuna-guy seems to be a bit unsure. He is going around to the left. Now I'll take a better route. Straight looks good -- maybe a bit rough -- but I'll be ahead of him at the control. There, I see it between the trees, and there is the guy from Tuna. Ha, I got it before him. Ha, ha, ha, I'm really good. It is going perfect, I'm just behind the leader of the pack. But! What the? He is punching at 203 and I am supposed to go to 205! EVERYONE is punching here. Anders Bengtsson is running by -- S**T! Finally, after two minutes I found the right control. Damn, now it is over and Anders is far ahead. It is tough now, too. Four Km left -- I think I'm running out of energy...

His team mates witness the year's worst finish sprint and seen their dreams of a good result smashed. He was in good shape....what bad luck he had.

What did the GIK runner do wrong?

Let's take it from the beginning. First, he is not in good enough shape to run 12.5 Km in the forest. That is not so important as long as he knows it. The key words -- self aware. Feeling strong is dangerous. It means you're going to go hard from the start, and then run out of gas (unless you are in really good condition and will last for the whole course). Our GIK runner simply though he was better than he really was.

Moving up in a pack that is in a good place in the Tiomila is meaningless (excpet for the extremly good runners).

Forget about Anders Bengtsson! Sooner or later he will make a mistake, and if he doesn't, does it really matter if he finishes a few places ahead of us?

Back to the 25-manna example. The whole race I was humbled by all the runners passing me (certainly 150 people...some of them counted several times). Even so, I finished in 16th place. Relax! The others will fall back. The energy they are using to pass would be better spent reading the map and making sure they don't go on the wrong fork. If you think it is going slowly, GOOD! Rest. Why should you run faster? Who will you get away from? The lead pack? No. Your team mates would surely be happy to be with the lead pack -- even if it was last in that pack.

You should expect that sometimes it is going to feel like the pack is going slowly. When you run an individual race the speed and the feeling of tiredness vary a lot. In a pack these variations are smoothed out. That means that if you don't take it easy when you think the pack is going slowly, you are going to have trouble keeping up when you feel tired. The guy from Halmstad in the Smaalandskavle example certainly thought the pack was not going so fast sometimes, but he kept cool and trusted the lead pack. Maybe it went slowly because the navigation was especially tough. Why take the lead and push the pace then?

Back to our GIK runner. He took a different route than the Tuna runner. That just shouldn't happen. I wrote the example with the best possible outcome -- that the GIK runner was just ahead of the Tuna runner at the control. The most you can (usually) earn on a route choice is 30 seconds. If you are running all alone, without some others to push the pace, those seconds disappear. Sooner or later the pack (with the runner from Tuna) would catch up, and then what would the GIK runner have gained? He is tired. And I'd bet that the Halmstad runner is at the back of the pack with a big grin on his face. You can only lose when you take your own route choice.

In my little story the GIK runner loses his concentration because everything is going well...and whoops...he is at the wrong control and the pack is gone. Now he gets to suffer from running above his capacity in the beginning of the run. When you are really psyched (like when you are leading a pack) you don't feel the tiredness. But, when the pack is gone....then you don't even have the energy to sprint at the end. BAD LUCK!?

I think we should all think about what is more fun: to finish 30th after a run with almost no mistakes...or, to lose 15 minutes to Anders Bengtsson because of BAD LUCK!

We should get together some time and talk about this. Other opinions are welcome.

PS. Will we finally beat Nybro?

Michael Eglinski, [email protected]

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