When Autumn begins to make its appearance in the forests of Stockholm (Sweden) and the landscape turns reddish and golden, it is the unmistakable sign that the season is coming to an end and, therefore, it is time to put the finishing touch with the last big relay of the season: the 25-Manna.
But 25-Manna is much more than just a relay. 25-Manna is the biggest event of the year where all members of the club play an important role and, all together, contribute to show the global strength of the club. Everyone is important here since the team of 25 orienteers is made up of both men and women, youth and veterans, and, of course, the elite!
But… how does it work?
As we said before, teams must be made up of 25 orienteers belonging to the same club. There are certain criteria that all teams must meet:
- At least 9 men of which at least one M16 or younger
- At least 9 women of which at least one W16 or younger
- Max 8 M21 and max 8 W21 runners
Taking these criteria into account, we find a series of legs (10) that present different levels of technical difficulty, length, and participation limitations (see the following table).
In this edition (2023) the mass start was allowed for any runner, so we were able to see mainly Elite Men in it. Next, the second leg was limited to Women (also Elite on top teams). It is from the third leg where the show begins (and also the chaos) since in legs 3-4-5-6-7, 4 runners run in parallel and, it is precisely in these legs where the strategy to place athletes in a certain order plays a fundamental role in the success of the team.
At the end of the 7th leg, after all the 4 runners finish, the runner of the 23rd leg starts for the last part of the relay where there is no more forking and only the teams which are in the leading group have a chance to get the victory. This year, the 24th leg was run mostly by Men Elite, to end up with the final leg (25th) where the Women Elite were fighting for the top places.
The team that gets the victory is proclaimed “unofficially” the
BEST CLUB IN THE WORLD.
Our team, Halden SK did an excellent job during all the relay getting into the last leg (Svetlana Mironova) in a very tight battle between Kalevan Rasti (Ida Haapala), OK Linné (Johanna Ridefelt), Tampeeren Pyrintö (Saila Kinni), and IFK Göteborg (Erika Källvik).
At the very end, OK Linné was stronger and Johanna Ridefelt managed to get a gap and bring the victory home. Kalevan Rasti got the 2nd place, while Halden SK got the 3rd. It was a great battle!
And here are the maps of the 10 legs.
Orienteering Coach 