This Tiomila 2024 held in Nynäshamn will always be remembered as the first edition in which women had night legs in their relay. The decision on this new format has been controversial, especially concerning the consequent modification (both in structure and duration) of the men’s relay. What I think we all agree on is that it was cool and exciting to see the girls running at night.

At Halden SK we were looking forward to this new challenge and our girls have been preparing for it during the long (and especially cold this year) winter. Our team was not, by any means, one of the strongest on paper, but we were convinced that with stable and consistent performances we could be among the leading positions at the end of the relay… and that is exactly what happened.

LEG 1 – Minna Wingstedt (NOR)

The one chosen for this historic moment with the Halden SK shirt was the very young Minna Wingstedt, who at only 16 years old made her debut in the first team with great motivation and some nerves. The starting shot dispelled any doubts and Minna, after making her route choice for the first control, did not wait for anyone and pushed hard towards the starting triangle… impressive!

As we well knew, although there would only be two forkings, in this leg it would be essential to be alert when the group dispersed and prioritize one’s own orienteering over the movements of others. Minna achieved great technical execution with good control throughout the entire way and managed to reach the changeover in the 32nd position, just over 3:30 off the lead, thus marking a solid start for the team.

LEG 2 – Alina Niggli (SUI)

The Swiss Alina Niggli, another young runner (20 years old), was in charge of picking up the baton and entering the dark forest on the second leg, where the group had already stretched considerably and a gap of about two minutes had been created with the front group. Alina’s technical characteristics make her perfect for this type of leg, as she can benefit from having people around, but at the same time, she is very technically precise in taking control and moving forward decisively while doing her own work.

Also with only two forkings (complementary to the first leg), this leg was shorter and, therefore, small errors could penalize more. Alina managed to execute a very solid leg and, cutting 13 positions, closed the night part of the relay, leaving the team in 19th position, 5:21 behind the lead (IFK Göteborg). Great start for the team, above expectations.

LEG 3 – Ana Isabel Toledo (ESP)

The Spanish Ana Isabel Toledo (23 years old) had the difficult task of executing the longest leg of the relay (over 10k) which we knew was going to be decisive before the second part of the relay. Ana has shown a great physical level and a very considerable technical improvement last season, being our strongest asset for this leg. Thanks to the relay break between legs 2 and 3, we had time to analyze which runners would start around and what the race strategy should be.

Although leg 3 is unforked, you can make the mistake of underestimating it and thinking that it is just about “following the group”, but nothing further. Ana found the perfect balance between running in a group behind great runners like Evely Kaasiku or Marie Olaussen, and making her own decisions in the route choices and when the group divided… even taking the lead! The mistakes in the leading group caused many runners to regroup, and Ana’s outstanding performance left us in the 13th position, very close to the top-10 goal.

LEG 4 – Ines Berger (SUI)

The also young Swiss Inès Berger (20 years old) was in charge of solving the fourth leg (short and technical) and managing the pressure of a changeover with many runners at the same time coming from the unforked leg. In great shape, Inès was very focused and had very clear ideas about how she should act in each situation.

Perhaps with less forking than we could expect in this leg, Inès did a simply perfect job, achieving the best time in her leg and boosting our team to third position, 2:40 from the lead. Impressive performance! At this moment, is when we became aware that perhaps we were fighting for something more than that top-10… and with two World Champions as Svetlana and Megan at the end!

LEG 5 – Svetlana Mironova (RUS)

After a rather irregular winter in terms of training due to various injury problems, Svetlana faced the penultimate leg where she knew she had to prioritize her own orienteering over the decisions of the rest of the runners, in order to make the most of her great technical ability. Having the experience of a runner like Svetlana (37 years old and 2-time world champion) is a luxury for a complicated leg with great runners around.

The nerves and haste were evident in this leg, where we could see numerous errors that left out some of the best teams. Svetlana managed to execute a solid performance, avoiding important mistakes and consolidating our options to fight for any position. Despite giving up 6 positions, arriving in the 9th, the gap now with the lead was reduced to 2:14 and everything was open for the final leg, where Megan would have the opportunity to take us very high.

LEG 6 – Megan Carter-Davies (GBR)

In a relay like Tiomila, everything is decided in the last leg and that is why all teams usually put their best runner in it. In order to be fighting for something important in this leg, it is essential that the rest of your teammates have done a good job in the previous 5 legs and allow you to have a sufficient starting place for it. Our debutante and world champion Megan Carter-Davies (27 years old) was our “killer” to put the icing on the cake after 5 great performances.

Very early in the leg, serious errors by NTNUI, IGTISA, and Nydalens SK left a clear path for Tove Alexandersson to lead Stora Tuna to the first women’s victory in this new format but, at the same time, they left everything open to 12-14 teams that were grouped together in the first third of the leg and that, in the end, would compete for the other two precious podium positions. Megan was there, running with great bravery, making no major mistakes, taking command, and being offensive. This great performance took us to the last control in the podium position! The only thing left to know was the color of the medal in the final sprint against IFK Göteborg where Simona Aebersold won by very little, leaving us with an extremely sweet bronze.

Incredible excitement throughout the relay, which leaves us with the first podium in a major relay since 2018, with a very young team that makes us very optimistic for the future that Halden SK predicts in the coming years. Vamos!

“They did not know it was impossible so they did it”

― Mark Twain