Portugal O Meeting 2007

Superb areas and strong competition made this an excellent trip. There were 4 races with a chasing sprint on the last day for those within an hour of the lead runner in each class. Unfortunately I made a really annoying error on day 3 which meant that I was out of the running for an overall podium position.

On the up side I did have 3 really good runs with minimal errors and managed to beat twice veteran world champion Jörgen Mårtensson
once and got within a few seconds of him twice. Of course I didn’t actually see him so he might have been running with a wooden leg for all I know but it’s great for a short-term ego boost.

Results page at the POM web site

Day 1
A super technical open area with lots of complex rock features. My strategy was to run steady and not risk any mistakes.

1 5399 Sören Sand 61 Boxholm-Mjölby 31:24
2 5384 Jörgen Mårtensson 59 Modum O-lag 32:19
3 5960 Andy Hyslop 59 WAROC 32:36
4 1532 José Fernandes 59 .COM 33:00
5 5350 Heikki Vestola 59 Rastivarsat 34:45
6 1512 Manuel Santos 59 .COM 36:46
7 3864 António Marcolino 60 GD4C 36:53
8 3728 Vitor Pereira 60 AAMafra 37:05
9 1907 Carlos Coelho 61 CPOC 37:10
10 1321 Carlos Pires 61 .COM 37:12


Day 2
Adjacent to day one. Similar complexity of terrain but with longer legs. I had a 100m miss on 3 which cost me 90 secs.

1 5967 Achiles Humbel 59 Mythen Runners 48:19
2 1532 José Fernandes 59 .COM 50:26
3 5399 Sören Sand 61 Boxholm-Mjölby 51:00
4 5960 Andy Hyslop 59 WAROC 51:30
5 5808 Per-Olof Derebrant 62 Aneby SOK 52:08
6 5426 Ulu Aeschlimann 59 Austrian National Team 52:55
7 5384 Jörgen Mårtensson 59 Modum O-lag 53:41
8 1182 Albano João 59 COC 54:32
9 5350 Heikki Vestola 59 Rastivarsat 55:21
10 5932 Peter Haines 54 Aire GB 55:47

Lone orienteer in the terrain on Day 2

Control 14 on Day 2

Day 3
“Like the first 2 days with attitude” Super complex terrain on a steep hillside with mixed forest cover. I missed control 5 and went straight to 6 without realising until after I had finished. I have developed this really bad habit since Christmas. I worked out a simple routine to avoid making the error and the fact that I forgot to practice the routine on this race suggests that it does work when I can remember to do it.

I also made a big error at 14 which cost me 6 mins!

1 5384 Jörgen Mårtensson 59 Modum O-lag 38:27
2 1532 José Fernandes 59 .COM 42:03
3 5399 Sören Sand 61 Boxholm-Mjölby 44:19
4 1182 Albano João 59 COC 44:20
5 5808 Per-Olof Derebrant 62 Aneby SOK 44:25
6 5350 Heikki Vestola 59 Rastivarsat 44:55
7 5737 Martin Sacher 59 Kilroy 46:37
8 5141 Mark Selley 62 BOK 46:59
9 5932 Peter Haines 54 Aire GB 47:00
10 5426 Ulu Aeschlimann 59 Austrian National Team 47:05




Day 4
Another complex open area similar to day 1.

1 5399 Sören Sand 61 Boxholm-Mjölby 31:24
2 5384 Jörgen Mårtensson 59 Modum O-lag 32:19
3 5960 Andy Hyslop 59 WAROC 32:36
4 1532 José Fernandes 59 .COM 33:00
5 5350 Heikki Vestola 59 Rastivarsat 34:45
6 1512 Manuel Santos 59 .COM 36:46
7 3864 António Marcolino 60 GD4C 36:53
8 3728 Vitor Pereira 60 AAMafra 37:05
9 1907 Carlos Coelho 61 CPOC 37:10
10 1321 Carlos Pires 61 .COM 37:12