Did a sub-optimal performance but in the end it was enough for the gold. Interesting course with tricky legs. Sub-optimal route choice to 2nd. Did not see the impassable wall into the yard to 5th so lots of hesitations and a 30+secs miss. Some hesitations here and there as well too.

That was strange. Terrain and map were nice but the course was waaaay easier than needed. I was frustrated and fell into the trap of not looking at the map enough. Did a quick glance towards 17th and saw that the control is 3-4 contours lower but in fact it was on the same contour. And this is how I did this huge 1:40min miss in that terrain. Afterwards I died of course but still tried to go fast in the end. Lucking I was "punished" for the mistake and got only silver :)

Did a good foxoring race with one bigger miss at number 1 where I was a bit late with the radio and chose the wrong direction :) but fixed that quickly. Tight race - top4 in ~1min.

I did a big mistake to 13th control where I stopped too early - lost >1:30min. Some small misses also here and there with the most significant at 7th control - wrong (tooo safe) direction going out on the track (+20secs).
Otherwise I felt fresh and the achilles wasn't bothering me so bad so it was nice.

My achiless was too painful and I couldn't push hard but I still decided to race. I also lost time on the way to 5th when one of my contact lenses went off and I had to put a new one. Some small misses here and there as well - with most significant at 17 & 18.

I did two big mistakes on the same control (~2mins each). The third time I didn't have problems to go directly to the common control. Didn't push too much but in the end I had to because Alex Blejdea was right behind me after the last common control.

Decent overall performance but a huge mistake to 9th control. Also some seconds here and there.
- going to the refreshment point after 5th: +50secs
- final part of 6th: +30secs
- the huge mistake to 9th: +5min
- final part of 12th: +20secs
- micro-route-choice through the refreshment point: +30-50secs

Good overall job but still far from optimal. Going to 5th I wanted to see 6th and I saw it but then I didn't see the flag(reflector) of 5th and did a short loop around - lost more than half a minute- probably closer to 1min because of the rush to the next one. And the biggest mistake I did towards 13th where I decided to go left but was trapped in the bushy green area in the mid of the leg (+1:30) and then made a loop in the circle as well (+1:30).

We had to skip few controls because of fell down areas (16, 24, 25). I did several small mistakes with the biggest on 23rd. I did not read carefully enough that there is a depression into the green area and was quite surprised when entered the area. Since it was a final sprint already I was under pressure and made a big miss also towards the finish. Mistakes in total - 8min.

I chose two sub optimal route choices (+2mins each) - to 1st and to 7th. I also lost some time on micro route choice to 5th where I had not decided where shall I go - should have crossed directly through the open field and left.
Otherwise it was fun.

My map holder was junky and it was really difficult to see what control I am heading to and where I am :) Especially in the beginning :)

We did not have controls in the forest but I was pushing hard to stay in front of the pack but lost few seconds here and there to look for the small markings from the actual competition. In the end (3rd last) once again eagerly looking for the marking I was caught by Ivo and we had a tight finish. It was fast and nice :) And fun to be the only team (with Yasna) having all the correct control and still finish first.

Nice and clean :) Not optimal towards 14th where I crossed the big valley on a fallen tree and was not very fast but adrenaline got high :) Should have gone more straight.

Did a good race and had to push since I didn't know how would I stand against the others without proper training since quite a while. A small miss to 2nd since the paths were cleaned up from grass etc but looks like the path was not on the exact place and this is why I got a bit confused at first.

So nice to do some orienteering again. I pushed harder until 7th control (map1) and it was pretty OK. Afterwards I cut a bit and went home easy, observing other runners as well.

I did a 25" miss to 4th where I did not read the walls quite well in advance and I didn't even though about it enough since we went up to the castle through that stairway. Then a "hidden" wall that I didn't see also made my choice to 11th suboptimal.

I saw the wall to 8th but at the crossing I though, Ok I will get the next one and afterwards I realized I will have to make extra distance and turns because of the wall. Ff.
Also a miss to 10th because I got distracted by the construction works there.

That was dark. Luckily course without forking so I could follow the rest through the course without looking at my map. I tried but I couldn't see a damn thing :). Finished 6 out of 7 but in the end Artem (1) and Eskil (2) were mp so I was 4th behind the winner Eduardo Gil Marcos, Severi Kymäläinen and Matthias Reiner.
You see the 1st map BUT with Women's course:) and appx gps.

That was dark. Luckily course without forking so I could follow the rest through the course without looking at my map. I tried but I couldn't see a damn thing :). Finished 6 out of 7 but in the end Artem (1) and Eskil (2) were mp so I was 4th behind the winner Eduardo Gil Marcos, Severi Kymäläinen and Matthias Reiner.
You only see the 2nd map :)

Semi Final - Self choice splitting system!
I did one miskate right after 9th control but fortunately I had the legs to get back in the game for qualifying spots.
1. Eskil Kinneberg / 2. Ivan Sirakov / 3. Alvaro Casado Gomez / 4. Oystein Kvaal Osterbo

Big mistake to 6th - ~25secs. I just saw the control down the slope, also on "some" stony objects so I though - there it is. But it wasn't.
Otherwise it was generally fine - some hesitations in the area of 1st and 2nd controls.

Really tricky and interesting sprint. I didn't stay away from trouble. I made a miss to 14th - twice :) First I though I'll cut a bit and ended up on a dead-end street, realized quickly after seeing a finish girl coming back and then in the last part of the leg I did one more mistake mismatching the streets/stairs.

A major miss to 5th. I had to pass through a group of kids and didn't pay attention to the control. Grr.
Some hesitations to 6th and a bad route choice to 10th also cost me time.

Not satisfying orienteering - not prepared in advance for most part of the course and just taking whatever route I see first. Maybe once again started the training a bit too late and got a bit dark as an excuse... hah.

Some bigger misses:
to 1st - it was soo long uphill til start so I missmatched the pit with the small depression and then... +1:30
to 9th - I stood in the circle for +1:30 not seeing the correct big depression.
to 11t - I stopped on the way when I saw a depression with an old marking and not being able to find it on the map so afterwards I went a bit up to be more secure and that didn't help in the circle - +2:00.

In the beginning I was trying hard to find another solution than the obvious one but it was difficult :) still I convinced myself I should try the other option to 4th.

New PB at the N-course (daylight) - 18:25min - INCLUDING a 20-25sec miss on 3rd because I did not see the ribbon at first so I went up and then back.

I was not precise as last year - probably still missing some routine because of the training-pause. Check last years at: https://ivansirakov.com/maps/show_map.php?user=Bogle&map=1344

A nice sprint area/course. I did few not optimal route-choices.
7 to 8 - should've run on the right side of the hill.
12 to 13 - should've gone directly back and down.

Post race run. I did run the course to 20th control. Generally quite OK but with some mistakes here and there. In total about 2-2:30min. Not pushing much.
to 1 - ~45 secs
to 12 - ~45 secs
to 13 - ~20 secs
to 16 - ~20 secs
to 19 - ~10 secs

Many small loses. I had control but in some places I lacked the experience in the terrain. We came last night to Spain.
Not optimal route-choice to 3rd.
Not optimal micro-route choice to 6th in the mid of the leg.
I had to wait for a kid to cross the valley for 7th.
Not optimal route-choice to 9th and lot of hesitation.
I saw the flag to 14th but not the most western hill so I thought it's not my control. WTF.
Not optimal route-choice to 17th.
A small mistake to 19th in the circle.
In total I lost around 1:30.