Niamh after her Long distance final
Niamh O’Boyle describes her WOC long distance races where she acheived a fantastic 34th place in the womens long Final – The best Irish womens individual result at the World champs!
Long qualification, Tulluan Sud, Jervskogen
Result: Heat 3, 54:46, 12th
After narrowly missing out on the sprint final, I knew that I was in good shape and that if I managed a clean, consistent performance, I would have every chance of a place in the long distance final. Putting everything out of my mind except for the task at hand, I made sure to find good attackpoints for the controls, take the necessary time to evaluate the route choices, and to ensure that I was executing the route as planned. This strategy worked well and my largest single mistake was approximately 1 minute at the 9th control. A very safe route choice to number 10 also lost me a minute, but after the sprint, I was happier to take it. Mission accomplished.
Long final, Leinstrandmarka, Granåsen
34th, 98:07
The long distance final was a great experience. I wanted to use the same strategy as for the long distance qualification – simplify the routes, chose big attack points and ensure that I was sticking to the planned route and not drifting. It sounds easy, but on the start line for a WOC final there are a million other thoughts in your mind! Though a little edgy at first, after number 3 I settled into the course and navigated cleanly throughout. The Irish support at the spectator control in the arena was deafening, it was a proud moment for me. I allowed myself a smile before re-focussing on the last loop of 4 controls. Physically, I was in good shape but getting up the ski jump from the arena to the 19th control (13 contours in approximately 200m!) was tough and my brain didn’t want to work anymore. I dropped some places and time on the last loop but finished pleased that I had stuck to my race plan and that I had a good run when it mattered.
You can view Niamh’s GPS route here: http://www.tulospalvelu.fi/gps/20100812_long_f_w/
More team reports to follow.
