O-Ringen Magazine, nr 1 2024

TEXT ANDREAS DAVIDSSON FOTO PRIVAT
Lena and Jakob analyse the O-Ringen terrain
1
When O-Ringen comes to the Småland
Coast, we’ll be visiting terrain that
is unfamiliar for many orienteers in
Sweden. You will be met with fast
running, technical orienteering,
hilltops, detailed maps and a
challenging but fun experience.
We’ve asked two of the very best local orienteers,
former elite runners Jakob Lööf and
Lena Eliasson-Lööf, to analyse the terrain
and maps – so that you can arrive at the
competition as well prepared as possible.
How would you describe the terrain to
someone who hasn’t been here before?
– The first things that come to mind are high
speed and technical orienteering in mostly
open forests. With one or two exceptions,
the terrain is mostly fairly flat,” says Jakob
Lööf, who works as the club development
officer for Västerviks OK, one of the many
organising clubs.
His clubmate, not to mention wife, Lena
Eliasson-Lööf, is quick to elaborate:
– I’d say that visibility is great and you
can cruise along if you get a good line, for
example on the open hilltops. If you manage
to get that kind of line, it’s hard not to smile.
It’s very different to last year’s mountain
terrain, in other words. Maybe even the
exact opposite. The areas nearest the coast
STAGE 1, MODERATE (JAKOB LÖÖF)
As we’ve already talked about, choosing a route is
a lot about how confident you are at reading the
terrain and how well you can follow your compass.
For this leg, the red option simplifies the orienteering
to begin with, using the big marsh and the hill to the
right as clear handrails. The last fifth of the leg is
more challenging, as you need to change direction a
bit and climb to eventually find a distinctive open hill
just before the control. This is also a useful feature for
those choosing other routes. A straighter route means
more focus on compass direction and identifying
“positive” features that stick up or out, i.e. which are
easier to spot and use as confirmation that you’re on
the right track. The blue route makes use of the rock
features in this way, whereas the shortest green route
focuses more on contour features.
are often very detailed, with many small,
complex hills with marshes in between,
making for intensely technical orienteering.
All competitors will be challenged with orienteering
in terrain which often allows high
speed thanks to easy conditions underfoot,
but has complex features. The coastal terrain
is quite different to that of the first two stages,
which take place further inland.
– The inland stages are more like typical
Småland forest and I think people will find
these physically tougher, too, says Lena
Eliasson-Lööf, who grew up in Småland and
is familiar with this terrain.
What are you expecting from
this year’s O-Ringen competitions?
– As we know, it’s great terrain with good
maps, which for me is the important thing
about O-Ringen. As well as that, many of
the organising clubs, with SOK Viljan at the
helm, are used to putting on big competitions.
So it should be well organised, too. I
think a lot of people who compete will sum
up the week as challenging but fun orienteering,
says Jakob.
Challenging terrain and orienteering
Although the forest is mostly open, it’s
important to remember that there are some
denser areas.
– It will be important to adapt your speed.
We often talk about slowing down to orienteer
accurately but I’d say it’s also important
1
“Your route choice
depends on what
features you feel
confident to read
in the terrain”
to be able to speed up where you can,
explains Jakob.
– If you have your orienteering under control
and execute your route choices using the
features you planned to use, orienteering feels
easy here. If you make a mistake, though, it
can take a while to relocate. Looking around
in the forest and then trying to find what you
see on the map can be a challenge, because
everything looks the same and the contour
features are often small.
– One challenge is not to underestimate
the terrain and get lazy with reading the map.
There’s an art to reading the map more often
to find the easiest and most runnable lines,
rather than just following your compass and
spending more time and energy in tougher
parts of the terrain, adds Lena.
Juniors and recreational runners
O-Ringen is above all a mass participation
event and for most people, the important
thing is to get round the five stages as well
as possible. For our younger competitors,
it’s often a case of learning as you go. Each
O-Ringen is unique and offers new orienteering
experiences.
Of course, many junior runners have their
own aims for the competitions, but the most
important thing for these groups is to be
successful in Småland.
STAGE 1, DIFFICULT (JAKOB LÖÖF)
A longer leg where the blue option is
safer and flatter along the stream but
uses thicker forest, which could slow
things down a bit. It has a safe approach
to the control, below the two big hills
and across the re-entrant between
them, without having to climb much.
The green option also starts along the
stream but then takes a shorter, straighter
line. There is some extra climb and it’s
trickier technically, especially on the
Is there anything that juniors
in particular should think about?
– It can be difficult to follow paths across
hilltops, and if you’re going to leave a
handrail in a vague area, try to find an exact,
distinctive point to leave it, is Lena Eliasson-Lööf
’s advice.
– The maps are often detailed and it’s not
always easy to tell which features are on
them, continues Jakob.
–You have to simply the orienteering by
looking for really distinctive features, then
take careful bearings between them. If you’d
really like to run well, running a training
course in the few days before the competitions
can help you find out what features you
find easiest to use here. Ask yourself, “What
features are really distinctive here?”
For recreational runners, too, O-Ringen
is about adapting the orienteering to your
skill level in order to get round each day. If
reading contours isn’t your strong point, it
might be better to go round more on clearer,
“safer” routes.
– Make sure you have a clear plan and
know what to look out for before you leave a
control, advise both Jakob and Lena.
– If it’s difficult to identify a clear point,
you could combine multiple features within
sight of each other.
hilltops, which are flat, with only small
features. The small, open hill is a welcome
reassurance on the way into the control.
Running south of the red line gives a
gentler and easier approach. The start of
the leg is tougher, going over some hills
and through the marsh, however the way
this option then takes you along the flat
bit next to the big hill is tempting. The
safer orienteering on this option lets you
run faster.
Route choices and technical skills
At O-Ringen it’s important to make sensible
route choices, both in terms of finding the
controls and making sure you still have
something left for the last stage.
Generally, what should you think about
when choosing routes here?
– With some exceptions on the first two
stages, many people would probably do well
to not think too far from the red line. On
your route, identify which features you are
confident finding in the forest and make
sure you pass them. For example, if you’re
confident reading small contour and marsh
details, your optimum route might not be
much longer than the red line,” says Jakob.
Lena agrees but says running round is fine
if you think you need to. It could be a good
option for anyone who isn’t used to this
kind of terrain, when clearer features and
handrails might be useful.
– Make a plan for the whole leg before
leaving the control. If you run “forwards”
out of the control without planning, you no
longer have the option of a route that starts
by taking you “sideways” or “backwards”.
Make sure you decide where to go, rather
than just ending up somewhere, says Lena.
» About JAKOB AND LENA
Name: Jakob Lööf
Age: 38
Family: Wife Lena Eliasson-Lööf and sons
Hampus and Kasper Lööf.
Occupation: Club development officer at
Västerviks OK.
First club: Pan-Kristianstad
Biggest orienteering achievement: Changing
over in the lead after the long night leg at
10Mila 2008
Best memory from O-Ringen:
The atmosphere at the elite sprint at Boden
2013, where I was 3 rd , with thousands of
spectators along the course and in the
finish arena.
Best advice for O-Ringen: Pack your swimming
costumes and remember to enjoy the
great orienteering.
Name: Lena Eliasson-Lööf
Age: Turning 43 during O-Ringen
Family: Husband Jakob Lööf and sons
Hampus and Kasper Lööf
Occupation: Home Economics teacher for
ages 6-9 years
First club: Nässjö OK
Orienteering background: International runner
from 2005-2016, with several WOC and EOC
medals. Three 10Mila wins with Domnarvets
GoIF.
Biggest orienteering achievement: Difficult to
say, but possibly 10Mila 2008 in Rosersberg
was the most impressive. Sadly I don’t think I
understood how well I ran at the time – I had
a stroke shortly afterwards so I never really
had time to reflect on the achievement.
32 O-RINGEN MAGAZINE NO. 1 • 2024 O-RINGEN MAGAZINE NO. 1 • 2024 33