Flyers Flourish in Finland
There were three FVO teams involved in the largest relay competition in the world, with the men coming home as the second British team in a race that was dominated by Scandinavians.
The Jukola and Venla relays have been a staple of the Finnish sporting calendar for nearly 80 years, and bring together more than 12,000 competitors for races throughout the night and into the early morning.
FVO had a team in the women-only Venla relay for the first time in several years, which featured a mix of youth and experience. Esme Kelly only qualified to run by a matter of weeks on age grounds, and she was right on the team ranking on the first leg, 527th in 72.55. Scarlett Kelly brought the team into the top 300 on leg 2with a run lasting 92.53, which was inside the top 200 splits for much of the race.
Beth Clayton, in her first race in two years, maintained a top third place with a 3rd leg of 82.37. before Beccy Osborn concluded the deal with a closing leg of 109.04, for a composite team time of 5:57:31 and 463rd place of 1475 starters.
There were three women with FVO connections elsewhere in the field, as Grace Molloy smashed her 2nd leg with the second-quickest time of all (66.51) to help IFK Lidingo into a top 10 place, Lizzie Stansfield (59.54 on leg 1) and Mairi Eades (103.54 o leg 2) were involved in an Edinburgh University team that was 279th after three legs, but lacked a closing leg runner.
The Jukola race started at 11pm local time, under headlights, and Andy Llewellyn took the team out well with an opening leg time of 112.37 for 185th place. Jamie Goddard upped the tempo on the second leg, which was fully in the dark, in 93.01 as the team threatened the top 100. Roger Goddard then completed the Long leg in the dark in 139.50, as FVO dropped back into a more normal position of 227th.
Scarlett returned to the action on leg 4, racing in the land of her birth for the first time, and turned in a pretty spectacular set of splits, in the low 200s across the board, to come home in 61.35 and maintain a place just outside the top 200 after the night stages. Hugh Buchanan hung in well on leg 5 against much younger men for a time of 99.00, before guest runner Ruari Cottier dropped in a 108.21. Paul Hammond anchored the team into an eventual 289th place, with a leg time of 191.57.
The B team comprised of older athletes with some guest runners, and came back 698th, in a composite time for the seven legs of 16.53.04