“Werewolf’s footprint” (Libahundi jälg) adventure-rogaine in Padise, Estonia

Main map for Werewolf's footprint in Padise. Red = starting task track, green = team track

Werewolf’s footprint (Libahundi jälg) was an adventure-rogaine on 23. october. Duration was max. six hours. From aerial perspective maximum distance between all CP’s is 40km. A superb chance to spend the whole day in nature. For this event, we assembled the same awesome team, that endured the Winter Xdream last January in a freezing -29C° temperature. There we traveled 30km in knee deep snow in 6h15m. We knew we would get along well for six hours :)

I had recovered very well from my injury in this summer. I was in good shape. Last night I made it to bed around 4 AM from Chris’s magnificent birthday, alarm was set to 8AM, so I was a bit tired. A little snack on our way in the car boosted me up to usual energy levels. Milena was in good shape this time around too. Timo had just been sick with a flu or something, so his endurance was definitely damaged. My responsibility as team leader was orienteering and getting to control points, this time Timo carried water + snacks and Milena, well, she’s there to beautiful :) Just kidding – she’s strong and can endure hardships and nasty weather better than any other woman I know.

Surprisingly, the maps were already available 45 minutes before start – that was great for planning. We, as first time rogainers, made the ultimate plan before start, that we’ll get to all CP’s. A great plan it was… we changed that a lot during the competition ;)

Starting task

Map of the starting task

There was a map upside down on the ground at the starting area for every team. Only one teammember had to do that task. It was me. Bang! Start! Took the map and there were three points on it (1-2-3), which I had to run through in the correct order. Legs we’re feeling good so I hit the gas. There was light snow on the ground everywhere. Got to the first CP with no problems. After I took the second CP, I saw another CP with the same number as mine. Then figured out, this must be a micro-orienteering task. Meaning that there we’re many CP’s at the area with same number. Anyway I did not stop, because it seemed to me, I took the right one anyway. Took the 3rd one too. I was in top 10, not more that 1min of time loss to leaders. Milena and Timo were waiting in the starting area…

The above map is the one organizers used internally. I was supposed to get CP’s 92,99,86. Instead I took 93,97,86. Lost 6 points there. Blame this on my bad orienteering form.

First orienteering mistake and communication issue

Now we moved together. After we took control point 26, we headed out to 36. A simple jog on the asphalt road and we were there – on the wrong side of the river. Crap. Should have seen that on the map, but my orienteering form had not seen any training for 3 months. Saw the CP under a culvert. I decided to run through the river and told the others to meet me at the bridge (near CP 26). Then jumped in, got my feet wet, took the CP and ran back on the eastern road. When I got to the bridge, Milena and Timo were not there. Assumed they were slower and I waited a couple of minutes. They did not come. Crap, shit, crap, where are you? Ran towards the way they were supposed to come, but nothing. No one. Went back to the bridge. No one. Then ran back to our car. No one. Ran back to the bridge and then I saw them. :D They had been waiting for me pretty much at the same spot I left them, when I jumped into the river. What a stupid mistake! My fault. Did not explain what I meant by the bridge. They thought I’d come back the same way. Ok, damage done, we moved on. Also decided to stay at each other viewing distance to never ever make such a stupid mistake again…

Continuing to the first special task

Next stop was CP 39. This time I read the map correctly and stayed on the correct side of the river. While punching the CP I saw another team who were crossing the river using a tree. I suggested that they just jump into the river, would be faster. :) Now headed to the CP80-81 area, where we had to choose one special task. CP80 was already overcrowded, so we skipped that and went straight for 81. There Milena climbed some ropes up on a tree to get the CP. A simple task.

25-24-38-22 to slag mountain (85)

We did this part very smoothly. Simple enjoyable jog over large fields, in woods and on roads. Until we got to the slag mountain. I’ve been there before, but never had to get on top of it. We used one of the crannies, see the picture. It was raining and the slag was pretty much like mud. We managed to get on the top. There was a special task to find five points with a 1:2000 map of the mountain. The top of the mountain was mesmerizing. All the cracks, crannies, trees and the blue lake to the south. Truly a spectacular place in North-Estonia.

Pushing on… to CP 84

When planning our track, we made it very clear, that we have to get all of the special tasks done, no matter what. So obviously the next one was 84. Took CP41 on the way. The terrain was very interesting on the south shore of the lake. Must be because there used to be a mining operation there years ago. Arriving to the 84 we saw canoes. Woohoo, we’d have to get on the lake. Awesome. There were four CP’s on the water. Simple enough, though we did speed past one CP and had to turn back. It’s not that easy to steer the canoe with three people. :P

Next stop… 83

Took the compass and headed straight through the trees. Got to CP 53 easily. Then looked toward the large marshes and well, we decided to go around. Later found that straight over was possible too. When we arrived to 65, I realized: “Hey guys, weren’t we supposed to get 33 also?”. Yeah we were. But then I saw that others were little bit fatigued. Decided to skip 33. Jogging to the 83 was again simple. Just had to keep track how many trenches had passed. 83-s task was for two teammembers. Me and Milena took that one. We had to use a wooden bar to cross a row of five stumps. Falling down would mean failing. Of course we succeeded!

2.5 hours left, strong corrections to the original plan

So, we had not made it as far as we thought we would. A rocky start was to blame. I blamed myself. We agreed to skip the southern CP’s altogether and focus on getting all special CP’s. Next plan was 46-59-58-56-82-49-21-80-Finish. We took off… time was limited, had to jog a little. Timo’s face showed that he was having a hard time keeping up with me and Milena. So we slowed down.

On our way to 82

we crossed a river, experienced heavy rain, did not find CP 59. The special task at 82 was a thinking task. A real fucking mindbender. We spent at least 15 minutes there. I was almost giving up when Milena suddenly solved the puzzle. She was so happy with herself, that it radiated out of her for a while. Motivation was rising :)

Lot’s of running, 5km to go, 50 minutes left

82-49-21 was the most numb part of the day. We were just running on the road and used little orienteering to find CP’s. Found both 49 and 21. So we were very close to finishing now. At the 80 special task there was still a line of people waiting. We had time though. Agreed that I would take these points home. The task was to ride down on a zipline and throw a bag of sand into a ring on the ground while moving. I fucking did it! So we had successfully solved all special tasks!

Finish

And now a relaxing jog to the finish. Done! We were happy with our result and the awesome experience.

Summary

• Read the fucking manual! For example, we did not know that first digit on CP’s is the number of points it’s worth. We would have planned a completely different track if we knew that one. :D:D
• Never-ever split the team up or explain really well, where you’re supposed to meet, if splitting is necessary.
• Practice orienteering a week before competition.

Result

102 points, time 5:42:29, 64. place out of 150. In mixed team’s results we were 28/79. We could have done A LOT better. Still this was quite good for rookies.

All results