Jukola_Relay

Jukola relay

The Jukola Relay is an orienteering relay race held annually in Finland since 1949. Jukola is the biggest orienteering relay event in the world.[2][3][4] The race takes place on a Saturday between 13 and 19 June in sites around Finland. The northernmost location has been 50 km north of the Arctic Circle. The name Jukola is a family name in the classic Finnish novel, "Seven Brothers". The women's relay, known as the Venla Relay, is a daytime race on the Saturday afternoon. It is named after the main female character from the novel.

The Jukola 2012 relay start had 1600 men with their headlamps
 350 half-platoon tents that were used to host the teams in Kuopio-Jukola
350 half-platoon tents provided by Finnish Defense forces were used to host the teams in Kuopio-Jukola.[1] Video of building the tent village.
The Jukola 2016 relay
Jukola 2012: 1250 maps waiting Venla orienteers from the first leg

The Jukola relay has seven legs with distances varying from 7 to 15 km. The starting time is around 11 pm when the sun sets. Runners for the first three legs usually wear headlights, depending on the geographical site (north or south of Finland) of the relay and the weather conditions. The winning team crosses the finishing line early on Sunday morning, around 6 or 7 am, and the last teams finish just before the finish is closed in the afternoon. Women can participate in the Jukola relay in non-official teams (non-sports club teams, like company, family or other teams).[5]

For the women, an individual race with a mass start was organized in 1951. This was turned into a three-leg relay race in 1978 and then a four-leg relay race in 1981. In 2012 the Jukola relay attracted close to 1700 teams and the Venla relay more than 1250. Clubs from 20 countries took part.

The "Kaukametsäläiset"[6] association is the founder of the Jukola relay and it is also the owner of the rights to the Jukola event.

The Youth Jukola relay

Since 1986, a Jukola relay event for young orienteers has been organized as a separate event in August each year. The Youth Jukola relay[7] is the world's most attended junior orienteering relay.

History of Jukola and Venla

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Upcoming events

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References

  1. "Puolijoukkueteltat pystyyn | Kuopio-Jukola 2014". www.jukola.com. Archived from the original on 2014-07-05. Retrieved 2016-05-28.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  2. "The world's largest orienteering relay leads the way for the future". Porvoo Borgå Jukola 2023. 2023-04-15. Retrieved 2024-04-21.
  3. "General information". Retrieved 2015-06-15.
  4. "Youth Jukola". Retrieved 2014-06-20.
  5. "Jukola 2024". Jukola 2024 (in Finnish). Retrieved 2024-04-21.
  6. "Mikkeli-Jukola 2025". Mikkeli-Jukola 2025 (in Finnish). Retrieved 2024-04-21.
  7. "Jukolan viestin järjestämisoikeudet myönnetty vuosille 2027-2028 |". www.suunnistusliitto.fi (in Finnish). 2023-06-15. Retrieved 2024-04-21.

Further reading

  • Uljas, Reimo: Jukolan viestit 1989 - 2008 with English summary, Kaukametsälaiset ry 2009, ISBN 978-952-92-5583-2

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