Communications and Media Chief Markku Riihinen and Course Planner Juhani Jetsonen.
Course planner Juhani Jetsonen isn’t surprised that this year’s Jukola has been described as challenging.
– I’ve known that for years, smiles Jetsonen. – A lot of effort has gone into the forked controls to ensure that they are fair for everyone. I really feel for the less experienced orienteers, but then again I’ve heard that they want to run challenging courses too so that they can compare their level with that of the elite.
Course planner Jetsonen hopes for direct feedback from orienteers, even face to face, as usually is the case.
– I interviewed the top orienteers after they had finished their legs and they were satisfied that they had had to work hard. This wasn’t just a running race, even though the course was physically challenging.
Jetsonen admits with a twinkle in his eye that his reputation is well known and that anything and everything can be expected from him. And now it came!
– TV and radio bring their own challenges. The long first leg was hard to keep secret. Another option would have been to have the first controls on the slope – but I have used that trick before.
For the first time the Venla and Jukola relays had different start triangles.
– I want to be a loathsome course planner, grins Jetsonen. – I want to use all the tricks of the trade and make the competition as challenging and tricky as possible. That’s what it means to be the course planner.
Jetsonen’s style has been thoroughly researched and analyzed by the top clubs.
– This is a game of cat and mouse. You always have to be one step ahead of the orienteers.
On this sunny summer morning Juhani Jetsonen is a satisfied man. Many years of arduous work are coming to an end.
– Everything worked out well. Everyone put their best foot forward. The course controllers and refreshment teams deserve huge thanks.
So when will the course planner have a rest?
-Today I won´t do anything any more, we´ll just drive home, heat up the sauna and enjoy Sunday evening with the secretary general, says Jetsonen smiling, referring to his wife Sari Jetsonen, the Secretary General of Kuopio-Jukola.
– On Monday we´ve got to go to work again but in the afternoon we´ll come back here and start taking the control points out of the forest for instance. I believe that everything should be done by Midsummer so that we can take a holiday.
