Santeri Silvennoinen, the course setter for next summer’s Youth Jukola, comes from Lehmo, right next to the competition terrain, and he has been running, orienteering, and skiing in the forests around the Kontiolahti biathlon stadium his entire life.
“I have thought about some potential control points in the area for years. I first competed in the Youth Jukola myself in Lieksa in 2004; if I remember correctly, our team was Suunnistajapankki 3. The last time I got to run the anchor leg at the Youth Jukola was in 2013,” Santeri says.
The course planning is in good shape: most of the control locations have already been finalized and checked in the terrain.
“I’ve already test-run some of the legs between controls. The terrain around the biathlon stadium is quite varied. The area includes open and flat sections, but on the other hand also physically demanding areas and detailed features. So, we can expect versatile courses,” Santeri says with enthusiasm.
But what memories have remained with our course setter from his own Youth Jukola races?
“Enough time has passed since my own Youth Jukola relays that at least the worst mistakes have already been forgotten. However, one particular memory stands out. In 2008, on the first leg, there was a route-choice leg starting right from the K-point, where you had to go around an enclosure either from the right or the left. From the competition center it was easy to see that all the other competitors chose to go around on the right, but Toni Saari of Lapuan Virkiä headed alone to the left. With that route choice, Toni immediately broke away from the others and managed to hold the lead all the way to the handover. It was a great performance and made a big impression on me at the time! It remains to be seen whether we’ll see something similar in Kontiolahti—will someone in 2026 be able to break away from the others at the K-point?”
With these thoughts, we look forward to next summer’s Youth Jukola and the course setter’s special touches!