Alla inlägg den 11 november 2008

Av Pelle - 11 november 2008 22:17

The second OK in the title stands for Orienterings Klubb.

Since Oliver is playing badminton twice a week in Landvetter and I do most of the driving to the sports arena, I can utilize the waiting time to do some training myself, so tonight I went for a run. Terrible weather conditions, but I had made up my mind, so no turning back. Dark, cold & wet already from start. I ran up to the forest where OK Landehof have their club house and tracks. Took a lap on the lit up electric light track, but it was in rather bad condition, with stones, mud & pools of water everywhere. Another problem was to see where to run since lots of light bulbs were out of order, sometimes over longer stretches. I met a couple of other runners in the forest, using headlamps (torches attached to the forehead). Definately needed. I realized that runners here are most likely orienteering runners, so they probably enjoy the wet & dirty conditions on an uneven track in the dark. They are a special kind of people for sure. Enjoy caravan camping, wearing rubber boots and showering outside (if they do?). The sport itself is rather demanding, but for me it's to associated to non glorious exercises during the military service. Next thing is that there's no sympathy for us colour blind guys. Trying to spot an orange checkpoint in a green & brown environment is almost impossible from the distance.

Anyhow, big disappointment with OK Landehof tonight. I remember when I was young and we had our el-light track in the forest in Kvänum (still there actually, but I'm not). It was maintained by a few idealistic volunteers and we took a pride in making sure that it always was in top condition. Dad & me were responsible for the lights, so every now and then, we made the lap around the course with a ladder and a box of light bulbs. I was the monkey that had to perform the top job. Some other guys had responibilities for the track surface and other tasks. I think that one of the problems today is to find non-profit volunteers that are willing to do these kind of tasks. We all expect that the community will send out some labour to fix things. That explains why it looks like it does.

I have also been a bit critical about the conditions of the nature walking tracks here in this area. There are 2 classic long distance tracks here, Vildmarksleden and Bohusleden, that both pass the Kåsjö area were we live. The tourist information offices and the internet are promoting them as fantastic wildlife experiences, but when you get out there, it's not even easy to find them, because the markers are 50 years old and some parts of the tracks have merged in to wild forest again, so the chance to get lost is very big. Again, lack of maintenance. You have to be an Orienteering type of person to enjoy it.

Sweden have so much nice nature that could be used for outdoor activities and it wouldn't take that much work or money to prepare some tracks in a nicer way. Look at how they've done this in New Zealand, where they have lots of fantastic bush walks and people from all walks of life are actually doing lots of tramping (Yes, that's what they call it down under). It's a big thing and people there are in general healthier and happier. Outdoor activities are preventiv health care.

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