Nine teams competed in last week’s Just-4-Fun orienteering relay, which marked a twist from the Yukon Orienteering Association’s usual Wednesday night meets.

Pick-up teams of four people were formed from the event’s participants with each team having a novice, two intermediate and one advanced orienteer. The event started from the Elijah Smith School and used a new map of the greenbelts and parks around Granger.

An exciting mass start of the novice and intermediate orienteers began at 6:40. The event worked as a parallel relay with two orienteers from each team out on course at the same time.

The first runners finished their 1.9- and 2.3-kilometre short courses in less than 20 minutes.

Teams had to employ some strategy as to which of their remaining two orienteers to tag next. The relay provides extra excitement as you can often see your teammates’ progress as the course passes through a spectator control near the start/finish area.

In the end, two veteran teams, “Rainbow Warriors” and “Double Trouble,” were the first to complete their four courses in 40:50 and 43:44, respectively.

The Warriors team included Violet Van Hees, Ross Burnett and two visiting orienteering mappers from Czech Republic – Ludek Krticka and Radim Ondracek.

The runner-up team was comprised of just two orienteers, Kendra Murray and Michael Abbott, who ran two courses each.

Eligible teams contained at least one true novice orienteer.

The top eligible team, in third place overall, was “McLean Squared and Friends,” consisting of Joie Quarton, Jill Pangman, and Bruce and Caelen McLean. The group finished their four courses in 1:01:13.