After the first choice of a local football manager fell through, I became the guest speaker at my orienteering clubs annual dinner and prize giving evening. Invited to talk about my experiences in Lithuania last September, I thought the easiest way was to hit the PowerPoint and show them a few photos & video clips to keep them entertained while I talked.
I started by giving a bit of an explanation about MTBO, Trailquests and a bit of history before getting into the trip to the European Champs. They seemed genuinely interested, and I don’t think I lost anyone to the land of nod, which I was happy with!
I finished with two stories which I will also share on here:
On the way to the sprint event we got stopped for speeding. I’m still not sure what speed we should have been doing as there were very few signs, however the policeman who stopped us seemed to be booking me for doing 83 in a 70 zone. His face, when he realised I was a Brit driving a Latvian car in Lithuania, was a picture. As we were at an event all day I had left all my papers back at the flat so had to pass off my Youth Hostel Association card as my driving license, which, incredibly, worked. He even wrote down the number! Continuing my luck, I then succeeded in negotiating the fine down to about £30, though I’m not sure it ever made it to the Lithuanian Police’s bank accounts. Suffice to say we all drove a little more conservatively for the rest of the week, and we heard of several other teams getting booked, too.
Staying in the same complex as us was the Swiss team. Being very keen, one of them went out one evening for a run. Unfortunately he ended up running into Russia (the border was only about 3km distant) by mistake and got picked up by the border guards. Cutting a long story short it ended with one of his team mates bringing his passport to the border and an exchange took place…..
So my story telling over, it was time to present the trophies, shake lots of hands and kiss a few cheeks!
