Article in the Helsingin Sanomat, Sunday June 15 
[translated by Tapio Karras, edited by Steve Jankowski]
--------------------------
 
TITLE - "Rushing through the bushes is fun." 
SUB-TITLE - The goal for the American team in the Jukola is to 
complete course. 
 
PHOTO TITLE - our names ... we do the proper thing by living in the 
tent village.  (photo by Jukka Gröndahl)
 
----------------------------------
Johanna Lahti, Helsingin Sanomat

JYVÄSKYLÄ - "Our team number is 937, our goal is to finish
better than that." says BAOC Jukola team captain, Tapio Karras. 
The first ever amer team at the Jukola really does not have 
misconceptions about their chances to succeed competitively.  
"As long as we don't get DQd and we make it to the finish", 
laughs Van Boughner, last leg runner. 
The Americans on the BAOC team have only orienteered a 
couple of years.  The team's most experienced is German, Jorg 
Hofer, who started hunting for controls in 1977. 
Captain Karras is the only one on the team with experience 
from previous Jukolas.  Karras, who moved to California in 
1990, has run the relay three times with Espoon Suunta's team.  
It is also thanks to Karras that in Jyväskylä we will see 
Orienteers from the other side of the water. 
Van, Steve, Syd, Trevor were planning to visit Fin 5, but 
Karras convinced them to come to Jukola. 
"I had tried multiple times to get a team to go to Jukola.  It took 
only one email for the guys to change their travel plans.  In 
addition we got Greg Lennon and Jorg." says Karras. 
According to Greg Lennon, the Jukola team does not contain 
the club's best runners, even though the majority of the team 
age wise are in M21, except Karras and Lennon who are 
veteran class. 
But the worst drawback is that the club's best runner, James 
Scarborough, is not on the team.  James is in Sweeden training 
for the World Champs and could not make it to Jukola. 
Even though everything is big in America, orienteering is 
almost non-existant.  There are more participants in the Jukola 
than there are orienteers in America, where only 7,000 roam the 
bushes.  BAOC with its 600 members is the second largest O' 
club in America. 
One of the goals of the team is to introduce to Americans that 
an orienteering competition can attract 1000's of people.  
BAOC's bi-monthly events attract 200 runners at best. 
"Americans are outdoor people.  Back-packing and mountain 
biking are very popular.  There is no reason why they could not 
be interested in orienteering as well.", says Karras. 
Section title: Blood flows in the events. 
In the US there is lack of knowledgeable mappers and coaches.  
The club has benefitted from Finnish O know-how.  Mikko 
Levaainen from Mynamaki Suunnistajat has trained with 
BAOC, and a couple years ago the club had a Finnish mapper. 
Mainly employed by Silicon Valley's computer companies the 
BAOC members see orienteering as an ideal combination of 
mental and physical effort. "And for me, rushing through the 
bushes is fun" laughs Greg Lennon [actually Steve said this] 
Back home, orienteering can be a pretty rough activity, as both 
Pering and Reader insist on running in shorts.  "After the event, 
blood flows."  says Steve Jankowski. 
At least for those going to Jukola, the club members donated 
full length orienteering suits. 
Next year, BAOC's women orienteers would like to participate 
in the Venla relay.  The men's team has not decided if Jukola 
will become a tradition.  "We will know that after the night 
leg." Karras laughs.