There are many families at WOC Tour

WOC Tour is a pleasant family holiday for many. Noora and Vilma Kemppainen from Vesilahti were waiting for their start time under the shade of a spruce on the fourth competition day. Vilma competes in the D12 class, and her mother has taken part in the open classes every day. Both agree the best part of WOC Tour has been the suitably challenging courses. On Saturday, they plan to go watch the World Championships at Puijo. The shared hobby began when Vilma was about nine years old, although she had been introduced to the sport earlier through family. Noora says it’s wonderful to be able to participate in her child’s hobby herself. The rest of the family doesn’t orienteer but still enjoys the race atmosphere.

The Siren family from Nokia arrived in Kuopio with three generations. Grandparents Juha and Sirkka-Liisa and grandchildren Sofia and Selina waited at the finish line for the girls’ mother, Saara, to return from the forest. The family’s orienteering hobby began with Saara when she took up the sport at the age of ten. Her parents joined in as support crew and regular evening course participants. They’ve been to many competitions over the years, and Juha thinks the best thing about the sport is getting to see different places. Sirkka-Liisa highlights the joy of being in nature and the social spirit of orienteers. The grandparents have participated in orienteering school with Sofia and Selina. Sofia loves being in the forest, and Selina enjoys the thrill of competing.

German participant Anna Sturm completed the family-RR course with her children Theresa (4 years old) and Miriam (1 year old). The father of the family was still out on his course in the forest. Anna got into orienteering about fifteen years ago, following her sister. She praised the day’s RR course as being very suitable for children. In addition to orienteering, the family had time to go for walks and boating during the week.