#40 - Wrapping Up 2024, Predicting 2025

This week, we dive into the fascinating world of running shoes with special guest Nicolas Simonin. As a professional Saucony expert and arguably Ireland’s greatest ever orienteer, Nic helps us unravel the mysteries of the running shoe market. From finding the perfect shoe to sustainability in the industry, he’s got all the answers. We also chat about orienteering in Ireland, Nic’s journey to a Swedish school without knowing the language, and the best shoes for sprint orienteering. Plus, a quick stop at the O Pod mailbox for your questions! Lace up your shoes (the right ones!) and join us for this insightful and fun episode. #Orienteering #Podcast #RunningShoes #NicolasSimonin

As we close the year, we reflect on the best advice we’ve received, podcast highlights, and some of the most ridiculous moments of 2024. Ralph asks questions Magnus can’t understand and we debate predictions for 2025, and tackle some questions from the O Pod mailbox. Tim rounds up the Christmas Challenge results; Ralph and Magnus argue over who will hit sub-14 for 5000m first in the bench press challenge. Plus, everyone is a year older now, Ralph into a new age category with Tim and Magnus touching 30, fetch the Zimmer frames! Will Magnus’s mustache stay another year? Will Ralph’s cover photo size keep increasing? And what’s the wildest prediction we can make for 2025? Tune in to find out!

Magnus and Tim are deep into their preparations for the Christmas challenge, listen to get all the details on how to get involved yourself. Ralph is injured and currently facing a DNS but has been given a challenge of his own which Magnus describes as "weak numbers". We preview the 2025 season: From Portugal and Aguiar da Beira to WOC in Finland, 10mila in Tim's hometown, the World Games in China, sprinting the city streets of Belgium, there’s plenty to look forward to. The Danish hills face off against the New Zealand mountains in this weeks climbing based dilemma. Don’t miss the action, and make sure to tell your friends to follow us on Instagram! If we hit 2,000 followers before New Year’s, Magnus will dye his mustache.

It’s awards season! But first, Ralph is back from the UK with a health update, and shockingly, Tim is now the least injured of the crew—because Magnus has managed to get injured again. We dive into the highly anticipated awards, including Worst Mistake, Unacceptable Fashion Choices, and more. Plus, we tackle one of orienteering’s greatest mysteries: How exactly do you define a long leg? And Ralph challenges the team with the ultimate “mistake” dilemma. Stick around to hear all the chaos, laughs, and a big announcement—our first partnership is here! #Orienteering #Podcast #AwardsSeason #FlatDenmark #MistakesWereMade

This week, we’re joined by Evely Kaasiku, fresh off her incredible performances in 2024 and a true trailblazer for Estonian orienteering. 🥈 Did you know she’s the first Estonian woman to medal at the EOC? From the flat, green terrains of Türi to Helsingin Suunnistajat, we dive into her journey as a late-career peak athlete balancing elite sport with her marketing career. 🇪🇪 📉 What’s it like quitting work to go full-time as an athlete, only to return later? How does working with emotions at Feedbackly parallel the mental side of elite sport? And how should orienteers sell themselves to employers—or even to the public? 🎙️ Plus: Ralph’s dramatic hospital scare 🩸 Tim’s treadmill (yes, it needs a name—any ideas?) Catch Episode 37 now for stories, insights, and a fresh perspective from one of Estonia’s brightest orienteers! 🌟 #Orienteering #Podcast #EvelyKaasiku #EliteSport #StayinAlive

Join Hanne Hilo and Brodie Nankervis, straight from Australia! While the snow falls in Finland, Hanne has swapped skis for some bush-O on a coaching scholarship down under. She’s facing off with the Aussie terrain, local language quirks, and even dodging a snake or two! Brodie, our favourite medical advisor, brings the runner-coach perspective to give insight into Hanne's experience and how others can follow her footsteps. As if that weren't enough, you'll be hearing Tomas Krivda's latest travel stories and how you may be able to help him choose his next destination. #Orienteering #OrienteerPod

This episode has high nonsense content and low orienteering relevance. The boys have an optimistic status update; Ralph has injured himself on purpose, Magnus with the sniffles and Tim limping around. We discuss all the polls that have been on Instagram. There is a song review, orienteers have been doing cross country and Park World Tour went to China. The quiz makes a return leading to perfectly predictable arguments. The dilemma is cold weather related, will fashion or practicality win?

Ralph and Tim face off for the last time this year at the World Cup Final. Will the sprint specialist manage to overtake the sandbagger in the overall standings? Magnus has been watching all the action from a Portuguese fish restaurant. Afterwards Ralph infiltrated the Swedish team for their WOC training camp. Has he learnt anything useful from the World’s Best National Team? Full leg cover or not; this is the dilemma that Tim poses to the boys, will shin pads be the answer, or is this going to the jury? #världenbästalandslag #worldtoughestcompetition #worldbestorienteeringpodcast

What does World Champs medalist Olli Ojanaho think of fish in rye bread? Olli survived EOC (barely) but his phone can’t handle the heat of this podcast. We grill Olli on injuries, camps, what it's like to be one of the best orienteers in the world. We also cover lions, sponge baths, stinky hotel corridors, Ralph’ new age and which one of the boys will miss WC in Finland. This week’s dilemma is a filthy one, you might wanna skip that.

Tim and Magnus battle against ‘The Great Hungarian Heatwave’ at the European Champs. Did they suffer more than Ralph is suffering in Oslo? EOC was full of excitement—we cover all the best moments, from stripping at the finish line to bold claims on social media, with some actual orienteering discussion in between. And of course, the boys get introduced to the absolute O-Pie. Ralph dosen’t even know what a wildfire expert is called and on top of that, he is having a hard time in this week’s dilemma.