#80 - Miika Kirmula: The Winning Kirmula

Episode 81 is a proper sweaty one – Ralph is literally sweat-maxing in the intro while the boys catch up on World Cup prep, Danish Champs chaos, Magnus’ 420-metre-to-start 5K heroics, and Tim plugging New Zealand hard.We get some honest life updates, sprint talk, coaching opportunities in Christchurch, and the usual banter. World Cup weekend loading.

Episode 80 is a special one: Miika Kirmula (fresh Tiomila winner with Kalevan Rasti) joins Tim and Magnus for a proper chat about his career, fishing stories, changing hairstyles, his Finnish nickname, injuries, and what it really takes to win the big relay.Ralph crashes the recording straight after his sprint race (his apartment now fully cling-filmed by the Bækkelaget juniors in classic brain-rot revenge) and we get the usual outfit roasts, standing-desk chaos, and extended apology section.

Episode 79 is the big Tiomila debrief – sleep-deprived chaos, brain rot pranks, long night train stories, and our predictions finally settled once and for all.We evaluate our own club results, read out the listener abuse, get official World Cup organiser feedback on the mapping drama, and Magnus turns up in full Farum Tisvilde gear to bully everyone into matching orienteering outfits. Apologies section is extra long this week. Tiomila hangover complete.

Episode 78 is our full Tiomila predictions special. Tim and Magnus might be sharing the exact same leg (but what about Ralph?), and we finally drop our proper homework: men’s & women’s top 10s, leg-by-leg chat, new format, and a points system built so Magnus can lose fair and square. We roast the mixed Tranås terrain, club power shifts and all the hot takes. Listener predictions open – send yours in, we’ll roast the results later. Tiomila weekend is here. Good luck out there!

Episode 77 is fresh off the World Cup weekend in Switzerland, where the boys were (once again) nowhere near the start line. Ralph smashed a local middle distance for his first win of the season and Tim passed his forest fitness test ahead of Tiomila. We break down the sprint, relay and knockout races, debate the mapping, artificial barriers, cars in the area, and the great Kasper Fosser hedge-jump controversy. There’s also safety glasses, headbands, ankle braces, one very nerdy rock collection, and Ralph’s first-ever earthquake.

Episode 76 lands just in time for the first World Cup of the year… which none of us are running. Ralph’s back from Halden, Tim’s survived his first mountain bike race (powered mostly by confusion and caffeine gels), and Magnus has tackled a 44-control monster.We get into messy relays, sprint rule changes, and whether hiding course details is genius or chaos. Plus: pickles at the finish line, disappearing shoes in marshes, and the ongoing debate that really matters — how to eat a scone.

Ralph is back, which means normal service resumes: immediate abuse, strong opinions, and slightly more structure than last time.We get into a packed weekend of racing at JK and Swedish League, with snow, mud, mispunches, blocked toilets, and Tim somehow making a sprint podium while barely running. Magnus continues his fight against fake Strava athletes and adds arm wrestling to his increasingly confusing training plan.Some real orienteering, some public chaos, and a very important debate about scones.

Episode 74 and we immediately lose control… mainly because Ralph isn’t here.Tim and Magnus try to run a serious podcast but instead end up analysing Ralph’s Italian results and debating whether he’s actually just still lost. There’s a full breakdown of Magnus’ Danish Night Champs disaster, Tim’s slow transition into becoming a cyclist, and a completely unnecessary investigation into fake Strava activities that somehow turns into a business idea.On top of that, Tim is still stuck in cross-training purgatory, Magnus is planning a Hyrox domination (apparently), and we answer one of life’s biggest dilemmas: how are you actually supposed to listen to a podcast?

Episode 73 is what happens when the boys spend a weekend in Halland and immediately start comparing split times like it means anything in March. Magnus claims progress because his back now lets him move closer to a normal person again, Ralph claims he was only out for a long run, and Tim returns with a diagnosis that makes him sound about 78 years old.We get into sand dunes, nearby controls, and whether Magnus is finally learning to run in a straight line. On top of that, Tim explains his gout-era comeback plan, Ralph prepares for Italy, and we somehow end up discussing Strava etiquette, headcams, dogs in the forest, and who’s an hyper-unc.There is a bonus at the end of the episode where we talk to Vova from the IOF Young Leaders Academy. Is this something that you would be interested in joining, listen to find out how!

Episode 72 and we’ve finally got the first guest of the year for you!Emil Wingstedt joins us to talk about winning World Championships, dominating European sprints, and why coaching Ralph might be the greatest challenge of his career. From four consecutive European sprint titles to life as a national coach (and occasional IOF outlaw), Emil shares how he went from a decent junior to one of the best orienteers of his era.We dive into training philosophy, brutal interval blocks, relay pressure, sprint evolution, and why committing fully to your own path matters more than copying someone else’s.There’s also talk of embargo breaches, control-moving at championships, near-misses in Århus, and the fine art of packing Ralph’s race bag.