From Dr. Alban in Kiev to Totte Wallin in Österbymo

(Pictures above: Kiev downtown, the team except Jon, 11th century monastery, long distance final finish area)

This will be the last report from, or about, Kiev. I'm back in Sweden now, and I must say it is nice to get a few more days here before returning to Canada. We watched the long distance final Thursday. Now back home looking at a map and a course I ran on back in 1989 in Kiev, I can see that one control on the course back then is identical to one of the controls the men had this year. Must mean something. I also remember that at the event eighteen years ago people tried to sell us westerners vodka and the famous Russian champagne. The cost was a dollar or so. The vodka bottles had that kind of lid that when you have opened a bottle, you couldn't re-seal it...
I did try it back then and this year Nick was carrying around something at the banquet that had a similar taste...Back to this year's final - it was incredibly hot and just watching was tough. As usual, the strongest man and women won. Thursday also meant banquet day and here I'm just quoting Terry from the US and her posting on Attackpoint (without permission, sorry.) "The WOC banquet was a disappointment -- the room had no ventilation and, with the outdoor high at about 100 F, the indoor temperature soared to intolerable levels very quickly. The food was fantastic, though, and the prize-giving ceremony for the middle and long was nice, too. They gave stuffed animals as prizes, and the gold medalists got animals that were nearly as big as they were, which provided some nice props for playing afterward.

The room cleared out quickly after the awards as everyone stood on the steps outdoors. The live band was good but virtually nobody stayed in the banquet room to hear it, much less dance to it."

So instead of a sauna like hall in east Kiev, a few of us went to Hidropark, after a waterstop and some escalator intervals in the downtown core, for some more drinks and some dancing. And this is where Dr. Alban comes in. I haven't heard him being played since Guadalajara, Mexico, nine years ago. (And it is probably that long ago since I was out dancing - not wedding related - yes, I'm getting old). The dentist seemed popular in Kiev though and I have confess with some embarrassment,that I could recall most of the lyrics. However, old or not, I had to get up very early the following day to catch my flight back to Sweden, and luckily, the "everywhere appearing Yuri" was waiting for me in the lobby at six o'clock in the morning. Yuri is a very nice guy and the head of the transportation at the WOC. He has had a busy week...

And what about Totte Wallin? Well, I doubt any non-Swede knows who he his, but he is a musician and a caller in Sweden's world famous radio show "call and we will play" asked for a Totte Wallin song. (We listened to this show on our way to a race in Österbymo). And that song became "the song of the day" to penetrate my brain when running. So if Dr. Alban was the song in my head the last day in Kiev, Totte's 'Enköpingståget' became the first in "the next chapter". The race? Not a Thierry race technically but a Thierry result...-;