The orienteering relay event “JUKOLA” is composed of the “Jukola” relay (7 men in a team) and the “Venla” relay (4 women in a team). The JUKOLA relay is one of the greatest competitions of relay orienteering in the world each year attracting more than 12 000 participants. The first Jukola relay was organized in 1949 and it has consequently been organized every year in different sites around Finland. At the beginning, only the men could take part in the event. For the ladies, an individual race with common start was organized in 1951 and it then was turned into a relay race in 1978. The first Jukola relay attracted 41 teams total. Currently, the number of participants has grown and reached 1300 teams in the male Jukola relay and 800 teams in the Venla relay. The proportion of international orienteers has lately been approx. 20%, representing some 20 different nationalities.