Discussion: relay!

That's quite an impressive relay result! With so many people milling about in the woods and so many controls, I'm surprised that you only had a few small mistakes! In some ways, relays require more concentration than classic courses. Even though the navigation isn't so difficult, it seems much easier to go the wrong way on a trail or go from 7-9 or make some other obviously stupid mistake...

I normally make big mistakes when distracted by others, so it was nice to be focused for once. I was feeling relaxed though, so had good flow. Having said that, both my mistakes were made immediately after saying hi to Simon.

I was double-checking numbers as I went, as the last thing you want to do is disqualify the rest of your team for missing a control.

Ollie > that's often now why I prefer running 2nd or 3rd leg, I know I'll generally be out there on my own and so any mistakes are down to me. But with the pack you're going to run faster and be less hesitant around controls than you would be usually. I say this from my experience at the British - I reckon I'd have cut 4 or 5 minutes off my time if there had been more people around and I'd had a similar run, but it could have led to a few big mistakes (like wrong gaffle) as well...

and the key to relays - especially after running BUSA 2005 at Warwick - check your control codes!!