Race Evaluation
Billygoat: Billygoat
Nadim
| 1. | S-1 Starting pretty near the control flag, I had some crowd to get through to move near other runners who were going about my pace. Looking at the leg, I thought about going a bit more to the left to avoid climb but the crowd was moving up the power lines very fast. I had already planned to go with the collective group till it thinned out anyway since similar to cycling, it has a way of going the fastest compared to smaller or individual groups. Since we were just starting, having a hill this early didn?t really take much out of me. However, I felt a bit uncomfortable once in the woods. At the pace we were going, there were few who really seemed to be reading their maps. I was in the vicinity of fellow QOCer?s Dave Onkst and Ted Good for a while. It was such a mash at the control. Even with 6 punches strung on a line, there was some maneuvering going on to punch-in. | ||||||
| 2. | 1-2 Things were still a blur on this leg. I recall making sure my bearing was on line but there was just lots of hopping and weaving following a stampede of people. Lines would form and split and form again. I had navigated through here fine when the first A-meet was held but I wasn?t being careful this time. The pace was about as fast as I wanted given almost the whole race ahead. I felt a bit more comfortable as I noted the big marsh past the control as a catching feature. | ||||||
| 3. | 2-3 I stuck with the crowd again heading to the trail and turning left to cross the stream. This seemed a bit odd to me but with such a short leg. I wondered about going straight as I went around. I cut in with others somewhere past the low vegetation which again seemed a bit odd but others who cut in earlier were appearing to be hung up. I got to the control somewhere behind Michael Lyons. | ||||||
| 4. | 3-4 I ran straightish into the power line area which made me have to run through the junipers and on top of them. It probably was slower than going around to the left. Not reading ahead enough, I paused when I saw the crowds split. Left seemed shorter and with easy navigation. I was second guessing myself a few seconds later in the woods. I was already committed but that is when I remembered that much of the white woods on the map were shades of green. I trailed Andy Hall and Michael Lyons for a while. Andy pulled ahead so I passed Michael to stay in contact with the train. With the marsh there, I didn?t pay close attention to how far we?d gone. I knew where we were once we hit the clearing and again at the trail. I was reading ahead on the map rather than focusing on going fast. Not far after the trail intersection we went into the woods and crossed the stream to get to the control. I recall that Greg Balter was punching just ahead of me but coming from the other direction so I think going left saved me time. | ||||||
| 5. | 4-5 I had already chosen the left fork so as to avoid a more messy 5-6 leg on the right fork. Starting out I dog-legged back across the stream. Most everyone else went left some more around the little hill and immediately to the trail. Since I left the control a bit off bearing to the right, going left further seemed out of the way. I went straight up a ridge mapped white. I noticed it being greener and I felt less confident of reading the terrain pretty quickly. I felt I was going too slow so when I heard the crowd to my left, I angled over and hit the trail behind them. I cut back in attacking from the trail bend but still wasn?t being very careful. People started fanning out a little at the boulders and fortunately I stayed on the right bearing and train of people as the crowd thinned-out. | ||||||
| 6. | 5-6 Going straight at first, it seemed to be slow going through the light green. I saw Ted Good and Clem McGrath heading back to #5 since they had missed it. I tried to tell Ted that it was back about 50m but I found out later that he hadn?t really understood me. Going forward, there were few people around. I felt I wasn?t moving as fast or as easy as they were. I saw Ernst suddenly turn sharply left and presumed it was either a mistake or that he was trying to get out of the green. I kept a bit more straight than him but did move like the idea of getting out of the green. Eventually a few others had angled leftward too. Finishing the leg, I was reading the ups and downs incorrectly. I felt I was losing contact with the map. With all the climbing I slowed enough to read things better and evaluate properly. I continued on my own route I was glad that the control was essentially at the top of the hill. I hit it a bit to the left and came over to the right. I think I saw Greg Balter again or at least some others, coming in from the other direction. | ||||||
| 7. | +00:30 | 6-7 I ran straight out to the trail kind of alone and paused. I started to turn left a bit to avoid the marsh then thought about whether or not I should skip this one. I hesitated then truly alone, cut back to the right to go around the marshes. I left the trail in a haphazard way not knowing where I was very well but once to the marshes and formline contour terrain, I felt more confident. As I neared the control, I was just hoping that I wasn?t making an error but I spiked it as others were coming in from the other direction. | |||||
| 8. | 7-8 As I left #8, I noticed Ted Good ahead. I crashed through the marsh behind him. We were trying to be careful to keep our feet dry, only to have to plunge in near the last of it. The coolness kind of felt good on my feet and having run long in the rain the previous week I didn?t mind the added weight. We hit the trail near the bend so I knew just where we were. I passed Ted while he read and I headed for a peninsula of white woods that was fortunately in the direction of the control. I lost track of which rocks we were passing and I started to pause early with another guy ahead of us. Then I realized just about when Ted was saying it, that the control was on a much bigger hill. Ted and someone else started to go too far left after crossing the reentrant. I cut right, saw the control and called out Ted?s name just before when he would have figured it out himself. | ||||||
| 9. | 8-9 At first, I started to go straight but I didn?t like the greenish terrain ahead. I made a radical cut to the left and then right again to use some nice woods. Another younger orienteer was going the same way and I trailed him for a while. Once we hit the trail, I paused, noting one below to my right too. Dave Onkst came up and the other guy went ahead so I did too. I learned that the two trails joined ahead but hadn?t read it off the map where I should have. As the younger guy paused, Dave or I or both passed him and led. Eventually, Dave led. As we cut right at the intersection, I fell off the pace a little, looking ahead on the map for a skip. Dave had explained that he had skipped at #7 to avoid some trouble there. He was pushing ahead to make up time for what he thought was some time wasted on his unplanned skip. Others got on the trail and I lost sight Dave somewhat. I was glad to have others around because it seemed we were on the trail longer than I had expected to be. I cut left up the trail where others were while at the same time feeling it was putting a lot of trust in them. Once a little way up I saw Dave and Kristin Hall climbing a ridge where it began while I saw Ernst and Randy Hall were going left and around a bit I figured it was perhaps to avoid a dip in the ridge. I went left but was behind when Randy and Ernst cut right. I cut right but still was behind enough to see that Randy and Ernst were staying left in the reentrant too much. Kristin and Dave could be heard with others more to the right. I cut right and got there better than if I?d continued following Ernst and Randy but I felt pretty slow and heavy on the climb. | ||||||
| 10. | 9-10 The group went a bit to the right. I was trying to make up ground and despite the marsh en-route, I was reading up and down incorrectly at first. I had to cut left at the end. Dave and Kristin were still ahead. | ||||||
| 11. | 10-11 Dave charged out leading madly straight toward #11. A lot of people started getting too far left. I realized that I just needed to get to the hill top and I made up some ground. Dave had done the leg better and was about gone when I got there but I did see Kristin and made up some ground on her. | ||||||
| 12. | 11-12 I went at this fairly straight but got hung-up in the green after the marsh. I went left a bit to get around it but this was longer or just slower than if I?d gone to the right. I think Kristin was behind me for a little bit. As I saw the wall to my right, I looked over and saw that Kristin was already near it, about to cross it. I crossed too and was happy to see Dave as Kristin was getting there. I punched. | ||||||
| 13. | +02:30 | 12-13 Leaving #12, I paused to drink and eat a Gu. If it were a triathlon, it would have been rated a slow transition. I got my Gu open and eaten okay but I fumbled trying to grab a cup out of the plastic bag. I couldn?t get the bag torn enough to grab a cup but eventually did. After pouring and drinking, I started to take off but after a few steps I realized that I?d left my map on the ground. Going back I got it and just started running. Kristin and Dave seemed long gone but running along the marsh, I eventually heard them. Perhaps they zig-zagged a bit. I saw Jeff Shapiro at one point. I didn?t want to hug the marsh on the left too much but vegetation was pushing me that way. Eventually the linear marsh exiting the big main one on the left, pushed me right back to the main marsh and onto a beaver dam, behind Kristin. While crossing, my foot went through some sticks and I almost fell. It just felt awfully slow trying to extricate myself and get across. I lost sight of Kristin. I became aware that Jeff and others were avoiding the dam and moving ahead to my right on better ground. Once across, I lacked a good plan and ran on bearing a short way. I hit a trail and cut left just a bit before Jeff got to it. I located myself but in doing so, I either ran off the trail or otherwise lost it. I wasn?t confident of my location. I trusted bearing again and soon saw Kristin coming from my right to my left on another trail. It turned the right direction in front of me so I got behind her and another younger male runner. Kristin was running fast and not pausing at intersections. I lost contact with the map but paused as Kristin and the other guy ran through one intersection that I thought we ought to turn left on. Another guy was closing in from behind me. I was lacking just enough confidence in my sense of where we were and didn?t want to waste time. I committed to following Kristin and the other guy and had to make up some ground. I did so but only enough to keep them in sight as they moved quickly. I realized we were coming to the control from the east when I would have preferred to do so from the southeast. Kristin gave a rare pause once in the felled area and looked back. I kept moving (slowly) and indicated I thought it was ahead. I made up some ground on them as the train moved ahead but still got there behind both. | |||||
| 14. | !3-14 Going to #14 was somewhat pleasant. There was less climb. We with right around the marsh. I was surprised at how it was not so easy to see from far away but no time was lost. | ||||||
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Total Time Lost - 00:03:00