Orienteering race 3:10:06 [4] 8.0 km (23:46 / km)
My first Ultra Long. I got spooked right out of the gate by the Thunder clap that happened after the mass start. I got knocked to the ground by a near lightening strike when I was backpacking once, so I am more cautious of thunderstorms than the average person. When I got out to control 61 I had to reorient to get it, then it was just the mud I was battling. I had very little traction in the old running shoes. The only other control I struggled with was control 65. I came from the NW of the control and the vegetation boundaries were not distinct enough for me to follow. I had to reorient and come up from the south to find it. Again, I was glad to see that I did not wander around long looking for it, but just chose another attack path.
When I got to control 7, I realized it was going to take me about 4.5 hours to finish. I did not want to be late so I headed to control 12 and then in. When I punched in Matt told me the time limit was 5 hours, so again I felt rather foolish. I read the meet director notes again and it says 5 hours, so my mistake. At control 12 I used the vegetation boundary to find the control, I had no problem following this boundary.
