Tour De Linné - Stage 3
Stage 3 was a Wednesday night-O, run as a chase start with the leader going out first and everyone else behind, with some time formula that compressed the start field depth. The people who were more than 10 minutes back or didn't have a full result started 10 minutes back in a mass start.
Starting first in the men's recreational category with a 3 minutes lead, all I wanted to do was be very careful with my direction, stop if I needed to, take safe route choices, and just not blow it in the dark Lunsen forest. For most of the course, I managed just fine. Safe routes, good execution, one control after another, no one else in sight. When I got to the last control and saw the reflector, I was happy - the task was done, time to get to the finish and see how big my lead will be. So, run down to the trail, turn right and run to the parking lot. I ran down to the trail, turned right and ran. And ran and ran. When an unexpected trail crossing appeared instead of the parking lot, an alarm went off in my head. Starting to panic, I turned around and ran back along the trail I'd come on, thinking I turned the wrong way on the right trail. I ran. And ran and ran and ran. Then a huge stone appeared next to the trail and panic took over again. I plunged into the woods, hoping just to bash my way out to the big road. After running through some green swamps, I managed that and came out to the road. To add to my humiliation, I turned the wrong way on the road and took a few steps before finally turning the right way and running to the finish. This was about the most embarrassing mistake I've ever made, and it just goes to show that an orienteering race isn't over until you cross the finish line. I still managed to just barely keep my lead, but lost nearly 9 minutes and a whole lot of dignity on the 300 meter leg from the last control to the finish.
Results:
http://www.oklinne.nu/documents/documents_open.php...
Total standings:
http://www.oklinne.nu/documents/documents_open.php...
My map:
http://www.dxdeluxe.se/linnekartparmen/show_map.ph...