Orienteering race 1:26:31 [4]
France O Week - M35, Day 5
Today was the chase start. I went out in 5th, about 2:30 behind 4th, and about 1 minute ahead of 6th and 7th. It was a bit of chaos at the start, with the odd sight of Eva Jurenikova affixing special bibs to the top five in each class.
I started well, and spiked the long second leg, which gave a lot of trouble to some people. As I came into 2, I saw the 4th place guy, which was very encouraging. After the short third leg, I decided to take a trail route around on the long leg to 4. The plan was to run down a steep field to a trail and then take it all the way around. I dropped down... and dropped and dropped, but the trail never came. Eventually I decided I must have missed it, so I cut across the nearby stream and bushwhacked through thick green up the slope until hitting the trail - which I had overshot by five contours or so. It must have been very indistinct where I crossed it, and then turned into a major jeep trail soon after. Five minutes gone, along with confidence and motivation.
I managed to drag myself along the trail and up to the control, and was surprised to see the 6th place guy come in as I was leaving. I ended up sticking with him for several controls. He was fresher, but the company helped drag me up the steep, steep climbs. At the end, I took a different route from him to 12, hoping to possibly get ahead, but executed poorly and finished a couple of minutes back, in 6th.
All in all, this was a great week of orienteering, and I am beyond pleased with getting through all the days of racing - something that seemed unachievable through the years of back trouble and rehab. Hopefully this is a step forward.
The competition itself was a blast - beautiful settings, good organization, ok terrain. The best part was the company - sharing a house with the Worners, Ross, Sam, ands Sofie, Neil, Martin, and Ian (or was it Will?) was a ton of fun and I would gladly do it again!