orienteering race (NOL long) 1:13:37 [3] 10.4 km (7:05 / km)
shoes: Inov8 X-Talon
George & I walked down to the carpark, breakfast in hand, just on daylight to shepherd Brown's cows (yes,I realise that's a mixed metaphor or something) for an hour or so and I made it to the start with 6 min to spare.
Started with Anna and I got tangled up in the one patch of grass which Sus & Lachlan hadn't got around to burning, so got a bit behind her, but then she went up one hill too early (a common occurrence, and the reason why Susanne had set the excellent long first leg) and I trotted around & up the gully, only slightly surprised to see the remote start as Anna came across the hill and was out of sight before I got to the first control. Then I ran nearly all of the course by myself. Worked out very quickly that I was faster along a clear gully (and some of them were very subtle) than across the rocky knolls, and used the same approach to bearings that I did last night. Even though I didn't benefit from any other runners around me I still liked the butterfly loops and the navigation involved. Liked the long legs too. Passed Clare on the short 20-21 up north and then on the long leg back south was pleased to see both Catherine and Ezy towards the end, confirming my bearing.
A solid run, never very fast but only real time loss was where I looked up the hill and saw something orange which I took to be my control on a boulder but which turned out to be some leaves about 100m further uphill than I needed to be (oops). I guess I do run comparatively better in terrain which hasn't much stuff underfoot for me to lift my dodgy hamstring over. Pity Tas won't be like that.
So many interstaters volunteered to collect controls that Susanne & Lachlan didn't have to get any themselves. I did go with Lachlan in the ute along their (hand-crafted) track to the remote start to then walk out and collect water kegs - which were almost full; but on a hotter more humid day that could have been very different, so the water needed to be out there. We were home with the truck unpacked by 5pm and then three exhausted sweaty filthy little rascals jumped in S&L's pool.