orienteering race (The Murdering Shed) 1:47:28 [3] 9.4 km (11:26 / km) +370m 9:33 / km
shoes: Inov8 Oroc spikes
Not a classic course-setting style for a long race as we didn't have any super-long legs but there was route choice and although in this sort of spur-gully terrain you can switch off, it's necessary to switch back on at some point, so the mental challenge was still there, particularly in the legs along the flat green low-vis creek sections. Navigationally I was ok, fairly clean apart from some wider routes than necessary or contouring slightly high and then having to drop into a control, but physically my legs had nothing and I was walking even slight hills. Tried to run the ridges though because they were pretty good going, especially in contrast to the green gullies (found myself following in the creek channel for a couple hundred metres 4-5 because there just didn't seem to be a place to get out - eventually I told myself that I'd just bash through it on a rogaine, so I did, but that may have been how I got a strange rash on both hips, from the vegetation. Think I had something similar after Capertee).
Was passed by Briohny on the way to 6, and at 9 saw Rachel West coming into the control as I was leaving it, so expected her to pass me soon, which happened on the way to 13 and Briohny went past again also (think I'd had more joy in this green section than many people) and I was trying to keep them in sight to 14 but after that they hit the track before me and were out of sight pretty quickly yet as I was leaving 15 there they came again, having presumably overrun the turnoff to the very faint track down the hill. We chased each other through the next few controls and I worked out the blackberry thickets on the second-last before they did although my route was a little too direct and now I have a beautiful scratch/bruise. Found myself walking to the last control but the other girls were pretty buggered too so didn't pass me. Was kind of pleased that I actually finished this off feeling a bit stronger than I had been earlier in the race. Still a very long way down, of course, but then I would have been even if running W40.