Orienteering long 6:30:35 [3] *** 31.1 km (12:34 / km)
shoes: VJ Falcons 2
Hudson Highlander XII. One of the more physically and mentally challenging Highlanders. A warm day, probably reaching the upper 70's. Met the primary goal for the day, finish the race to keep the streak alive (11 so far - didn't start the first Highlander). Came very close to a second goal, avoid cramps. Only cramped once on the first leg of the second orienteering loop (just after the trail run). Mostly walked from then on, with an occasional short jog.
Had significant problems with two legs, #2 (King of the Mtn) and #11. On #2 I drifted south of the line I thought I was on and made all the features match. Ended up on the open hilltops about 500m south of the control and then headed north until I found other people searching for the control. Probably lost about 15 min. On #11 I took the more southerly route where the nice trail through the laurel shown on the map was quite overgrown. Spent much more time in the laurel than is pleasant and finally used the laurel/swamp interface to get myself out. Probably another 15 minutes lost.
At #12 hooked up with Susie Dewitt, Dave Levine, and Chris(?) and we stayed together for the rest of the race. Team orienteering certainly helped on the relatively technical last loop.
Actual orienteering distance was 24.9km (measured by J-J). I covered 31.1km as measured by the forerunner. Climb was accurately described a "loads".
Another fine Highlander put together by the HVO team. Thanks to all the volunteers who make it possible.