Orienteering race (Oceania Relay Champs) 40:48 [5] 7.6 km (5:22 / km) +140m 4:55 / km
Simon and Ian did a good job setting me off in 2nd in a bit of an island: 6mins back on NZ1 but 3mins ahead of NZ2. My heavy legs warming up seemed ok once I got going and I settled into a nice groove over the first half of the course which was through some very pleasant sand dune pines. I saw Chris Forne chasing me a couple of times on crossovers but didn't think too much of it. However, at #12 I banana-ed out to a track and for some reason started to get all negative that he was going to catch me. Sure enough further mistakes at #13, #15 and #16 meant he was onto me by #20. Don't know why I panicked like that - it was in the bag. So ensued 8 controls of hanging onto Chris, which I was able to do ok, but no chance of getting past. He strided out to the last control and that was that: 3rd behind two NZ teams. Not a very proud Aussie relay debut.