Discussion: Some WRC results
in: Orienteering; General
May 11, 2004 6:38 AM
#
I was looking around for these for a while, and I finally found a write up from Vlad on the BAOC email group. Congrats Vlad on a good performance, despite the altitude sickness, and for being the first to writeup their experience (that I found, anyway...) Here's the writeup.
From: Vladimir Gusiatnikov
Date: Mon May 10, 2004 6:43 pm
Subject: 6th WRC
ADVERTISEMENT
Eric and I placed 6th, which was almost exactly equivalent to
Vytenis' and mine placing at the 5th WRC. An elite AR team, Nike ACG,
composed of Mike Kloser and Michael Tobin, won. They beat the
perennial favorites Greg Barbour and David Rowlands, the winners
of the 4th and 5th WRCs, by 10 points. So, the Americans have won
the WRC for the first time! Besides Nike, the teams that beat us were
almost exactly the same teams that beat Vytenis and me at the 5th WRC,
in the same order...
It was a somewhat disappointing placing for Eric and an
OK result for me. Eric was in a vastly superior shape compared to me.
This was not a large problem, however, until I got altitude sickness
at 3:30 am on Sunday. We slowed down dramatically after that but still
kept moving. I estimate about 121 km total route distance; will
measure. We made the best out of a nasty situation; many teams---
I'd estimate as many as a third---had to come in early due to one
or more of the teammates disabled by sickness. It is one thing to
do a RMOC 1000-day, when you run for an hour a day for 10 days or
so. It is a similar thing to run a 50-km at altitude. It is a
different experience to have to keep going for 24 hours at 8800+
feet. It was uncharted territory for both of us, and now I know what
borderline hypoxia feels like...
There were a lot of things that went perfectly for us that
broke down for other teams. Besides dealing acceptably with altitude,
we had a near-perfect feeding/hydration/electrolyte-replacement
routine (thanks Eric!), the lights worked perfectly, we replaced
a lost compass, etc. Our planning was quite adequate and somewhat
similar to that of Rowlands and Barbour. But there was one major
flaw in our planning that, if had been corrected, would have given
us a shot at placing even with my sickness. As usual with me,
we planned for a "slow" (mostly-walking) first loop and a "fast"
(1/2 or more running) second loop. There were two distinct terrain
types, and nothing in the course notes indicated the relative
runnability of the two. The controls near the hash house were in
the forest, and the perimeter of the area was (roughly) fields.
We planned on the forest for the first loop, and an "umbrella"
second loop in the fields, at night and in the morning. We
reasoned that the forests would be more rugged, where running would
not give as much advantage over walking, compared to the fields.
Well, the forests were not unlike Lake George, Florissant,
etc. Blazing-fast pine woods. The slopes, looking scary on the
6-ft-contour map, were not much to write about. In the forest, we
averaged about 5.5 km/hour just walking! We added another 9 km
on the fly to the first loop we had planned, and came into the hash
house right on schedule around 8:45 pm Saturday. The rest stop was
43 minutes---the best I'd ever done, thanks in a great part to my
sister who was our team crew---and we were off on the second loop...
We expected to cover 80+ km on the second loop, reasoning that we'd
be able to run some, and average 6.5 km/hour. Well... the fields
had a cover of small rocks. And hummocks. With few exceptions. Yes,
one could see far, and the navigation was primitive, but to run in
the fields was tough and not really sensible. We ended up maxing out
around 6 km/hr even before my sickness, and averaged <5... The better
routine, which Barbour and Rowlands employed, was to go fast in the
beginning, running in the forest, and take it easy at night in the
fields; still do the fields mostly at night because of the good
visibility. Oh well. Rogaine demands mental flexibility, and it we
didn't quite have...
Vladimir
From: Vladimir Gusiatnikov
Date: Mon May 10, 2004 6:43 pm
Subject: 6th WRC
ADVERTISEMENT
Eric and I placed 6th, which was almost exactly equivalent to
Vytenis' and mine placing at the 5th WRC. An elite AR team, Nike ACG,
composed of Mike Kloser and Michael Tobin, won. They beat the
perennial favorites Greg Barbour and David Rowlands, the winners
of the 4th and 5th WRCs, by 10 points. So, the Americans have won
the WRC for the first time! Besides Nike, the teams that beat us were
almost exactly the same teams that beat Vytenis and me at the 5th WRC,
in the same order...
It was a somewhat disappointing placing for Eric and an
OK result for me. Eric was in a vastly superior shape compared to me.
This was not a large problem, however, until I got altitude sickness
at 3:30 am on Sunday. We slowed down dramatically after that but still
kept moving. I estimate about 121 km total route distance; will
measure. We made the best out of a nasty situation; many teams---
I'd estimate as many as a third---had to come in early due to one
or more of the teammates disabled by sickness. It is one thing to
do a RMOC 1000-day, when you run for an hour a day for 10 days or
so. It is a similar thing to run a 50-km at altitude. It is a
different experience to have to keep going for 24 hours at 8800+
feet. It was uncharted territory for both of us, and now I know what
borderline hypoxia feels like...
There were a lot of things that went perfectly for us that
broke down for other teams. Besides dealing acceptably with altitude,
we had a near-perfect feeding/hydration/electrolyte-replacement
routine (thanks Eric!), the lights worked perfectly, we replaced
a lost compass, etc. Our planning was quite adequate and somewhat
similar to that of Rowlands and Barbour. But there was one major
flaw in our planning that, if had been corrected, would have given
us a shot at placing even with my sickness. As usual with me,
we planned for a "slow" (mostly-walking) first loop and a "fast"
(1/2 or more running) second loop. There were two distinct terrain
types, and nothing in the course notes indicated the relative
runnability of the two. The controls near the hash house were in
the forest, and the perimeter of the area was (roughly) fields.
We planned on the forest for the first loop, and an "umbrella"
second loop in the fields, at night and in the morning. We
reasoned that the forests would be more rugged, where running would
not give as much advantage over walking, compared to the fields.
Well, the forests were not unlike Lake George, Florissant,
etc. Blazing-fast pine woods. The slopes, looking scary on the
6-ft-contour map, were not much to write about. In the forest, we
averaged about 5.5 km/hour just walking! We added another 9 km
on the fly to the first loop we had planned, and came into the hash
house right on schedule around 8:45 pm Saturday. The rest stop was
43 minutes---the best I'd ever done, thanks in a great part to my
sister who was our team crew---and we were off on the second loop...
We expected to cover 80+ km on the second loop, reasoning that we'd
be able to run some, and average 6.5 km/hour. Well... the fields
had a cover of small rocks. And hummocks. With few exceptions. Yes,
one could see far, and the navigation was primitive, but to run in
the fields was tough and not really sensible. We ended up maxing out
around 6 km/hr even before my sickness, and averaged <5... The better
routine, which Barbour and Rowlands employed, was to go fast in the
beginning, running in the forest, and take it easy at night in the
fields; still do the fields mostly at night because of the good
visibility. Oh well. Rogaine demands mental flexibility, and it we
didn't quite have...
Vladimir
May 11, 2004 7:01 AM
#
PG:
Fred Pilon and I won the men's super vets (age 55+) but with a rather feeble performance, 2470 points (max possible was 4020, best was about 3400). But Fred was sick most of the time and we quit about 3 hours early.
On the other hand, we made no mistakes (well, maybe 30-45 seconds if you want to count everything). The map was excellent, the visibility very good, so the orienteering was very easy in the daytime if you kept your concentration. The night was more interesting/challenging.
I'll post my routes later on Tuesday. For now I'm in Chicago, victim of bad weather, still trying to get home.
Sharon and her Australian partner were first super vet women, first vet women (40+), and second overall women! I think Joe and Pavlina were first mixed vets. Can't remember the other placings, but a number of U.S. teams were in the top three.
First class job by the Tucson club as host!
Peter
On the other hand, we made no mistakes (well, maybe 30-45 seconds if you want to count everything). The map was excellent, the visibility very good, so the orienteering was very easy in the daytime if you kept your concentration. The night was more interesting/challenging.
I'll post my routes later on Tuesday. For now I'm in Chicago, victim of bad weather, still trying to get home.
Sharon and her Australian partner were first super vet women, first vet women (40+), and second overall women! I think Joe and Pavlina were first mixed vets. Can't remember the other placings, but a number of U.S. teams were in the top three.
First class job by the Tucson club as host!
Peter
May 12, 2004 12:45 AM
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PG:
I've posted my routes and more comments at http://users.crocker.com/~pg/2004/2004index.html
May 12, 2004 4:50 AM
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From the peanut gallery of non-competitors lurking around the world, thanks to Vlad, Wyatt and Peter for your cryptic comments in lieu of results....hope we'll see the final standings soon!
Clark Maxfield
Clark Maxfield
May 14, 2004 2:18 AM
#
Results are posted
http://rogaine.tucsonorienteering.org/index.htm
Michael Tobin and Mike Kloser from USA first!
Greg Barbour, David Rowlands second and first veterans.
David Baldwin, Julie Quinn first coed.
Pavlina Brautigam, Joe Brautigam first veteran coed.
Peter Gagarin, Fred Pilon first super veterans.
Victoria Campbell, Jennifer Knowles first female team.
Sharon Crawford, Robin Spriggs first veteran and super veteran female team.
http://rogaine.tucsonorienteering.org/index.htm
Michael Tobin and Mike Kloser from USA first!
Greg Barbour, David Rowlands second and first veterans.
David Baldwin, Julie Quinn first coed.
Pavlina Brautigam, Joe Brautigam first veteran coed.
Peter Gagarin, Fred Pilon first super veterans.
Victoria Campbell, Jennifer Knowles first female team.
Sharon Crawford, Robin Spriggs first veteran and super veteran female team.
This discussion thread is closed.