Run race ((orienteering)) 50:55 [4] *** 7.6 km (6:42 / km) +245m 5:46 / km
spiked:15/16c
Bendigo event at Crusoe. Mostly fairly open forest, as most of you saw at Easter last year (we weren't starting at the reservoir so there was, I presume, none of the grief over access that we had last year), though quite hilly early on. Ran decently, though lacked a bit of confidence in my footing on the steeper downhills (it had rained through the morning and the ground was wet and sometimes slippery) - not happy with my pace, though - I know it's Bendigo, but I should still be closer than 5.40 to David Brownridge on a course of this length (especially as I think he made more mistakes than I did). Took the high road on the route choice which may not have been the best option. The good news, though, was that the foot gave only the slightest of twinges (and that late).
This was the muddiest assembly area I've come across in Australia for a while; driving out was slightly adventurous (and it would have been worse for 2WDs).
There was a bit of thinking to be done on the way up. As some of you will know, relations between myself and one of my neighbours, number 3, have often been tense for almost as long as I've been here, and relations between numbers 1 and 3 have become downright poisonous. Number 1 is now on the market (they were looking to move to the country at some point, but I suspect the events of the last year have accelerated things), and the first open for inspection was today - the start of which mysteriously coincided with number 3 dumping a substantial quantity of rubbish on the nature strip. (When I asked him about it he said it was being collected "by a mate", but it's still there eight hours later). I await with some apprehension what might happen on the auction day itself (for which I'll be elsewhere, which may not be such a bad thing). All this has led me to conclude that I need to think seriously about looking elsewhere myself, although I'll wait and see how the auction goes (in both financial and other terms) and whether there's any major fallout for me from the Budget before making any commitments.