Orienteering 47:15 [4]
Strong race on incredibly technical Middle Course at COC Champs in New Brunswick. 30 minutes on model map was great help trying to adjust to steepness of 5m contours on 1:7500 map -- easy to under-estimate vertical and over-estimate horizontal. Lots of big knolls; also lots of sink holes due to collapsing land into old white gypsum mine. Somewhat familiar to Kettle Moraine terrain of SE WI. As in WI, I found it hard to find flatter routes between hills and sinkholes.
Made 4 errors but kept mistakes small -- only 3 minutes of errors -- 6th of 17 in M65.
#4: chose direct over trail route -- good execution and expected marsh to be "above" trail but not 20 feet up -- stayed close, hit on 3rd try.
#5: Could hold line 100m to road and field -- sink holes and hills too big and had not bothered to read the map -- looked too easy -- pushed right to trail - good recovery.
#6: Aggressive, read trails well, but missed a junction (too hard to see on bare rock?) -- hit large trail and bounced back. Also lost 20s when I hit a small hill on downslope in field, rolled nicely but landed butt first in larger hole -- with 2 legs, 2 arms up, it was hard to get up! Quite a scene for 2 walking orienteers just ahead of me.
Course became easier for me when we entered flat maze of ponds and marshes -- maintained focus! Lots of big errors made in both terrains - quite the terrain for COC middle!
Near record high temps over 30C