https://photos.app.goo.gl/ET267X9o2iyACERj6
WOC Relay!
Anton didn't run as well as we were hoping so I started a good bit back, which is fine. We've certainly experienced that before. I was far enough back off the people in front of me that it seemed best to be cautious about pushing myself physically trying to catch them.
Since it seemed that many people were making large mistakes out there, I decided to aim to execute as clean a race as possible hoping that the minutes would disappear through their mistakes and my clean race. I did manage to close the gap a good bit, but only moved up one spot all told.
Based on my experience at other large relays, Jukola, Tiomila, etc., I knew that it's a whole different story when you're in a pack. The speed is just at another level, but I took my focus away from that and aimed it at a clean execution. In that goal, I succeeded.
Overall, I'm content with how I ran. The heat (31C/88F) was brutal and it was tough to strike a balance between running quickly and keeping your head on your shoulders.
The good news is that the terrain did not feel particularly technically challenging, just challenging to move through at "race pace." All the fallen trees and other obstacles covering the ground make it very difficult to maintain map contact and run fast. As in most races, the technical difficulty seems to increase exponentially to how fast you run. But here, take away the visible features and throw in some low-viz vegetation, and you've got a cocktail to bring down anyone who dares to run too fast. This is where I feel that Pennsylania's bland hillsides and thick vegetation have prepared me well. Others may feel that they're lacking details to work off of, I feel quite comfortable with finding a marsh on a hillside. It's easier than finding a charcoal platform ;)
So, it looks like everything's ready for a stellar race in the long. The hay is in the barn. Just gotta go do it.