Event (QBIII 3 - CHEC) 20:28 [4] *** 2.0 km (10:14 / km) +35m 9:25 / km
spiked:11/12c
Ran here 3 years ago so felt OK, but was very wary of being over confident. Had about 6 mins lead over 3rd and knew I shouldn't lose that much if I fluffed a control but absolutely must not DNF so punching was in slow motion. Just as well as a few people came undone.
Warmed up and pleased I did. Met quite a few people who'd already been out and they were shaking their heads and saying "lost time", "got confused" but surprisingly no one said "on wrong level" which I was expecting - possibly the big boys may have had that issue.
Only miss was a control that I was told was in the wrong place (or mapping issues) - not sure. All I knew was it wasn't where I wanted it to be. Sorted it out and on I went (#5).
Went possibly at 80% still on the basis of consistent and push when I can.
About 1 min down on today but still ahead of #3 person - YAY.
So retained 2nd position. Newcastle did very well throughout -maybe we got one over the Sydneyites who had to do the extra travel this time!!!
Nice chat afterwards with Warwick Davis and Andrew C-T, but didn't have to hang around/get controls in so helped with results board.
So 3 very different days - sand dunes, flat fast and sprint.
BBN did a fantastic job, admittedly assisted by a number of willing helpers in many different roles.
While being a sceptic, I think the "no start times" worked well.
And despite my nerves beforehand I managed to keep them under control and very happy with my return to the big time. Congrats to Vicki W who won our class - and I'm super pleased with my 3 days. 3 clean runs consecutively is 3 more than I've had in the past 5 years!