in: Leanimal; Leanimal > 2007-01-13;
| # Posted 2007-01-16 17:57:19 | |
| Bash: | Leanimal modestly fails to mention that she came within 2 minutes of winning the event overall, but was edged out by a guy who won his age group in the 2006 North American Orienteering Champs. So she was the top adventure racer at the Tree Hugger AR party, and 2nd of 46 competitors in the field.
The secret to her success? In addition to a having a great run (which she must have done), Leanimal spent more time planning her route than almost any competitor there, and had even planned her gear to suit this course perfectly, arriving with an indelible pen hanging around her neck on a cord. In a race where the top competitors were bunched closely together (and several of them would beat Leanimal in a pure running race), these small details made a difference. Just as a side note... I'm not a fast racer, but I always read race instructions and rules very carefully, as Leanimal did, and that's something I always advise new adventure racers to do. Anyone can read carefully and plan their gear well; it's easier than doing hours of athletic training and sometimes results in the same gains. The nuances and details in the race info have often given our team an advantage in races - and when I've missed a detail, we've usually screwed up! (Ask Slice how far off-course I made us run in the Chuck Norris Classic.) I was interested to see that a few experienced racers barely read the THI instructions/rules, and a couple of them didn't even want a copy (but I insisted). As an example of how important this could be, some racers didn't know that there was a 90-minute time limit with penalties for late arrival - ouch! Others didn't know that travel on roads was banned, tsk, tsk. So... three cheers for Leanimal! Girls rule!! |
| # Posted 2007-01-17 00:17:08 | |
| Leanimal: | Thanks Bash - yes I do like my time with my maps. Phatty said he was just trying to emulate a THOMASS race for practice by not planning too much but as I recall he had his map for a while too. Race instructions are important, especially for those races in the US... |
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