jjcote's comments - by leg
| 1. | Quite straight, most people went more to the right about 40% of the way up. Popped out on top with people ahead, but most of them were too far to the right, while I fought my way through the bushes in the correct direction. Had the leaders in sight as I arrived fourth. | |
| 2. | As I was leaving, people milling around confused glanced at me, but didn't seem to realize that I had already punched. About halway through this leg, a big wave of people washes by, and I overshoot a tiny bit, looping back from the far edge of the circle. As I arrive, I see Nadim passing by, looking like maybe he has just run by the control... | |
| 3. | Still lots of people around, and I read the map well, getting past Nadim shortly before the control. | |
| 4. | As I leave, I glance back and can tell from the way Nadim is looking at his map that he has just realized that he has to go back for #2. I see that the control is hung on a delightful little spot that I remember well from having fieldchecked this area, and am very pleased taht someonne has finally put a control there. I also know that the three little knolls up there exist only in the vivid imagination of Steve Key. I do this leg without really bothering to look at the map much, and my split doesn't seem to be particularly good. | |
| 5. | One glance at this and I knew that the road was the only viable option. Getting to it was a cinch, since this was my daily commute 10 years ago! I glance back occasionally on the road, and never see anyone behind me, although there had been several people close bhind at #4. Turn in at the trail just beyond the start triangle, and continue straight on the smaller trail after crossing the power line, then pretty much a beeline on a swath of flat white woods to the control. Looks pretty smooth, but as I was leaving, a bunch of people came up from the marsh. I hadn't seen them on the road, so my guess is that they gained a lot by staying closer to Lake Kanawaukee on the jeep trail. | |
| 6. | RIght around the marsh, then back to the purple line, passing fairly close below the first dam and running on the second one. | |
| 7. | The first of many occasions when I could feel myself losing ground on the road running sections -- I'm not very fast on pavement. Rockhouse first, after sucking down a bottle of zoom juice. With Daniel Schaublin here, and for most of the rest of the race, and with Ken Walker Sr. for the first part of this leg. Off trail just after marsh, and pretty much straight in. | |
| 8. | Down to reentrant, and up through a passageway in the green. Daniel thinks we're going too high, but I reassure him. Tim Good catches up. | |
| 9. | The green looks icky, so I head left to go around it and come up the trail. Looks like that wasn't too bad, based on the splits, although I think Tim caught up by going through the green after tying his shoe. | |
| 10. | Back to trail, and on the way down a take a bad fall and jam my finger, which is noticeably swollen now (36 hours later). Tim asks how we'll know when to cut off, and I make a wisecrack about pace counting, then say I'm sick of the trail and leave right then, while they continue. I stay pretty low, and comeup in just the right spot, but make a wrong turn in the last patch of laurel and get hung up for a few moments before popping out on the west edge of the circle. Daniel and Tim catch up. | |
| 11. | I realize that I'm drifting to the right as I go though the reentrant and up the slope, so when we top out and Tim and Daniel seem interested in a little terrace about 200 m E of where we need to be, I don't hesitate, but head left up the ridge. I get to the circle and believe I'm in the right place, but it doesn't look like there a knoll in the laurel, so I continue uphill, eventually getting to the knoll 150 m SW of the control, and crcle back. As Daniel is running down the ridge S of the circle and Tim is tagging along, I figure it out and dive into the green. | |
| 12. | When I emerge, Tim and Daniel are nowhere to be seen (and I never see Tim again). This was my favorite leg of the day, because this ridge was just so gorgeous. Control was on another imaginary Steve Key knoll. | |
| 13. | I had decided as soo as I picked upte map that the road route was the way to go, but I was enjoying the woods in this rarely-visited panhandle of the map so much that I decided to just go a little right of the line. Again, looks from the splits like this wasn't so bad. | |
| 14. | Went a little too far left and wound up near the clearings S of the circle. Daniel catches up at the control. | |
| 15. | Another bottle of Ethan-All at the map exchange. Did anybody else notice that somebody was making telephone syrup on the edge of Lake Kanawaukee? | |
| 16. | A bit to the left of the line. | |
| 17. | Right over the hilltop to avoid as much laurel as possible. | |
| 18. | SE to trail, followed it to stony reentrant, and through the white. | |
| 19. | Up and over - Daniel arrives first. | |
| 20. | Up to ridgetop for nice running. Sweet. | |
| 21. | Passed John Lee shortly after leaving the control, and later Valerie Meyer and Glen Brake, all on second loop. Through white corridor just below top of hill on N side, then around the green and in. | |
| 22. | Down through the tip of marsh, and popped out of green to see boulder much larger than expected. | |
| 23. | Thinking I was going to #24, I headed too far left, then when I saw a marsh instead of a road, I realized my error and headed straight into the marsh. Should have looked at the map more closely and gone even farther left, as I probably went through the worst of the green, popping out by the stone walls. Wasn't too bad, though. | |
| 24. | Ran on road for a short way. | |
| 25. | Sucked down my third bottle of Shaklee Performance. Took the road to the spot where it bends right, then straight. See John Fredrickson leaving control. | |
| 26. | Should have taken road, but instead take small path, and catch up to John. | |
| 27. | With Daniel and John running to camp and then up through saddle. We're really trudging on the steep part. | |
| 28. | We stay in the woods, fairly close to the base of the slope, and stay above the barberry. Bernard Breton catches up, having taken the road. | |
| 29. | Barberry spreads fast, and it's obvious that it's gotten worse since the map was fieldchecked. I lead the way through while my companions grumble. It's not that bad a route out, and we don't get too badly skewered. Basically NW to small curved trail, then big trail to parking lot. John take a slightly lower line at the end and arrives first. I eat a Gu on this leg and wash it down with some water at the control. | |
| 30. | I'm the last to leave #29, but I catch up. Everybody get to the reentrant, looks around and Bernie says, "It's not here, do we just go on?" I reply, "Nah, it must be down this reentrant". We head down, and John kicks himself for having just about run by it without seeing it. The consensus seems to be that it's somewhat low. | |
| 31. | There seems to be talk of going around the marsh to the right, or going all the way to the trail. I pooh-pooh these ideas, and lead the way after crossing the power line. Read features micely and spike it. | |
| 32. | Still leading the crowd, I recall from last fall that this trail junction is somewhat questionable, so I ignore it and rely on other features. Another satisfying spike. | |
| 33. | Daniel is fading back, and John pulls out ahead. DOwn to the marsh, and I scope out the far side, but see that it is indeed too thick over there, so retreat up the slope on the near side and pick up the faint trail. Cross when I see a building looming ahead of me, and head up into the camp. Bernie pulls back in from my right, and we go though the camp together and through the gap in the green on the powerline. Reading carefully up the hill, I finally lose it just as I'm appraoching the circle as ask Bernie if he thinks we're stil going the right way. He does, and a few moments later I spot the flag just off to my left. Very nice control. | |
| 34. | I ask Bernie if he wants to sprint of tie, and he says it's up to me, if I want to sprint he'll let me go. We stay a lttle too far left and finally hit the trail right at the bend, just in time to leave it and go for the boulder. | |
| 35. | And in with Bernie. |
Total Time Lost - 00:00:00
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