Race Evaluation
2002 Billygoat Run:
TimGood
| 1. | No real plan for today other than I was not going to go out with the leaders. Still tired from the Flying Pig last week and felt it on the first uphill. Followed the crowd up parking lot to trail. (1) looked like it could have been a skip choice but I should have done it before starting up the trail. Behind Eddie and Ted early but they pulled away and later was near Marty and Bob Lux. | ||||||
| 2. | Could not decide to go low or high so waffled and did neither and had lots of people pass me. Got more E than expected and through a lot of crappy woods I should have avoided. Eventually came in from the E. Peter Gagarin came from W just in front of me. | ||||||
| 3. | skip Followed Peter and Dave Onkst and Brad Whitmore who were also following Peter out to W and then trail S. At the jct they turned W. I had intended to go to (3) and thought we were going to go to bend then use the stone walls. Realized they were skipping (3) and made a comment to that effect. | ||||||
| 4. | At this point 3 looked like an ok skip. I did not see much else that looked good. (Perhaps I should have unfolded my map and then I might have seen (16). From the trail bend we went straight in. Besides Peter, Dave and Me there were several others. I seem to recall Bernie Breton, Alan Young, and Dan Schaublin. | ||||||
| 5. | Since this was a short leg I thought about pushing hard and trying to win a leg. Went a little harder and accomplished little except I was no longer following Peter. Starting to rain. | ||||||
| 6. | Greg Balter came past with Eddie Bergeron only a little behind. Our pack strung out a bit as we made variious efforts to stay with them. I got away from the the group but lost track of where I was as I neared the control and was caught again. Greg and Eddie were gone. | ||||||
| 7. | Crossed thru part of swamp with Alan while most of the others went around to left. Huge mob on the trail as those who had not skipped (3) passed us. Ted Good and Randy Hall were among those I recognized. Ted led Dave and I up early while Peter and most of the others stayed on the trail a bit longer. Made little difference either way as there was a steady line to the bag. | ||||||
| 8. | Tried to stay with Ted but could not keep up in the rocks. We had stayed high to long and those who cut low early found much better running and passed me. (but not Ted) . Just before the bag I followed Peter up the wrong spur but we could see the control from there | ||||||
| 9. | The lead pack had passed thru by now and I think only Dan managed to stay with them. Peter, Dave, Brad, Bernie and I were all still together. At the trail tip everyone takes the high route except Peter. We are getting to high after going around the reentrant before the control so I head right to get lower. Surprised to see a CSU suit (apparantly Will Hawk) Look down the reentrant and there is Peter coming up from below. Only Bernie is with me from our high group. | ||||||
| 10. | Bernie and I tuck in behind Peter again. See Dave and Brad as we head out toward 10. Last we see of them. Glasses got knocked off and I cannot get them clean enough to see much of the the map. Follow Peter down small trail. | ||||||
| 11. | Trail. | ||||||
| 12. | Peter is in and out while Bernie and I stopped for a drink . I drank about 10oz of ERG but must rush so Peter does not get away. Peter slows on the first uphill and we are right back behind him. Trail . | ||||||
| 13. | Back to trail for a bit. Someone in blue (Mike Olsen?) is also with us and stays on the trail a bit longer. Going up the stream to the control I get ahead of Peter. | ||||||
| 14. | If I am going to leave Peter it will be now on the long trail run. Take trail to R of pond. John Frederickson and someone else race past but I cannot stay with them. After the lake I am cutting to the next major trail and come across a lot of trails and jcts I cannot find on my map. Cannot find anything since this part of my map appears to be smudged with mud inside the case. (holes in the mapcase have let water in and the printing has rubbed off) Bernie and I stop at a trail jct pondering and Peter catches back up so we fall in behind him again. Just before the elbow bend W of the control, the person in blue pops out ahead of us. Around the marsh on N side while Peter goes between the two marshes. Bernie and I do not see the cliff as we go by and are headed to far E. I check behind me and see the control and Peter sneaking in to it. | ||||||
| 15. | At this point I admit defeat and follow Peter the rest of the way. We see Sharon Crawford on the way to (9) | ||||||
| 16. | Followed Peter. We pick up Dan Schaublin somewhere in here. Except for Tim Parson we now have the same pack we finished with last year.; Peter, Dan, Bernie and Me. | ||||||
| 17. | With the addition of Dan, I think we sped up a bit but Peter is stiill the designated orienteer. | ||||||
| 18. | I see that 18 and 19 look to be trail runs and wonder if I should try and force the pace. Decide not to since my glasses are so wet I cannot see much more than that. Would feel bad about outkicking Peter since he has led me around the course. Would like to beat Bernie but he seems to have gotten a 2nd wind. A few control ago he was lagging, now he looks strong. Dan is probably the toughest of the group to beat. I am careful to always use the same punch as Bernie, since I found out last year Dan is a slow puncher. | ||||||
| 19. | I am last out to the trail and closing fast when I almost take myself out on the chain at the trail head. Manage to stop and go around but am now back a few seconds. Run hard to stay in contention in case someone falters or botches the punch but figure I will be last of the group again. | ||||||
| F. | Should have stopped to admire the code at (19) since it is my control, but run fast to stay close. I resolve that next year if it comes down to the finish kick I will put a real effort into it. 24th overall, 5 worse than last year but better than I expected. Might get my initials on a bag again. Thanks Peter for leading me around and HVO for all the hard work. |
Total Time Lost - 00:00:00