Race Evaluation
2008 UNO Club Championships - Beaver Brook -- Brown Lane Barn,: Blue
ParkSchool
| 1. | Took high road along easternmost trail option to bend, then ducked through thick vegetation to run along very nice shelf along edge of slope before dropping down into reentrant. Very surprised to see Ernst punching as he had started two minutes before me. | ||||||
| 2. | Roughly on line bearing off to E to make sure I had handrail if I needed it. Ernst in close proximity though generally off to my left until the end. | ||||||
| 3. | Due S generally running along the vague ridge line while Ernst disappeared off to my left. Noted blazes of indistinct trail, but unable to follow it effectively as it seemed significantly overgrown. Hit EW trail just south of marsh, then angled to wall and then through saddle to flag. | ||||||
| 4. | L of line on compass to trail, then leaving trail before green to run along edge of marsh. | ||||||
| 5. | R of line through field, then on line to just right of intersection of old mapped trail and 2nd new trail. Aware of Ernst overtaking me on L at this point. Crossed reentrant, then up to flag. | ||||||
| 6. | R of line straight down fairly steep hill, electing to slide at one point on butt, until I encountered unpleasant protruding stone. After crossing road, ran along wall to pick up trail before crossing stream. Ernst just ahead as we ran through corner of field, then he chose more western trail option as I took more direct trail option at complex intersection. Crossed stream just before bridge, then able to pick up broad reentrant leading up to flag. Ernst appeared again at flag, coming in from my left. | ||||||
| 7. | Rough contour to trail, then around prominence which appeared somewhat more rocky than mapped. Had to angle up the hill at the end. Ernst grabbed lead again after crossing trail. | ||||||
| 8. | Climbed high to trail while Ernst stayed low. Crossed wall at hairpin curve on trail, then crossed stream and ran up reentrant through saddle and down to flag. Ernst appeared punching just after me. | ||||||
| 9. | +00:30 | Uphill across wall and then along trail. Saw apparent boulder higher up a little earlier than expected, but couldn't avoid climbing up to make sure I wasn't missing control. Contoured along hillside to correct boulder, now again slightly behind Ernst. | |||||
| 10. | Angled downhill to cross stone wall above trail, then more steeply downhill to pick up trail. Departed trail at SW corner of lake, then W to pick up reentrant. Nosed ahead of Ernst again at flag, which was particularly faded and hard to see in the gloom. | ||||||
| 11. | Now entering the dreaded technical area of the map. Tentatively uphill on line from trail/wall intersection with Ernst forging ahead a bit more confidently. Checked out reentrant 50 m short of flag thinking it was a depression, then realized I still needed to climb more. Ernst still drinking as I arrived. | ||||||
| 12. | +06:00 | Left without good strategy in mind. Thought there was a small ridge line to follow, although closer inspection in good light indicates the perceived ridge was actually depression. Thought I would be able to look down on flag if I stayed a bit high, but also made mistake of believing I was looking for another depression and not the top of a small rise. In any case, didn't see what I was looking for, and became totally disoriented. Eventually bailed out to the trail and tried to work my way back, but still looking for depression. Finally checked the control description, and at least started looking for an elevation with ultimate success. My traveling companion fared better than I, and was not seen again. | |||||
| 13. | Is it just me, or is this area almost impossible to read. Even in good light, without a wet map and recycled map case, I can't tell up from down. Headed out on compass bearing hoping to read rocky features slightly N of line as I got close. Rcognized broad reentrant roughly 100 m E of flag, then worked my way R around the rise and SW up the reentrant. | ||||||
| 14. | +01:15 | Tried to continue up the reentrant, but it petered out, and I couldn't read map, so I tried to bail out to high ground W of line, but still not confident I knew where I was. Finally, just headed S hoping to relocate on rocky features. Task became much easier when I stumbled back on #11. Even from there, was hesitant and a little too high, but able to recognize boulder pair 50 m NE of flag. Was very relieved to find flag without further damage. | |||||
| 15. | +01:00 | Was sick of being out of contact with map, so ran SW to closest trail just to reestablish some semblance of confidence. From there, trail run around to W of flag might even have been reasonable, especially given the climb on the alternative, but did not recognize this factor until I was already committed. Stayed on trail for too long, but at least knew where I was when I left just S of the small pond. Able to recognize dot and form knolls E of flag in logged area. | |||||
| 16. | On line across river to trail, then cut corner at trail bend. Departed trail at trail bend after trail intersection, and ran last several 30-40 meters up stream bed. | ||||||
| 17. | +00:15 | Out to trail, then hesitated as I saw slope falling off to SW rather than anticipated NE. After closer inspection, I recognized that I was reading contours totally backward, and was able to head for fairly obvious elevation in front of longish cliff. | |||||
| 18. | Ran N to trail (probably rashly), then crossed open area on trail. Was again concerned about inability to read high degree of detail, so ran parallel to wall until I hit the small pond. This proved an excellent attackpoint as flag was visible from 100 m away from this direction. | ||||||
| 19. | On line bearing off slightly to R. Was hoping to pick up the line of rocky features SW of flag. Was able to recognize narrow reentrant 150 m SW of control and then run to the right of the linear elevation and then down to flag. | ||||||
| 20. | Contoured hillside to trail, then through flattish area before picking up flag again from a distance. | ||||||
| 21. | Running on compass bearing with safe catching features if I drifted to L. Actually felt like I navigated fairly accurately, if somewhat slowed by poor conditioning. | ||||||
| 22. | Tried to run just S of line to avoid green area in marsh. Felt like I had crossed at SW tip of marsh, but the wound up too far to R and hit EW trail. Ran back along vague ridge line, but still wandered briefly in circle. | ||||||
| F. | Ran SE toward trail, but wound up hitting EW trail rather than anticipated NS trail. Turned L for about 20 m before peeking at compass and realizing mistake. Run in was very slow as I had no energy going up hill after crossing stream. |
Total Time Lost - 00:09:00