Nadim's comments - by leg
| 1. |
Did not plan ahead Confused parallel features Time Lost: 04:00 | S-1 I started at 10:02, one of the first starts of the day. G. Ackland was to go out before me on Blue but I wasnt sure what he looked like and didnt see him. I started straight up the hill, reading the map as I went. I decided to cut across the field but by the time I had made the decision, Id already climbed 2/3 of the way up. Guessing my location from the copse, I headed off into the woods w/o a good feature to identify exactly where I was. I hit the trail quickly and looked left. I had wanted to attack off the trail bend east of the cliffs, east of the control. The bend I saw ahead looked like it could be the bend I was looking for so I went east down toward a clearing. There was slash in the clearing and it was slow. At last under some cliffs, they looked very large. I suspected that Id come well past the control but wasnt positive until Id gone further and saw that the cliffs went much farther than they should around the control. Coming back west, I slowly crossed the slash again, ran under the cliff just in time to see Alar Ruutopold punchingalready having made-up 4 minutes on me. |
| 2. |
Confused parallel features Time Lost: 00:45 | 1-2 Running up the trails on the left side, chasing Alar and a West Point (WP) runner ahead of him, I caught up and settled in behind them to read. I didnt read well enough however because I decided to cut-in to the right but didnt know it was one reentrant too early. I had tried to use the trail bend and didnt use the rocks at the bend to pick the correct reentrant. The WP runner had gone ahead w/Alar but no sooner than I thought Id gone far enough than did WP runner come attacking from my left to the right. I surmised hed gone in too deep and that I was in the wrong reentrant so I turned north, dropped into the next reentrant and found it. Alar was long gone. |
| 3. | 2-3 Running north to the trail junction, I followed a little further to the U-shaped bend then cut in. At first, I saw the open running alleys and tried to make sense of the narrow yellow bands on the map. This was slow going. After unfolding my map further, I saw that the trail made an easy catching feature so I ran on bearing to the ridge. As I followed the ridge, my position was confirmed by the visible trail to my left. The ridge wasnt fast running but it got me there. | |
| 4. | 3-4 Going mostly straight, I crossed the slash and climbed the hill just west of the knoll that was north of the control. | |
| 5. |
Bad map reading Confused parallel features Time Lost: 06:00 | 4-5 There just wasnt a good reason for me making a mistake here. Call it bad map reading or very bad counting. I climbed the first reentrant and stopped at the top to look down. I somehow got it in my mind that the control would be below me. Looking at it, the growth seemed runnable and I figured the control was to my right. I dropped down and soon found myself in shoulder high thorny stuff with obscured fallen logs on the ground. After slowly making my way right and finding nothing, I went left and found nothing. Greg Walker, whom Id met last night, came through. Pretty soon after, so did the younger Dan Walker who in an expression of brotherly love, chided Greg for his orienteering skills. The reentrant I was in seemed not to be long enough so I started thinking I was in the wrong one. I went around the ridge on the east side to the next reentrant and started looking. It matched-up better but I still didnt find it so I climbed out, in-between the first and second reentrants. As I was trying to match-up features, I saw Alar coming up the correct reentrant from the low east side. I found out later that hed run off the map and was just heading out to the trails to relocate. In the process he had run right into the control. Hed gotten out of sight before I could tell he was punching but I decided to check that way too and found it. |
| 6. |
Bad map reading Time Lost: 01:45 | 5-6 With a nice longer leg ahead, I climbed to the top of the ridge which Id been on when looking for #5 and headed off somewhat straightish. I soon caught sight of Alar and caught-up just after passing control #2. We were wide right and had avoided the thick green after passing #2 I went left a bit. At the trail, Alar and I turned left but he turned in to attack much quicker. I went to where I could tell there was a sharp reentrant, then dropped down. I had trouble interpreting the symbol and contours as to which side of the reentrant it was on. Consequently, I hopped back and forth on the ridge left of the reentrant as I dropped down the hill. Eventually I saw the trail and knew I d gone too far. As I climbed back up, Alar and Dan Walker came across the reentrant from north, also realizing they were too low as they saw the trail. I think Dan figured it out first and certainly got there first, as we went to the south side of the ridge and found it. |
| 7. | 6-7 I chased Alar and Dan on a somewhat straight route. Dan got there first and Im not sure if Alar was ahead of me or behind. | |
| 8. | 7-8 I took time to read the map before starting off. I wasnt sure if Dan was running the same course or not. Alar got ahead of me while I did. A 4th person joined our chase too. We went fairly straight, not using trails. Dan was again first there. | |
| 9. | 8-9 As we went on a straight run to #9, the group started fanning-out. Dan was a little ahead, Alar on my right 30m and the other guy on my left 25m. I must have been running fairly straight more in-line w/Dan because I climbed two cliffs that I didnt really need to in getting there. I think I got there just after Dan w/the other guy and Alar right behind. | |
| 10. | 9-10 In what was getting to be an awkward situation, I read the map while Alar and the other guy zoomed off. We seemed to loose Dan somewhere around here. I didnt intentionally want to follow these guys but it took me longer to read and plan and Id decided they were going the best way. In a blur we were there. | |
| 11. | 10-11 With this being a short leg, I was guessing itd be trickier than it looked. Alar was off and running again so I was once again chasing. He seemed to go a little too far left, but then cut right. We climbed a bit, then found we were too far to the right and had to come over. | |
| 12. | Time Lost: 00:20 | 11-12 Still chasing Alar, the other guy seemed to disappear. We went straight but were too far left. At the top of the hill I was surprised at the drop-off but could see the control below on our right. I at first went left, because I thought I could get down there but thought better of it. Alar had gone right immediately, so I did too and we both found an easier reentrant to take us there. |
| 13. |
Bad route choice Bad map reading Confused parallel features Time Lost: 02:00 | 12-13 Alar drank then took off back up the reentrant hed just came down. After drinking quickly and looking at the whole leg with the marsh in the way of a direct line, I stayed in the valley and was a little relieved not to be following Alar again. I also felt a little guilty in that here was a mistake where I could have helped him with but he was already out of sight on top by then. I ran on a SW bearing, passing a woman and hitting the indistinct trail. Turning left I took this a way, thinking I was on the distinct trail headed toward the junction thatd take me to the trail/bridge crossing south of the marshy area. My gaitors had both come untied at the top and one was unzipping. Rather than trip, I stopped to tie-up both taking up about a minute. As I finished, I saw Alar coming from behind so I took off. The trail ended abruptly. Not knowing whatd happened yet, I went further on bearing, hit the distinct trail and turned left again. I wasnt clear where I was so I went past the first intersection and turned right at the next. It headed me in the right direction but at the lower intersection where I was supposed to continue to drop down, I saw the trail going up and bending right. A WP runner stopped here too, then proceeded in the right direction right across the slash. By reading, I realized I was one intersection too far east and followed the trail as it bent up, then back down the hill. In no time, I was ahead of the WP runner who was still stuck in the slash. I ran well, still thinking that Alar was behind me. Turning left after crossing the marsh, I used trails to get SE of the control. At the time, I didnt realize that I could have cut across more efficiently w/o staying on the trails for so long. I finally attacked from 250m SE, almost on the line from #13 to #14 (coming the opposite direction). I wanted to make sure not to make an error and moved slower up and down across the ridges. As I was dropping down for the last 100m, I was surprised to see Dan Walker again, heading up the hill I was descending. I figured hed just just a Blue course and we were now on similar return routes. In the last 30m, I was even more surprised to see Alar ahead, also running uphill after Dan. Back on the other side of the marsh, Alar had gotten ahead by taking a more direct route to the same trail crossing the marsh. |
| 14. | 13-14 Having just come on a fairly straight route from near #14, I knew it was slow going to cross the ridges as Dan and Alar appeared to be heading to do. I was also a little energized to be near Alar and Dan. I decided to go around the ridges on the right (west) side, using the trail first as a catching feature, then as a fast route to an attack point. It worked, with me hitting the trail just at the intersection that would carry me up and around the worst ridge, onto the right trail. Leaving the trail, I thought to use the ridge but got tripped-up by debris and unstable ground. I eventually got there just as Alar was coming in from the opposite direction. I didnt contest letting him punch first. After all, hed been in front for so many earlier controls. I was also glad that Id made up some time. | |
| 15. | 14-15 I caught and passed Alar near the trail crossings and locked-in on Dan Walker. He was moving okay but clearly not as fast as earlier. I later discovered that he had gotten two nasty heel blisters from running in new shoes and was at a great disadvantage. I dropped into the reentrant, passed Dan and climbed out to see and get to #15 first. T. Bruce, whom I dont think Id met before was just leaving. | |
| 16. | Time Lost: 00:15 | 15-16 I set a bearing and it lined-up with Toms blue O suite so I gave chase. As I neared, I could read the Quantico printed on his suiteI didnt recognize him but was glad to see a team mate. At the trail, I caught Tom but almost past the control by not looking left. Stopping and reading the map, I was starting to get confused as to which control I was at but as I looked left, Tom did too and punched first. |
| 17. | 16-17 I read the next leg as Tom got ahead. Cutting across the wood to the trail, we both ran the trail instead of the shorter straighter route. Pushing as I climbed the trail, I caught Tom just as we got to the control. | |
| 18. | 17-F Tom had taken the right side control punch stand at #17, thus forcing me to the left. I had wanted the right one because it was on the inside of the turn approaching #17 and a little lower on the hill. Tom got off first as I fumbled trying to find the right space on the control card to punchbut only by a step. I sprinted hard and he sprinted hard. I gained on him and then had the inside of the turn to the streamered finish, thus helping me just edge him out. |
Total Time Lost - 00:15:05
| Suggested Exercises | |
|---|---|
| map reading | |
| compass work | |
| distance estimation | |
| route choice | |
| route planning | |