Race Evaluation
QOC: Westmoreland: Blue
Nadim
| 1. | 0-1 Not looking forward to an expected slosh in the bad weather and worried about how tired I was yesterday, I started about 10 minutes after Jon Torrance. Tim Good was to start behind by about 5 minutes. The three of us were to be the only ones on Blue. Starting down the park road, I paused when I saw the trail paralleling and took it. It was too early (1:20,000 scale and last week was 1:7,500) as it came back to the road but did not make any significant loss in time. I ran out to the spur off the trail bend. This seemed to be an Orange level control. | ||||||
| 2. | 1-2 Back to the road and across the open field, I angled across to the reentrant. It seemed that some orienteers on a lower level course were headed the same way walking. Dropping to the stream, I paused and looked down into the developing gully to see it. This seemed too easy for Blue too. | ||||||
| 3. | 3-4 I dropped to the trail and cut right. Upon seeing the valley open, I cut left planning to follow the stream up in what the map showed as white woods. Remembering the slow passage through the rhododendron from last year, I wanted to cross the stream but it was a lake from a "new" beaver dam (the map was 28 years old). Picking my way through more rhodo's, I finally crossed and then climbed high to get around it all. As the stream bent right, I dropped and hit it at the stream junction then followed the spur up to the knoll. When doing it, I had thought I did this leg poorly but after hearing about Tim and Jon's story after finishing and taking into account the map, I guess I did it okay. | ||||||
| 4. | 4-5 While driving-in, I had remarked to Jon that the new pine growth in-between #4 and #5 was a nasty looking dark green and not the light green shown on the map. I went south to go around. I hit the edge of the field and followed it to the road, crossing there (I wasn't sure if the field was legal or not). I ran off-line to the right toward each finger reentrant to the control. There was lots of deadfall and it was slow. I had thought to use the road more but there wasn't an clear place to leave the road so I didn't. | ||||||
| 5. | +04:30 | 4-5 While driving-in, I had remarked to Jon that the new pine growth in-between #4 and #5 was a nasty looking dark green and not the light green shown on the map. I went south to go around. I hit the edge of the field and followed it to the road, crossing there (I wasn't sure if the field was legal or not). I ran off-line to the right toward each finger reentrant to the control. There was lots of deadfall and it was slow. I had thought to use the road more but there wasn't an clear place to leave the road so I didn't. | |||||
| 6. | +01:00 | 5-6 Making my way back the way I'd come, but with a better line, I went around the firsts reentrant, then crossed the next. I remembered the next area from last year when I'd made a lengthy mistake in the same area. There was again lots of deadfall not shown on the map. I saw another QOC runner probably on Green or Red and followed him a way. For some reason, I cut right when I neared catching him and eventually got to where I could discern the field far to the NW of the control. I went to the field to be sure of where I was. Coming back, I went along the edge of the reentrant and then dropped down to run on the side of the hill not sure of exactly where I was. Fortunately I saw it a little below my line. | |||||
| 7. | 6-7 Just dropping into the marsh and running along the left side, I didn't find it very fast. Running on the hillside was slippery and running in the marsh was mucky-wet. Eventually I moved to the middle of the marsh, passing the runner I'd seen on the way to #5. I kept going only loosely knowing where I was (unlike last year). When things started getting too wet, I move up across the right side of one spur but realized it was too early. After dropping back down to the marsh, I went up and across the the next spur. Still not positive of exactly where I was, I cut right to climb out anyway. I could run most of it but had to walk some. At the top, I cut left and ran the ridge. At one point, I crossed a saddle that wasn't evident from the map. At the end of the ridge well before I'd expected it, I had to pause and read the map carefull before deciding to cut backwards to the right to drop into the reentrant with the control. | ||||||
| 8. | 7-8 Contouring around the spur, then down into the marsh, I ran through much of it careless of the water (and sleet). Going up the big reentrant on the left, I just kept near the stream until I could see the control. | ||||||
| 9. | 8-9 Back down the reentrant the way I'd come, I cut left at the bottom. The mud in the marsh was sucking at my feet and I tired. Cutting right, I thought I was in a reentrant one the the south of the one I climbed. I recognized this by the bending at the top and was able to set a correcting bearing across the flat top. The top was full of deadfall not shown on the map. I looked carefully at the reentrant before dropping down and was glad to spike it. | ||||||
| 10. | 9-10 Climbing across the reentrants seeemed too slow so I went straight down the reentrant to the marsh. In hind sight, Jon's route of contouring going along the right ridge of the reentrant made sense. The marsh was wet and sucked at my feet. Noticing I was 1:05:00 into the run, I tried to eat a Gu. My gloved hands were cold and I found it hard to do. I tripped a few times but finally stopped and got it in me. Even putting the trash in my pant pockets was too much to do so I shoved it in my pants. I felt better and kept a run through the rest of the marsh. I saw my footprints from the first run across it. Crossing the stream, I followed it until it bent to the left (N) side of the reentrant. From there, I gradually climbed and spiked the control. I was slow and tired on the climb. | ||||||
| 11. | 10-11 Going mostly straight on bearing up the hill (with some walking), I crossed the trail and came back down a spur. Crossing the big reentrant and climbing the one across, I expected to see the forking ditch but could not. Once I got high enough I thought I'd see the control at the forking ditch but going right, I found it. | ||||||
| 12. | 11-12 Tired but climbing out left reentrant at a jog, I cut left at the trail for a way. I remembered something with the trail being wrong so I didn't bother going all the way to the the bend before plunging back in across more deadfall to the reentrant with the control. | ||||||
| 13. | +01:00 | 12-13 The hilltops of the last couple controls were windy (headwind). I was pretty tired, wet and cold; very similar to last year. Dropping down to go around in the marsh didn't seem like it'd be fruitful. I decided to go south back to the trail an go around clockwise. The deadfall kept pulling me to the west right, so I never hit the trail. Fearing it was intermittant and that I'd crossed it without knowing, I cut right through more deadfall, finally hitting the main trail near the intersection in the green. The running on the trail was nice though wet. I cut right at the next intersection, following it untill just past the big reentrant on the right. Going along the ridge, I ran to the spur, looked across the bigger valley hoping to glimpse the control but couldn't even make-out the reentrant. I dropped to the foot of the spur, took a bearing and climbed to spike it. Even though I could see the control 50m away, I had to walk most of it. | |||||
| 14. | +00:15 | 13-14 Up to the road, I ran the road to second intersection and cut right upon seeing the control. I was too tired to read the map carefully and use the road on the right like last year. | |||||
| F. | 14-F Around the green and in tired. |
Total Time Lost - 00:06:45