Race Evaluation
Mid Atlantic Champs-Nolde Park: Red
Nadim
| 1. | Started 2 minutes after Dave Onkst. After me, Andreas R. and Sergei F. followed 2 and 4 minutes respectively. I went out straight but got a bit left before correcting near the trail intersection. | ||||||
| 2. | Cautiously over to the old power line cut (now overgrown with trees) then down taking trails to the field. I cut in rather than go around the field edge corner and was surprised that I didn't see it under 10 ft. away. | ||||||
| 3. | Down to the trail the following it up to the trail intersection. I came down from there using the edge of the green to take me into the control. | ||||||
| 4. | As I left #3 the way I had come to it, Andreas was approaching it. I thought that my exiting this way might confuse a pursuer and it did cause him to at lease stop. He didn't appear to have climbed on the trail to get to #3 the way I did. Using the trails, I got to the intersection east of the control and took the right fork for a short way before cutting in. I aimed-off to the steep part of the broad reentrant then ran left along it to the control. | ||||||
| 5. | +00:50 | I passedd Dave O. coming back to #4 after having missed it, as was headed for #5. I didn't have a good plan of attack for this and just went straight. I saw the boulder NE of the control and thought I was on target but got too far left. The houses were just visible and seeing how far down one was made me realize that I had passed the control. I came back and saw Tobias and Dave O. Dave appeared to be running east and away from it but I thought he was still looking for it--he had already found it. A I neared and saw it, I got snagged in thorns, had to back out and come in another way. | |||||
| 6. | I ran out straight but a little high on purpose to succesfully cross the trail at the charcoal platform. From there I just stayed above the nasty vegetation and saw it. Dave had passed it off the the right a bit but I lost sight of him. | ||||||
| 7. | I ran up to the trail intersection and caught Tobias there. I rounded the first green with it on my left. I knew I needed to cross the ridge to the left but kept thinking I had to go the same direction I had been going in. I almost entered the second patch of green. Tobias went past me into it as I turned left getting over the ridge and between the green areas. from there it was only a few more steps to the control. | ||||||
| 8. | +03:25 | Weeee. Going straight and a little downhill toward the reentrant. I noted my location at the rocks before crossing. I attacked left of a reentrant and climbed a bit expecting to see it. I was on target but hadn't gone far enough and didn't see the second reentrant. I heard others below and to my right. Thinking I'd made a parallel error I dropped into it and climbed the other side, getting to the flat area. I came down again and Andreas showed up. We both climbed back to the flater area but through some nasty thorns. Dave Onkst showed-up. One other person came in, then another. Eventually I came to a dead stop and read the map while Andres went south, then into the wood where another person had been. When he came out, he was walking and calmly reading his map as if he were still looking for it. I ducked to see through some branches and sure enough, it was there. Dave saw me shooting for it. | |||||
| 9. | Coming up, I saw Andres go straight. I hit the trail turning left--I didn't want any more stinking thorns--they are very slow and painful too. I think Dave came behind me that way too. Cutting right, I slogged up the hill but it was much easier than picking my way through the thorns would have been. At the top, attacking from the second trail intersection, I descended slowly and tried unsuccessfully to make the vegetation match. The printed circle on the map hide one of the boulders along the way. Andres came in from my right. I stopped about 20ft. in front of it, not seeing it in the depression. Andreas realized it just a bit before me. We got there at the same time but I let him go first as I drank. Dave punched as I finished drinking, then I punched and took the split. | ||||||
| 10. | I rushed out quick and passed both Dave and Andreas. I knew I'd have to descend a little but at one point I thought I was going too low from a look at the bottom of the reentrant. I lost count of the shallow spurs. I stopped and climbed. Dave and Andreas caught up. I then moved ahead again, seeing the control a way off and getting there first. | ||||||
| 11. | +00:08 | Leaving #10, I took a step past the control getting on the other side of the rootstock. This leg cut back so I found myself on the wrong side of the big tree trunk. I dropped down to get around it. Dave and Andreas got ahead. It was an easy and short control leg so I thought there was no need to sprint to beat them to #11 at the bridge. | |||||
| 12. | I had a little trouble at first in reading the trails. Dave climbed right away. I took the lower trail left to the road with Andreas behind me. Being further right from us, Dave got on the bigger road to the right. I expected to see it or the smaller trail but could see neither for a few seconds. Andreas didn't appear to either. Finally seeing the trailhead sign, I realized the trail was right in front of me but obscured by a low ridge. I climbed and got just below the road with Dave on the road. I should have stayed on the smaller trail but instead went up for the bigger road/trail. Meanwhile, Dave had taken the shortcut up towrad the next switchback. I stayed on the road shuffling along on the easier grade and never saw either Dave or Andreas again in the race. I took trails over the top to the intersection S of the control. I ran around some the the thorns then reached the first rocky spur. I got a little left going for the second but corrected and spiked it. | ||||||
| 13. | I should have dropped down to the trail but I went straight across the rocky area. I slipped and landed backwards on my hands. At the bottom another older man was walking through the thick green. I cut right and punched through in a shorter distance. I climbed a bit across the first reentrant. I had to pause again in the circle to pinpoint the location acoss the forked reentrants ahead and think it saved me from a short wander in the circle like I often do. | ||||||
| 14. | Out the left a bit to get to better ground, then up the spur and old powerline to the first trail. I cut left on the longer route reasoning that the climbing later was similar and that I could open up some speed on the flat to downhill trail. I cut right before the trail started to descend the second time, near a boulder. I wanted to hit the climbing trail at its nearest point on the bend but hit below it. I came backward on it as I climbed up to the intended bend, then took it over the hill. I cut left on the next but was very temped to run the open woods on the broad spur down to the control--I heard later from Dave and others that this would have been bad since there were many unmapped rootstocks. I dropped on the trail and went in where a team of guys had stopped dead deciding whether or not the trail bend they were on was the right one. I did too for a second before going in. I got there first and only saw one rootstock. | ||||||
| 15. | +00:15 | I left in a hurry with the two guys behind me. I descended to cross the reentrant as I went straight. Along the way I realized the next leg climbed. I cut right climbing a bit more than necessary before cutting left again and dropping a contour or two to the control without having passed it. | |||||
| 16. | I went straight, funneling to the trail and old powerline intersection. Going straight from there I couldn't make sense of vegetation. I got worried about being too low in a low visibility area. I went up right a bit to get around some green then went left. I saw the lip of the charcoal terrace and ran to it even though I couldn't see the control until almost fully on the terrace. | ||||||
| 17. | Just up and straight. I should have taken the high route to the trail. I had to pause to read that the control was on the other side of the old powerline cut/growth. | ||||||
| 18. | I tried to run out straight but had to go left and right to get through and between the green. I wasn't enjoying the descent to the trail and didn't have a good idea of what the best route was. Crossing the trail, the woods opened up and I got moving. I crossed an intermittant trail and almost decided to follow it. It was better to keep going and I did. Just as I'd understood where I was approaching the road from a point between #14 and #15, I heard "AAAAGH!!!" from way behind me. I believe from conversations later that this was Dave Onkst's frustration coming out at the unmapped rootstocks near #14. It was well behind me and didn't sound like a fall. Being in full stride I kept going and descended just above the road/trail intersection at the bottom of the reeentrant. I attacked up from there, realized I was headed to a rootstock, saw the fallen tree trunk ahead and ran up to the rootstock. | ||||||
| 19. | Straight through the best green area on the map--it was better than some white wooded areas. I got a bit to the right and paused at the trail cut. I saw someone else to my left and ran over there looking for and finding the stone wall. I took that in just behind two people. | ||||||
| 20. | I passed one guy and stayed high going straight as the other guy angled lower. After the reentrant, the vegetation ahead looked bad so I dropped a bit to go around and then saw the control. The other guy had gotten there around the same time. | ||||||
| 21. | I ran straight up through the thorns and crossed the road. I started to go in the wrong patch of white woods. The map here showed a trail at the edge but there was no trail visible. I realized this was the wrong patch of white woods and cut left back to the road to the next. I ran straight to the boulder but was surprised how hard it was to see it until getting right on top of it. | ||||||
| 22. | I went straight through the woods where others had carved a new break in the thorns. I ran fairly fast and straight but not confidently. I spiked it. | ||||||
| F. | I took off pretty quick and almost missed the turn being near full speed at it. |
Total Time Lost - 00:04:38