Training Log Archive: britty327

Event: SLOC - Turkey-O
 

My GPS track won't upload to the computer :( Drove down to SLOC's Turkey-O, a 3hr Rogaine along the bluffs adjacent to the river. Before the race, they said the map would be 1:7500, then right before the start, they said 1:75k! Ended up being some sort of magnified 1:24k. Very dense and dark. You had to copy your map from the master and plan on the clock, which was a nice added element of pressure. The map was broken into a loop W of the Start, a longer loop to the E, and a carrot section of 3 CPs further E, which were 6k out and back. Initially, I went W, then realizing the map scale wasn't that big, I modified to the E, reasoning that I could decide later if I had time to go for those far 3, and if not, I should be able to clear the W loop. I picked off a few to get me up to the main ridge. At one point, I misjudged my distance attacking 24 and decided to come back for those later. I was with other ppl, and I tend to get distracted and sucked into their routes. I still ended up with Greg heading to the easternmost points, but the end of a ridge is hard to miss. CP26 was "quarry bottom." It was plotted on a hillside, which seemed odd. We dropped down to the road, and seeing nothing, went north. I could see it was wrong and turned back, eventually finding an old trail up the hill to a tiny and ancient quarry. Cool CP...a lot of ppl missed it.

At this point, decided to drop the far 3 and head back. Heading down into a creekbed towards a reentrant CP, I slipped on the icy leaves and landed flat on my back. A minute later, I noticed a crowd at the CP. A guy had slipped too, prob separating his shoulder. 4 ppl were with him, including silky and Matt and at least one other who was a Dr. He seemed to be compensating ok but was in a lot of pain. I went with them to the road then continued on. They saw him all the way to the medics. Kudos to them for sure! Finished the E side and crossed into the W loop. It was clean except for the final CP. I started to drop down with the plan to contour around to it, when I looked at the clue. Cliff top. I got nervous and went back up to the ridge. Turned out to be a small cliff along the reentrant. Headed back to the finish with 26min to spare. Those final 3 would have been a stretch to get. David cleared the course, and Greg beat me by 4 min, good enough for 3rd, although some didn't really get to compete due to the injury. Great (warm) day in the woods. Met some cool new folks, many interested in AR. Good community.