Run race ((orienteering)) 1:41:36 [4] **** 11.5 km (8:50 / km) +380m 7:35 / km
spiked:21/26c
The good news was that today's results were highly encouraging for Australia's international prospects in 2009. The bad news is that the international prospects in question are those of our M35 and M40 contingent in WMOC.
In many ways this was a frustrating day because after Shep's withdrawal it was an eminently winnable race and I didn't win it. It was long(ish), it was green, it was technical and it was wet, all of which should have worked in my favour. A NSW win is high on my goals list as it's one of only two state/territory championships I've never won at senior level, and the window of opportunity to do something about it is closing faster than it is in WA where Craig's getting older at the same rate I am (or maybe it isn't closing, of which more later).
That said, there was a lot to be positive about today, starting with the area, the map and the courses. A kilometre rate just under 9 might indicate a long slog, but you always felt as if you were making progress - there wasn't much in the way of rockclimbing, scrambling or scrub-bashing. I was also happy with the way I was running physically, starting with the warm-up. Never really tired which is unusual for a long race. The main reason I lost was because I blew 2.5 minutes on control 8, not quite sure of the cliff lines and running just over the top of it. Also smaller misses at 7 and 14, drifting wide over the top of hills on both occasions, and at the end of the long leg at 20. Fastest in the field from 12 to the finish, but the damage was done and I ended up at the back of the closely clustered top four.
Liggo's result, probably the best of his career, is one that's been coming for a couple of years - he's been fit but hasn't really been able to put it together on the day in a big race. It would have been an interesting 'what if' if I hadn't missed 8. He may well have caught me anyway (he started 2 minutes behind and had cut that in half by 7), and while I was faster over the second half I don't think it would have been by enough to drop him in a head-to-head.
It is definitely a worrying sign for the future that the only four who were competitive yesterday are 41, 39, 32 and 37 (you can add into that mix Steve Craig and Jock Davis, who were 1-2 in M35A in similar km rates to use and walloped the M20s on the same course). It may be a partial defence that no-one under 25 has run a serious championship race in this type of sandstone terrain before (not that inexperience in the slightly-different pagodas terrain stopped Simon Uppill from producing his tour de force at Ganguddy in the 2004 NSW Championships), but there is a real hole in our ranks and not a lot of signs of people likely to fill it.
In the end, for me the result was disappointing, but the run showed potential for something better next week.