Run race ((orienteering)) 1:55:29 [4] *** 14.7 km (7:51 / km) +420m 6:52 / km
spiked:20/23c
A considerably better performance today, with just three small wobbles costing maybe 15 seconds apiece, two at the set-compass-and-pray 14 and 15 in flat country, the other an annoying one going in one gully too soon at 20. Most pleasing aspect was endurance - the Six Foot Track training may have been useless for Six Foot Track but it's definitely served me well in long orienteering races this year. The last 30 minutes were the best I've felt at the equivalent stage of a long race for at least a couple of years (it's possibly indicative that my best split of the race was the king-of-the-mountain 17). I'm still slow, though....
Expected there to be steep stuff early and there was; got through it, not running that well but not missing anything. Lachlan (6 minutes) took longer to go through me than I expected (it turned out he'd lost time at 2). On the very long 5-6 (hard to see a plausible route other than right) I caught up a couple of Hong Kong runners, which reminded me of Jase's commentary classic from JWOC 2007 (for those who weren't there, four Hong Kong runners came through the spectator control together and were described as the "throng from Hong Kong"). Steve Todkill was around for most of 6-12 before pulling away. After coming out of a brief second excursion into the steep country, I took a wider route than I needed to into 18 - I'd made the decision much earlier in the course, expecting to be in worse shape than I turned out to be.
Simon did 86; a bit closer in percentage terms than I was at Kangaroo Crossing, but still outside the National League points.
The OA AGM went reasonably smoothly, considering how much there was on the agenda, as did the dinner. Managed not to hit any wildlife on the way back to Mudgee (on the way out of Mudgee in the morning, notable features included a number of fog patches and being behind two Comancheros in full regalia and with (probably illegally) noisy motorbikes.