NOL 2 Long Distance Mass Start
Belair
5th place in M21E.
Map 1
Map 2
Map 3
I had a poor start on the first control. I saw the correct control, but it appeared to be on a dead tree. I thought that was the green circle on the map, so I ran further east to looking into the low sun and ran to the other control (which was on a feature underneath the number on my map!) I was a little confused and found myself towards the back of the pack by the time I realised that I was actually correct the first time.
I took a deep breath and realised that one minute lost on a long distance is not a big deal. I slowly caught and passed people and found myself in the top 10 towards the end of the second map.
From there it was a 4 way battle for turned out to 5-8th place. I started to take control of the group towards the far end of the course. The others cahnged their minds when they saw me head right on the long 12-13 leg. I pushed hard down the hill and opened up a 30 second gap. Unfortunately I lost this in the green both before and after control 14. Leaving 15 I surged on the road and opened another small gap. Andy Hill chased hard, but I held him off under intense pressure, running the last km in about 4m15s, including 3 controls.
This was my best long distance result for a few years, and probably my best ever mass start race result.