Orienteering race (Oceania Middle Champs) 39:23 [5] 5.9 km (6:41 / km) +220m 5:38 / km
At The Rockery, came 6th (3rd Aussie), +3:12 to Nick. Really needed a solid clean run today after the last few performances and with very tired legs it made complete sense to just completely focus on the map and smoothness. Open terrain which could easily have been the Lake District except for the large karst holes and rocks which would have had to have been imported from Slovenia. Felt alright once I got going but it was quickly apparent that I was going to struggle for lack of grip in the mud - should have worn studded shoes/mudclaws. Over the hill to #5 might have cost 20-30secs. Still, got off to a good start and was in 3rd place entering the forested enclosure at #9 and #10. Fell over in here though and got mud stuck to my map right over the section to #16. It was still mainly legible, but I had to keep slowing to wipe it and simplify where the detail was obscured. Prefer map bags to waterproof maps. Small mistakes at #11 and #13 of ~20secs each, and possibly lost a bit of time on the route choice to #16. Map was ok from #17 onwards and I had caught Felix which helped spur me on, and I only made one other small wobble at #22. So all up a decent run and I felt ok physically. Would've been tough to make the top 3 even with the right shoes and no mud on the map.