'Special Stage 3',
Hikoikoi. I haven't been here for a long time (never orienteered) so was nice to see what used to be one of those forgotten wasteland corners has evolved into. Unfortunately the legs had peaked at the last map, so while I had Ellie in sight early on and thought I had a good chance of catching her, she then stayed about the same distance ahead every time I saw her. And every little ~2m embankment felt like a mountain... Held it together technically though except dropping maybe 20 or so seconds at 10, oversimplified and started looking down the side of the first patch of green, and then not far enough down the side once I had the correct patch.
General summary: cool format, would race again. And excellent value for money at just $3.50 (the bus fare from Petone back to my car at Avalon) for the whole day! Was worried (especially with the weather on the day) breaks between stages would be difficult to manage, but the only pause that was probably a bit too long was between the first map and starting the run to the second. Which I could have averted by starting the first stage later, but the plus side was it meant that I was sitting in gruver's car when the last nasty shower of the day came through. Was able to carry just enough extra clothing in (or tied onto) a running pack to get through the day.