Orienteering race 1:49:45 [4] **** 7.8 km (14:04 / km) +410m 11:09 / km
spiked:15/18c shoes: XTalon 2017
CD champs Long, Okareka. Early contender for Long distance course of the season. Midfield again, but this time feel I performed above expectations, even though it was a bit of a battle, somehow managed to not just keep going but also pushing hard up to almost the end. (Helped that after finally being passed by Bozzy 8-9 I still had enough sightings of him over the rest of the course to know I must have still been going ok - and helped even more being joined in the long farmland legs home by Kyle who I hadn't met before, obviously a lot fitter than me but much more stop-start, so got a good push where I could have easily just faded). I think the minute or 2 I took to have a little sit-down picnic after 13, was also time well invested! Really happy with the nav side of things, apart from a minor route choice error 8-9 which was made more annoying because that's where Bozzy overtook me, found the area around 9 & 10 a bit mysterious and started wandering a little bit, then a small mistake on the final approach to 16 that I probably wouldn't have noticed only it's where Kyle well and truly got away from me after I thought I'd dropped him at 15....