orienteering race 18:26 [4] *** 2.4 km (7:41 / km) +55m 6:53 / km
spiked:19/20c shoes: Inov-8 Oroc 350
NAOC Sprint, PEEC, M45. Pretty clean, though again not very fast. One error where I was running faster than I was reading the map, missed a junction, and just busted through the woods for a 20 second loss. The other place where SA says I lost 9 seconds, I don't think I did, and I think the leg was appalling. There's an uncrossable marsh with a finger that sticks out to the south, and the finger is mapped ambiguosly, or actually, it's just mapped wrong. It uses a symbol that does not exist. The finger is drawn with the fat blue lines that designate an uncrossable marsh, but without the black line around it. It is uncrossable, or isn't it? Maybe there's some subtlety of ISSOM that I'm not familiar with, but as far as I know, that's simply not allowed. And then they set a leg where the choice is to go through the marsh or not. So I went around, and maybe I could have been 9 seconds faster if I had gone through. Or I might have ended up like Charlie, hit the wrong spot, and ended up well past my knees.
Note
My comments about the NAOC might seem negative. I really didn't have a negative impression of the meet at all, I thought it was a fine meet. On the other hand, there were a lot of things done that required a lot of effort that didn't do anything for me. But they may have done good for others, so that's fine. I'm referring to things like having wi-fi at the event centers, and a live internet video feed that was probably watched by several people, that as far as I could tell was showing things like people walking along and then sitting down on a rock. And fancy video screens to display the results that would occasionally freeze up and go back to a Windows desktop, or go blank when the power went down. And some people were very pleased at how far we've come from cards on strings, but cards on strings are pretty reliable. Partly, I look at this techy stuff and hear people saying "wow, the bar has really been raised", and worry that it's been raised needlessly. I hope this isn't a step in a game of oneupmanship where every event has to outdo the last, and it becomes increasingly difficult for most clubs to put on a major event. There are already clubs that won't put on an A-meet, how many will want to put on a championship if the expectation is for remote wi-fi and big fancy display screens for results? Having to ride around on buses was kind of a drag, but I realize that the circumstances made it necessary. Scheduling the Middle race for a Friday was a little weird, but that was a choice that the host club made. I didn't participate in the extra stuff that happened at the PEEC, but that was my choice. One odd thing was the scheduling of the elite relay on Sunday. It had the effect of providing a spectator opportunity for people interested in that sort of thing, and an opportunity to hit the road early for people like me who are not (or for those with a long drive). And the terrain was fine, though I think I enjoyed it more on my previous trips to the Water Gap; don't know why. And all that probably sounded negative as well. But it really was a fine meet. Not the most awesome meet I've ever been to, but fine.