Scalped by Ali...
http://www.attackpoint.org/discussionthread.jsp/me...
Not a huge surprise, given her recent 5k's, and our scramble to get to the start on time (family was difficult to extract from a stop in Boulder, CO.) But she definitely had the gas today, that I didn't.
We basically tied to #1, and I just nipped her at #2 navigating in a bit more directly/confidently, but then I contoured badly to avoid dropping through vert.-slash green w/o taped ankles (no time), dropping from 1st to probably 10th, and 1-2 minutes back, by the time I finally corrected over to #3. #4 was followed the right crowd, and being careful on compass - which turned out to be key, as Ali (in the lead) had drifted too far right reading the wrong forest corner & reentrant. Had a solid run to 5 & 6, then climbing toward 7 just behind 3 others, I slowly realized that we were in the lead pack - turning around near 7 to see Ali reeling us in.
Took an around route to 8 - thinking maybe downhill on pavement would be fast - but the lack of oxygen barely allowed any speed there either - GPS track shows real close to 4min/km - and with that downhill, 3:30-3:40-ish should've been possible at sea level.... So, route was no better (but really not much worse) so got to 8 in the same pack - but now with Ali who'd caught up. She then ran away ahead to #9, with me pulling up to 2nd to keep her in sight, but then she made it across the deep stream and grass a bit faster, and the rest of the course was just glimpses of her slowly growing about a minute lead on me.