Orienteering race (Trossachs short brown) 1:34:14 [4] *** 5.6 km (16:50 / km) +500m 11:38 / km
spiked:12/16c
This was unlike any orienteering I've ever experienced before. The combination of technical and physical difficulty was intense and the 2D map was only an approximation of the 3D terrain. It was great fun though and the area was really lovely. When it came to simply getting around, I think my hill walking experience was more valuable than any gained orienteering as every step was either up or down hill. Our climb was stated as 250 metres but it was at least double that. On the way to 1 I saw KM, who'd started five minutes before me, and our paths crossed many more times after that too. As soon as I was up the first hill and among the hillocks I knew this was going to be really tricky. The flag was tucked in right under the knoll and I only saw it when KM punched. I took a rough bearing and headed for the break in the ramparts ahead. I came out by the large marsh, headed right for the smaller one and looked up for the hill to keep left of. I couldn't see how to get to 3 and ended up contouring above big drops on a sort of ledge I'd seen people on during the walk to the start. I saw the stream junction with relief miles below and headed down then up a combination of valleys opposite. When a flag on a crag came into view I prayed it was mine, and it was. As I followed another stream down a big hill I passed KM heading up to the control, so my route choice had been good. Four looked more straightforward and I attempted to link clearings, but I got two veg boundary corners muddled up and wandered into the green too far left. I came out by a hill in the open as expected but no flag. KM joined me and we both ran to the next hill leftwards and I think I must have realised what I'd done then as I headed back past the first hill to the right one. Then it was steeply downhill to a large open area full of people and a snap decision to run round for 5. EC passed me just before the control and helped me get it cleanly. Six was just past the stream, but I got a little cragfast on the steep slope to 7 and the road and lost a little time (but at least I didn't die).
Eight looked tough, but halfway through the 50 metre climb I realised people might have gone round the road, which would be much quicker. Once I was through the bogs at the top the approach to the flag was lovely and runnable and the control easy to see. KM was punching, having taken the tarmac. He led the way to the left of the crags for the route to 9, but if I'd been on my own I think I'd have gone back and up the big bowl near 13. His route to 9 made it one of the most difficult controls (the foot of a middle spur in waist-deep heather) I've ever had to find. Luckily we had lots of company, but I was convinced we were on the wrong slope. I led the way to 10 and was good to 11, but lost confidence when I found a boulder and headed down instead of up in horrible heather. I ran through two saddles to 12 and was with KM again on the way to 13 when he was brought up atop a huge cliff. He chose to go up higher through deep heather, but I doubled back down almost to 8 and then back up the marshes to the hill. As KM finished ahead he must have found and come down the big bowl. It was downhill all the way to 14 and then paths to 15, 16, and the finish.
It doesn't seem right to talk in terms of mistakes on what was such a challenging course as just getting round was an achievement, but without navigational errors I might have saved eight minutes, and I might have saved three minutes by using the road. If I looked up I had a fantastic view of Ben Venue, though, and the sun was fairly warm throughout, so this was definitely a race to savour. It's given me a completely different understanding of what orienteering actually is, though. This was like doing the cryptic crossword instead of the quick one.