Race Evaluation
Hudson Highlander 7:
cmorse
| 1. | Trashed my watch at Boulder Dash, so I'm timeless - the few splits I entered are based on who I was with at the time... Off with a group headed left up stream bed. Joe Brautigam and Doug Gosling in this group. About 2/3 up the hill I am in a little contact but group seems too far left, I see Joe crossing below and behind me toward the right and as this 'feel's right, I set a course to intersect catching him just as we head into the green. Joe slows a bit commenting about the crowd we can see off to our right. As it turns out we punch 2 & 3 since everyone else seemed to go wide on both sides. Could have been 1 & 2 with a little push in the green... | ||||||
| 2. | Hang with Joe for a few controls... | ||||||
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| 4. | Thank Joe for the 'ride' and navigate on my own on this leg, buts its pretty nice and I catch back to Joe at the control. Can hear a crowd coming in not too far back. | ||||||
| 5. | Take the road option, I'm quickly passed on the downhill trail by all the youngsters - Boris et al... Keep the pack in view on the road/trail going to 5. Pull into the control just ahead of Greg Balter | ||||||
| 6. | Hang with Greg through six and back to map exchange. But I'm headed to Polebrook first, looks like most everyone else is going to Rockhouse... Jump to 15.... | ||||||
| 7. | Although my muscles felt fine, I basically ran out of gas... nothing in the tank.... bonko... I navigated Rockhouse nearly perfectly, although I did not run a step once I left the trail by the marsh enroute to #7 | ||||||
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| 9. | See Doug Gosling coming back out of here headed for the trail, I follow suit hoping I can get some running in... Nope.... Pavlina passes me through here as well. | ||||||
| 10. | Went a little farther than needed on trail, pick my way down through rocks, hitting control cleanly, then back up toward 11 | ||||||
| 11. | Nice control hidden back in the laurel... | ||||||
| 12. | Jeff Saeger catches up to me and punches just ahead. Would have been nice to run this ridge, but nothing there... Kind of chilled by the wind... | ||||||
| 13. | Down to road, then up trail to marsh | ||||||
| 14. | Drifted right of the larger knoll... only real 'error' on this map. Jump to 25... | ||||||
| 15. | Polebrook - which was my second map after Surebridge... Out of contact with folks so running solo, feeling fine but aware I have probably taken too much out early.. Try to force myself a little slower pace..clean control | ||||||
| 16. | +02:30 | Went a bit left to avoid green, which went well, but then I corrected back to the right too far, probably ran right past it (change in map scale issues...) and got into the green beyond. Got back out a few minutes later and caught Doug Gosling punching at the control. Actually my biggest nav error of the race. | |||||
| 17. | +01:30 | After minor fubar in laurel, decide to settle in with Doug, but he drifts right into the laurel as well and we fight our way back to the re-entrant. I get the bag before Doug, but decide to leave as I hear a crowd coming. Bernie catches us up here. Run with Doug, Bernie and Ross for the next few.. | |||||
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| 24. | Falling behind Bernie & Doug who are moving to catch Ross, I let them go since I have to tie a shoe. Solo again... Jump to 7.... | ||||||
| 25. | After not having run a step on Rockhouse (managed a jog to and from though) I decide I feel OK to go on, but I need some serious food first... I consume 5 bags of M&M's and 6 cups of gatorade (finally full strength!) and then cross the parking lot to the good stuff. Stuff a few mouthfulls of chips and then grab a burger and chips to go. Good thing the next couple controls are along the road - Let my compass hang and walked at a decent pace while eating my victuals... | ||||||
| 26. | Still eating my burger... | ||||||
| 27. | Finished up my chips at about the camp, then the push up the slope through the saddle. I can feel the chocolate kicking in... | ||||||
| 28. | Take the road/trail option - am passed by two folks I don't know... last I will see of anyone today... not exactly a bad thing... | ||||||
| 29. | Am able to jog periodically now, energy levels picking back up. Not having a watch I have ZERO clue how long I've been out here, but the sun's still high so it can't be all bad... can it? | ||||||
| 30. | Like everyone else apparently, I hit this high and clean and don't see a flag - but the road is right there so it must be right so I take a longer wander down and see the flag tucked up along the side... | ||||||
| 31. | Cross at the power lines, up a few sets of cliffs and right in... | ||||||
| 32. | What trails?? Good thing I wasn't using them to navigate... spiked it... slow jog.... | ||||||
| 33. | Follow the left side of the marsh all the way down to the cabins, across and then through the camp to the opening in vegetation and up the rocky ground skirting the green. I get to about where pace count and feature say I should be but look down to see building to my right. ??? Look at my map again and decide I must have drifted right, I turn back to my left and hit the flag very quickly - too quickly it seems, but I'm not going to argue... | ||||||
| 34. | I'm outta here... Run hard for the road - really rough compass, if you can call it that, hook into the woods as soon as I see the crowd, see the streamer and look back to see the flag - I don't know why but I was expected a wall end, not a boulder... punch and run in actually following the streamers which few people after that seemed to do... | ||||||
| F. | about 5:34 I'm told, so thats what I'll go with here... 23rd overall Synopsis - Surebridge - #3 on King of the Mountain!! - running with the big dogs - Brautigam, Boris, Balter... feels good and I was actually in contact most of the way, if not actually reading minutae. Polebrook - still running well, a few minor errors, fading off the back only on the run-in to map exchange at halfway. Rockhouse - left with Bernie, Doug & Ross, stayed with them into the woods but then had to admit I needed to slow down and recover - didn't plan on using the whole map to recover... Sebago - ATE, then gradually picked up the pace to a slow jog.. Felt good to complete my first highlander.. |
Total Time Lost - 00:04:00