Orienteering race 1:32:18 [4] 13.81 km (6:41 / km) +414m 5:49 / km
shoes: VJ Supra Spring 2012
The Billygoat. This was a good distraction from a few very emotional days with little sleep. I did not feel very focused at the start, but having people helped, and I got gradually into the race as it went on.
Started well behind a lot of people, but gradually worked my forward through the pack and ended up with Will, Jon T, Sergei Z, and Ali at the first control, unsure of where Eric Kemp, Serghei L, and some of the other fast guys were.
At #3 I was with Sergei, as Will disappeared in front, and Jon T left the trail we were running on in a strange direction on the way to 3. Sergei was running faster than me, and I felt like I had nothing. I stuck with him for a few legs, and got a boost of energy when we saw Will in front once again on the way to 5.
Still, Will and Sergei gradually pulled away, and by #9 I was alone and tired. I decided not to skip 9 and 11 and skip later in the race, considering 18, 22, and 23. I was clean on 11, but then made a parallel error on 12, losing about 40 seconds. I then stopped short coming into 14, and Eric and Ali appeared, as did Sergei, who had made a big mistake.
Having company snapped me out of my slog, and I took off with Eric. The next few controls went well, as we had good speed and were orienteering well. Leaving 17, I thought about skipping 18, but decided to stick with Eric a bit longer.
After the spectator control I knew I was pretty fried and couldn't keep up with Eric, but was relieved to learn that he had already skipped, so I could skip 22 and hold on to 2nd place quite safely.
Nice race by Will and a great event put on by EMPO. Thanks to everyone involved!!