Orienteering race (Walker Fruitfrm Arboretum) 1:15:36 12.15 km (6:13 / km) +212m5:43 / km ahr:153 max:171 shoes: Inov-8 X-Talon 212 Blue
Walker Fruit Farm Arboretum 1:10'000 5m Gauteng Champs Long - M21E 10.4km 225m 28c
Used the SE part of the Arboretum map today with more bush and grassland with light rocky ground underneath.
Had a technical start before a few running legs, but then the high number of controls made it more technical than the Middle event, and we had less path running. Only a few minor mistakes, where I was slightly off line to #6, 7, 12, costing me only a few secs each. Caught myself going too far right on #9 early, as relocation would have been hard in the mixed wattle area. Went round 15-16 on the path instead of straight, costing about 15s. Went around to the south as well on 26-27, but it was a good conservative call as a straighter option might have gone badly wrong.
Although I was slower today and the Middle, the distance obviously helped and I finished 1st, about 15 min ahead of Garry M and then Nico.
Nice new area near Walkerville, S of Joburg. Quite a find with a mix of wattle plantations, bush and grassland. Middle courses made more use of the wattle areas and the nav was relatively simple.
Struggled to get into the vegetation interprestation on the map, particularly running 1-2, but felt comfortable after that. I made no mistakes apart from a route choice error 5-6 (went too straight line through the wattle blocks rather than running around) and lost 1m to Garry M, who then beat me by 1m overall. Few technical controls on the way into the finish, but couldn't pull the time back.