SA Night Championships
Rawnsley Park
2nd place. Simon did 35 mins.
My first night event in about 10 years. It was worth having a go before the NOL night race in Darwin.
I pulled out my ancient halogen headlamp, complete with a 3kg battery and harness. It did a reasonable job though and gave me enough light to navigate reasonably well.
I started well and spiked #1. My biggest mistake was at #2. I aimed off a little right and hit the earthbank on the creek. I turned left and got confused at the creek junction. In the dark I had not seen the junction on the map almost under the purple circle. I panicked and ran downstream. After 150m I corrected myself and tried again, this time reading the map more carefully. It was obvious enough under bright lights, but I learnt that you have to spend a bit more time map reading with a headlamp, as I didn't see all of the usual information under the headlamp.
The rest of the course was fine. I used my compass more than normal, which was actually good training for me.
From the last control I assumed that the dam would be lower than mapped. The water level was about right, but there was thick mud. Luckily I only got muddy shoes.