Running warm up/down 20:00 [2] 2.5 km (8:00 / km)
shoes: VJ Falcon 2015
Warmed up pretty well, nice sunshine for drills and stretches on the cricket outfield in front of Bradenham Manor en route to the start, very civilised!
Orienteering race 40:28 [5] 5.98 km (6:46 / km) +160m 5:58 / km
shoes: VJ Falcon 2015
British Middle Champs, Naphill and Bradenham
M45, disqualified (forgot to punch final control)
Winner Bill Edwards 32:28
Would have been 9th (or 11th including Dave Peel (no road crossing punch) and Kev Fielding (also no last control).
28 controls in 5km so it was always going to be quite intense in amongst all the thickets and patchy vegetations and vague paths and pits and all that Chilterns stuff.
#2 - a little off line leaving #1, almost confused by the vague paths, found the flag but would never have noticed the tiny boulder if my brain wasn't saying "isn't it supposed to be on a boulder?" (-15s)
#4 - didn't lose any time but it seemed very close to #3 (leg took me 16secs), I almost jumped over the control without seeing it!
#6 - disaster, lost control but ran on assuming I would sort it out on the way. Wrong. And stayed wrong even when I tried to relocate. And even when I went right out to track to relocate. (-3mins 15s)
#8 - off line a little out of #7, used the track but then it seemed way right of where I thought it should be (-45s)
#22 - seemed odd but got to the circle, it was supposed to be in the only thicket. Checked out the biggest thicket. It was behind the smaller one. (-30s)
#24 - short leg, just run out and it is second thicket on the left. Except there are only thickets well above and well below. Couldn't see it on the one below so climbed to the one above. Wrong. Back down and it was behind a fallen tree (-1min)
#25 - hmm seemed odd. Stayed high, could see what looked like the rough open below me, ran down to the green beyond it. No flag anywhere, path beyond as it should be. Couldn't believe how far back up to the control (-1.5mins)
And then, having checked out both the final two controls which were visible from the finish field, I punched the first and then straight past the second (outside the gate to the finish field), must have been almost close enough for the touch-free to save me and register it anyway!
Apart from all that I ran quite well.....