June 28 at Lake Johnson

Finally, a sprint! Yay! I like sprints and I usually do well on sprint events. This time wasn't an exception. One strange thing though was that I felt that I ran course A perfectly (for myself) and I felt that I could have done better on course B. But I ended up winning course B and not A. Both runs were clean though and I am quite happy with the way I ran them both.

Heat wasn't a factor. Yes, it was hot (even at 9-10 AM), but for 18-19 minutes runs it was not such a big deal.

Here is how I ran.

Course A

#1: down to the trail, passed by two re-entrances and went up to the control

#2: back to the trail and used it as much as I could, then went up to the control

#3: went straight across the two roads, then used trail to get down to the creek and followed the creek to the control

#4: left re-entrant on my right and went up the hill to the road, took control from the road's bend

#5: went north a little bit as it was easier to run in that direction, then went down the hill watching for the peninsula to appear.

#6: to the trail, used it to get down to the creek, crossed it and went along the creek, passed #7, then another control from course B, reached the road, went to the fence and ran along the fence to the control

#7: went directly to the road, crossed in and move south a bit until I saw dry ditch with the control from course B, from there went to #7

#8: straight to the roads fork and down to the control

#9: now I think I made a mistake there by not going straight, but then I thought it was a good idea to get to the road as soon as possible. So I ended up with some extra distance there. Anyway, I used the road to get to the control and then went up to the finish.

Click on the image to enlarge.



Course B

#1: easy, the same as #9 on the course A

#2: to the road and after the road's bend to the re-entrant, went a bit too far down it, but not that much, so I could see the control from there

#3: aimed for the roads fork and avoided loosing any elevation. From the fork used road for a bit and went down to the re-entrant with the control after a small road's bend

#4: went along the creek to the control which I already visited during the course A

#5: again a dog leg from course A, simply repeated by steps

#6: to the trail and used it for a bit, from the trail's curve went south to the control

#7: just went north staying on the same elevation line, then when I saw the creek area, turned west to the dry ditch with the control

#8: started to feel tired there and wasn't running fast from that point on to the finish. Anyway, used the trails to get to the road, then cut across and went down to the big re-entrant. Surprisingly saw a trail there and followed it to the control

#9: used the same unmapped trail to get out of the re-entrant, then went to the road and uphill to the control. Didn't see the control and spend a few seconds looking around among the root stocks until I found it.

#10: to the road and used it as much as I could, then cut to the control.

and finish.

Click on the image to enlarge.



Thanks to Joseph and Ruth for setting up the event! It was fun!

June 7 at North Umstead

Brian promised an interesting courses today, and, indeed, the Green course I ran was quite unusual. What added to the challenge is "unevenness" of the course. Normally, all controls on advanced courses have similar degree of difficulty and are similarly placed, so runners could mentally adjust to the course after the first few controls. Not this time. Some controls were very easy (maybe too easy), but others were of very high degree of difficulty. Also some controls were low and hidden, while others hanged very high above the ground. I personally found such mixture quite difficult to adjust to, and ended up making several (medium) mistakes on the course. Mercifully, the weather wasn't very hot for this time of the year, so I was able to run most of the time and thus finished with an "all right" time.

Here is how I ran:

#1: down to the dry ditches, through some fallen trees, across the trail and creek, then up about 15 yards from the control. The control was hanged very high and I didn't notice it, ran north east to the cliff to confirm my position - it was correct. Returned back and saw the control this time.

#2: across the road and up the re-entrant, then used a gully as an attack point

#3: ran on the elevation line, missed the control as it was lying on the ground, but saw big rocks. Turned around and saw the control.

#4: to the road, then used the trail to get close to the control. Noticed one re-entrant on the left, then turned into the second one.

#5: ran across two creeks, then noticed a trail going by the shore and used it instead of cutting over over the hill. The trail lead me basically to the very control, I just needed to watch the shore line and get down to it where the control was placed.

#6: climbed up the slope, ran across the re-entrant and walked up to the control

#7: very difficult control: in a pit, on a flat, without good attack points. Ran by the top of the re-entrant, then aimed to the right (west) of the control and ran across the hill (probably missed a bit), then turned left looking for the pit. Didn't find it and noticed some not very distinct re-entrants, realized that I must have missed the pit and ran back. Found the pit this time.

#8: another difficult one: no sharp elevation features, no good attack points (rocks don't count as they were separated from the control by the green area). Anyway. Crossed the creek and went up watching re-entrant on my left, then aimed to the eastern side of the green area and went over the hill there. Went down the slope a little bit and turned right to the control.

#9: made my biggest mistake there. Went across the re-entrant and aimed for the corner of the restricted area, but missed and hit the creek farther west than I thought. Crossed the creek and went west looking for the re-entrant with the control, naturally, didn't find it and ended up in the re-entrant west of the control. Decided that I was going west for too long, stopped and realized the mistake. Went back and took the control.

#10: went around the re-entrants and reached the road exactly where I wanted - by the re-entrant on the other side. Went down using the northern slope and turned right to the control.

#11: returned back to the road, thought about getting to the trail, but decided to cut straight instead. Aimed to the right of the control, didn't see the trail, but when the slope went down, turned left and took the control.

#12: used the road to get close to the control, but exited to the forest too early. Ended up traversing the northern slope of the big re-entrant, then going north over the green hill. There I wasn't certain whether I was right or left of the re-entrant with the control and decided to go left with an idea of hitting either the re-entrant or the rocks cluster. Found rocks and used them as an attack point.

#13: down to the shore and used the trail and road to get close to the control. Went up to the dry ditch and reached it right by the bridge. The bridge and new trail should have been added to the control's legend. Unfortunately, they weren't, so I didn't look under the bridge and instead went up looking for the control. Didn't find it, returned back and decided to look further down (though I was starting to think that the control was taken away). As soon as I went over the bridge I saw the control right there. Bummer. Lost 2 minutes there...

And then finish with an OK 1:09 time.

Thanks to Brian for such unusual and challenging course!

Here is my route. Click on the image to enlarge. Blue - mostly running, yellow-brown - mostly walking.