Race Evaluation
Hudson Highlander 7:
RBecker
| 1. | Another Highlander without training. Main strategy: Take it easy, walk a lot and run only on roads. To number 1, just followed the crowd, never looked at the map. | ||||||
| 2. | Since there was only one punch at the control, there was no real crowd from here on. Went down at the stream, then got near the marsh and left to the control. | ||||||
| 3. | +01:00 | Followed large reentrant and went right after the big cliff. Most people went further SW. Got to the bare rock and the small hills OK, but didn't see the control. Short loop to find it. | |||||
| 4. | Stayed mostly on hilltops till the marsh. About 5 people at the control. | ||||||
| 5. | Follow the trail to the road and take the road past the start. Jeff Saeger swoops by, but I decide not to get carried away. Follow the large trail and use the saddle across the hill at the end, not the stony ground as planned. Along the W side of the marsh, see some people coming from the control, including Jeff. Paul Regan is ahead of me. | ||||||
| 6. | Went across the hill towards Lake Skannatati, not along the marsh like most other people. Caught the little trail near the lake and cross the dam. | ||||||
| 7. | To map exchange: 6:42, at map exchange: 1:10, to no.7: 23:15 Leaving number 6 I see Jeff approaching. At the road crossing on Rockhouse Mountain a group (including Paul) goes up the hill. I have no clue why. I stay on the road and pass Sharon Crawford. Took the trail S of Lake Ascoti and cut in after the marsh. | ||||||
| 8. | I cross the rentrant past the stony ground. Sharon catches up with me. | ||||||
| 9. | +07:10 | Somehow drift too far E in the green. Can't make complete sense of the trail when I hit it. I want to go further W, but Sharon crosses my path and looks quite confident going downhill. I follow and we end up in a group of clearings. Since the control is not here, I check my watch and move SW. After crossing some stone walls and passing lots of rock piles, i end uo in a white area and go uphill to the control. | |||||
| 10. | Didn't find a good path through the green. Cut my knee and subsequently fell on the same spot a few times, making it even stiffer than it already was. See Sharon ahead of me at the control. | ||||||
| 11. | Pretty much straight. | ||||||
| 12. | My knee complains. See Sharon and some other guy (?) in the distance ahead. | ||||||
| 13. | +03:00 | Hobble down to the road for an easier run. Apparently I fell asleep an went completely past the clearing and powerline. | |||||
| 14. | Went to the road first and then up. | ||||||
| 15. | To map exchange: 3:40, at map exchange: 4:20, to no.15: 11:10 Had to walk even most of the trail to no.15. The no-training thing is starting to kick in seriously. | ||||||
| 16. | Pretty much straight. Use cliffs NW of control to get their clean. | ||||||
| 17. | +02:00 | Decide to go S and follow the white area to the control. It works until I get near the control. First got stuck in the green and then make a stupid full circle around the control (probably never more than 25m away from it). | |||||
| 18. | Not too bad through the green. End up near the cliffs on the other side of the hill and then walk my way up to the control. See two fast looking guys there. | ||||||
| 19. | Straight walk. The guys don't follow. | ||||||
| 20. | Spent 1 min at the water stop before moving on. Follow the rentrant down, but then move along the hill side and hit control right on. | ||||||
| 21. | +01:00 | Went across the large saddle. See the open clearing with the stony pit, but still go further until I see the stone wall, to make sure where I am. Then follow the stony ground to the control. | |||||
| 22. | +03:00 | At the marsh I go too far left and pass the hill on the W side (instead of E where the control is). Although I realize that right away, I continue walking on this side of the hill, try to get around it completely, but finally cross over the top, through the green. This is getting serious now. At the control, the two fast looking guys approach. | |||||
| 23. | Around the swamp and up the hill. The two guys are behind me, but then they stay low and must have missed the control. | ||||||
| 24. | +01:00 | Straight towards the control, but I don't see it and drop down to the road about 10 meters before it. A bit confused, have to go back and up. | |||||
| 25. | +08:00 | To map exchange: 6:52, at map exchange: 10:52, to no.25: 4:43 Manage to jog most of the trail to the map exchange. Someone took my PowerGel - right now when I need it. Also, my stomach starts complaining on my way to the map exchange and I have to spend some time in the house in the center of the parking lot. After that, walking to no.25. | |||||
| 26. | Stayed low and then angled up to the control. No problem with the buildings as guidance. | ||||||
| 27. | Followed path to last building and went straight up across the saddle. Pass Eric Smith on my way. | ||||||
| 28. | Went out to the road and across the open area near the control. Heavy, thorny stuff at the last 20 meters costs a lot of time. | ||||||
| 29. | +09:00 | It's getting worse. Since moving out NW across the open seems like a bad idea (that's the nasty way I came in), I decide to straight down. After all it's just 100m to the road. #@!%&#!!! It took more than 10 minutes to get down. Got completely stuck a few times and badly scratched all over. tried to use the stone walls, but it didn't help too much. This part really sucked! Apparently there was an unmapped trail nearby, but I never saw it. At no.29 caught up with Eric Smith and David Levine. | |||||
| 30. | Straight. | ||||||
| 31. | Past the powerline cut across to the trail and then angle uphill to the control. Near the control, Eric starts running, but I have no willpower or physical power to follow. | ||||||
| 32. | +03:00 | Stay too high for the first half of the leg and later go down to the stream and up the reentrant. Going down right away would have been much faster. | |||||
| 33. | +03:00 | Went down, along the stream and crossed before the mapped swamp. A short section of green, but the first building comes soon. David catches up with me and one of the fast looking guys, who starts running along the SE trail at a significant speed. I follow the trail to the crossing of powerline and white area near the lake. I walk uphill, but somehow completely misjudge the distance and end up at the cliffs 200m S of the control. Walk around the hill and see the hunter's stand, which guides me to the control. David appears, after having taken the road around Little Long Pond. | |||||
| 34. | First I wanted to stay high, but then went down to the road. Slowly jogging to the control, with David some 50m behind me. | ||||||
| F. | Mistook all the eating people for the finish, but that's probably my smallest mistake of the day. Slowest Highlander ever (no surprise). For the next one, I should be better prepared. |
Total Time Lost - 00:41:10