Race Evaluation
Hudson Highlander IX: Highlander
Charlie
| 1. | Pretty slow. I was with Eric Smith and Mike Ball for a while, but ended up back with the guys in chinos and expedition camelbacks | ||||||
| 2. | Through the yellow and headed straight for the marsh. John Goodwin and Glen Tryson showed up, and we got too low and spent some time thrashing in laurel. When we got around marsh and down toward stream, ran into a big crowd. Not sure where I was until we came to stream bend. | ||||||
| 3. | Stayed left of green, then between the green patches and straight in. Still with a big crowd, including Eric S., John G and Glen | ||||||
| 4. | Arond right side of big cliffs, got a line or two low and had to come back up. | ||||||
| 5. | I think this is where I first saw Sharon. | ||||||
| 6. | I got ahead of the pack and hit the road at the stream crossing 150 m right of line. With John Goodwin reading marshes and cliffs, then suddenly confused near what I thought was the control. John led me 100 m NE into it. Lucky for me. | ||||||
| 7. | OVer Jackie Jones with John, Pavi and Sharon, Patrick Gallagher just behind. Sharon, John and I went left around the buildings and Pavi got well ahead of us by going right. Straight line from road corner. Pavi was a bit left, but ended up at the control first. | ||||||
| 8. | Followed Pavi down the hill. Interesting to watch her weave around any obstacles, seemingly before she could see them. Very smooth. | ||||||
| 9. | Pavi got across the road ahead and we waited a few seconds for traffic. Took the trail past the patches of green then up the saddle and right in. John and Patrick a bit ahead of me and Pavi. | ||||||
| 10. | Pavi went left, never to be seen again. I led John and Patrick off to the right and over the map fold to Lake Welch Drive, and all the way around on the right to the little white spot in the green N of the control. Easy route, but way too much extra distance, as the relative splits show. | ||||||
| 11. | To the map exchange | ||||||
| 12. | Up on the overpass to the road. Right away wishing I had taken the trail on the right. Cut up just under the mine opening on Pole Brook Mt. and contoured around and across, hitting the corner of the smaller stone wall enclosure, then straight down the hill and in. With John and Patrick. Dave Levine caught up. | ||||||
| 13. | On the trail to the right. Cut in from the big rocks, up the reentrant to the knoll in front of the control. Way too much green! John got there first. | ||||||
| 14. | Up the reentrant and over the saddle, drifted right and had to correct about 50m. | ||||||
| 15. | About here I didn't know how much longer I could hang onto John. He had way more energy. Right of the marsh, up the rocky reeintrant, past the stone wall and over the hill. John was there first. | ||||||
| 16. | Pretty straight. | ||||||
| 17. | Left of the green, down the spur, between the knolls. Only problem is we went through the green at the end. Dave went left and around and got in front. | ||||||
| 18. | I'm getting a little wobbly and just following. Way right, around the marsh and coming back S. | ||||||
| 19. | A little better. Over the spur, looking for the end of the stone wall and the reentrant to lead to the control. | ||||||
| 20. | Got too far left along the cliffs, then too far right after climbing. John figured it out first and found it. | ||||||
| 21. | Easy. First sight of Karl Ahlswede up ahead. | ||||||
| 22. | Straight NW to the road, right of top of hill. The along the toad to the faint trail going up the cliff, and straight in from the yellow. Could see the saddle below the control. Easy. | ||||||
| 23. | +03:30 | REally bad. Got too high and left and hit the corner of the stone wall enclosure with the yellow patch in it. Then overshot the control to the left. Coming back got low enough and saw the streamers. | |||||
| 24. | +04:00 | Yuck. Wandered around on all the little land forms looking. Karl was in there for a while, and my group, John, Patrick and Dave. | |||||
| 25. | John and I went through the rough open, which was wicked slow. The others went right and got well ahead. No trouble with navigation, though. | ||||||
| 26. | To the aid station, trailing Dave and Patrick by a bit. | ||||||
| 27. | To the map exchange. Spent some time studying the map, and Karl got a ways ahead. | ||||||
| 28. | Trail along the lake. Periodically I could see Karl, never seeming to be running, but staying ahead anyway. Somewhere in here we lost Dave. Took the second right hand trail. I was paying pretty close attention. John and Patrick were not at this point. Passed Karl around here. Took the trail to the bend at the big reentrant, then just right of a compass line. At the cliffs John and I got stuck for a bit, and Karl was suddenly 100 m ahead. | ||||||
| 29. | A little left of straight. Saw Karl and Piers Newbery on the long ridge right before the control as I was coming up. Had to hunt a bit for the right cliff from below. Patrick saw it first. Missed the water. Piers was sitting there. | ||||||
| 30. | +04:00 | With Piers and the gang, trying to go straight. Somehow drifted far enough right to the slot reentrant 150 m right of the line. There was a major trail running up it, which gave me some pause. Around the back, where I found the nasty green marsh right up to the cliffs. Took a long time to fight through the mountain laurel, and then a bit of fumbling at the control. Karl was gone by then. | |||||
| 31. | This was one of the most enjoyable legs, I thought. John said his brain was getting tired, and followed the rest of the way. Patrick was a bit ahead, but headed up into the cliffs along the straight line. I headed under the base of them, then between the marshes and through the saddle by the big gray rock straight in. Didn't see Patrick again. | ||||||
| 32. | Planned to tun up the mountain and take the trail, and went up teh saddle left of the top. The run down the reentrant on the other side was pretty sweet, so we didn't climb any more. Going around to the right would have been way better. John saw a huge black snake here. A little trouble going around the marsh at the bottom of the reentrant, then trail. I was running as much as I could. Not always sure John was there, but he kept coming. Up the intermittent streambed and straight in. | ||||||
| 33. | East on compass to the trail. At the bend after the lake, went straight up the hill to the road, just right of the yellow are with the rock piles. Climbed the hill, around the cliffs on the back to the right and straight in. Jim Eagleton got there just ahead of me from the other direction. | ||||||
| 34. | Out to the road as quick as I could. left of the building, along the road. I could see Piers not all that far ahead. He went right and I went through the bare rock knolls, but it wasn't enough to catch him. | ||||||
| F. | Hooray! 30th place. Not bad for an old goat. Thanks, Paul. |
Total Time Lost - 00:11:30