Race Evaluation
QOC Manassas: Red
Nadim
| 1. | I'd seen David Onkst head out so I knew the first control would be about where 90% of the courses here have started. I checked my position when crossing the knoll and headed to a valley bend that I could see a bit left of my bearing. As I got closer I was scanning the right, into the valley and I saw the control as I almost passed it. | ||||||
| 2. | +00:45 | I went straight seeing no advantage to going to the left or right. I was very confident of my position until crossing the last patch of forest before the last field. The deadfall was thicker here and I thought I had gotted a bit off bearing to the right in order to get through it. I couldn't tell my position upon hitting the last field so I opted to aim off more to the left. Upon crossing the stream, I cut right but pulled-up short. The control circle was hiding a contour for a reeentrant which would have helped me pinpoint my location. Eventually I went further across the reentrant and found the control. | |||||
| 3. | I went straight, or straight as I could through the pine cedars. It wasn't bad but I had to hunch over most of the way. I came out to the field just to the right of the leg line. Some scouts were standing looking dumbfounded so I offered advice to find the field edge on the map as I passed by. Coming off the field corner, I spiked it. I recall last year thinking that this control was a bit misplaced but I didn't think that this time. | ||||||
| 4. | +01:30 | My initial thought was to go the the right around the pond but then I saw the land bridge crossing it. I'd never been on the land bridge and it seemed about the same distance but I didn't calculate into the decision the L-shape that it had that made it longer. After getting across the last part, still dry, I went on bearing through the slash open. In my mind, I was likening this to forest and aiming toward a ride--the slash was thick with no visibility. It had grown since being mapped. When I hit an open area, it was like a ride so I turned left and stopped at some taller deciduous trees. Realizing where I was, I headed NE to the control. | |||||
| 5. | +01:45 | This was my poorest leg of the course. I ran through the field, zig-zagging like everyone else but I didn't come out soon enough. I passed under the control and hit the stream. I looked both ways but didn't check my compass. I went downstream to the right before coming back. I missed the stream confluence but saw the control to my left. It was then that I noticed the stream confluence. | |||||
| 6. | +00:50 | Heading straight, I got out of the woods and across the next field. Going up the hill in the forest, I was right on line when I passed the boulder and I started thinking that I was finally getting my navigation under control on this course. I passed the deadfall on my left and noted that it extended further than mapped. It drew me off line to the right. Perhaps I overcorrected going into the powerline field. I passed an older woman on the beginnings of an elephant trail and because the grass was so tall, I stayed on it. When it disappeared, a wild turkey jumped-up right in front of me. Another step and I would probably have been on top of it. I wondered how it hadn't been spooked away earlier. I kept on a bearing going into the woods and saw people to my left. Not seeing anything where I was, feeling like I had lined-up with the power lines, and with it being so flat, I turned left too. When I looped back I led the woman that I'd passed to the control. | |||||
| 7. | I angled into the powerline ride and found an intermittant trail in the middle. I looked at the forest edge and the slash mapping. I decided that staying in the field was better. I took it to the bend, then ran the rest in the forest, passing some others along the way. | ||||||
| 8. | I got out fast and stayed in the forest. It was fast. I passed some teenagers, whom I soon heard following and perhaps gaining before dropping off. I stayed above the ponds before seeing the control. | ||||||
| 9. | +00:40 | I started to go straight but then opted to use the trail on the left. It was a slightly longer distance but was good running. As I got to the fence, then the corner of the green slash, I told myself to keep a good bearing. I didn't pace count but soon felt I'd gone farther than I should have. I had to weave a bit at the end so I thought I missed the control. I stopped, checked my elevation from the top of the hill, then went on slowly, cutting a bit right and left. I finally found it on what essentailly was my original bearing and felt the feature had been mismapped. | |||||
| 10. | I enjoyed the downhiill run, moving a bit more carefully at first, than needed. I soon saw the control below and as I accelerated, I corrected my bearing to the left to get there. | ||||||
| 11. | I weaved a bit getting to the second field corner just as I'd wanted to. In the field, I moved fast and caught some kids just as they'd entered the forest. I passed all but one then had to get in line behind him. He stopped for his friends and then I found myself in line behind Max Lennon. Max crossed the log jam to the control ahead of me, and I commented that we had to work to get to that control. | ||||||
| 12. | I headed out straight, reading my way a bit. Across the stream, the forest north (left) of the line was not slashy. I came out at the trail bend where I'd wanted to. After the big puddle on the trail, I cut in to the forest corner. The grasses were very tall so it was slow for a short way. Once through, it was only a few more steps to the control. | ||||||
| 13. | I came out of the forest, and crossed the trail going straight. Once again, the grasses were high. As I went back in the woods, I was trying to spit out a dry blade that got in my mouth. I remembered a similar leg to this control feature and how going straight was just fine. I accelerated and saw the earth walls from a distance. Some others were nearby too but I already knew where the control was by then. | ||||||
| 14. | I like running on open slightly downhill grades so this leg was great. I kept just left of straight but stayed in the woods when I had a choice. I passed #18 and thought it odd that I'd be back soon. The faster forest took me to the stream at the large ridge. I was able to cross the stream without too much trouble but had to climb the ridge. I thought about using the trail but it didn't materialize just where I thought it would. Eventually coming to it at the trail bend that I wanted to attack from, I just crossed it. The fast running along the next ridge was fun. | ||||||
| 15. | I kept fairly straight on the leg and chose the left side pretty early. My creek crossing at the point the ridge ends was harder but I stayed dry. I ran up to the rough open and expected to plow through the grass again. I was turned back by hidden thorns right away. I moved to the right a bit. I crossed the trail and saw how close the road was. The grass ahead was tall so I moved further left were it was less high. I never saw the first pond but started splashing unexpectedly as I rounded the longer one before the field ended. Like others, I found that the slash extended much further west than mapped. I went through a bit of it to cut a corner, the found good running on open ground. I cut in early when I noticed the reentrant forming on my right. This was partly obscured by the leg line and I mistook it for the one I wanted. After a few steps in, I backed out and stayed on the ridge until I could see the road. I saw the control, then some other young men. who'd just punched. I was in and out fast. | ||||||
| 16. | I did take a bearing but I was also going for the easier running to the right of where the other men were going; to get around them. I spiked it and saw the other guys correcting as I did. More than once in the past, I'd messed-up in this area as there is an errant slope tag on the depression ahead that makes it look like a knoll. I wasn't going make that mistake again. | ||||||
| 17. | I was out fast and thought I might be followed. They moved more slowly perhaps planning the leg but I just ran straight. I thought about going around because I didn't know how bad the slash would be. I felt like I had drifted off my line and descended more. Really I hadn't gone far enough to have been at the elevation I thought I needed to be. As I got low, I could see the forest ahead. It didn't look bad so I went in the valley bottom to the control. It was very fast, not slash at all. | ||||||
| 18. | I moved to the left to use the field to get around the slash. I then crossed the field on bearing and spiked the control, unseen until the end. | ||||||
| 19. | I kept fairly straight but again used the forest instead of the field to keep out of tall grass. When I did cross field, I would often get jarred as my feet would find an unexpected bump or stones. That was both slowing me and tiring me out. As I got the the stream crossing white forest, I found that I had to backtrack to find a crossing. This put me at the steep hillside of the ridge that I'd come down near when leaving #14. I had forgotten all along that the contour interval was 2.5m so when I saw the first reentrant I had some second thoughts. I quickly reasoned that I couldn't see the control and it was forested so I kept going. I climbed a bit and dropped right to the control in the smaller narrow reentrant. | ||||||
| F. | I checked the map to make sure I hadn't forgotten anything--I didn't want a mispunch result. I came out of the reentrant and was happy to find a good creek crossing on my line. I might have saved time to #19 had I found this earlier. The uneven terrain hidden by grass jarred and slowed me more. Once finally out of it, I could sprint in earnest but I didn't have a lot of extra energy for a good one. |
Total Time Lost - 00:05:30