Orienteering race 1:00:52 [4] 4.1 km (14:51 / km)
shoes: Inov-8 Oroc 280
Easter Day 3 at Cherry Farm, featuring a very long route choice leg to no. 1. Got the route choice right, but disaster at the end. I had decided to run way right down a broad gully and then along a track next to a major creek, avoiding a series of 4 gullies and spurs with substantial sandstone cliffs. About half-way down the gully I tripped on a low fence (which was on the map but I hadn't noticed it) and did a very hard face-plant. Took about a minute to get up and recover physically. Didn't recover concentration however because I went only another 100m before deciding (irrationally) to go over the first spur, which was 6 contours high (walking!) followed by some rough and slow downhill before hitting the track and creek. This decision probably cost 2 minutes, but wait - there's more. Running fast along the track to make up time I wasn't looking at minor detail, only counting the spurs to the 4th one where the control was on a boulder high up. Up the 4th spur, found features that looked roughly correct, but no flag. Floundered around for several minutes before finally realising that - no it can't be - I've gone one spur too far, having forgotten that I went over the first one so only needed to count off 3 of them. Had I looked at smaller details such as bends and pools in the creek, and a termite mound right on one bend, it would have saved my bacon.
Finally arrived at the control just as T Radford turned up - he'd started 16 minutes behind. Between us we blitzed the rest of the course, taking different routes but always coming back together. I got maybe 150m ahead on 3-4, but then lost the advantage in the circle at 5. On a long leg from 7-8 I went right while he went straighter, but we came together at a saddle above the control.
TR did 44 minutes to hang on for 1st overall. Kjell did 42 but took a slower route to the 1st and he climbed back into 2nd overall. The next best time was 48. I ended up 10th overall, but at least 4th and possibly 3rd was up for grabs without the trip over the fence. Enjoyable 4 days though!