Orienteering race 2:02:00 [4] *** 10.6 km (11:31 / km)
28c shoes: X Talon 212
Cuyahoga Valley National Park Python Goat -- very long course with varied terrain. First there was the lake run to 1, then a section of steep hills and re-entrants. I made a 1min "searching error" on 6, looking for the only mapped rootstock in a cluster of 5 or 6. I had also climbed up the wrong re entrant on 4 (also ~1min.) The next major section had many large fields, mapped as open but actually rough open to run through, with controls in small copses. Then came the long, flat section of forest running and controls in stream valleys. I couldn't find the trail to 12, so I skipped it and continued on. Most of the rest of the course was hilly, rocky, an marshy, an unusual combination. Here my navigation was solid, but I ran much slower. When I finished in 2:02, which didn't seem like all that good of a time for 10.6k, I was surprised to find that I had won the race. Todd from NEOOC came a few minutes later, and the leader at the start was nowhere to be found in the first group of finishers.