Orienteering race (British Champs, Winterfol) 1:18:08 [4] *** 9.5 km (8:13 / km) +350m 6:57 / km
spiked:16/17c
Somehow or other I'd ended up the very first starter. I was early as usual, but at 10.40 there was little sign of an actual start. Just a few bits of tape and a load of abandoned rucksacks. I went away for a warm-up jog, but when I got back there was little progress. Then the maps arrived, and this bloke 'in charge' asked for volunteers among the early starters to carry them from the car! 11 o'clock came and went and the start still wasn't ready, and by now crowds were arriving and asking with some anxiety what was going on. It was an unforgivable shambles and absolutely inexcusable at what should be the showpiece event of the orienteering season. It wouldn't have mattered all that much had it been a punching start. But it wasn't. It was timed! I was very careful about noting when I got away and about starting my stopwatch. No one had put out a start kite, but I had a run down a path to a track so it didn't matter. So I began the day in a foul mood. But at least I didn't have anyone around to distract me. We had been warned about the map near 234, and that was my no. 1, so I was careful. But it came up OK, and 2 and 3 went well. I decided to play safe for 4 and stay on paths. There was no one around and I was concentrating, and there seemed no possible reason ever to go wrong. But 7 was tricky and I ran to the wrong thicket for 8. The inevitable long leg was 12, but I spotted an OK track route pretty quickly and, in spite of toying with quicker alternatives, stuck to it and tried to keep pushing hard. The last five controls were straightforward and I was finished. No errors at all really. I was '1 of 1' and 133 rather than 130 per cent of winner's time. Mostly enjoyed it, and did myself justice, but boy are the winners quick!