On Thursday we were treated to a fabulous sprint format in the Government grounds in downtown Edmonton. It is a little complicated to explain, but I'll try...
First there were four qualification courses - basically you ran at least two, but more if you liked. Your best two times were added together and the top 10 qualifiers advanced to the semi finals. Qualification courses were about 900m with around 4 or 5 minute winning times. You started at your leisure. Mispunches cost you 30 second penalty.
There were two semi finals, with the top two from each heat plus the fastest third place runner advancing to the final. Mass start race, with courses similar to the qualification.
The mass start final was a touch longer and went into a new part of the grounds.
Nice touches were a labyrinth on all courses plus a butterfly loop on the final.
I *think* Damian won, due to some slack punching in the finals by his competitors ;-)
I've got about 30 photos uploading slowly to
my Flickr page.
Big congratulations to Will Critchley for the cool concept, the great map, and the wonderful execution. Amazing how much fun can be had in such a small space.