Race Evaluation
Blue Hills: Traverse
pkturner
| 1. | Followed a pair of young, fast guys to the right around the pond. J-J passed me, and we ended up merging with the pack after going the long way to the left of the marsh. The recent construction was unnerving. | ||||||
| 2. | Behind Charlie DeWeese as he went right around the hill. | ||||||
| 3. | |||||||
| 4. | Passed Sam Levitin when he hesitated on the trail. Led Sam and another runner in to the control. | ||||||
| 5. | |||||||
| 6. | Far right route. Sam and Charlie were behind me where the ride makes a bend toward the west, and we didn't see the trail that we wanted to take. We plunged into the woods anyway and hit first the stone wall and then after 80 meters or so the trail. At the fork just before the road I went right and the footsteps faded behind me. As I jogged up the hill, a cyclist was coming down. Turned out to be Jeff Saeger. I went by the pass, then 50 meters beyond the small marsh, I left the trail to head for the control. I think it was along this part of the trail where Phil Bricker showed up from the north, having run into trouble with his route. Off the trail, Charlie joined us, and led to the control. I didn't see Sam after that. | ||||||
| 7. | A bunch of us missed a little to the left, and had to go around the big cliff and back up to the control. | ||||||
| 8. | Lost a little time by not going to the trail right away. Took the trail to the south with no one in sight, but after cutting the corner (that would have taken me next to Great Cedar Swamp) I nearly caught Phil on the trail heading west. He was faster and got away from me. I didn't have trouble approaching 8 other than my pace count seemed to be running out before I reached the features. But Bob Dangel came in from an unexpected angle and thought the map needed some work here. | ||||||
| 9. | |||||||
| 10. | Leaving 9, I didn't pay attention to the red line or the map, and reached Route 28 without benefit of trails. Charlie was a little behind me once we crossed. | ||||||
| 11. | Reached the food station just ahead of Bob and Charlie. | ||||||
| 12. | Hesitated a bit. I was unsure of this one because I had given this knoll a once-over on the way from 10 to 11 and hadn't seen the control. Thought someone would pass me and lead to it, but after running along the knoll, I spotted it and got there first. | ||||||
| 13. | In a bunch at the control. Jeff Schapiro had caught up. | ||||||
| 14. | Did a slow loop around control 13 while making up my mind to go north to the road. On the road, was behind Jeff (faster) and Bob Dangel (about the same speed). | ||||||
| 15. | with Bob and Jeff | ||||||
| 16. | Around the east side of the pond; Bob and Jeff went west. Along the road I saw the boulder and planned to use it as an attack point. Jeff crossed the road and passed the boulder ahead of me. He chose a bearing which was off to the right, and when I spied the marker I hung back and punched inconspicuously. | ||||||
| 17. | Passed Jeff who was looking for 16 too far north, and advised him to go back rather than follow me. | ||||||
| 18. | Distracted by the thought of being slightly ahead of Jeff and Bob, and also by some not-on-leash dogs along the trail, I approached the control by guesswork. Fortunately, Jeff confirmed my location and we arrived together. | ||||||
| 19. | Straight up the hill behind Jeff. Bob went out of sight on a different route and I saw him no more. Caught a glimpse of Jeff reaching the control ahead of me. | ||||||
| 20. | Saw Dave Yee at the control. | ||||||
| 21. | As the uphills had really been getting to me, I went the long way around to the right, right by the zoo fences. Met Tony Federer near the control. | ||||||
| 22. | Followed Tony for a while, and Charlie caught up. Saw Jeff as he left the control. | ||||||
| 23. | Up and over, but was feeling winded on the uphill, like I could barely keep moving. Saw Jeff on the upper trail just before I cut down on the little trail heading south. Met up with John Hansman near the control. | ||||||
| 24. | With John, we nailed the control. | ||||||
| 25. | John got ahead of me. Heard footsteps of Jeff behind. | ||||||
| 26. | Just behind John. | ||||||
| F. | No energy left; no possibility of catching John. Could barely keep a respectable jog going up the little grade to the finish. |
Total Time Lost - 00:00:00