Race Evaluation
Billygoat Run: Billygoat
BorisGr
| 1. | Start with the Canadians, thinking that being in the lead pack in the beginning isn't a bad idea. Follow Hammer for a while, realizing that we didn't take the best route, going up and down all the reentrants. Fears confirmed when i see Andy Hall and Katarina Smith come in to punch before us. | ||||||
| 2. | Walking slowly up the hill. Relieved to see everyone else walking, impressed to see Katarina running some, definitely more than me. Kenny catches up. | ||||||
| 3. | Up the hill with the pack, sticking with Kenny. After hitting the big trail, go a little right, but converge with Katarina and Kenny and others at the control. Probably went through too much green, since Wyatt and Clem catch up at the flag. Kenny and i made the fateful decision to skip 4 on this leg. | ||||||
| 4. | We skip. Clem, Ted Good, and Mihai follow. Mihai runs off in some direction, we hope to get ahead going to 5. | ||||||
| 5. | Thinking we were being smart, we pushed along the hillside down to the big trail, and promptly take off in the wrong direction, going downhill instead of up, off by 90 degrees! We recover more than 10 contours below and over 500m away from 5.... We realize this Billygoat is over for us. Dejected, we climb through the crap and past a couple of waterfalls and end up hitting the trail junction east of the pond. Go around and then climb through more rocky crap, to hit 5 with Ernst and Adam Rudner, and others visible coming in across the slope. | ||||||
| 6. | No motivation as we climb up the ski slope. People everywehere, many of them making up ground on us. When i see Kristin Hall and Nadim, i start moving again. So do Kenny and Clem. We see J-J coming down to 5. Hit 6 behind Peter Gagarin, Gari Williams, and others. Not good. | ||||||
| 7. | Start moving pretty quickly across the slope and get to 7 with Peter and Ernst and Adam and Kenny and Clem. | ||||||
| 8. | Everyone is still together here. I stop to eat some gu, and the pack gets ahead. | ||||||
| 9. | As i pick up the speed to catch up, i twist my ankle on the rocks and start cursing and hobbling, as Peter passes me. Grrrr. (He was moving well. Wow!) | ||||||
| 10. | Kenny and Clem are still in sight as I hit the trail and i try hard to catch up. Pass Peter again and he asks if my ankle is ok. I think I grunted in response. I catch up to Clem and Kenny sometime after we leave the trail, and catch my breath while they navigate. We spike the control, with Ernst and Adam still there with us, and Sergei sitting at the control taking pictures. I give him a thumbs down and wave him off when he starts telling me who is ahead. Listing everyone would take too long.... | ||||||
| 11. | We ran very well here, lef by Kenny. I was actually reading the map this time, and felt strong the whole time. Clem punched first, then Kenny and me and Ernst and Adam. Kenny and i stop for gu, so Clem gets ahead. | ||||||
| 12. | We catch up again. | ||||||
| 13. | Everyone still together. | ||||||
| 14. | After crossing the frist stream, traversing the hillside and crossing the second stream, we split up. Kenny sees a short course control he had set and uses it to spike 14. I was highed than them and didn't feel like coming down and ended up making a bigger loop around the big reentrant, but led Ernst and Adam to the flag. | ||||||
| 15. | I run off pretty quickly, hoping to ditch Ernst and Adam, who still had a skip left, and maybe catch up to Kenny and Clem. Running well across the flats and downhills. I notice all the cliffs on the other side of the road and aim to hit the road west of them. That works out nicely, and i can see the flag as soon as i climb up from the road. I spike the control, see Sergei trying to take more pictures, and am ecstatic to not only see Kenny and Clem coming in from the other side, but also Mihai and Mark Adams just ahead of me. | ||||||
| 16. | I suddenly get excited again and catch to Mark down the hill. No idea where Mihai went. After crossing the bridge, i run with Mark, who is not pushing very hard. Kenny and Clem catch up. | ||||||
| 17. | Kenny and i run ahead of the others on the road to 17 and see John F. going to 20. | ||||||
| 18. | I follow Kenny through the swamp and we are together here, and i am feeling pretty good. I pull a little ahead coming to the flag. | ||||||
| 19. | Slow here, but i notice that the others are even slower, and i see Mark and Clem falling behind further. Kenny and i go around the hill from different directions, and i am a little ahead at the flag. | ||||||
| 20. | About 20 yards ahead of Kenny the whole way. | ||||||
| F. | I push pretty hard and realize that Kenny is not making up ground. Finish by myself, after a great course and race and a strategic error that doomed it for me.....Thanks Wil for a great Billygoat!!!! |
Total Time Lost - 00:00:00