Orienteering race 2:46:05 [3] *** 5.77 mi (28:47 / mi) +800ft 25:27 / mi
12c
Prince William Forest - Pine Grove
Green (14 controls, 6 km, 130 m)
Actual Distance Traveled: 9.3 km
Actual Climb: 244 m
I've orienteering in Prince William Forest quite a few times. I'm familiar enough with the park. I still managed to have quite a bit of trouble finding the 2nd control (135). I passed fairly close to it on my first attempt to find it. I thought it was to my north and east of me when it was actually west of me, when I passed nearby it. At one point I mistook one grassy hilltop for another. That sent me off in the wrong direction. It wasn't until I returned to the trail and tried a second approach that I found it.
I spent about 3.5 minutes getting to the point where I left the trail. 37 minutes later I returned to that same point without success. I headed in the right general direction but I was headed more east and less north than I should have. It took me another 15 minutes to find the control on my second attempt.
The rest of the controls didn't give me much trouble. I didn't always take the most direct approach but I was always fairly confident as to where I was. The time I lost finding 2/135 cost me. I found 9/106 at about 2:49 PM. I knew I had to hustle to get back. I got to the bridge at 3:00. I decided to see if I could find the last 3 controls even though I knew I was already running late. I knew it was possible that one or more of them might have already been picked up. I found the last three controls without too much trouble but I didn't get back to the registration area until about 3:25.
I used the Map Run app for the first time today. I spotted all but one of the controls (10/126) before the app did. There was one (4/114) that the app didn't spot until I was leaving it. I love having the results on an o-map as soon as I was done. I just have to figure out how to download that map with my track on it.
Despite the one mistake I am relatively pleased with my results for the other controls.
See RouteGadget for my track.