Orienteering race 3:57:25 [4] 8.11 mi (29:16 / mi) +121m 27:59 / mi
Frigid - 4 hr - Night Race
Had a couple hours to relax, eat and get ready for the night race. Changed my outfit completely to make sure I didn't get cold. Maps were handed out at 4:15 and this time around there were again 16 CPs, but no bonus flags. Planned a CW route hitting the highest density of points first in case we didn't clear.
Race started at 5 pm and we headed W with a number of other teams. It was still light which was pretty nice. We didn't turn on our headlamps until 42 and it wasn't full dark until 40. Hit the first CP no problem and then had a little trouble with the next one (44). I wan't watching the map that closely and when we hit the reentrant I thought it was in there was no flag and a few confused teams. We continued S to check our position, figured out where we were and then backtracked to find the flag in a reentrant just N of the one we had hit the first time. Not sure it was placed correctly, and if it was the map didn't match the terrain. Either way, it wasn't a big deal and we continued on our way. This whole section was just up and down, up and down and I was feeling my calves from the earlier race.
Things went pretty smoothly for a while after that. I was a little sleepy, but stayed focused and we just kept chugging along. Ran into BF on our way from 38 to 34, which was about the half way point, and teamed up for the rest of the race. We were moving along quite well and decided we had time to hit all the CPs. We were headed to the final control when I made my biggest error of the day. I let my guard down and we ended up out on the wrong spur. It took a while to figure out where we were (with BF's help), finally decided we didn't have time and just needed to head back. But as we started walking we finally confirmed our location and were able to snag the final flag (whew!). Made a somewhat frantic dash back to the hall to finish in 3:57.
Cleared the course and finished 2nd team and 4th overall. Finished 3rd in the combined results (day + night).
Really excited with our results. Great way to start the year!
Clothes:
Salomon Mantra, compression socks, waterproof socks
Tights, Obermeyer pants
Long sleeve x2, orange North Face jacket
Blue Nike gloves, mittens (hands were very warm for first half)
Hat, buff