Had a late start on the Brown course. First few controls were mentally tough. Lots of fences, blackjacks. Really nice part of the course once we topped out on the ridge line. I had a good series of controls, acing them all before I messed up #9. I crossed the fence, but didn't see the fence junction, nor the path. Veg was confusing, so not knowing if I was too high or too low I dropped height. Got to within sight of the open fields and did a u-turn back up. Lost about 2:15 or so. Had to repass Sarah. Should have played this smarter.
Thereafter got into a good rhythm again. Caught a large bunch climbing the 2nd hill. Michael came with and we had a good dice back down the hill that really helped the speed. Was loosing distance on the final few controls, but some fiendish route choices kept me in contact.
A good win in the end, with only the 1 big mistake and almost no wobbles inside the circles. Fitness was good, but felt I could still go a lot stronger on the hills.
TE 5.0, EPOC 397, 1050 kcal.