Orienteering long 7:30:14 [2] *** 26.3 km (17:07 / km) +890m 14:39 / km
30c
Hudson Highlander XV
This year two maps were used: Pole Brook Mountain and Sebago Lake / Kanawauke. Looks like the courses were designed to keep the controls in a reasonably compressed area. The trail run was on a regular O' map instead of the usual black and white copy, eliminating the need for streamers.
Went the distance with Francis Hogle. We did last years together with good results, so a repeat seemed reasonable. We mostly walked the course with some easy jogging on the roads between 9 and 11, and on the first part of the trail run (down hill only!). At our pace we were able to stay in contact with the map the entire way with only one exception. Going to 6 we drifted right. We hit a cliff with a small marsh in front and spent some time trying to figure out where we were. Francis got it and we were OK from there. (Going into 6, I saw a LowLander who seemingly was off to a bad start.)
I was worried that my right knee wouldn't hold up, but it was my left that started hurting first. This was in the first loop. In the end both hurt. Even with this I felt reasonable good at the end. A lot better than the prior two years.
FR went blank about half way around the first loop. It should have been fully charged. Went over 7 hours last year.