Sprint Finals

Today we took the easy way out and hitched a lift with Bo, Kirsten and Magnus to the parking area. Much less stressful. We followed the same pattern as yesterday-catching the bus to the event centre after a short walk from our parking spot, and the ferry home at a more sedate pace once the pressure was off.

The arena was the same as the previous day,  but the finish chute entered from the opposite direction.   This had necessitated the erection of an overpass for the spectators to use. The final control was clearly going to be a granite boulder sculpture.

Overpass over the final control and finish chute

The final control

Final control from above! 

As it was currently a beautiful day ( as promised) we relaxed in the spare hour before the courses started along with others and slowly prepared ourselves for the runs ahead.

Trevor,  Magnus, Kirsten and Bo preparing in their own ways.

The arena was so much more pleasant in the sunshine, and the grass was already dry enough to sit down on, without soaking in the moisture. The flags flew beautifully in the sunshine and everyone was enjoying the change in weather.

You can see the finish chute which is taped to divide A final runners ( coming in the left side of the chute)  and the others on the right side.  Runners in the top 10 of the A final had numbered bibs. 

I headed to my start ( only a short distance of 250m today) and started in clear skies, but shortly after that the skies opened up and I finished soaked to the skin. The course itself was fine except for the 3rd control which I made a meal of-getting quite bamboozled on virtually the only bush control in the entire course. It doesn't make me feel more confident for the days to come. Tomorrow we will go to the model event for the long events and try to getting our head around the mapping over here ( and  not to panic)

Our results were pretty usual for us -down towards the bottom of the list at 54th ( out of 77 potential runners) for Trevor and  Erica 47th out of 59 potential starters.

In the worsened weather we were glad that we had a change of clothes and shoes with us, and also happy to skip the  presentation ceremony and take the ferry home towards our car park -once again feeling very exhausted.  We are still waking early with the sun-and going to bed late ( also sun related) which is creating a bit of a sleep deficit I think.

We took the  opportunity to admire the maritime display and then opera house as we strolled back to our car.

Opera house-the design is influenced by the harbour surrounding it.

Tomorrow will be less pressure again as we walk around the model event site at our own pace. The weather is again maybe not going to be the best.