We found the event parking today with no problems (only took about 1/2 an hour from home). The walk to the start took ages along the forest edge, looking in to the tall redwood forest with spongy forest floor (and regular "out of bounds" signs). The organisers had decorated the way in with laminated shots from "Lord of the rings" to get us into the mood. Apparently there was also a man made object scarecrow out there somewhere, dressed as Gandolf.
Basically Trevor had to drop his gear and head to the start, but I had a bit of time up my sleeve to investigate the finish area (also the results area) where there was limited space for spectators, and a huge canopy over the live score displays, along with a water truck with working taps to fill the post run cups with water.
Today there were plenty of toilets and no queues. There was a fairly lengthy walk to the start again, past an enormous jumps area for MTBs. Andrew, you would have been impressed with the dirt and wooden structure. I intended to get some photos on the way back out, but never ended up going that way again.
By the time I started Trevor would have been almost finishing his course. It was a varied course with steep hilly areas and flatter areas of varied growths. Many mountain bike tracks criss-crossing the area made it quite confusing at times, along with the fairly thick vegetation making visibility difficult and the lumps and bumps of the landscape requiring interpretation. I had only made it through 5 of my required 20 controls before I twisted my ankle fairly badly running down a track. It's never good when you hear it crunch as you do it. I managed to limp the next 2 controls, but realised that I was never going to manage the entire course, and limped in to the finish to get a dreaded DNF (did not finish) against my name. That's my Orienteering in NZ over with. The longed for sprint tomorrow will be a spectator event for me I'm afraid 😕.
Trevor was not happy with his race either- he finished well behind the leaders (not sure of his place as yet) with a number of messed up controls. He wasn't alone in feeling a bit dissatisfied with his performance today.
One of the brighter spots of the day was seeing our friends Kirsten and Bo again after a long wait. We will share a meal with them tonight in town and have a good catch up then.
I decided to try to capture some of the atmosphere of the forest event arena with a few photos.
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| SA runners catching up |
My favourite runner debriefing with a fellow South Aussie.
As walking out the way we had come in was looking doubtful for me, Trevor kindly walked me in the other direction and walked back to the car without me. I sat and checked out the nearby forest walk and sculptures while I waited for my chauffeur.
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| Sculptures. Lots of kids climbing them and posing with them while doting parents took photos. |
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| The tree top walk looks like fun. |
The sprint tomorrow is right near the lake and apparently some of the course is still underwater. Competitors have been warned to expect to get wet. We look forward to the excitement to come. I will take along the camera and try to catch some of the action.
Maps from today
Trev was on a course 8 and I was on a 12
I did my ankle between 5 and 6
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