Nattsvermeren (24.03.2017)

What happens when an untrained body tries to run fast? Stupid mistakes...

This was a mass start of all classes running this course so I had several very fit boys around me up the hill to #1 where I led my class. After winning the second leg and just one second from the fastest time to #3 I had a comfortable lead while the 3-4 boys had disappeared, but I had also accumulates a significant oxygene debt from the path and road running.

Towards #4 I decided to run around the multiple steep knolls and attack from the open field, but going into the green I lost the direction, went left up the hill too soon and lost a minute while two guys passed me.

I ran together with Nils E Hæstad, the eventual winner, for the next several controls but dropped a few seconds up the hill to #8 due a a bad micro route choice.

Towards the final forest control I just ran an approximate bearing, knowing that the end of the hill with the path below would catch me, but when I got to that point I started correct (left) but then suddenly decided that I had to be just left of the line, by the end of the marsh with a cliff on the other side. Starting from that parallel mistake I ran up into the wrong knoll area and quickly turned myself almost 180 degrees around. I lost almost exactly 10 minutes on this, while just a second-long glance at my compass when I turned back on the path would have avoided all of it.

The only fun part was that the guy who led the race from #4 to #6 ran behind me when I made the error, and he followed me up the wrong hill and lost pretty much exactly the same amount even though I never spotted him while trying to relocate.

So instead of fighting for the victory I ended up 3rd last, which just proves that it is a bad idea to run faster than you can orienteer.