Race Evaluation
Susquehanna Stumble IX: Long
Nadim
| 1. | No warm-up. It was nice being able to get ready very leisurely without Max though it did make me feel a bit guilty. The nice weather had everyone taking off pretty fast. I read ahead a bit hanging back behind Ted. We all broke for the trail. I saw everyone split-up with Ted overrunning the control and Ken Walker cutting left to it but didn't figure it out until he was down the ridge a bit. I went to punch and felt a little guilty for not yelling. | ||||||
| 2. | I crossed left like the others, then crossed back over a log. The leaders got further ahead. I was glad that I could leap the deep gully. We just stayed along the stream until we got to the control. | ||||||
| 3. | I didn't bother following the faster racers and set off on an almost straight route. It was good to get me more into reading the map than relying on others. As I crossed the stream at a confluence, I saw Ken, Clem, and Eddie and coming back on their way to #4. | ||||||
| 4. | I pursued Ken and Chris, following the stream to the control. | ||||||
| 5. | Straight and we were there. | ||||||
| 6. | B. I felt going to C would be better. All the others were gboing for B first so I stuck with them. I felt very tentative and made a point of keeping the others in contact. | ||||||
| 7. | C. I navigated better reading and running the trail but was mostly behind Chris Gross. We split a little but both got there around the same time. | ||||||
| 8. | A. At first I thought we'd be able to use the fields to the east but later figured they'd be out of bounds. I gained a step or two on Chris as he would go straight through some slightly green areas and I went around. I got too far east at the end. Chris saw it and got to it first. | ||||||
| 9. | G. Ted had caught back up. He and I pulled ahead of Chris going through the fields. We cut left at the road but then got slowed as we debated the next turn. Ted had turned right a bit early. Chris caught-up but we passed him again on the road. We followed the trail through the field and were relieved that some horse riders had decided not to go into the woods we needed to be in. We followed the trail to a bend, then attacked. I was a little high but Ted zeroed in on it. | ||||||
| 10. | +00:10 | D. I got distracted seeing another control. Ted and I corrected and he got there first. | |||||
| 11. | F. I was a bit tentative on this leg but Ted got us there going around the marsh on the east or right side. | ||||||
| 12. | E. I got confused with which trail I was on but was able to figure it out as Ted led. At the end, I saw it first and punched. | ||||||
| 13. | +00:15 | H. Going up to #H, we knew Chris Gross was near behind. I led a bit but got too far left. We saw Dave Onkst coming the other directoin toward #E. Ted corrected our route. | |||||
| 14. | Out to the field I contoured around the reentrant somewhat. Approaching the next patch of forest, I was looking for a well--the green circle looked blue. Once again, Ted was able to clarify the situation by telling me the blue I was seeing was really green. Once into the woods near the distinct tree, the control was spotted quickly. | ||||||
| 15. | Fairly straight. I cut across the reentrant just before the downed trees and had to cross under one on the other side. I saw it far off. | ||||||
| 16. | I was ahead of Ted a little still. Chris Gross was coming up fast. I had to go around a fallen tree on the straight route, thus letting Chris gain a bit more but I picked it up a little and got there before him. | ||||||
| 17. | I was a little slow to assess the next leg. Both Ted and Chris got ahead which was good because I wasn't reading things well. I suppose if they weren't there, I'd have been less distracted. We cut through on the trail and were on the control before I knew it. | ||||||
| 18. | Back the way we came at first, Chris took the lead. Ted started to go more straight and would have gotten caught-up in some greeen. I didn't realize we were getting to the finish of the first loop and end of the Short course. Chris surged ahead approaching the tunnel and the control. | ||||||
| 19. | +00:10 | K. I started to take off without stopping to eat as I saw Chris G. starting to sprint. I wondered why he was going so fast. Ted said he was stopping so I went back. Ted and I had already discussed the next window as we were headed into the previous 5-control window. This let us go right to the trail west of K. I plunged in ahead a bit and saw it from far off. This split includes almost a minute for a water/eating break. | |||||
| 20. | +00:15 | J. I led back to the trail, then past the reentrant. I turned around as I saw the trail climbing and Ted was already in the woods near the control. I ran up the gullied reentrant to catch back up. | |||||
| 21. | L. I intended to go out to the field. I was chasing Ted to catch-up. He got a bit right of the gully and tangled in the green. The gully that I'd already come through was a bit faster so I got to the trail just ahead. I told we should take to the field there but was a step ahead when I started-up the wrong trail. I realized it soon enough, then read the map to see enough trails to get us close. I had to pause at the two parallel trails as I was on the left one and Ted took the right one. I realized where I was then but Ted led in from there. | ||||||
| 22. | I. I recognized this area from the sprint at the inaugural A-meet here. Therefore, I had no trouble getting on the right trail and going straight to the control from the end of the ridge. | ||||||
| 23. | I led Ted out to the field and ran to the road, after toying with the idea of staying right and lower (the wet grass was too high). I read ahead on the map, planning the low route to #24. Ted also had said that he was starting to fade and that I should go if needed. I paused at the stream crossing after the bridge but got to the ruin first. I hadn't been reading the clue descriptions through most of the course. It would have helped me to have done so here because I was unsure where the control would be. Little if any time was lost. Ted caught-up about the time I decided to look inside. | ||||||
| 24. | +04:00 | Ted and I started to head toward the river then realized that we had to go left first. I got on the right trail, pausing once 30m before the last turn at what appeared to be a trail going down to the river. Ted indicated it was ahead. As I ran the trail, Ted started dropping back. I wasn't reading the trail at first and then couldn't figure out how far I'd gone already. The stream bridge should have clued me in. I didn't see any obvious attack point except the trail bends. I was far enough ahead that I'd lost verbal contact with Ted. When I got to a trail intersection, I realized I'd gone too far; about 200m too far. I came back and found that Ted had also passed the control. We ran the low part of the ridge northward to the reentrant. | |||||
| 25. | Ted led on the trail up the hill left of straight. The trail was better to run on than the field. As we climbed Ted again told me that I should go on if needed. I didn't plan to but when he asked, we miscommunicated resulting in him pausing and me passing. I went on at my own pace after that. At the end, I thought about cutting through the woods but going around seemed just as fast and less thorny. | ||||||
| 26. | +00:30 | O. I chose to go to O because I didn't think there was much climb between it and P and also because I didn't want to have to dog-leg O to the bridge climbing unecessarily at the end of the window. I could hear Ted approaching through the woods as I took off straight. I was perhaps ou of sighte before he got going because I went over the ridge and down to a break in the trees. In the next patch of woods, taking trails left of the line, I probably was not running the most efficient route-low would have been better. Attacking from east of the control, I got too left and paused not having gone far enough to identify the reentrant. I went on and found soon after. | |||||
| 27. | P. I got on trails going through the reentrant to P then turned left at the T-intersection. I cut left again soon after. I ran a trail to an intersection, cut right, saw Ted presumably leaving the control (but on his first in the window), then punched through at a distinct trail bend--it was apparant that others had done this too (though perhaps not today) as the vegetation was thinner and easy to get through. I cut left again before hitting the control. | ||||||
| 28. | Leaving, I continued on the trail in the direction I'd been heading going to the control, punched through one green area at a bend again, then used trails to get to the field. Going around everything, I plunged back in at a forest corner. | ||||||
| 29. | +00:15 | Down the ridge trying to stay straight, I paused too early when the ground started flattening ahead. I went on almost another 100m to get there. | |||||
| 30. | Fairly quick. I used the trail, crossed the T-intersection, and after just two more steps I could see the control ahead. | ||||||
| 31. | Out to the bridge and up the traill, I made a mistake and almost had gotten onto the wrong climbing trail. I went through the field, got into the next woods on a trail, then spiked it from the high side. | ||||||
| 32. | +01:00 | I started to go the low route thorough the middle and got to that trail w/o much trouble. I did make one wrong turn and got back to the fields on the left or north side of the forest. Taking trails from there, I cut right attacking from just past a trail intersection east of the control. The thorns were thicker here than elsewhere but I was through fairly quick. | |||||
| 33. | I ran the trail to an intersection, cut left and eventually reached the fields right of the line. I cut across the display field, went low around the trees, then back up to the control. | ||||||
| F. | +00:07 | As I approached the finish, I looked for the punch to be on a fence. I was already going a bit left of where I should have and people started cheering. Fortunately I was saved some embarrasment as people pointed to the box. This was an enjoyable run for me. It felt less like racing than training. I'm surprised why The Stumble hasn't attracted larger crowds. It's a good event. |
Total Time Lost - 00:06:42