Urban Series event at St Johns and Rodean
1:2'500 and 5m
Overcast weather and cool, but still humid with some damp places around the course from lots of rain. I chose the right shoes for the event, didn't struggle with grip on the slippery floors.
Made a mistake to #1 by trying to climb the grassy embankment rather than taking the stairs. Much steeper and more slippery than I was expecting and lost 10s or more. Then a good section to 5, where I caught sight of Paul (started 1 min ahead) for the first time. The map problems from last year were still there, with some uncrossable walls having too narrow a width, so they looked like a step on the map. I played it safe and went for the legal routes. Still had to change route to #5 as the one obvious gap was uncrossable (5s). First big route choice was 8-9 where I did a u-turn and went back along the road, which the splits suggest was definitely the best option. I still made a 5s overshoot right at the control, so could have had a better split. At 11 there was another map issue with the uncrossable wall, which was only 50cm high! I went around.
After the map flip we started the Rodean section. More technical with the reading. I made a route choice mistake 15-16, taking the first option around the fenced-off tree rather than the next pathway around the building (5s). Similarly 16-17, I went left instead of right around the building (5s) although the map doesn't suggest that the right is faster. On 20-21 I made the wrong route choice, coming down the stairs on the N side of the building instead of the ones to the S. I also didn't see the control until the last second, and so hesitated (10s). I had an excellent route 22-23, deciding to run around the hill to the S on the road rather than run over the hill and this gave me a fastest split. No other problems then until entrance into 27, where the uncrossable walls aren't shown, nor is the path through the dark green, so I lost about 10s on everyone else running around.
Finished 2nd to Michael, who was about 2 mins ahead, so happy with that. I was 10s ahead of Paul (3rd), having got as close to him as 25s entering Rodean, but then slowly loosing time again on him. Overall not a bad O' for me given I haven't orienteered since SA Champs in September. Sprint work needs improving and a bit better map contact and memory.