iROC - inov-8 Run Orienteer Cycle
Good Things Come in Threes
Rob Howard / 19.04.2009
Race three began just as the sun was setting over the nearby fell. Once again the rolled up orienteering maps were handed out, this time for the 1 hour score orienteering race – the hardest test of the weekend for those who are not regular navigators. The leaders raced off at speed, map reading as they ran, but seemed to head first one direction, then double back to another. They knew what they were doing, it was some of the better navigators trying to ‘lose’ Morgan Donnelly so he couldn’t tail them round! It didn’t work but they went different ways later on.
There was half an hour of dusk light as the sun set to plan a route and get going, and although there were three CP’s on the lower site, the majority were on the now familiar slopes and quarry workings. “Those hills again!� was a common reaction. This time the CP’s were placed in more difficult positions on features not always easy to find in the dark, but the lead group had no problems and didn’t need the full hour to clear the course. A group of four were back well inside the hour, sprinting for the finish and leaving Dan Halliday a step behind at the last., “I lead them most of the way and they dropped me at the end!� He said. First to punch was Phil Winskill, closely followed by Bruce Duncan and Jon Morgan, and with Morgan Donnelly back in 27th place this shook up the overall standings with Winskill and Duncan moving to the top. Nic MacLeod was the fastest lady at the orienteering, ahead of Zoe Fleming.
There was only a short break before the night MTB time trial, the event that has caused most discussion and the most nerves. Having seen parts of the route during the day it looked hard, and the forest descent that was cleared especially for the race had been nicknamed the ‘Wall of Death’ – there had even been some discussion on MTB forums in advance of the race. For this event there was a staggered start, with the leaders going off first, passing over the bridge, which was now decked out with green glow sticks. As the night went on more of these were laid out around the finish which began to resemble an airport landing strip.
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