We purposely ran the Stage 1 trail run at as fast of a pace as we could. We knew that we had an advantage over a lot of the orienteers if we got out in front of them on the run segment. It was a very tough trail run, but it was luckily a short one. I don't think there is a trail in the entire park that isn't difficult. The only "rule" for this part of the race was that teams must stay together.

Trail run went right into Stage 2.

The only control we (Rob) had difficulty finding was the very first one. We just overshot the area we had to be in. I think Rob was trying to NOT follow one of the competitors, so much so that we got thrown off. Once we found the first one we got into more of a groove. #2 was pretty close afterwards. I remember wondering how 2-3 other teams got to #2 BEFORE us, but we spent way too much time at #1.

To get to #3, it was our first real route choice. (This is where we could have swam across 100 Acre Pond). The 2 actual route choices were to either go west or east around the pond. We chose west, and it turned out that about 1/2 of the teams chose that direction. It was up for some "lively" debate afterwards on which was the better choice. Ours was, of course! This direction led us into quite a swampy area, though. I said goodbye to my nice white Brooks running shoes. We had to run through ankle deep muddy water. I was pretty muddy and pretty pissed that I had to run the rest of the race with wet feet. It was soon after we found #3 and were headed off to #4 that I had to vent a little and let fly some nice language... (i.e. I can't believe the "*#$%" pace we're keeping - so freaking fast - my "@*$%" feet are wet, we are running through woods and "@#%&" thorns, so now my legs are cut and "*&#@" bleeding, and I should have kept my "*&#%@" pant legs on, so on and so forth... :) After this short episode, I was able to relax some and finally seemed to find a pace that was good for both of us.

I don't remember all of the details of each control point. I do know that after #4, we never saw another competitor again. I wasn't sure if that was good or bad. At #6 I actually decided to eat a gel. YUCK! I really thought I could use it, though. I took rstocks3 advice to jackjack that Powerbar vanilla was a good flavor. As I was eating it I reminded myself of those people you see on Survivor or Fear Factor - I closed my eyes, and took my first big gulp and started breathing deeply and groaning in a dull deep voice to keep from barfing. I couldn't look at the stuff at all. I had to take 3 gulps to get it all down. It did in a way remind me of cake frosting - really, really warm slimy cake frosting. But it was better than any other I've had in recent memory. Drank a lot of water afterwards to wash it down.

We did mostly off trail running. Which meant a lot of jumping over logs and branches, dodging eye gouging branches, running through tall, scratchy grasses, etc, etc... I was really in awe of Rob the entire time at how well he can navigate and make route decisions and still be running at a good clip. He really is good at this sport!

Once we found #9, it was a long stretch to #10. We walked for a minute or so at this point to talk about how we would divide up the Stage 3 labyrinth course that came after we finished Stage 2. This long run to the final control in Stage 2 was very tough. My legs were toast. I also had to stop at a porta-potty on the way. I tried to drink as much as possible during this segment of the race.


Not much other than get more comfortable with reading maps. Reading maps while running and while you are oxygen deprived is very tough. I was physically prepared for this race, but if I want to not just be a "running partner" I need to do more orienteering.

Stage 2 goes right into Stage 3.

Rob and I had made the decision to split up. I would get controls #20, 21, 16, and 23, in that order and then meet at a point near #24, the final point. Rob would get #'s 18, 17, 14, 19 and 15, in that order. Rob knew exactly which controls and what order I should do them in, and he was right on! They were easy enough and close enough together for my experience level, and his were more difficult, thus better for him. I was worried about going off on my own. The map was pretty detailed, though. I had to follow an old rock fence and then veer off to the left, and, lo and behold, there it was! I found the first one fairly easily, and then became more confident with each one. But, I knew better than to run any of this too fast. I took it nice and easy and only ran when I was sure of where I was going. The second one was at the top of a knoll, the 3rd was at the edge of a small pond, and the last one was a little trickier, but I found it in the middle of a spur. I found the 4 points quickly and Rob and I met up with perfect timing. It couldn't have gone any better! We both punched #24 then set off on the trail to the finish line. We ran as hard as we could the entire way to the finish!

I am pretty proud of how well I executed the 4 controls on my own! If I did more orienteering I'd be much more confident at it.

Sat down and caught my breath for a minute, then walked around and got some water. We were the absolute FIRST team to show up!!! It was 16 minutes before the next person showed up! We joked about how glad we were that we pushed it sooooo hard at the end... ;)


It's the very first time ROC has put on an event like this. It was good it was small this time around. Mostly ROC members showed up, or members from nearby clubs. I think the only group running without any orienteering experience was Ed's team! We finished in 1 hour 20 minutes. At 2 hours 45 minutes, Ed's group showed up!! I was starting to get worried. I kept looking with anticipation at the corner they were supposed to be rounding. The meet director finally decided to hand out the awards. About 1/2 way through that, Ed and his team finally showed up - and with SMILES on their faces!! They said they had a great time! And I believed them! They really thought it was fun. I guess they had some trouble in the labyrinth when they split up (about a 1/2 hour set-back), but otherwise they did well. I was so so glad that they had a positive experience. I think everyone there was waiting on pins and needles for them to come back to see what they thought. I think this could be a really popular race with some time and more experience on ROC's part in putting on something like this.