British Relay Championships
Having had a good run in the individual it was on to the relay competition, which was using the part of Culbin I had run on last year. For the relays I was running the middle leg in Mens Short.
The first runner back helpfully warned all the waiting second leg runners that we would need to take care through some of the sections. Soon after my first leg runner appeared and I was off. The first few hundred metres was along the main path and so I started fairly quickly while getting the map open and orientated.
For the first five controls I ran fast and accurately. I was reading the map well and moving quickly. Then I set off on the long leg into the thicker section of forest in the north. I felt I had picked a good direction and attack point but failed to find the control. After wasting ten minutes trying to relocate I finally found the control.
For the last part of the course I was not running too well. I lost two minutes at control eight, when I misread the vegetation, and a further two minutes at control ten, when I overshot the control by a distance. My slow running for the last few controls probably cost another few minutes. Overall I am disappointed with my run. It took about 53 minutes instead of the 38 I reckon it should have taken.
In better news from the day is the photo in this post. My father, and team, won the M/W60 class.
