Itchy stepped up, and the run was way down canal road – great running area. Itchy was coy in the harebrief, no clues as to how far it was but time to start running! I set off with None of Your Business and Brownfinger, and at the end of the road was the first circle check. Brownfinger graciously let NOYB take the most obvious trail, and pointed me out a further option. Pretty close to the circle I found pink paper – it seemed too close, but there was another piece. OK, I guess i’m on? A quick call and everyone came over to decide it was old paper. Back to the circle – everyone seemed to head off in the direction BF had been checking, but I went with NOYB to where he hadn’t gone far enough.
This time we found the paper, and were off. Familiar trails, and I nailed quite a few checks, out of contact with the pack behind me. Things were going well, and the ‘dream hash’ flashed through my mind… And of course then I got to the check that screwed me over! I checked straight, I checked right, I checked further right, and then set off left – finally I could hear the pack approaching from behind. I was wrong again! Where was the trail??? Even with the help of the other FRBs it took us another 5 minutes or so to find the trail, and the pack set off again – knowing that we must be turning right soon…
Of course we got it wrong when the trail didn’t turn right, and kept going straight. Finally we followed Square Rooter around to the right, and it was Poo that took up the pace along the mud roads back towards the A site. Brown Finger was on a mission to chase him down, but he did the right thing checking the dummy way at another junction, while Graven and I jogged along behind Poo. A further check, and it had to be to the left, but with Poo and Graven already checking there, I gambled on straight. There must have been some fuck up as it took forever to be called, by which time I’d started paralleling into a field surrounded by barbed wire. I had to head back, and ended up with 8k on the clock, some ways behind the true FRBs. We Are F R B!