A new runsite with a great shelter! Wow – I’ve been all over that area and never found that shelter! Emma clearly had little time to prepare to set the run, so looked back on his old tracks, notably a run I set some months back – luckily it was a great run then, and just as good in reverse today!
We set off and, I started jogging – it is a hilly area, so better to make use of the flat & downhill while it lasts. Nobody kept me company so I pressed on. The first check got me thinking straight away – there wasn’t really any options, but we’d just past a possible check point, so I was pretty sure where the ONIN would be.
There was silence behind me as I ran on – should I be walking? Another check and I decided to check off to the right – it was wrong. I was reluctant to go down the hill on the nice little trail I used before, but hey, it was that way, and I was back on trail. Shit – is he really just setting my run in reverse? He actually found a nicer connect for the next bit, and hell the next check screwed me over. There was a nice trail to the right, but no paper… a nice trail to the left, but no paper… perhaps straight up the hill the way I did, but no paper… Then Piggy was back with me, along with a pack and someone found paper 40m from the circle…
That was actually a really neat connect – I missed it when I’d scouted there, so it did make the run better than what I’d set! From here, it was clear what was coming… We had a hill to climb, and I would much prefer to be running down that hill! But, it was a nice work out, and I pressed on. Scooby and Bus Bitch were closing in on me for a while, but then suddenly there was silence behind. I know I got the checks right, but I was surprised that Scooby wasn’t right behind.
There was a great circle check – except that I knew where I was and where the trails went. Silence from behind, so I was away again. Not long after trail continued, but Ha! It would be a FT, so I turned right and sure enough found paper. Another circle and it had to be down to the right, sure enough I was on paper and figured from here I would be alone. There was another FT towards the end, which I salute, but didn’t get fooled. As I headed up the hill at the finish there was a fruity banana present, which I donated to HRA who sat out the run with the hare. Afterall, last time HRA did that run he seriously hurt himself!