The weather didn’t look very promising for Sunday. The morning was cold (around 55F) and it drizzled. However, the rain conveniently stopped around 1PM, so my orienteering experience was actually surprisingly pleasant. I didn’t get as wet as last time (when it was in the mid 80s), probably also because I didn’t have to cross the stream (twice) knee-deep in water. I still got a bit wet because of the vegetation, but not nearly as bad as I thought, and since I was running most of the time I didn’t notice the cold anyway.

I competed on the green course (5.1km) and finished in 75:43 (definitely not the fastest time, I’ve seen at least 2 faster times, one at 60 minutes and one at 71 minutes), but I am really happy with it. I only had troubles with 2 out of the 9 controls, that’s where I knew I lost time; the rest was just me taking my time.

As usual, I really enjoyed Umstead Park. The event was in the North side of the park, which is generally a problem for me coming from the South, because I have to go around either West-bound (I-540 and US-70) or East-bound (Blue Ridge / Duraleigh / Ebeneezer Church / US-70). Blue Ridge Road is a no-no these days with the State Fair blocking all the traffic, so I used I-40 / Wade Avenue / Edwards Mill / Duraleigh / … and that wasn’t bad at all. It’s surprising that the Reedy Creek / South entrance and the North entrance in the park do not communicate so you can get by car through the park – for those who don’t know why, the reason is historical and dates from the Segregation period. I guess not being able to drive across the Park is a good thing after all, I wouldn’t want cars speeeding through.