I began to warm up for my leg soon after the first leg runners had started. I took it easy -- jogging and walking around and thinking about the course.

As I warmed up, I kept an eye on the last control, watching for Dan. I saw Dan when he was on his way to the last control. He was moving slowly -- he looked stiff. He had clearly run hard, but it looked like he was not moving well. I guessed he might have reinjured his ankle. It turned out he'd reinjured his back.

After Dan tagged Peggy, I asked him if there was anything I needed to know before I went out. He said there was nothing special.

Peggy's leg did not have a radio or spectator control, so I knew I needed to be ready and keeping an eye on the last control. I jogged around a bit, kept an eye on my watch, and got ready for my race.

I was ready to run when I saw Peggy heading to the last control. I jogged over to the exchange area and waited. I hadn't paid attention to which teams were ahead of us. Ross Smith (CNYO) was waiting in the exchange area with me. His club-mate, Mark Dominie, told Ross to "stay with the guy in the blue." Ross -- being a fast running junior -- didn't seem to pay attention to Dominie.

It turned out there were some very good teams ahead of us: SVO (who eventually won), DVOA, UNO, and HVO. Two of the very good teams were, however, behind us: CSU and COC. There were also two ineligible teams ahead of us. One was CNYO. CNYO had Marc Lauenstein running anchor. He is a very strong Swiss orienteer....not USOF eligible. USMAOC was also ahead of us. But, the Army team was only two runners -- each running two legs.

I started in a little group -- Ross about ten seconds ahead of me and Benoit (our pre-race dinner companion) a few seconds behind. Ross was flying down the hill toward the first control as I grabbed the map.

When I looked at the first leg the route seemed obvious. I went a bit left of the line in the beginning, then ran more-or-less straight to the control. The last 300 meters or so was flat and had marshes and green areas. But, it didn't look difficult because there were also some clear features to checkoff on the way -- a couple of low knolls and a stone wall. Ross disappeared from view quickly. He was running much faster than I was. Benoit was running about my pace, but he seemed to be drifting too far to the left.

On my way the second control I got a bit caught up in some rough woods. I didn't keep a very straight line. So, when I got near the control I was a bit uncertain. Was the reentrant I wanted to the left or right? I started looking left and right and then saw Ross blazing down the hill towards m. He was clearly coming from the control. I saw the control. I was a bit unsure on this leg -- slopply. But, I didn't lose any time.

The third leg had three routes -- straight through the green or around the green on either side. I headed off to the right to avoid the green. Going to the right gave me the best approach to the control while also avoiding the green. As I ran down the hill, I got wacked in the face by a branch. I thought I might have lost a lens. But when I opened my eye the forest was still in focus.

The fourth leg was similar to the third leg -- around the green or through it? I decided to take a chance and go through the green. It quickly got thick. The green was a mix of laurel, thick woods, and large downed trees. I didn't hold a good line. I followed a marsh that lead me to the control -- a small cliff. As I got near, I saw a marker. But, it was not on a cliff. It seemed to be sitting in the marsh. I ran up to it. It had the right code. I punched. It turned out I'd miss read the description. The fourth control was on a march....the fifth control was a cliff.

The fourth leg was not fun. I didn't hold a good straight line and I felt like I'd lost my "flytt."

The fifth leg was fairly straight forward -- just go straight, up a little hill, and look for the cliff. The only difficulty was that the area right around the marker was a bit green. This green turned out to be easy to get through.

The next leg looked easy also. The biggest problem was leaving the fifth control. The woods were a bit junky and the footing was rocky. This is the kind of control where it is easy to leave the control in the wrong direction -- 45 to 90 degrees off the line you want. I'd made a couple of these mistakes this spring. So, I was careful to check my compass as soon as I'd gotten through the junk.

In the first part of the leg, I spotted Ross (CNYO). He was moving fast toward six. But, I don't think he'd found five yet. I was glad to see I'd caught him. I'd been pretty confident. He was running very fast. But, I figured he'd be bound to make some mistakes.

To seven there were two routes. I decided to go straight. It looked like a good route -- no substantial technical difficulties, mostly gentle uphill, and no thick woods or rocky ground. The other route was a bit longer, but gave you a chance to run on trails and through a field. It turned out Fritz took the trail route. I had no real trouble on this leg. But, I was beginning to feel tired.

The eigth control was a spectator control. It was also uphill. It was not a big climb, just over four lines. But, I my legs were feeling slow. I shuffled from seven to eight.

Nine was another spectator control. You ran down a hill, through the start/finish area, and then around a little corner to the marker. The only difficulty on this leg was keeping the right pace. You didn't want to go too hard and have you legs die as soon as you got out of sight of the spectators. But, you also didn't want to go too slow in front of the crowd! It was tired, but it was nice to hear people cheering me on.

Ten was another easy control. No route choice. The control was on a rock wall -- a very easy control.

I saw two routes to eleven. You could go straight -- through some light green and up a hill. You could also go around to the left -- a longer distance but you'd get to run on a road and trail. The straight route looked best to me. As I headed toward eleven, I saw Peter Anderson (UNO) on his way to twelve. I wasn't sure how far ahead he'd started, but I knew that UNO didn't have enough of a lead to hold off Mook! (It turns out I'd made up about three minutes on UNO). But, instead of thinking about how we were doing, I needed to think about my race.

I saw two potential difficulties with the control. First, the control was on a "x" -- a miscellaneous man-made feature. What coult that be? Second, the area around the control was a strange mix of rocky ground and vegetation boundaries. The ink-jet printing made it a bit tough to see what was rocky ground and what was a vegetation boundary.

As I headed down the hill toward 11, I saw the Army guy punching. Cool. I'd gained on another team. (It turned out I'd made up about five minutes on the team).

From eleven all I had to do was go up a short hill, punch the last control, and turn it over to Mook. The climb was about five lines. I managed to match the Army runner's pace in the woods (I think I picked a better line through the rocks and trees), but he sprinted ahead once he hit the open area.

As I ran toward the last control I saw that Peter Gagarin was also heading to the same control. I had a lead. But, I was tired. I didn't want Peter to pass me on the run in. But, my legs were worn out and I didn't know if I could hold him off. I decided the only thing to do was look at the finish and run as hard as I could. I don't know if Peter gained on me (he probably did), but he didn't pass me.

I handed off to Mook.

As I caught my breath, Dan came up and said that we were in good shape. Mook was close enougth to give us a shot.

I was happy with my run. I didn't really lose any time. I pushed hard. I am not fast these days. The best time for the green leg was James Scarborough (BAOC 8-point team). James ran 1:21 better than me. Given my current level of fitness, I have to be satisfied with my run. But, I don't have to be satisfied with my current level of fitness. I definitely plan to be fitter for next year's relay champs.

-- Michael (meglin@juno.com), April 19, 2000