First win of 2006

Saturday was the first OL that I have done since last year October, and although this OL was on a different continent, the weather conditions were great (and similar) and the pace was fast (same as then). We had the first Salzburg cup this weekend, which consisted of 10 km of hard running over soggy fields and even soggier (is that a word?) forests. The course was nice, more about running than orienteering, but it was good to get out there and strech my legs for the first time in 2006.

As I'm getting old, I get to run in the Veteran Catagory these days, were the competition is somewhat thinner than in the elite, but we still get to run the same course. So although I get run in my own age group I can compare myself against the other top athletes. I was quite pleasantly surprised actually - only 7 minutes behind Tobias was a good result and he only caught me towards the end of the course. The other guys in my class don't really train so much (excepting for Leo) so I cannot really compare with them and thus it's nice to run elite courses.

So first time out in 2006, first win (100 % ratio) - I bet you that record lasts at least until next weekend, when we have our next event. Naja, one win a year is OK! Last year Michael Schmacher only won once!

I am posting the map here for those of you who would like to see it. I was wearing normal running shoes (not OL shoes) and lost time at control 5 and 6 because it was just too slippery. Additionally I made small mistakes at control 2 and 7. I think the route choice between 4 and 5 could have been better, but other than that I was satisfied! Total distance about 12 km, time 55 min!

So keep well all,
god bless,
Richard.