As Tuesday dawned, while the rain was pouring down, there were some serious long faces around the breakfast table. At least it wasn't 5h45 but a more reasonable 7h15. We tried our best to muster the GatherKenna clan and surprisingly we did get out the door more or less on time. Getting to the event center was old hat by now and with the usual 10000 steps completed before we even started our races, the day had begun in earnest.
The weather gods were smiling on us this time round and I spotted a few little (not big) blue sky holes in the clouds so our hopes soared like an eagle. Be careful what you wish for, because the emerging blue sky pushed the humidity up making it really sapping during the event, and wet, and sweaty, and hot.
The tent was still where we left it (thank goodness) and Heather had already started the day being our earliest starter, so we didn't even get to see her before the start. Ciro popped in for a quick hello and was then off as we slowly started heading towards our starts. At O-Ringen this can sometimes be quite long and for the oldies in the club this meant 3.3 km or more. Today was the long distance as well, so we were expecting longer running times than yesterday.
Richard, Marc and Aidan had a little side bet to see who would have the shortest time today as their courses were all the same length. Aidan was our first finisher to clinch the 122nd place in M14, while Marc finished in 134th place. They had running times of 64:12 and 70:38 while Richard finished in 58th position in the M50-S2 in a bet winning 52:35. So the unfit, grey, old, fat man took it :)
Among the W16 finishes, Heather (112th) pipped Hanna (119th) and Eábha (130th). Moving up the age ladder, Aline was in fine form again achieving a 36th place in the W20. When I asked her how her run was, she told me full of enthusiasm that it went well, up until control 1. Wasn't sure how to react to that. Well done anyway. Raphi had the distinct pleasure of getting the most bang for his buck by finishing the M21 course (which was a staggering 13 km long) in 105 minutes for 49th place, with a banged up knee. After he finished he went to the medics who were clearly not impressed and told him that a good shower would fix it. Ciro, who had a lengthy 9.1 km to master, also finished in 105 minutes for the 83rd place. Käthi, who in the W21 had the longest course in the ladies section, improved to finish 138th in 96 minutes.
In the veterans section, Christine pulled out all the stops in the W40-S to improve a staggering 46 places to finish 59th and achieved her personal aim of not being double the winning time. Now that her confidence is back, expect good things. Alison had a steady run again to finish in 80th place in the W45. Darrell and Klaus continued their battle with both recording good improvements. Darrell crashed his way into the top 100 to finish 86th, while Klaus finished 114th in their class.
Anne had a slightly less successful run than yesterday, but is showing all the signs of becoming a true orienteering fanatic by being annoyed by.... well .... everything about her run. She did, however, make a most beautiful infinity sigh (or 8 if you prefer) on her course. We are not sure exactly what it means, but I think it means great things to come and that she was 53rd. Vincent was back very quickly, catching us all by surprise, making a huge jump to his Monday´s result. He was also the best placed result today as 27th. Barbara´s run in the W50 was also a big jump forwards, finishing in 109th place.
Our oldies but goldies, Andrea and Koni both made large jumps forward with Andrea finishing 38th in the W60 and Koni getting those double digits for the first time (but not last time) this week to finish 93rd.
Generally it was a very successful day for the OLG Nidwalden+Obwalden as almost the entire team made steps (some even leaped) forward in the results. Long may this continue. If we continue like this we will have multiple winners by the end of the week (but that might be wishful thinking).
But the fun didn't end there. The GatherKenna clan had invited the entire troop round for a evening grill party. In preparation we went out and bought beers, wine and snacks for the team, plus got everything ready for a rip roaring evening. The folks arrived and a fun time was had by all. Raphi ended up beating the boys (Aidan and Marc) at soccer and then Kathi killed them both on Mario Kart, so they were fairly down. The girls spent the evening nattering away in the corner. Richard and Vincent did the grilling and got everything ready (albeit a little burnt) on time while Christine and Anne did some major preparation for everything else. We had a great time, eat some food, drank some water (remember all that wine and beer we bought...) and had coffee and dessert after.
As it was a rest day the next day, the kids stayed up a bit later, and we tucked into that wine / beer store we had bought for the evening. We made a huge dent in the stock, finishing a full half of one wine bottle before falling asleep on the couch... ouch.
So until next time. (Where photo's will follow I promise).
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