5 hour ACT Metrogaine

With many excuses (some good) from my friends about why they couldn't do the 5-hour Metrogaine with me, I decided to enter as a one-man team.  This was a luxury permitted by the organisers because the event was held within the confines of suburbia well-endowed with mobile phone coverage.

The controls were a mix of normal bush controls located in parks and less accessible areas, and questions such as 'What bird is NOT featured on the toilet block?' (which was my favourite control).  There was a 40 point penalty for incorrect answers to discourage guessing.  Nav was ridiculously easy, which was a refreshing change (see previous Rogaine experience) - this event was mainly about speed and route planning.

The weather was atrocious, it basically poured the entire day, except for a couple of hours at the start when it was only light drizzle.  As a result #61 was pretty much in the Molonglo River, despite the setter putting it back a number of metres from the water the day before.

I had to cut everything below #70 off, and couldn't stomach crossing Mt. Taylor for #60, due to time constraints.  My knee acted up about 2 hours in, which meant no more running and a 20 point time penalty for being 2 minutes late despite sprinting down Red Hill and tragically passing up #34, which was less than 100m from the road.  All up I estimate I covered about 27 km and scored respectably in the middle of the pack.

Despite the terrible weather I had a great time and enjoyed the course.