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Mike and I decided to put ourselves to the test today by entering a Kerno orienteering event at Trelissick, Feock (Near Truro).

We wanted a challenge so entered the brown course which is the longest distance and theoretically the most difficult and then to compound our stupidity, ran with packs on! Well 2hrs 40 minutes later I wasn’t seeing the funny side. Mike had already got in some 30 mins earlier and even he was surprised how difficult and tiring the race had been. I had made my usual good start which lasted all of 2 points (from a total of 23), before running into difficulties. After that it was all downhill really although there were a couple of good quick finds, mostly though, I was taking too long in getting around and much too long finding the points. The additional fact the weather was extremely warm and pleasant all made for a very long tiring run. And to cap it all I found out at the end I had mistakingly punched (dibbed) 2 wrong markers…grrr.

Oh well, it was good practice and showed us (me more than Mike) that we could benefit from more map reading practice and should learn to rely more on our compasses and not purely by reading the map’s features – one of my reasons for taking a few wrong paths. The other reason, yes reason, was not actually physically being able to read the map – well with sweat running down my face and my eyesight not what it was, I actually had trouble reading some of the detail. Mike laughed thinking it was one off my elaborate excuses, but I’m seriously considering taking the ‘bins’ next time. Either that or I take a mini magnifying glass, then again that would look a bit stupid and probably be quite impractical.

Anyhoo, still an enjoyable day, albeit slightly longer than anticipated. Next event is in a month so plenty of time to get more fitness and map reading practice in.

Tally ho,