Oringen

I got a bit of sense in the stage arena of the scale of O-Ringen but it wasn't until I started that I really understood how big it is. After coming from JWOC where I’d be starting with one other person (of the opposite gender) it was very different to be packed into the start box with up to ten other people. What really drove home the size of the event though was the first couple of minutes of leg 1 where people everywhere. I had a very difficult time concentrating on my own race as I was in the midst of people going in seemingly every direction. This distraction lead to a slow and sloppy execution of the first control.

The second control also had a shock in store for me as I had forgotten about route choice. About a third of the way in I realized my plan was just to go straight and that I hadn’t considered anything else while planning it. As well I hadn't even thought about how much climbing there would be. Both of these, I believe, are from my 2 weeks spent in Hungary. Elevation change there was so little it wouldn't be put in the race info and most of the time the correct route choice was straight. This realization led me to later in the race remind myself to look for route choice that weren't strictly straight.

One thing that I was expecting though was that there would be lots of elephant trails. There were definitely many tracks out there but to my relief they were nowhere near as pronounced as I thought they would be. Going in, I was slightly worried the elephant trails would be so worn in that they would essentially lead you right to the control. I definitely saw tracks out there, but they were mostly confided to areas with undergrowth and large swaths of the terrain was rock. This meant the orienteering was still a challenge which is the fun part :)

Random Extra Note:

I also just want to say that one of the lakes on the day 4 map had a little fish icon in it. I think this cool. 🐟