Having done a 10k this morning, I had limited energy left! I remember a Scooby Doo run before where we had a bit of a hill scramble, but I had faith that today he would be merciful – nursing his injury afterall. From the Baan Pong resort A site, I was hoping we would stay on the flatter area around the rice fields and after the harebrief we were headed in the right direction!
Running was a struggle, jogging was tricky, but I got to the first circle with Brown Finger, and he took the trail to the left. I was right! Only to be foiled by the next V check. Everything in me said – run through the check back, as surely we would be back on trail, but I turned back only to get back to the road moments past the check back. Cumalot and Itchy short cut their way along the road and appeared in front of Skiddy and I.
A dog joined us, and I used him as a sniffer dog – he worked well! We did a good job of sniffing out the checks, even though I took a slight alternative route at one point that brought me back in front of the pack. The dog didn’t realise it’s harder for humans to crawl through a barbed wire fence, but when I got through I was clean away. Only to get the next check wrong. But thankfully Scooby took us through the valley that I know connects the rice fields with the Kings project. We’ve run it before – a couple of years back, but since then I’ve been trying to figure out just where the connect fits. Today I got it wrong, but I won’t make that mistake again!
I rejoined the pack as they were confused by checks at the King’s Project – durrrh! It had to be right! No way were we going around the other side of the lake, and there weren’t many other options, so I paralleled along the road and sure enough met up with everyone at the dam. My energies were almost out but it wasn’t quite far enough yet. With runners checking down the road and across the dam, Skiddy and I took the path down below the dam, and when Skiddy called the powder he set off like a Jamaican sprinter after a injection boost. Brown Finger caught me by the next check, and while I followed Skiddy back towards the resort, BF called OnOn further to the left. I pretended I didn’t hear and kept on back to the A. I could hear the pack circle around further, and knowing the trails there, it sounds like it would have been the ideal way for Belly to finish last years Ball Breaker.
A great set, well marked and very enjoyable. The circle started off well! Thanks hares!