[ 4-Jun-06]
Here is the Valley Forge Fatlands '06, M21-45 map, and here are my routes.
Tried to run hard. Ran under 6.5/k, not to bad, but still
got smoked. Pretty much a trail running course with
intermediate-level controls. The issue was not to be decided on
navigation or route choice in any case, tho I was sloppy
to the tune of about a minute or so. Just shows you can
outrun your navigation, even when it is trivial.
The map is quite out of date, and while that fact didn't
affect things, it perhaps limited what could have been done
from a technical standpoint, at least in terms of veg and
trails (there are new trails, and it less green than mapped).
We didn't get into the maze, and one wonders if that area
is still accurate enough to be fairly used.
I love this map, and it would be nice to see it updated. I
think it might also be fun to try to set courses here that
attempt to eliminate some of the dead trail running. That
seems like a worthy challenge -- perhaps I will attempt it
next year. Of course, dead trail running is a worthwhile skill
in O to be tested once in a while -- I think I'd just prefer
to be on the course setting side rather than the getting
smoked side of it ...