Long Qualifiers (aka long distance bog trotting)

Tuesday evening saw the qualification races for the Long Distance take place. Once again, the weather was superb with clear skies and mild temperatures. The races were held in the late afternoon, with some participants only starting just after 5pm with the sun low on the horizon (adding an extra dimension of complexity as the first 3 controls were facing west on the men's course).

The South African team of Nicholas Mulder and Jeremy Green had good runs with few mistakes. However, the final results still show the two runners well down the rankings.

Long Distance Qualification Results

Jeremy had a fairly stable run after a few short mess-ups around the first few controls. He settled down nicely after this, particularly on the longer legs where he managed to find a good rhythm and keep up a decent pace, navigating with more confidence than in the last few days. He finished in under 2 hours (1:54:34), his intended goal. However, it still left him 34th and last on his heat, which was a disappointment.

Pic: Nicholas at the penultimate control of the Long Qualifier (photo by Jan Kocbach - World of O)

For Nicholas, some long technically easy, but physical route choices meant that he struggled to finish higher up the rankings. A good start saw him rise as high as 24th position, but two wrong route choices at the end of the course saw him loose 3 minutes of mistakes. In the end, it was 28th position in 1:16:55 on his heat.

Pic: Nicholas' route from the Long Distance Qualifier.

For both runners, the constant running in squishy marshes took its toll. The phrase 'bog-trotting' is particularly appropriate, as it is difficult to accelerate to any high speed on the up and level marshes. For the top elite competitors, it was a tough day, with the winning times extremely fast. Reaching the final 15th qualification place in each heat also proved tough, with most heats requiring a sub-65 minute time to do so.

This brings to an end the South African campaign at WOC 2010. With only 2 runners, the team cannot partake in the 3-man relay on Sunday. Instead, Jeremy and Nicholas will do a few runs in the WOC Tour races, where the majority of the spectators at WOC are participating. More posts to come however as the team will be watching the finals as well as making general comments on their WOC performances.