Day 2 of our Launceston long weekend featured three races – a first for us. Even though sprints are short, they are also intense, and we weren’t sure how we’d pull up. We started at UTAS in Newnham, where we ran in 2015.  We knew it would be complex and it didn’t disappoint.  The map was a lot more readable and I had no confusion about my first control.  No 2 was straightforward, but no 3 was set to trap people into taking a southern route which didn’t provide access into the courtyard where the flag was. I picked it up early and went north.  I continued on, picking the right routes for the most part, and it wasnt until no 7 that I made a mistake by leaving the control in the wrong direction. “Why am I facing a big car park?” Oops, turn around and retrace steps  I was pleased to pick up a shorter route to 10 when most people went wide.  Eleven was easier than it looked, and the rest flowed reasonably well.  I finished mid field and was pleased with my time.  Ian made a big error towards the end by forgetting to read the map and just running on hope.

With two hours to kill before the next race, we headed into the city and went for a wander along the river. After an hour I was ready to sit down again and rest up.  The next sprint was at Launceston Church Grammar School. It was a very picturesque campus, and we could see lots of controls as we assembled at the start.  Set on a hillside, there were some beautiful spreading autumn trees, a lovely church, and a clock tower.

My legs felt heavy as I warmed up on the oval, but I was still enthusiastic and looking forward to the race. I made my worst error right out of the start triangle, charging off 90 degrees in the wrong direction.  Eventually I pulled up and corrected, cursing my stupidity.  The school is a bit like St Pats in Ballarat, with lots of covered runthroughs that look like dead ends. I was a bit surprised to be doing a lap of the oval after only 2 controls, but it gave me a chance to get my head into the map through some easy legs. Next we were diving downhill into the park below the school – wrong shoe choice again.  What goes down must go up, and there wasnt much sprinting happening as I scrambled up about 8 contours back into the campus.  The leg from 11 to 12 was great, really tricky. The rest was pretty straightforward, but with some nice route choices to be made right up to the final control.  The steep slopes had slowed me down and my time was not as good as in the morning, but it was great fun.  Ian had his best run to finish 4th.

Lunch beckoned and we headed to the Samuel Pepys Cafe in town, 100% gluten free.  We sat upstairs, enjoying the quirky decor and delicious hot chocolates and a yummy meal. Ian finished off with a brownie.  We thoroughly recommend it.

Afterwards we went for a wander around the gardens, many of the trees almost bare.  There was a troop of macaque monkeys in an enclosure and we watched their antics for a while before heading home to ready ourselves for the final race of the day.

We rugged up and donned torches again, wondering what we were in for.  It was quite different from the previous night.  Most of the course was on a golf course, which made for much easier running across smooth ground. It was a 20 minute score event with 20 controls.  Unfortunately I couldn’t find a nice loop to do in that time, so I did three controls before having to turn back, grabbing a fourth at the end.  It would have been better if it were 30 minutes, or if there were a few more controls closer in for the tortoises.  Ian got 16 controls but strained his calf jumping a creek, so he may not be able to run much tomorrow.  It was a lot more enjoyable than the first night, but we are still convinced that night sprints are not something we should be getting into.

The weekend is nearly over already – one more race to go.