We arrived in Rome on the train from Naples and it was a simple journey on the Metro up to Caffarella, a parkland. After handing over a Doctors Certificate (as is normal in France and Italy) buying a T Shirt and saying hello to a few people (Brits and a few Danes) We headed off to the start some 1.5 km away, using a warmup map. In the start lane it became apparent that the race map was a different scale to the warmup – lucky I noticed!
The race was fast and furious, 23 controls in 20 mins is pretty full on, the course twisting and turning. It was the sort of course when jogging round would be sooooo easy, but at speed on the ragged edge it is all too easy to make a mistake. I struggled a bit each time I refolded the map, it being a challenge to stay in touch… I ran well until the last few when I lost touch going into #21 and blew a good minute or so completely overshooting – a massive mistake in sprint orienteering
I was slow to #22 as well playing safe after crashing through the bamboo before sprinting into the finish to Mike Edwards on commentary. Other than my biggy mistake I had a clean run – such a shame …
