Brazil Day 6 to Day 8

Day 6 – Ice Breaking Evening

On Monday of the second week in Brazil we were supposed to visit the Iguaçu waterfalls but in the last moment “something” stopped us from doing that. As there was still no official program on that day we simply played poker or “killed” the time with other things.

This day was a real holiday in Brazil, only the weather wasn’t that sunny.
In the evening the Ice Breaking Evening with cocktails was held and we met some Brazilian people whose grandparents moved to Brazil after World War Two. They were still talking excellent German and gave us a warm welcome here. Brazilians really seem to be kind, friendly and open to foreigners!

Day 7 – Model Event / Opening Ceremony

The Model Event of the 39th CISM was held exactly around the finish area of the individual competitions. Everything north of the finish area was forbidden area and we could have a first look at the real terrain in the southern part.
Already the map made many think that a speed of below four minutes per kilometre wouldn’t be possible and the forest even underlined that thought. The runnability in most parts of the forest wasn’t really good. Using paths and little tracks was a very good alternative to simply follow the compass.

I didn’t want to spend too long in the forest and only ran about the half of the course with moderate speed – still a bit tired from the last fast training. Technically it was a clean training but I immediately noticed that using the compass a lot was one of the crucial things in this Brazilian forest.

Right after I arrived in the finish the sun came out of the clouds and suddenly the sky was blue and the sun was even strong enough to burn my skin (for the second time in my life!!!)

In the afternoon the Opening Ceremony took place and I was the one to be honoured with the job of the flag carrier. Besides the long standing in the sun the Opening Ceremony offered some military presentation, grilled ox ribs and traditional Brazilian performances. The pictures speak for themselves!

Day 8 – Middle Distance

For the first competitions I chose the early 3rd start group and was the first Austrian to enter the competition area. I didn’t feel special in the morning but I was in a good mood when I entered the start area. Also that I wasn’t really able to find the second control of the warm up course didn’t bother me. Well it’s easy if you don’t expect too much…

The race then was not good but not that bad either. I many times lost the direction as didn’t use my compass enough (first, third, ninth control). On the way to the sixth control I didn’t understand the map in the right way when I crossed the path at the forking and my route to the eight control was far from good.
Actually it doesn’t help anything to readers because the area of tomorrows Long Distance will be the same as the one used before and we didn’t get any maps so far. But as soon as I get it you’ll be able to see what I’ve done today.

Well I somehow managed to be the best Austrian (which is not a good sign at all) with a 52 spot about eight minutes behind Andrey Khramov (RUS) and Thierry Georgiou (FRA) which were separated by only 3 seconds. Rollier Baptiste (SUI) was a happy third.
Markus (69) had some more little mistakes while Bindi (72) had one big mistake. Michi (80) had some smaller mistakes as well as a bigger one and Kerschi (88) had a disastrous day (many big mistakes).
The result is a (big) disappointment so we will do our best to improve a lot tomorrow. We analyzed the races already and one thing is sure – the course offered a lot more challenges than expected…

Middle Warm Up Course

Posted on: 08.11.2006 20:35
Last edit: 08.11.2006 20:35

>> back >>