From: Michael W Eglinski
Date: 12/9/97,  8:22 PM
Re:   Chasing Peter at the Possum Trot
 

It was cold at the start of the Possum Trot.  I was anxious to get going.
 I wanted to start to run so I'd warm up.  I was also looking forward to
a tough race.  The field was small but packed with tough competition.
 

to 1:  I had the east fork.  I noticed that Dan headed off to my right
and guessed that he was on another fork.  On the way to my control I was
surprised to find how large the stream was.  Instead of plunging onto
(and through) the ice, I searched for a place where I could cross without
getting too wet.  I could see the reentrant from north of the stream, so
the marker was pretty easy to find.  As I punched, Rich Ruid came into
the control.  It turned out that Rich and I had the same fork.  Rich and
I were together at each of the first five controls.
 

to 2 and 3:  The vegetation in the open areas turned out to be rough, so
I stuck to deer trails.
 

to 4:  I saw what I think was the green area near the control and headed
into the woods at what seemed like the right place.  I quickly saw the
marker.
 

to 5:  Rich found a bit better route through the woods than me and picked
up a few seconds on me.
 

to 6: At the road crossing I was maybe 50 meters behind Rich.  I turned
and saw that Peter was just behind us.  Rich left the road a bit early. 
I went 10 meters further on the road and then headed toward the control. 
This was too soon.  We should have run south along the road until nearly
the T-intersection.
 

to 7:  Rich took a straight line toward seven.  Peter and I both took the
road.  Rich's route is tough because the footing was so rough.  Rich was
moving well, though, and beat us both to the marker.
 

to 8:  Rich ran in a straight line, but he drifted to the left.  I
managed to go straight to eight.  I fumbled around with the punch and
Peter punched immediately after me.  As we left eight, I saw Rich about
100 meters due east of the control and heading towards us.
 

to 9:  Peter and I ran side by side and stuck to the road as much as
possible (the open areas were rougher than you might expect).  As we left
eight, I looked to the right and saw Dan (about half way between seven
and eight) and Fritz (about 100 meters behind Dan).
 

to 10:  Peter was a few steps ahead of me most of the way to ten.  We
both stuck to the paved bike trail as much as possible.  We both ended up
a bit south of where the marker was hung.  I wonder if the bag might have
been hung a bit too far north?  (It also seemed to be beyond the
long-narrow knoll).
 

to 11:  As I left ten I looked for Rich.  I didn't see him (Which
surprised me.  Afterwards he told me he went straight on 8-9 and that it
was slow).  I planned to run on the paved bike path to the small open
area southwest of the control.  But, when I saw how open the forest was I
headed straight toward the control.  Peter punch a few seconds ahead of
me.
 

to 12:  Peter and I again ran stride-for-stride along the bike path.  I
angled up the hillside toward 12.  I looked for a spot that looked good
and when I saw a deer trail heading in the right direction, I took it. 
Peter stayed on the path a bit longer than me.  We punched at about the
same time.
 

to 13:  When I came into the area near the control, I didn't see the
marker.  I stopped and looked around but didn't see the flag.  Peter saw
it before me and punched before me.
 

to 14:  When I hit the big field I could see the tree tops where the
control would be.
 

to 15:  I thought about going far to the right (staying in open areas). 
But, then decided a straighter route would be fine.  On the way up a hill
in the woods I heard a loud beep.  It was my watch.  I'd accidentally
bumped the buttons on a tree and had lost all the slits I'd taken.  As I
ran across the field toward the control I restarted my stop watch.  I
took splits for the rest of the legs.
 

to 16 (4:00 split):  Peter had maybe 30-40 meters on me as we left 15.  I
had trouble crossing the stream near 15 (actually I had trouble getting
up the creek bank).  This allowed Peter to build up his lead to 50-70
meters.  On the second half of the leg I stuck to the foot path.
 

to 17 (2:42):  I went straight.  I tripped near the control -- costing a
few seconds.
 

to 18 (4:37):  Just after I punch 17 I triped again.  It cost another few
seconds.  More importantly, when I got up Peter had gotten out of sight. 
My routh to 18 went left of the straight line.
 

to 19 (2:51):  I took the trail and ran through the group camping area. 
I took it easy on the trail and ate a bit (I had some Clif-Shot gel I was
carrying).  I saw Peter leaving 19.  He seemed closer than I'd expected.
 

to 20 (2:21):  At the water stop, Mike Shifman said that I was 1:07
behind.
 

to 21 (2:21):  I tried to go straight, but I drifted a bit to the right
after I passed the pond.  The terrain wasn't what I'd expected.  I
stopped.  I quickly decided I needed to head northwest.  It took me a few
seconds to see the marker.
 

to 22 (2:10):  There was a new horse trail that went from near 21 to the
lake.
 

to 23 (4:08):  I went straight through the fields (sticking to deer
trails).  I saw Peter enter the woods and was glad to see that he was
still within stricking distance.  I think that I ran off the map a bit
(cutting into the woods a bit early).  I came toward the control from
above the pond.  The control seemed to be further northwest than I'd
expected (perhaps closer the the edge of the circle on my map).
 

to 24 (3:02):  I tried to go straight, but drifted a big to the left.  I
ran across the bridge and straight to the control.  The well was a bit
scary -- I woouldn't want to fall into it.
 

to 25 (10:00):  I never found the marker.  It is certainly not where my
circle is.  I think that it is in the reentrant about 100 meters
northeast of the circle on my map.  When I first came into the control
area I saw Peter heading toward 26.  I was glad to see that he was still
close (when we compared splits afterwards we found that I'd gained about
40 seconds on Peter on 23 and 24).  The area around the control was a bit
diffuse and the vegetation was mixed.  It would have been easy to miss
seeing a marker.  So, I spent a lot of time searching for the marker.  I
found the little reentrant with the barbed wire fence next to it (very
faintly printed on the map).  I found all the bends on the trail (also
very faintly printed).  I finally gave up.  I compared splits with Peter
and figure that I spent about 6 minutes looking for the marker.
 

At this point I was getting tired.  In fact, at this point in writing, I
am getting tired (and there are still 13 controls to go!  I think I'll
get dinner and work on this later.