Left, Right, or Straight: Leg Analysis #2

 Left, Right, or Straight: Leg Analysis #2

Routes analiysis of leg 9 of the norwegian M20 test race for JWOC 2017.

Sometimes we can make very wrong assumptions about the terrain's runnability based on the map alone. This is especially common in Scandinavian terrain.

An illustrative example of this is a 1050-meter leg where a 1750-meter route (extending it by 700 meters) proved to be the winning choice over other routes.

So, this leg 9 is from the 2017 M20 qualification race in Norway for the World Junior Championships.

link: https://www.tulospalvelu.fi/gps/20170528langH/

The "Straight" route, expertly executed by Audun Heimdal, measured approximately 1,200 meters and had a time of 9:18.

The best time on the right-side route was achieved by Eirik Langedal Breivik, who completed it in 8:30, which was 48 seconds faster than Heimdal's time. Notably, the length of Breivik's route was over 1,750 meters, making it 45% longer than the "straight" route chosen by Heimdal.

The average pace of the leader on the straight route was 7:42 minutes per kilometer, indicating very challenging running conditions in the forest. It is highly likely that there was dense and difficult-to-run undergrowth vegetation, a situation not uncommon in Norway.

We can also assess that the forest was challenging to navigate based on the choices made by athletes. Out of 20 participants with GPS devices, 14 opted for the right-side route, and 10 of them chose the shortest way to the path available, which involved going significantly to the right from Control 8. The option involving a straight route along the long re-entrant to the road lost a minimum of 30 seconds compared to the longer option.

Notably, even Kasper Fosser chose the shorter route to the path but lost almost one minute here, perhaps due to low runnability. 

The left-side route, which involved using paths, was not optimal due to its significant extension (almost 1700 meters). Additionally, there was considerably less running on the paths compared to the right-side route, and these paths were shallow, which didn't allow for the same speed as the road on the right-side route 

The running pace on the road was 4.36 min/km including the section beetwing two roads in the middle. The total pace on the right-hand route was  4.51 min/km

An important conclusion we can draw from the analysis of this run is that it is crucial to know the pace you can maintain in the 'open' forest and on the trails in a given area in order to make the best route choices. The difference between these two paces depends on the percentage of route lengthening that can be offset by a faster pace on the pathes or roads. 

November 1, 2023. Aleksndr Alekseyonok.

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