carpe momentum

Animation showing me and the fox. Full Livelox replay here. 

Every fall for the past several years I've participated in BOK's annual fox chase. I've written about last year's struggles. I'm still chasing perfection at this event. This year was extra special as it was held at a newer venue, which I'd mapped: Cane Creek Mountains Natural Area (CCMNA).

It's critical to avoid bleeding time when chasing down the fox on each leg. Not only must you visit as many controls as possible with precise attacks (spoiler: Dave usually makes it all but impossible to clear the course), you must also have a good sense of where the fox is going to be at any given time. 

There are color-coded paper trail maps available at the CCMNA kiosks. What's more, these maps utilize 4-digit codes along each trail at 0.1-mile intervals that match with the plastic trail markers. This is for navigation and emergency purposes, but I thought it might also come in handy for the fox chase.

Being resourceful, I utilized one of these maps to tally 42 markers (~4.2 miles) for the fox's 90-minute meandering walk in the park. I calculated the ETA for the fox for every 0.2 mile and ~4.5 minute interval and added that onto my map. There were 27 controls. The course almost seemed clearable...

My motto was "carpe momentum." In other words, I would set out with the intent of clearing the course. Alas, I should know by now what comes of best laid plans. This year's hurdles included inclement weather and lingering injury. The drizzle made for slippery terrain, but also cooler running.

Within the first 5 minutes I missed control 31! Thankfully, I was able to come back and get it at the end. I also maxed out my aerobic capacity on punchy climbs within the first 30 minutes. Fox-35 and 36-fox were particularly rough. Phil and I also suffered from some collective sloppiness hunting down 36.

At the lookout tower, I knew that clearing the course was out of the question. I dropped lower scoring controls and just tried to hold on for dear life. The rest of the event is a blur, but I do not-so-fondly remember my empty-handed attack on 34. The replay makes it look like I was right on it! 

In the end, I visited 20 controls for a score of 223 points. This was good enough for the win. Phil was second at 208 points. He also visited 20 controls, but missed some of the higher scoring ones. Thank you to Dave for his ongoing hard work at putting on such a unique and challenging event!