From that point Ross passed me and helped me indirectly by pinpointing the exact control locations when he was leaving them, while also helping me adjust my direction going into each control. Leaving 5 I stopped to plan my route and that was where I relatively lost him up until I exited the foresty hills into the marsh, which is where I saw him again crossing a bit left of the line. I crossed the hill, then tried to go around the impassable part of the marsh by the cliff, and finally up towards the next marsh. From there I used it as a handrail to hit the path, from which I then sidehilled and precision orienteered into the control. On that leg I lost 2 minutes due to the zigzaggy route, also the marsh was not as bad as I had thought it would be, this would be the first mistake I made on the course. There I saw a Latvian guy, (who probably caught up to me) and ran to 7 which was just a bearing control. There I stopped again to make a plan, and executed it. From that point I did not see the Latvian guy or anyone else on the course.
To number 9 I fell into some elephant trails, while later veering off to the first little hill just before the one with the control. I stopped there for a second before I realized where I was, and then continued to the control. At that point I noticed the path route choice and decided that I wanted a brain break, so I booked it to the path on a bearing and then ran the path down to the spur, with the knoll, and the stone wall going through it. From there I hit the control. On this route choice I lost about 40 sec and it is my second mistake.
Next I kind of bailed to the path and then left it at the clearing on a bearing, while checking off hills on the way to the control. From 11 I exited quickly down an elephant path as the terrain was getting simple and found myself stranded over a 4-5m cliff. Sadly the elephant trail went right over it so I had to follow in pursuit, though perhaps I was not as fast as some of those before me who had made it (I expect that people pretty much jumped it). I lost about 15 seconds hesitating, making up my mind, lowering myself over the cliff by holding onto moss (which I was praying would not rip out of the ground) with one hand, and a bad sloper with the other, in order to get my dangling feet on a ledge partway up the cliff from which I could then jump down. Map was in my mouth.
From there I booked it to the road, up which I ran to the clearing and entered the forest from there I climbed up one contour and then sort of contoured into the valley with the two cut-lines, up which I then sidehilled up diagonally towards the control. To 13 the first thing that hit me was to use the roads to get to the hill with white forest and attack the control from there, but after another second of contemplation I decided that at a World Cup, most people would use the very convenient power-line to the control. Sure enough there was a very nice trail stomped out by the 100 runners before me. Unfortunately I chickened out at the second road because I did not want to climb the hill leading me to go around, then regret my decision, try to cut back across the next hill, regret that, continue back to the road, and cut up to the control from there. Leaving the control I began fighting my way through the green at about 11min/km, while trying to make a plan on how to get to the road before I stopped myself, took a bearing and booked it through in that general direction.
Next I ran through the arena. To 15 I went left up the road, then up the trail, and then straight. From 15 I continued straight around the left side of the hill before I crossed back over to the right side of the smaller hill with the little clearing on top, from where I continued on to the left side of the big hill looking for the most optimal place to cut over it but to avoid the most climb. At one point I just cut in and started to climb and found myself on the spur with the clearing. From there it was easy to get to the control. I ran on a bearing to 17 trying to foresee the marsh, which was very indistinct, but found myself readjusting off of the little yellow hill and yet even from there drifting off a bit to the right before I saw the control a bit to my left. 18 was a bearing leg straight. Going to 19 I cut up to the path which I nailed and then ran a bit past the spur on the trail, from where I cut down to where I thought the control would be and ended up sidehilling about 260 degrees of the spur before I saw the control and ran up to it. 20 I just booked it down to the road looking for buildings, and then maneuvering around the right side of them, inside of an elephant trail to the go-control. Then I ran the finish sprint. :D
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