Our October orienteering meet was a fine one, with gorgeous fall weather and
plenty of new participants (big thanks to Joell for his avid recruiting
policies) to try out the sport. Location this time around was a return to
our park orienteering in Ann Morrison, an excellent starting ground probably
most remembered by how hard it is to find the start. (We always meet by the
bridge, but this isn't too easy to see when soccer season is in full swing.)
The beginner course was a short loop around the starting area with 5
controls, and 3 of the newcomers - Annabeth, Tom, and Robert - along with
the highly experienced Elijah and Masha (guiding their respective parents)
tackled it with impressive gusto and returned quickly. The course setter
neglected to move his circle clue on the map to the evergreen tree on the
other side of the sidewalk, but fortunately it didn't seem to slow the
competition down much. The three new guys even had the desire to tackle the
longer intermediate course...
The intermediate course was a loop that encompassed the entire park, about
3k and 10 controls. This by far grabbed the most competition. Jerret
admitted to being caught off guard a bit on control 6, which was halfway up
the only hill in the park. But he readily reported the misplacement of
control 7, as it was a couple trees off from the one circled on the map, so
he guessed he probably lost 10 minutes. (Such is the result of a slightly
hasty course setting. Negligence!) Annabeth and Desirae reported similar
honest confusion around 6 (topo lines are important!) , but when they split
the work and ran on both sides of the tree line they quickly found 7 despite
being buried inside the branches. Both Tom and Robert, fresh from the
beginner course, also had little trouble with the intermediate and look
ready to roll next time. Arun and his family reappeared after a long
absence and hit the course as a team, using Apoorva's fresh eyes to spot
controls for them. And Sergey, despite a minor injury, memorized the course
and jogged it sans map, as the lure of the orange flag was too strong.
To keep things interesting for those who like the challenge, the advanced
course consisted of a double-loop, 6 controls each with a few long stretches
between to make route choice slightly more intriguing. Doug blitzed both in
a healthy time and may have annoyed a few soccer players with his speed
across active fields. Andy gave it a whirl for the first time since his
ankle injury and proved he is still plenty capable (those quads will come in
time...) Joell and Doug ran the first loop together and then split for the
second; Doug managed to catch up halfway through, as Joell was still
actively recruiting potential orienteers for the next time around. I think
we'll make him the official PR man for the club in Boise.
Final numbers:
Beginner: 5 controls, 1k, 0m climb
-------------------------------------
Tom Mort ~10:00 (but admitted to being slightly out of
order ;)
Annabeth Romriell 11:30
Masha and Sergey Velichko 16:28
Robert Sellers 16:44
Elijah and Andy Hill 19:30
Intermediate: 10 controls, 2.8k, 10m climb
--------------------------------------------
Sergey Velichko 16:28
Tom Mort 31:10
Jarret Hopstead 37:30
Annabeth Romriell 38:20
Robert Sellers 45:10
Desirae Schildhauer 47:05
Arun Lokanathan + family 58:23
Advanced: Loop 1: 6 controls, 2.5k, 10m climb
Loop 2: 6 controls, 2.8k, 0m climb
-------------------------------------------------
Doug LaMott 20:53 + 15:30 = 36:23
Joell Ramirez 20:53 + 18:30 = 39:23
Andy Hill 23:00 + 25:35 = 48:35
Andy Hill is meet director for November, in the recently expanded Julia
Davis country (now including BSU) just down the Greenbelt. Plan for another
beautiful fall day of park orienteering with a bit more distance.
Jeff Black