Bogus Basin Results

The Thomas Kids in Hot Pursuit of a Control

Sunday's meet saw an enthusiastic introduction to orienteering by the Thomas family and breakthrough performances by Dondi Black and Steve Raeder as well as an expansion of our map inventory to include Bogus Basin.

The Intermediate Course was a subset of the Advanced Course penetrating the same dense brush and tackling the same steep slopes. Forewarned by the mapper's and course setter's notes no one chose to run it. However, Elijah and Andy Hill did attempt the Intermediate Course, unaware that they had been given the wrong map. They asked for the Easy Intermediate Course that avoids some of the heavy brush and steep slopes. Instead they got the not easy Intermediate Course map. It took them into the rough stuff after the second control. Whether it was the wisdom that comes with experience or just good judgment the result was the same. In a display of prudence uncommon among our kind they bailed.

Caution Speeding Orienteer
Greg Davidson Powering Up

Then there was the group who opted for the Easy Intermediate Course and actually received the corresponding map. Dondi has spent a lot of time at orienteering courses. When confronted with this accusation she simply pleads that she is married to Jeff. Sunday that excuse evaporated as she turned in a very credible performance on the Easy Intermediate Course. In an entirely understandable coincidence Toby achieved a corresponding improvement in the K9 group. Good job! Most of you probably don't know Steve Raeder. He got one of those confounding introductions to orienteering last year at the Bear Basin score meet. Like others before him he came back anyway. And he handled the course well enough to take top honors. We look forward to seeing a lot more of Steve in the future.

Looking at the times you would not expect the Advanced Course was a short 4.2k. That's as the crow flies. Obstacles, mostly dense brush, lengthened the actual distance. Steep slopes and unstable footing slowed progress. This was not a runner's course. Sergey foreran the course on Saturday and set the standard. Five other competitors followed Sergey on Sunday and all turned in respectable times, evidently without any catastrophic navigation errors.

Special thanks to Sergey for his gentle encouragement and his assistance directing on Sunday.

There's not another meet so lighthearted, so kid-friendly and so punctuated by clever betrayals than the Vampire-O. Don't miss it at Simplot Fields October 27 at 7:00PM with Jeff Decker directing.