Orienteerers of all Ages/Abilities Show Up at Riverstone for Final CTOC Meet of 2013

A New Map for out East!

After a large turnout at Riverstone International School for Saturday’s orienteering course, the results are in! But first, a quick rundown of the day’s activities!

The Beginner and Intermediate courses were run in a Classic format and the Advanced was run as a Motala. People showed up throughout the day between 10:30 a.m. and 1 p.m., and while those that arrived early had to navigate hard, slippery conditions (Should I wear my spikes?”), those that ran the courses later in the day were “treated” to warmer, soggier conditions, especially in the fields on the SW side of the map. “What conditions were preferable,” you ask? As with much of orienteering....debatable.

With 50 participants (!! largest of the year?) the event was a great mix of Beginner to Advanced orienteerers and it was great to see a few families from the Harris Ranch community compete as well. Additionally noted by a few of the club veterans was the even spread throughout much of the final results; no matter where one finished in the final standings, just a little more effort or a little more accurate navigation had the potential to significantly improve just about any result.

And speaking of accurate navigation, the courses did present some challenges. Potentially due to their proximity to each other, controls 37/38 (on the IDPR property in the East) and 54/55 (near the Barber Dam in the South) were mistaken for each other a few times costing finishers their “official” spots in the final results. Other challenging decisions stemmed from:

The dense cattail marshes in the the SW. “Kudos” to Alex McKinley, and Team Brittany/Olivia/Christina for gambling on the straight line paths through the frozen marshes...not sure it paid off though.
The disorienting nature of the the Mill District roundabouts (so-called for a reason).
The dry/frozen/snowy riverbed on the way from Control 54 to Control 52. It will present an even greater challenge when it’s filled with water...

This month’s beginners (the Rizvis, Mascolas, Team Morgan and Team Blandt/Rivera) deserve special recognition as being the only category of participants to correctly visit ALL of their collective controls. I suspect our Intermediate and Advanced participants will start seeing those Beginners giving them a run for their money pretty soon.

And now, without further ado, the results...and a final thanks to all who came out to help, came out to run, baked cookies, cleaned up, took pictures or shuttled kids to and fro. Hope to see more of all of you in the year to come!

Misc

A set of keys on a string was left at the start table. Contact Ben Brock (bbrock@riverstoneschool.org) if you think they might belong to you.
If you'd like a copy of your map, let Ben Brock know!