I'd like to cordially invite experienced and budding orienteers alike to our first meet of the year with some hefty topography to work your legs and mind. In reviewing the courses last weekend, our map is basically free of mud and eminently runnable without being hot yet. Several new trails have appeared since our last visit here, and some old ones closed, and the map includes a few updates.
For those of you eagerly anticipating the Rabbit Creek mini-Rogaine next month, rest assured this is a perfect warm-up for the hills and dales of that fabled map!
Day: Saturday, April 23rd
Time: Starts from 11am-12:30pm, course closes at 2pm.
Map: Stewart Gulch, EAST side
Courses: Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced (8k!) Classic courses
Cost: $5, or free to club members
Bring: compass, water, sun protection, good trail shoes for running or hiking, and a signed waiver.
Shorts or pants are your preference. The cheatgrass hasn't gone to seed yet, but there is plenty of the sagebrush to run around. Keep your eyes out for barbed wire as there is no lack of it in this area; I was entangled myself in preparing this meet.
You can join the club at any time, of course, and your dues are prorated for the remainder of the year. Dues support our club and especially the maintenance and creation of new maps. See the Membership section to the right.
Look forward to seeing you there!
Jeff Black (and John Murray as co-director)
April 20, 2011
March 21, 2011
Results: Ann Morrison Classic Meet
A prudent person would have heeded the forecast calling for rain, rain and more rain by orienteering at the mall. The daunting weather forecast did not deter 20 stalwart orienteers who were rewarded by a occasional patches of blue sky in a surprisingly mild and dry day as they attacked controls at Ann Morrison Park.
Jake Tadje negotiated the Beginners’ Course to take first place and meet one of the requirements for his Boy Scout merit badge. Aleksi Morgan grabbed second place while Dondi introduced her friend Tammy to orienteering. Carolyn Flynn, her daughter Susie Wolfskiel and grandson Tyson walked away with first place in the Stroller Division. Actually, Tyson rode to victory.
Beginners Course - 7 Controls - 1.61 K
Jake Tadje 0:23:00
Aleksi Morgan 0:24:15
Dondi Black & Tammy 0:39:01
Carolyn Flynn, Susie & Tyson Wolfskiel 0:56:09
The team of Melanie and Jamie Schuster topped the Intermediate Division with a 39 minute performance. Renee Kline got back in the groove with a respectable second place. While shadowed by his father, Liam Murray, our youngest competitor at 6, navigated the intermediate course to earn a third place. Close behind were our new members David (7) and Ryan (10) Stocks. We are delighted to welcome the Stocks family to CTOC. They recently moved to Boise from Adelaide, Australia.
Liam on a run
Ryan spikes #2 while David consults the map.
Intermediate Course - 13 Controls - 3.53 K
Melanie & Jamie Schuster 0:39:00
Renee Kline 0:43:53
Liam Murray 0:52:45
David Stocks 0:53:12
Ryan Stocks 0:57:15
In the Advanced Division Jeff Black set the standard covering the 6 kilometers in 32 minutes. Erik Bergset bested his father’s worthy performance. And worthy it was as Ole outran men half his age. Jeff Harvey came to his first orienteering meet on Saturday to develop his navigation skills for adventure racing. We are looking forward to giving Jeff some fun challenges in the coming months.
Garth Summey leaves 5 Jay Morgan goes to 6.
Advanced Course - 18 Controls - 5.76 K
Jeff Black 0:32:00
Erik Bergset 0:35:02
Jay Morgan 0:37:16
Ole Bergset 0:39:10
Greg Davidson 0:39:20
Jeff Harvey 1:05:55
Garth Summey 1:35:00
Ole on a long run. How did Ole run that fast? He’s even older than I am!
This was my first experience as a meet director. I suppose it was possible to do it alone, but it would have been a much different meet without all of the advice and assistance from seasoned orienteers. Sergey generously took the time to spell out the criteria for a suitable course and introduced me to CTOC procedures. When Sergey was called out of town on business Jeff Black seamlessly guided me through preparation of the maps. Andy Hill’s critique dramatically improved the clarity of the Advanced Course maps. Thanks to Ellen for the cookies with custom orienteering messages and to Ole for help picking up the controls.
On Saturday, April 23 at Stewart Gulch East we begin our season of orienteering in the hills. Looking forward to seeing all of you there.
John Murray
Jake Tadje negotiated the Beginners’ Course to take first place and meet one of the requirements for his Boy Scout merit badge. Aleksi Morgan grabbed second place while Dondi introduced her friend Tammy to orienteering. Carolyn Flynn, her daughter Susie Wolfskiel and grandson Tyson walked away with first place in the Stroller Division. Actually, Tyson rode to victory.
Beginners Course - 7 Controls - 1.61 K
Jake Tadje 0:23:00
Aleksi Morgan 0:24:15
Dondi Black & Tammy 0:39:01
Carolyn Flynn, Susie & Tyson Wolfskiel 0:56:09
The team of Melanie and Jamie Schuster topped the Intermediate Division with a 39 minute performance. Renee Kline got back in the groove with a respectable second place. While shadowed by his father, Liam Murray, our youngest competitor at 6, navigated the intermediate course to earn a third place. Close behind were our new members David (7) and Ryan (10) Stocks. We are delighted to welcome the Stocks family to CTOC. They recently moved to Boise from Adelaide, Australia.
Liam on a run
Ryan spikes #2 while David consults the map.
Intermediate Course - 13 Controls - 3.53 K
Melanie & Jamie Schuster 0:39:00
Renee Kline 0:43:53
Liam Murray 0:52:45
David Stocks 0:53:12
Ryan Stocks 0:57:15
In the Advanced Division Jeff Black set the standard covering the 6 kilometers in 32 minutes. Erik Bergset bested his father’s worthy performance. And worthy it was as Ole outran men half his age. Jeff Harvey came to his first orienteering meet on Saturday to develop his navigation skills for adventure racing. We are looking forward to giving Jeff some fun challenges in the coming months.
Garth Summey leaves 5 Jay Morgan goes to 6.
Advanced Course - 18 Controls - 5.76 K
Jeff Black 0:32:00
Erik Bergset 0:35:02
Jay Morgan 0:37:16
Ole Bergset 0:39:10
Greg Davidson 0:39:20
Jeff Harvey 1:05:55
Garth Summey 1:35:00
Ole on a long run. How did Ole run that fast? He’s even older than I am!
This was my first experience as a meet director. I suppose it was possible to do it alone, but it would have been a much different meet without all of the advice and assistance from seasoned orienteers. Sergey generously took the time to spell out the criteria for a suitable course and introduced me to CTOC procedures. When Sergey was called out of town on business Jeff Black seamlessly guided me through preparation of the maps. Andy Hill’s critique dramatically improved the clarity of the Advanced Course maps. Thanks to Ellen for the cookies with custom orienteering messages and to Ole for help picking up the controls.
On Saturday, April 23 at Stewart Gulch East we begin our season of orienteering in the hills. Looking forward to seeing all of you there.
John Murray
March 11, 2011
Upcoming: Ann Morrison Classic Meet 3/19/2011
Get a jump on spring. Tune up your navigation skills in our last winter-in-the-city meet. Or, if you are new to orienteering, let the City of Trees Orienteering Club introduce you to this exciting sport in the familiar surroundings of Ann Morrison Park. Stroll the beginners’ course, challenge the intermediate course or test your endurance on the advanced course.
You can easily access the start and finish just south of the green pedestrian bridge by entering the park from Royal Blvd.
Date: Saturday, March 19
Start time: 11:00am - 1:00pm (course will be closed by 2pm)
Location: Ann Morrison Park
And remember, you can register on-site, or print out the Registration Form at home, fill it in and bring it with you to the meet.
You can easily access the start and finish just south of the green pedestrian bridge by entering the park from Royal Blvd.
Date: Saturday, March 19
Start time: 11:00am - 1:00pm (course will be closed by 2pm)
Location: Ann Morrison Park
And remember, you can register on-site, or print out the Registration Form at home, fill it in and bring it with you to the meet.
March 5, 2011
Results: Willow Lane / Veterans Park Score Meet
A big "Thanks" to all of you who came out for the Willow Lane Score Meet. It was a beautiful day and perfect weather for a walk or run in the park. There were 140 total possible points spread out over 21 controls. And the time breakdowns for each course were 25 minutes for Beginner, 35 minutes for Intermediate, and 45 minutes for the Advanced course with a 5 point penalty for each full minute over.
Jeff Decker got things started early on the Intermediate course and finished in the top spot. David Bergset finished well under the allotted 35 minutes but felt like he'd had a good run. And Joanne and Joe had no intention of racing the clock. They were determined to find every control.
David Stocks and his brother Ryan decided to have a little friendly family competition, each going out with a parent on different courses. David made a mad sprint for the finish to beat his brother by only one second (we won't split hairs that they were on different courses). We're looking forward to seeing the Stocks family at future events.
The Advanced course tested everyone, with only three competitors reaching all 21 controls. Jeff Black took a narrow victory of only 25 seconds over Sergey. Jay Morgan thought the course was so enjoyable that he decided to run it twice, working on improving his efficiency he was able to shave 10 minutes off his previous time. Other great finishes to note came in from Melanie edging out her partner Greg, and Ole beating out Bill Leahy by one minute but both had the same points.
Please join us for our next meet at Ann Morrison on Saturday, March 19th.
Jeff Decker got things started early on the Intermediate course and finished in the top spot. David Bergset finished well under the allotted 35 minutes but felt like he'd had a good run. And Joanne and Joe had no intention of racing the clock. They were determined to find every control.
David Stocks and his brother Ryan decided to have a little friendly family competition, each going out with a parent on different courses. David made a mad sprint for the finish to beat his brother by only one second (we won't split hairs that they were on different courses). We're looking forward to seeing the Stocks family at future events.
The Advanced course tested everyone, with only three competitors reaching all 21 controls. Jeff Black took a narrow victory of only 25 seconds over Sergey. Jay Morgan thought the course was so enjoyable that he decided to run it twice, working on improving his efficiency he was able to shave 10 minutes off his previous time. Other great finishes to note came in from Melanie edging out her partner Greg, and Ole beating out Bill Leahy by one minute but both had the same points.
Please join us for our next meet at Ann Morrison on Saturday, March 19th.
February 21, 2011
Upcoming: Willow Lane Score Meet 2/27/11
It's time for our first Score Meet of the year. Come out and test your navigation skills against the clock. You're free to attack the controls in any order you like, you just need to make it back to the finish before your time runs out.
The meet center will be in the Southwest parking lot at Willow Lane Park. And the map will cover both Willow Lane and Veteran's Park.
Date: Sunday, February 27th
Start time: 11:00am - 1:00pm (course will be closed by 2pm)
Location: Willow Lane Park
And remember, you can register on-site, or print out the Registration Form at home, fill it in and bring it with you to the meet.
The meet center will be in the Southwest parking lot at Willow Lane Park. And the map will cover both Willow Lane and Veteran's Park.
Date: Sunday, February 27th
Start time: 11:00am - 1:00pm (course will be closed by 2pm)
Location: Willow Lane Park
And remember, you can register on-site, or print out the Registration Form at home, fill it in and bring it with you to the meet.
February 13, 2011
A Memorable Call
For our special Call of the Wild meet, we had great weather and a nice sized crowd at the start. A total of 24 adults and 15 kids took part in the mini-Street Challenge format, including a great many newcomers who never heard of or tried orienteering before. For the 10 questions, scores ranged between 7 and 10 points...probably with just a little confusion over the zoo question. There was also a noisy crane within that view, which some opted to mark as the heron, but in reality it was the bald eagle, also known as "yodee" by the native peoples of the Yukon. Times ranged from a low of 23:05 and went well over an hour, as everyone took the course at their desired pace. Some stopped to learn a few extra things along the way, like at the Anne Frank Memorial.And, in the spirit of the Call of the Wild, we did have a few dogs there to take home the themed bandannas. The dogs pictured are Toby and Malchik.
Thanks to all who participated! We welcome you to our future traditional orienteering meets, including our next on Sunday, February 27 at Willow Lane.
February 6, 2011
Some new dates to remember
We've made a few changes to our calendar for the year, specifically in July and August. You can see the calendar via the link on the upper right of the blog (year 2011), but to be more specific:
July 23-34 - our planned two day "B" meet in Idaho City (hopefully)
August 21 - a regular club meet on Sunday, at Bear Basin in McCall
Lastly, for those who might have missed the Call of the Wild announcement, here's a quick link to it:
Call of the Wild! coming up on February 12th.
Jeff Black
January 25, 2011
Foggy plains of Julia Davis park
Surrealistic planes of the Julia Davis park under blanket of early morning fog. Good start for a thriller but instead it is about our January meet :) New map additions and advanced courses attracted our usual crowd of hard core navigators. Jonah shadowed by Mike covered beginner course around the Zoo in 32:51. Peter Beckner blasted through the intermediate course in 53:14 while Masha fresh after her advanced cross-country team training did it in 41:28. Advanced course saw a heated battle of our seasoned veterans. Jeff took (again) first place with nice margin followed by Doug and Jay. All results are below.
Project on map expansion and merging our green belt parks continues and promises to allow for really interesting courses in future.
Call of the Wild! adventure meet together with the Boise Library and other patrons of the community reading project is February 12. For more details see our web site http://ctoc-boise.blogspot.com/
Yours,
Masha and Sergey Velichko
Beginner: 2.1K, 8 controls
Jonah and Mike Bading 32:51
Intermediate: 4.3K, 15 controls
Peter Beckner 53:14
Masha Velichko 41:28
Advanced: 7.6K, 26 controls
Jeff Black 48:18
Doug LaMott 54:43
Jay Morgan 55:09
Lee Scott 57:02
Mike Bading 57:59
John Murray 1:04:38
Melanie Schuster 1:16:01
Renee Kline 1:17:13
Garth Summey 2:22:51
Project on map expansion and merging our green belt parks continues and promises to allow for really interesting courses in future.
Call of the Wild! adventure meet together with the Boise Library and other patrons of the community reading project is February 12. For more details see our web site http://ctoc-boise.blogspot.com/
Yours,
Masha and Sergey Velichko
Beginner: 2.1K, 8 controls
Jonah and Mike Bading 32:51
Intermediate: 4.3K, 15 controls
Peter Beckner 53:14
Masha Velichko 41:28
Advanced: 7.6K, 26 controls
Jeff Black 48:18
Doug LaMott 54:43
Jay Morgan 55:09
Lee Scott 57:02
Mike Bading 57:59
John Murray 1:04:38
Melanie Schuster 1:16:01
Renee Kline 1:17:13
Garth Summey 2:22:51
January 11, 2011
Call of the Wild!
We answered the call! Take note of a special event bonus to our normal meet calendar!
For those of you not familiar with "The Big Read", it's a program where everyone reads the same book, and there are a whole bunch of events affiliated with it to maximize participation and interest. This year it is Jack London's The Call of the Wild. Our club has agreed to hold a special meet this year to tie in. For those of you who participated in our annual Street Challenge, the format will be similar but on a (much) smaller scale. A map of the area around the library and parks nearby will be provided, along with several questions and answers from control sites on the map that are hosted by sponsoring institutions within the Cultural Network that may be more than a little familiar to those of us who live in Boise. There will be some prizes for those who collect them all and make a speedy return! Like the Street Challenge, we will let you walk, run, or bike!
For those of you not familiar with "The Big Read", it's a program where everyone reads the same book, and there are a whole bunch of events affiliated with it to maximize participation and interest. This year it is Jack London's The Call of the Wild. Our club has agreed to hold a special meet this year to tie in. For those of you who participated in our annual Street Challenge, the format will be similar but on a (much) smaller scale. A map of the area around the library and parks nearby will be provided, along with several questions and answers from control sites on the map that are hosted by sponsoring institutions within the Cultural Network that may be more than a little familiar to those of us who live in Boise. There will be some prizes for those who collect them all and make a speedy return! Like the Street Challenge, we will let you walk, run, or bike!
Since the downtown Library opens at 10, it may be a little hectic as we get set up among the opening crowd. Please be patient if we're not quite ready!
Date: Saturday, February 12th
Time: 10am to 1pm
Map area: Parks and downtown area surrounding the library
Date: Saturday, February 12th
Time: 10am to 1pm
Map area: Parks and downtown area surrounding the library
Start: Outside front door of the Boise Public Library, main branch
Cost: Free!
Bring: walking shoes, favorite compass, best clothes for the weather.
Jeff Black
Cost: Free!
Bring: walking shoes, favorite compass, best clothes for the weather.
Jeff Black
*The Big Read is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and Arts Midwest, offered by Ada Community Library, Boise Public Library, The Cabin and the Idaho Statesman.
The Cultural Network is a consortium of museums, libraries and educational and cultural organizations, including the public libraries of Boise, Garden City and Meridian, Ada Community Library, Boise Art Museum, Boise Parks & Recreation, Discovery Center of Idaho, Idaho Human Rights Education Center, Idaho State Historical Society, Opera Idaho and Zoo Boise.
December 8, 2010
Orienteering for beginners
Winter Orienteering Series '12: Fire Mountain from Rebecca Jensen on Vimeo.
This video is from Rebecca Jensen a member of Cascade Orienteering Club who has a series of videos for beginner to advance orieneering. She has also has a blog site http://www.runbosco.com/ which has some usefully information for beginners.
This is good introduction to orienteering for beginners. Alexander Lines who is age 11 has made a short introduction to orienteering. It features his brother Edward. From Sussex UK.
Another quick introduction to orienteering from a British Orienteering club.
This is a good example of an orienteering "A" meet which was held at Mose Lake, Wa June 2010. Several CTOC members competed at this event at different competive levels.
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