2014 Boise Street Challenge Report

This year Boise Street Challenge turned to be the most challenging not only because of the weather pushed it one week later or because the weather again sweetened the day with 10 minutes of pouring rain followed by 5 minutes of hail right before the finish expiration time. It was, indeed, very challenging this year to collect most points from 40 controls spread across vast territories of East Boise with all the canals, cliffs, bridges, and the river added to the mix. With 1000 points maximum, the best score for bike division was 690 (Michael Bading) and for foot division 680 points (Ben Brock).

Both Michael Bading and Doug LaMott on bikes logged close to 26 miles while best runners did closer to 26 kilometers.

All started with a group photo and smiles

Strategic planning took some thinking.

But, of course, even before the planning begins, for such endurance fun, first thing is proper fueling for the race. A traditional offer of braunschweiger was for some reason rejected, however, turned to be a favorite AFTER the race. On the other hand. Reese's and KitKats were favorites BEFORE the race. Just an advice from the seasoned pro is to reverse this order for best results!

Some action during the race:

Nikolai, Aleksi, adn Emily at red slides of control 3.

John at control 5 counting mail boxes.

Andrea and Todd closing onto control 8 with "starry lights"

Mike is always prepared for bike-O! (courtesy of Jeff Black)

Chain art of control 33 at Bown's X-ing (courtesy of Jeff Black)

Doug finished in style

Mike is spurting to the finish

Ben the winner

John is flying

Winners of bike division

Winners of kids division

All finished with a group photo and smiles again

Results

	Division	Time	Points	Overtime	Total
Michael Bading	bike	2:44:08	730	-40	690
Doug LaMott	bike	2:35:45	610	-20	590
Nikolai, Aleksi,	kids	2:38:48	120		120
Emily Morgan
Beatrice Tornaghi	juniors	3:05:55	490		490
Owen Zhang	juniors
Ben Brock		2:58:51	680		680
Jay Morgan		3:02:55	660		660
Jeff Black		3:07:01	600	-10	590
John Murray		3:02:23	330		330
Andrea Brooks
Todd Dinhelman		1:08:00	100		100

Jeff was the only one who collected all 40 pointers (400 from his 600 points)! His route and more photos are available here!

I hope to see you all out in the nature during our next meet at the Riverstone School December 13!

Next year schedule of events will be published soon. It includes traditional favorites and new twists plus a national meet right here on our turf!

Yours,
Sergey Velichko

P.S. Some people missed the meet due to flat tires (Melanie I saw you) or some prior commitments. If you would like to try the Challenge - I saved couple maps with question sheets. Contact me.
P.P.S. If this is your compass - I have it! Let me know.

Tradition Continues with 2014 Boise Street Challenge

Everyone is invited to our traditional Boise Street Challenge. This year it takes place in East Boise maze of neighborhoods.  Format of the event follows conventions of a score course, where controls may be acquired in any order, and there is a time limit to meet or points are deducted.  In the Street Challenge, there are a few more twists:

- the area is much larger than a normal club meet, the map barely fits into 11”x17” page at 1:20000 scale, covering almost 25 square kilometers.

- there are no traditional orienteering controls, but rather multiple choice questions (ex. A, B, C) to be answered at the control circle location, points are added if answer is correct, points are deducted if answer is incorrect to discourage guessing.

- there are 40 controls, each worth 10 , 20, 30, or 40 points depending on the difficulty reaching the location.

- there is both a bike and run class of competition, bikers will have less time vs. runners, to make the mass finish easier and level the competition a little bit, for runners 3 hour time limit, for bikers 2:30 time limit, for runners 10 points deducted for each 5 minutes above the limit, for bikers 20 points deducted for each 5 minutes above the limit.

- you will traverse city streets, potentially with traffic, your upmost caution, attention, and execution are required.

- canals and Boise river “squeeze” traffic to few crossable points, these are shown with a passage signs on the map, use them wisely while designing your routes.

- it may be impossible to collect all controls in defined limit time so plan accordingly.

Map for the event was created from google Boise imagery, aligned to magnetic north, and scaled to 1:20,000. With additional highlights of canals bisecting the area, safe passages (shown with double purple lines), impassable cliffs, and Boise River – the area creates plenty of navigational challenges matching the name.

Date:  Saturday, November 29

Time:  Registration (each is required to fill out a form) opens 9am, maps passed out at 9:30am for study, competitor last instructions and group photo 9:50am, mass start at 10:00am sharp.

Start/Finish Location: Near Columbia Village recreation center at 3655 E Lake Forest Dr, South of Trail Wind Elementary School.

Classes:  Foot (3 hour limit), Bike (2:30 limit),

Cost:  $5 per map, free to CTOC members.

What to bring:  a couple pens or sharpies to circle your answers and plan your route, dress accordingly to the weather for a few hours outside, water as you need while on the course, cell phone for emergencies, compass to keep your map oriented (we have some for rental at nominal $1 fee).

Refreshments and water will be provided at the start/finish.

We hope to see out there enjoying outdoors!

Yours,

Sergey Velichko

Boise Street Challenge date moved to Saturday November 29

Due to weather prognosis and unsafe road conditions for both foot and bike traffic we are moving the Boise Street Challenge to Saturday November 29. 

We hope that the weather will improve and ice will be gone from roads by that date. Plus we all will have a very good opportunity to shed extra pounds after Thanksgiving!

This year Boise Street Challenge will explore pristine plains of East Boise with plenty of route choices and points to find. Meet center will be in Columbia Village with mass start 10 am November 29 sharp. We will post later exact directions to the meet center.

Hope to see you all there enjoying outdoors!

Yours,

Sergey Velichko

The 2015 Boise Street Challenge Designer 

P.S. Please distribute this message to anyone who might be interested.

Stewart Gulch Results - REVISION

A math correction on Bill Leahy's time has lead to a whole new lineup in the Intermediate class. Zach Clayton came in first followed by Jeff Black in second place and Rob Landis in third place. Bill Leahy is now in fourth place. Congratulations to Zach, and thanks to Jeff and Bill for the emails.

Stewart Gulch Results

Jerry above the city

 

This was our first opportunity at directing a meet and we didn’t quite know what to expect. After frenzied preparations we worried that no one would show up due to the dreadful weather forecast. At first light we set off in opposite directions to set the course. We anxiously awaited the storm that luckily never came. But the orienteers did come, more than expected prompting an emergency copy run to Kinko’s thanks to Jeff Black.

 

Mikayla heading down to the old Dodge

The Beginner Course was the only option to stay out of the steep hills. Vimean Rath had a hard time choosing which course to attempt but decided to go for the beginner. She came in with first place by a mere 30 seconds and will definitely try the intermediate course next time. Adam Wirth took off with his son Mac and they blasted through the course finishing second. That wasn’t enough for Adam who then headed off on the advanced course. The trio of Rikke Holtkotte, Maja Lillevoll and Robyn Olnes had a good time out on the course and will hopefully be back for more.

 

The Intermediate Course was the choice of the day with eighteen attempting the challenging course. Of those, only five found all of the controls within the two hour time limit. However it was a bit more challenging than planned due to a control being misplaced. Club veteran Bill Leahy was first in with Zach Clayton from the Riverstone School team close behind in second place and Jeff Black rounding out third place. We had out of town guests, Rob Landis (4^th), Griffin Curtis (7th), Will Snyder (10^th) and Peter Wolter (11^th) joining us from the Community School in Sun Valley. They are planning their own event in Ketchum in November. Maybe there will be some orienteering school rivalry developing? Qiming Zhang planned it just right coming in just before the time cutoff having found all of the controls and finishing in fifth place. Melanie Wright came in just a few minutes before the cutoff and decided to take a gamble and head back out to grab one more control. The gamble didn’t pay off but luckily it didn’t cost her either. Mikayla Rose didn’t know there was a deadline so she came in late losing her points but did a great job finding most all of the controls. 

  

 

Bill finding the checkpoint

    

The advanced course ended up being a tight competition with under a minute between club veteran Ben Brock in first place and world class adventure racer Michael Tobin in second place. Adam Wirth with his beginner course warm up came in third with Michael Bading following in fourth. John Murray timed it right finding all of the points and coming in fifth with thirteen minutes to spare. Jay Morgan came in sixth with 150 points, wonder how he would have done if he hadn’t of promised to be home early?

Jay heading uphill, over 3000' for the full Advanced course

We thank you all for bearing with us on our first meet and hope everyone had a good time. As you know or may have learned, a score-o competition really ups the ante, it’s not just how fast you are or how well you navigate, strategy also comes into the picture. Someone left a compass at the meet. Please contact us and we will get it back to you.   

 

A change of venue - Stewart Gulch West

Due to changes with Simplot Sports Complex policies the October event is being moved.  Hopefully we can get the vampires back next year! Though there are no vampires you might think the hills on this course are a bit scary. Come prepared to be challenged but don’t forget to take a brief moment to enjoy the gorgeous fall views of the Boise valley.

Date:  Sunday, October 26
Location:  Hillside Junior High (Stewart Gulch West)
Formats:  Score with Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced options
Starts:  11am-12:30pm
Cost:  free to CTOC members, $5/$7 per map/group non-members (member info here)

Time limit/score penalty TBD on race day.  Plan on two to three hours for the Advanced course to get as many controls as you can.

Bring your own hydration system (in case you do not get to the water control), shoes for off trail traction on steep sandy soil, and gaitors for cheatgrass.

Meet Directors Melanie Schuster and Greg Davidson

CTOC Shows Well at Western States Orienteering Championships

Big congratulations to CTOC members who travelled to Calero County Park in San Jose, CA to compete in the Western States Orienteering Championships Sept 27, 28 and made big impressions across the results board.  Longtime CTOC members Ole Bergset and Karen Didisse placed 1st in their M70+ (Brown) and F50+ (Green) categories, respectively.  Ben Brock came in 2nd in the M35+ (Red) category.  Ben also brought six students from Riverstone International School who, in the Orange category in their first A Meet, made huge strides navigating in challenging terrain and vegetation.  Levi Schmitt and Zachary Clayton finished 1st and 2nd, respectively, in the open M-Orange category, while Natalie Pusch finished 3rd in the open F-Orange category.  Regan Zhang, Brian Bohme and Becca Tabb just missed placing and all were excited to use e-punches for the first time, compare splits, and come to the realization that they can easily hold their own, and even excel, in the western junior orienteering field.  Other CTOC members should be proud of how well Boise Orienteering is being represented around the West!

2014 Western States Champs CTOC Crew at Calero County Park
(Karin, Ben and Ole in the middle of the back row with the hardware)

CTOC Juniors from Riverstone with Erin Schirm, USA Junior Oreinteering Head Coach

NOD 2014: What a day!

National Orienteering Day was almost a day of black comedy, perhaps hearkening back to some of the joys John Murray dealt with in the July meet.

Bad joke #1:  As Dondi and I arrived to set up, we learned the entire north portion of Veteran's Park was reserved for a motorcycle rally.  They would be using all the parking, had a band coming, etc.  But they helpfully noted the south lot was open, so we moved the start and salvaged what could have been a cancelled meet.  Note to self:  call parks and rec every time...

Bad joke #2:  In setting up the course with Greg and Melanie (who will be directing next month), as we hopped a log to beginner #5 (intermediate #9, advanced #12), Greg got two wasp/bee stings and Melanie probably four or five with them still giving chase.  I made a mental note to address this specifically at the start...but this proved hard to remember for every orienteer...

Bad joke #3:  Arriving back at 10:15am, I began hacking maps with manual corrections.  Beginner went in reverse and skipped a control, intermediate did the last 3 and then the rest in order, and the advanced line course underwent a bad makeover in an attempt to salvage as many controls as possible...undoubtedly this made things even more confusing!

Race day photography was nearly forgotten in the chaos with the exception of a few photos below for the last advanced finishers...

But I will say the weather was wonderfully cooperative, and we had a solid turnout thanks in part to Ken Beckner bringing his scout troop to practice their skills.  They all paired off, listened to instructions (including a verbal note about the wasp nest), and cheerfully tackled the long intermediate course which got the largest turnout of the day.  They came back in well spaced out groups of 2, with a few missing the greenbelt connection and finding themselves at Quinn's Pond!  They kept their wits about them however and made their way back to the start no worse for the wear - and apparently still willing to come and try it again!  It was well agreed among those that made it to #10 that it was the hardest control - especially those who tried to reach it from the north side.

Adam Wirth, excited for his first CTOC meet, handily set the bar high and took first place.  The very experienced John Murray took second and had some appreciative words for #6 and #10 in particular.  Michael Judd took the course solo with a very admirable third place and even reset a fallen #4, then had to return to actually punch it.  The Morgan family arrived after a few of the scouts with some equal fun trailblazing to #10.  Jerry Stewart turned in a expedient time and is definitely getting the hang of this.  David Crais thoroughly enjoyed his first time out with our club, while Dave Hayes had to bail early but I expect we'll see him again.

Beginner was set to be just a little harder than normal with a variety of control types.  Dave Hayes did his first O course and found it fun enough he went out on intermediate shortly after...Adam Wirth and his kids pulled off a very admirable and persistent effort despite rediscovering what was now a very active wasp nest (! - I forgot to tell them and then circled the area on all the maps after)...Greg Corlett and his kids finished grinning as they return regularly to our meets...and Y striders team Diane, Lois, Rachel, and Leslie came back from their very first course with rather big smiles on their faces too.  I think they had a better time than they expected...

Adam Wirth still smiling after two full courses and lots of bees.

The advanced course, on the other hand, proved to be so tricky that nobody actually finished with complete success - a record I don't think has ever been done in a park meet before.  Two twists were added to the longer course that covered the same area as intermediate:  it was a line exercise (where the control is somewhere on the line, up to and including the end circle), and I removed all paths and trails from the map to make the navigation a bit harder.  Sergey finished the course no problem, with the line setup slowing him down notably, but he unfortunately punched a different control #9 on the beginner course also within the line.  Codes were on the back, so I will class this as a DQ for consistency in my judgement this year...but unfortunately the "real" control had fallen onto the ground and was not very visible given its faded nature.  Sergey went right by it - and went back to find it after finishing, and rehung it.  Ole unfortunately also couldn't find #9, probably before Sergey corrected it, and he called it good for the day.  His day was not helped by the confusing rework of the starting control either.  Melanie Wright, with her trusty canine companion, gave the advanced course a full go but had to call it at #13 to make it back in time for control pickup.  Jay had the same scenario and was stuck on #12 (fortunately not finding the wasp nest).  He had at least one complete line review for #6 until he found it on the other side of the tree! The advanced had the hardest course but everyone started much later than usual and time proved to be a limiting factor...except for Sergey as expected!

Jay Morgan still has his map AND a very white Rabbit O hat.

Melanie Wright with her control verification companion.

Thanks to everyone for their patience through the various hiccups we had and making the most of the spectacular weather and challenging venue.  Special thanks to the many club members who assisted me today in all the chaos:

Codirector:  Dondi Black (especially keeping starts and finishes on time!)
Newcomer instruction:  John Murray and Bill Leahy (ok, I didn't give you much to do with so much explaining on my part)
Course setup:  Greg Davidson and Melanie Schuster
Course pickup:  John Murray and Sergey Velichko
Adam Wirth and family:  advanced wasp/bee alert detection team
Jay Morgan:  Icebug display shoes with studs (note that Icebug is the official shoe sponsor of OUSA this year)

Next month:  our traditional Vampire O, a night course at Simplot park.  Melanie Schuster and Greg Davidson codirect on Saturday, October 25!

Jeff Black

National Orienteering Week 2014

Mark your calendar for Saturday, September 13th!  It's the start of National Orienteering Week and our local CTOC club event.

We will have 3 course levels ready, with beginner and intermediate in the classic format (controls in specified order), while advanced will have a couple of twists to keep the run more than interesting.  Special thanks to Shu's Idaho Running Company for finish and participation prizes!

While newcomers to orienteering are welcome at any meet, this is one of the easiest meets to get started with.  It's hard to get lost in the park, the terrain is relatively easy and in town, the weather is (usually) beautiful, and we will have experienced orienteers on hand to go over the basics when you arrive.  If you are looking for an extra way to engage your mind while running or hiking, this is a great sport!  And it may even save you from being lost in the woods someday.

Date:  Saturday, September 13th
Time:  Starts from 11-12:30am,  courses close by 2pm.  (Participants start a few minutes apart.)
Location:  Veteran's Memorial Park, main parking lot
Cost:  $5 per map for non-members, free to CTOC members
To bring:  Baseplate compass (we will have some on hand if you don't have one), running/walking shoes, pants or gaitors if you prefer to minimize contact with tall grass or brush, a cell phone and whistle for emergencies, possibly hat and water as needed.

We will have water and a few refreshments at the start/finish table.

See you there!

Meet directors Jeff and Dondi Black

August 3 Meet Report - Dutch lake mystery

Congratulations to all who tried very demanding and technical terrain at Dutch lake near Stanley last Sunday!

Group photo at the start - lots of smiles!

The Dutch lake map is not really ready yet so we used a basemap for the day with few sample boulders and trails.

On beginner course Rosie with her dad Andy Hill and Dondi Black with friend Toby successfully navigated easy 4 first controls and really advanced last 2 controls. Rosie and Andy on the photo - ready to navigate!

Intermediate and advanced courses attracted the biggest crowd .

My apologies to all for misplacing control 4! It was placed wrongfully in parallel similar hill/depression pair ~100m West of where it should. I make mistakes too :) Extra points to Ben, Levi, and Karin who made sure to find the right feature! Even more extra points to all who found it in the wrong place!

Ben Brock and Levi Schmitt navigated extra difficult advanced course in 1:54 while Karin Didisse finished it in 2:35. They were the only trio who completed the entire course.

Chris and Mikayla Rose, Bob Didisse, Jerry Stewart, Bill Leahy, Jay Morgen, Kerry Davis, Jeff Black, John Murray, and Andy Hill - all receive credit for trying hard to complete either red level intermediate or blue level advanced course.

This kind of moraine terrain is pretty unique. Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan have some of this terrain. We are blessed in Idaho to have such a diversity of terrains ranging from open prairie, complex ridge, re-entrant, and spur mountain pine woods, and finishing with intricate moraine. A maze of depressins, hills, small lakes, re-entrants, and spurs of moraine terrain requires special tactics and route choices. I will publish soon an article on it here at our blog.

Famous depressions require some thinking!

More of depressions

John traverses un-mapped stream 

Some discussion over the map

Many thanks go to John for discovering and initially assessing this area together with Karin! He is awarded with Idaho honorable chain of discovery!

I really hope that Alexei will transform basemaps for both Dutch lake and Trap creek areas into jewels that our club and national orienteering community will enjoy for years to come.

Big thanks to Jeff Black for photos on this page!

Our next event is a National orienteering day meet at Veteran's park Saturday September 13. Jeff and Dondi Black are creating courses for us to enjoy. See you all there!

Yours,

Sergey Velichko