Final Meet Notes
--The last control on the regular courses accidentally got described two different ways—as a trail crossing on the control code sheets, and as a bridge end on the map. The control is located where the two meet, and the code letters are the same on both—OO. Sorry!
--The park is very wet and slippery—be careful on the hills and creek banks.
--Rootstocks marked on the map are waist high or higher; however they have been doing a lot of tree cutting and felling recently in the park so there might be some missing or added since we field checked certain areas.
--Do NOT drink directly from the gallon water containers—cups are provided for drinking.
Angie
Friday, March 26, 2010
Friday, March 19, 2010
Wallace State Park Meet Notes
March 27, 2010
9:30am -- Register for Relay (and standard courses)
10am -- Relay start, registration for standard courses continues
approx. 10:30am -- Standard course starts
About the Relay
There will be 3 legs ( white level-0.9 km, yellow level-1.1 km, and orange/green level 1.1 km).
Maps will be printed at 1:5000. Teams can consist of either 1, 2, or 3 individuals or groups, but you must run all 3 legs. We will keep times of individual legs and the final team time. The relay will give you an opportunity to warm up and see how the map corresponds to the terrain. This is our first solo attempt and mapping and course setting, so please be patient and understanding if things aren't perfect. :) Especially the vegetation--the white forest seems to be growing more thickety (and the thicket thicker!) every day that we go to the park. I think that spring has sprung! However, no ticks or poison ivy leaves ... yet. We suggest pants and/or gaiters.
About the Standard Courses
The usual colors: white-1.4 km, yellow-2.1 km, orange-3.4 km, green-4.5 km, and red-5.4 km. The courses are a little on the short side for two reasons--hopefully you will have just run the relay, and there are lots of hills at Wallace SP. The maps will be printed at 1:7500, so be forewarned if you are used to running on 1:10,000. The green and red courses are not technically difficult, so you will be getting those maps when the timer starts. The others will pick up their maps at the registration table.
We hope that the park dries out before next weekend :), and we look forward to seeing many of you there.
Angie, Matt, and Joe Barrett
9:30am -- Register for Relay (and standard courses)
10am -- Relay start, registration for standard courses continues
approx. 10:30am -- Standard course starts
About the Relay
There will be 3 legs ( white level-0.9 km, yellow level-1.1 km, and orange/green level 1.1 km).
Maps will be printed at 1:5000. Teams can consist of either 1, 2, or 3 individuals or groups, but you must run all 3 legs. We will keep times of individual legs and the final team time. The relay will give you an opportunity to warm up and see how the map corresponds to the terrain. This is our first solo attempt and mapping and course setting, so please be patient and understanding if things aren't perfect. :) Especially the vegetation--the white forest seems to be growing more thickety (and the thicket thicker!) every day that we go to the park. I think that spring has sprung! However, no ticks or poison ivy leaves ... yet. We suggest pants and/or gaiters.
About the Standard Courses
The usual colors: white-1.4 km, yellow-2.1 km, orange-3.4 km, green-4.5 km, and red-5.4 km. The courses are a little on the short side for two reasons--hopefully you will have just run the relay, and there are lots of hills at Wallace SP. The maps will be printed at 1:7500, so be forewarned if you are used to running on 1:10,000. The green and red courses are not technically difficult, so you will be getting those maps when the timer starts. The others will pick up their maps at the registration table.
We hope that the park dries out before next weekend :), and we look forward to seeing many of you there.
Angie, Matt, and Joe Barrett
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
SLOC A-Meet Report
St. Louis A-Meet Report
A large group of PTOC members (around 20 of us) traveled to St. Louis for an A-meet on the weekend of March 5-7, 2010. The weather was picture-perfect—sunshine and 55 degrees most of the time. There was an A-meet sprint in Forest Park on Friday, and then we all traveled over an hour south to Hawn State Park near Farmington, MO. Saturday included an A-meet middle distance race in the morning and a fun sprint (which ended up being longer than some of the middle courses!) in the afternoon. On Sunday, people chose between the challenging Grunt, Runt, Green, and Orange courses. PTOC didn’t have anyone competing in the Grunt, but the other three races were well-represented. The weekend was a complete success: many awards won, acquaintances made and friendships renewed, fantastic opportunities to practice orienteering skills, and time to relax and have fun in the woods as well. Here are some details from the juniors who benefited from PTOC’s Junior Grant.
Matt: I ran the first sprint as fast as I could and made no mistakes. I got first place on the green/brown/orange course, which was really exciting! On the middle, I ran M-18 for the first time at an A-meet. I didn’t do quite as well as I had on the sprint. It was challenging, and I made one big mistake on control 3 when I tried to follow a bearing and missed the trail I was aiming for. I was 7th overall on the green course, and 1st in M-18. The second sprint went about as badly as the first sprint went well—even John, my 9 year old brother, beat me! I ran fine until looking for control 8, which found me off the map wandering around with several other guys for about ten minutes. The Runt was long and hard. I made two 10-minute mistakes on controls 3 and 10, but other than those I found them all fine. I was so tired I could hardly make it up the hill to the last control. I enjoyed running in the open and challenging woods of St. Louis, but the sprint is my favorite category.
Joe: For the Forest Park sprint I came in 5th on the green/brown/orange course. I found all the controls easily except #7—I was in the right place, but I didn’t know where I was on the map for 20 seconds or so. My middle race was a disaster. I ran M-18 (green), and it took me forever to find control 3. I cut off the trail way too soon, and spent 10 minutes trying to relocate. I ended up second in my age category. The fund-raiser sprint was good—I found my way but didn’t run my fastest, so my finish was average. For the final day, I ran the Runt (9.5 km). I finally beat Matt! It was a clean run, a lot better than the middle race the day before, and I came in second place overall. I was very tired when it was over! I liked the Runt the best that weekend, because I did well. Switching the map scale from race to race was hard to get used to, but it was an excellent weekend of orienteering.
Cate: I ran yellow for the first time at a national meet. The first sprint was easy, because it was all on trails, and I finished second on the yellow/white course. For the middle race the next day, I had to follow creeks as well as trails, which made it a little more challenging. The afternoon sprint was even harder, since everyone had the same course, but I was still able to find all the controls. I had to run an orange on the final day, because that was the easiest course that was offered. Only one control gave me some trouble, because I didn’t go far enough up the hill the first time. I eventually found it, and finished the rest of the course without mistakes. The middle yellow was my favorite race of the weekend. I’m looking forward to the Interscholastic Championships in Ohio next month.
John: I ran in the M-10 category, which is the white course. I was able to do the first two races without a shadow this time. The first sprint didn’t go well, because I had a hard time finding the finish and then skipped the last control and had to go back and punch it. The other boy my age won that race. On the second day I ran better and got first place. I like running in the woods better, but the map on the second day was so small I couldn’t really read it. I accidentally punched a yellow course control, but figured out my mistake and punched the right ones after that. For the last two fun races, I ran with Mom on the sprint and Jessica on the orange course. I read the map some of the time and ran along with them the rest of the time. I’m glad I went, because I got some really nice awards and had fun orienteering by myself.
A large group of PTOC members (around 20 of us) traveled to St. Louis for an A-meet on the weekend of March 5-7, 2010. The weather was picture-perfect—sunshine and 55 degrees most of the time. There was an A-meet sprint in Forest Park on Friday, and then we all traveled over an hour south to Hawn State Park near Farmington, MO. Saturday included an A-meet middle distance race in the morning and a fun sprint (which ended up being longer than some of the middle courses!) in the afternoon. On Sunday, people chose between the challenging Grunt, Runt, Green, and Orange courses. PTOC didn’t have anyone competing in the Grunt, but the other three races were well-represented. The weekend was a complete success: many awards won, acquaintances made and friendships renewed, fantastic opportunities to practice orienteering skills, and time to relax and have fun in the woods as well. Here are some details from the juniors who benefited from PTOC’s Junior Grant.
Matt: I ran the first sprint as fast as I could and made no mistakes. I got first place on the green/brown/orange course, which was really exciting! On the middle, I ran M-18 for the first time at an A-meet. I didn’t do quite as well as I had on the sprint. It was challenging, and I made one big mistake on control 3 when I tried to follow a bearing and missed the trail I was aiming for. I was 7th overall on the green course, and 1st in M-18. The second sprint went about as badly as the first sprint went well—even John, my 9 year old brother, beat me! I ran fine until looking for control 8, which found me off the map wandering around with several other guys for about ten minutes. The Runt was long and hard. I made two 10-minute mistakes on controls 3 and 10, but other than those I found them all fine. I was so tired I could hardly make it up the hill to the last control. I enjoyed running in the open and challenging woods of St. Louis, but the sprint is my favorite category.
Joe: For the Forest Park sprint I came in 5th on the green/brown/orange course. I found all the controls easily except #7—I was in the right place, but I didn’t know where I was on the map for 20 seconds or so. My middle race was a disaster. I ran M-18 (green), and it took me forever to find control 3. I cut off the trail way too soon, and spent 10 minutes trying to relocate. I ended up second in my age category. The fund-raiser sprint was good—I found my way but didn’t run my fastest, so my finish was average. For the final day, I ran the Runt (9.5 km). I finally beat Matt! It was a clean run, a lot better than the middle race the day before, and I came in second place overall. I was very tired when it was over! I liked the Runt the best that weekend, because I did well. Switching the map scale from race to race was hard to get used to, but it was an excellent weekend of orienteering.
Cate: I ran yellow for the first time at a national meet. The first sprint was easy, because it was all on trails, and I finished second on the yellow/white course. For the middle race the next day, I had to follow creeks as well as trails, which made it a little more challenging. The afternoon sprint was even harder, since everyone had the same course, but I was still able to find all the controls. I had to run an orange on the final day, because that was the easiest course that was offered. Only one control gave me some trouble, because I didn’t go far enough up the hill the first time. I eventually found it, and finished the rest of the course without mistakes. The middle yellow was my favorite race of the weekend. I’m looking forward to the Interscholastic Championships in Ohio next month.
John: I ran in the M-10 category, which is the white course. I was able to do the first two races without a shadow this time. The first sprint didn’t go well, because I had a hard time finding the finish and then skipped the last control and had to go back and punch it. The other boy my age won that race. On the second day I ran better and got first place. I like running in the woods better, but the map on the second day was so small I couldn’t really read it. I accidentally punched a yellow course control, but figured out my mistake and punched the right ones after that. For the last two fun races, I ran with Mom on the sprint and Jessica on the orange course. I read the map some of the time and ran along with them the rest of the time. I’m glad I went, because I got some really nice awards and had fun orienteering by myself.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
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