Thanks to grants from PTOC, we were able to attend two A-meets in 2011: one near Buffalo, New York, in August, and the other in St. Louis, Missouri, in October. Matt, Joe, and John used the grant money in New York, while Jessica, Matt, and Joe were able to attend the meet in St. Louis.

In New York, there were 3 very good people in the M-20 category who got 1st , 2nd , and 3rd every race, so Joe did badly (4th in middle and long, and 6th in sprint, actually) and Matt did worse. John ran in the M-12 category, getting 1st in the middle, and 3rd in the sprint and long. The middle race was wet and muddy (Joe lost his shoe at one point, and had to dig it out of the mud and get it back on!), the sprint was in a grassy area near the middle with simple navigating and lots of running, and the long had very steep re-entrants with some difficult navigating. It was our first trip to New York, and we enjoyed the top-rate competition. We also feasted on some awesome pizza near the motel twice (with leftovers for our post-race refueling)!

At the end of October, we headed to St. Louis for a sprint, the Night-O Champs, a middle race, a corn maze, and the Relay Champs. Matt was sick and had to walk the most of the courses. Joe didn’t do well on the Night-O because he was too cautious, so he ran slower than he should have. However, he aced the middle and got 1st place overall on the red course. (It must have been the huge breakfast he ate that morning, instead of his usual fasting!) The corn maze was a big draw for Jessica, but she didn’t enjoy it as much as she thought she would. For the relay, Joe did well on PTOC’s 8-point team (consisting of Paul Clatterbuck, Angie Barrett, Dick Neuburger, and Joe), but Mom got lost. If Matt hadn’t been sick, he could have replaced Mom and we might have placed third. Instead, Matt helped the 12-point team (consisting of Reta Roe, Jessica, Matt, and Mike Shifman) finish 3rd.

Venice orienteering map

Possums in Venice

Possums Nancy and Dick Neuburger participated in the 32nd Venice (Italy) Orienteering event on November 12-13,2011. It was a blast! There were many streets ending at a canal (and no bridge to cross) and many other dead-ends. Streets were narrow and crowded with tourists. Nancy was 10th out of 27...not bad for an international event. I hope the map uploads OK.

Sent from my iPhone

Lawrence Races August 14th

2 Races map to both events at:
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=214426795695415408713.0004a9c0f5680d0a6c2b4&msa=0&11=38.976459,-95.234256&spn=0.018249,0.042272


Burcham Park
Registration begins at 8:30 1st Start at 9:00
Short Point to Point Course

Downtown Lawrence
meet on Massachusetts between 7th and 8th
Registration begins at at 9:30 Mass Start at 10:00
Historical Hunt
Find historical monuments in Downtown Lawrence and answer questions about Lawrence history
Bring a pen

Wyandotte County Park (Bonner Springs) Meet Notes

6:15 p.m. Registration at Shelter D
7:00 p.m. Mass start (everyone starts at the same time)
8:00 p.m. Course closes (10-point penalty for every minute later than 8:00 p.m.

The controls are hung! The snow (as of Friday afternoon) varies from 1" to 1' (in drifts) so wear your boots or bring some dry footwear to change into after your run.

You have 1 hour to find as many controls (in any order) as possible. The point values vary from 10 to 40 points. There will be a 10-point penalty for every minute of overtime. 600 points is the maximum possible score. Ties are resolved by your elapsed time.

There will be limited refreshments. Toilets are 100 meters away from the shelter.

Please volunteer to pick up controls after the event. And thank Dan Welch for a great course!

Map to the event by Google: http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&ie=UTF8&msa=0&ll=39.107136,-94.866579&spn=0.003863,0.006856&t=h&z=17&msid=205753908162625516878.00049cfecba753ae35dc9

Dad Perry Park, Mar 5, 2011

Orienteer Kansas will host an event on Saturday, March 5, at Dad Perry Park in Lawrence.

Registration begins at 1 pm
Courses close at 4 pm.
(The start time gives people a chance to watch the KU-Mizzou basketball game before the event).

We'll have 4 short courses, each about 1km in length. Difficulty varies from beginner to intermediate. You can do as many (or few) as you want. There is one entry fee, no matter how many courses you run. Entry fees are the same as PTOC events. There is a complex trail network in this park, making it fun and challenging to navigate.

We appreciate email pre-entries to help us figure out how many maps to prepare (email to mary.orienteerkansas@gmail.com)

NOTE - NO TOILETS WILL BE OPEN AT THE PARK.

Dad Perry Park is a city park. It is about half forest and half open. The forest is thick, but there is a dense trail network.

Map to the start
http://maps.google.com/maps/mm?ie=UTF8&hl=en&ll=38.962045,-95.285969&spn=0.016218,0.038581&z=15

Camp Jayhawk event is rescheduled

The Camp Jayhawk event, which was postponed due to deep snow, has been rescheduled for this Saturday, February 19.

Registration and Starts will be from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon. Courses close at 2:00 p.m.

Check the website for the latest information: http://www.ptoc.org/

Blue & Gray Event Notes

Thanks to the relatively warm and sunny weather this week much of the snow has melted and our meet will proceed as scheduled. As you can probably tell from looking around your own neighborhood, some snow still exists and could be substantial on north facing slopes. Dress accordingly. I would advise bringing an extra pair of socks (and shoes) to change into afterwards.

Much of the infield area where we will be parking is clear of snow and has a healthy stand of grass but is naturally completely saturated. We should drive slowly over it to avoid creating ruts. Make turns slowly! I would encourage everyone to enter by the west entrance and turn onto the infield soon thereafter. I hope to be free to guide the parking as people arrive. My plan is to form two rows of cars--one facing north, the other facing south. The line facing north would exit by pulling forward, turning left and leaving by the same entrance they came in. For this to work all cars in that line must leave room in front of them for other cars to (slowly!!!) drive by. The south-facing line of cars will leave by pulling forward onto the gravel drive and exiting by either entrance. If buses arrive, I plan to encourage them to park on the edge of the gravel drive in the most out-of-the-way place possible.

Looking forward to seeing everyone tomorrow! I'm sure Tom Hanley has planned some challenging courses for us!

Posted by Dick Luckerman
Possum Trot Orienteering Club