Johnson County Community College Sprint

Summer Sprint #6
Johnson County Community College
Saturday, July 18th
Starts 9 am to 10 am

• Enter JCCC from Quivira, at 1st right past College Blvd
  
• Follow O signs to upper level of parking deck just South of Regnier Center
  
• Regnier Center is the east most building on the campus just south of the Carlsen center
  
• Course is 2.9 km
  
• You can run in shorts
  
• Since this is a College there may be a test after the run.
  
• There are several road crossing and curbs on course, be careful and watch for traffic, although traffic is usually minimal on Saturdays.
  
• There are numerous forbidden areas on the map:
  o Parking garages and Maintenance area shown with purple lines
  o Landscaping and plant beds shown as olive green
  o It is extremely important that runners stay out of the landscaped areas-those who cross them will be disqualified.

Lawrence Sprint #2 - Constant-Burcham Park

Lawrence Constant-Burcham Park
11:30 a.m. - 12:00 noon
Saturday, June 20

• Parking and the finish are at Constant Park on the north east corner of 6th and Tennessee.
• The start is about 750 meters from the parking/finish area.
• The course is 2.96 km.
• You can run in shorts. We've had a lot of rain this week, so there may be a few muddy spots.
• The map uses two special symbols: Purple lines indicate an area that has not been field checked. The area is wooded and you won't go into the forest, but you will use the trails that go through the un-fieldchecked. Olive green indicates areas that are off limits. Most are landscaped areas.
• The course crosses a train track. The track is active but trains are not common during the day. Look both ways as you approach the tracks and do NOT cross the tracks if a train is coming.
• After the run, I encourage you to spend some time in downtown Lawrence.

Michael

Lawrence Arboretum Sprint

Lawrence Arboretum Sprint
9:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.
Saturday, June 20

Gene Wee, course setter for the Lawrence Arboretum Sprint, cautions:

"My course for Sat. may have people choosing to run through knee-high grass. Either spray bug repellent or wear gaiters or long pants. . . or take the routes with 100% mowed grass or pavement."

New PTOC Board and Officers

The following were elected to the Possum Trot Orienteering Club Board of Directors at the Annual Meeting, Thomas Stoll Memorial Park, May 23, 2009:

BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Angie Barrett
Casey Caughron
Paul Clatterbuck
Kevin Shipley
John Clausen

The Board then elected the Officers of PTOC per the Bylaws:

OFFICERS
President: Dick Neuburger
Vice-President: Paul Clatterbuck
Secretary: Angie Barrett
Treasurer: Reta Roe

Congratulations to all!

Sprint, Potluck Picnic, and Annual Meeting this Saturday!

Don't miss the Sprint, Potluck Picnic, and Annual Meeting this Saturday, May 23!

http://ptoc.org/Assets/invitations/Potluck%20Picnic%2023May09.html

Nominations by email for Possum Trot Orienteering Club Board of Directors are open until Friday, May 22. Email: president@ptoc.org
Nominations from the floor will be accepted at the Annual Meeting.

Mike Shifman has prepared a great 2.5-km Sprint (Park Orienteering) Course (4:00-5:00 p.m.) utilizing the brand new Johnson County Community College map. Start and Finish are at the North end of Stoll Park.

Everyone is welcome to attend the PTOC Potluck Picnic (6:00 p.m.). Bring a dish to share. You must provide your own utensils and drinks. NO ALCOHOL PLEASE!

A short meeting honoring last season's volunteers, a president's report, and the election of Board of Directors will follow the picnic at 6:30 p.m.

See you soon!

Flying Pig A Meet, Cincinnati, OH

Flying Pig A-Meet (Cincinnati, OH)
By the Barrett Family

Following the Ran-It Granite (MD), we headed to Ohio for the 13th Annual Flying Pig from April 3-5, where we joined fellow Possum Trotters Reta Roe, Dick Neuburger, Paul Clatterbuck, and Jason Plunkett. We were in for another weekend of challenging courses, a thrilling relay, and orienteering camaraderie. The middle distance was Friday afternoon, a sprint Saturday morning, the Relay Championships Saturday afternoon, and the long distance on Sunday morning. All of the races were scored and awarded individually (no combined time results), so there were multiple opportunities for medals.
The hills were just as steep as they had been in Maryland, but the woods seemed greener—both on the map and in actual leaf growth (everything was sprouting!). The extra foliage, combined with the abundant depressions, made it easy for the course setters to keep the controls out of sight until we actually reached the feature.
There were around 150 participants at the Flying Pig, some of them familiar from the A-meet the weekend before. Only Reta, Dick, and Paul ran in all four races (they must be in great shape!). Eight of us won medals for the middle distance courses, despite the drizzling, cool weather, the muddy trails, and the parallel errors by some of us. After that race we got to feast on delicious pizza at a local restaurant, while discussing and comparing our route choices and splits. (We don’t have the information about the sprint and the long distance.)
The day of the Relay was picture perfect—a beautiful day for spectating and running, with sunshine, blue skies, and warm temperatures. PTOC entered two 12-point teams. The courses were regular length, which made waiting difficult and nerve-wracking for those on the second, third, and fourth legs. However, the excitement of seeing a team member suddenly come into view for the uphill climb to the hand-off/finish line was exhilarating! With some great runs by members on both teams, the A Team placed 2nd and the B Team placed 3rd. We’re hoping to get 1st and 2nd next year (and maybe 3rd, if we can convince some of you to join us!). The post-race treat of a huge bag of M&Ms (provided by Dick) was a welcome ending to a fabulous day. Well, the kids really enjoyed them—the bag was almost empty by the time we finished the nine hour drive back to Kansas City that night!.

Meet Report: Ran-It Granite, Maryland (March 27-29, 2009)

Meet Report: Ran-it Granite, Maryland
by The Barretts

A small group of us from PTOC (namely, the Barrett family) traveled to Maryland for the Ran-it Granite, March 27 - 29. We skipped the sprints on Friday, but ran in the middle distance on Saturday morning, entered a team for the sprint relay that afternoon, and ended with the long distance on Sunday morning.
The organizers promised open woods, and they were right. The white woods were easy to run, but the hills were not!! The contours were steeper than most of the parks around Kansas City. However, there were plenty of features (including numerous depressions) and paths to help us relocate when necessary. The weather was less than perfect—drizzling and cool with lots of rain during the nights, making the ground and paths muddy and slippery. With over 300 participants, the competition was tough, especially in the M-16 category with 14 boys—yet, Joe finished in 2nd place and Matt in 4th place for the weekend. Jessica (F-orange) and Cate (F-12) finished first in their categories, and Angie (F40+) got third place.
The sprint relay was a first for us, and the highlight of the weekend. The excitement was high for both the runners and the spectators, although the runners felt more nervousness and pressure than during a typical race, since they had team members counting on them. The PTOC team finished 19th out of 39 teams.
The Ran-it Granite was a well-organized meet by the Quantico Orienteering Club, with challenging courses, as well as the added fun of the sprint relay and a photo contest for anyone who took pictures (we have yet to find out the winners of the contest). We hope to make it back to the East Coast for some more orienteering adventures in the near future!