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June 13, 2006
Race Report Donato Polignone BAOC, Long Orange Course, China Camp, Sunday June 11, 2006.
Race Report Donato Polignone BAOC, Long Orange Course, China Camp, Sunday June 11, 2006.
My First attempt at an Orienteering event as a solo, although I did my fist O-Race with the rest of the team on March 11, 2006. It was actually our first outing as the Dirty Avocado Skins. I think Adam did a race report on that already, so enough said about that O-race.
Starting they day sore after doing a killer, 70+ mile, road ride the day before with Brian Schmitz was just a small issue... one I thought wouldnt be as much of a problem as getting lost or should I say staying found? I got to China Camp, sat in on Will Gilmores Pac West AR/Orienteering Training session for a few minutes. While sitting there I realized I don’t know a lot about O-races. I thought,
I just might get lost today, oh well gotta learn the hard way.By the way Will, thanks for the tips that I learned from you, especially the symbols on the map. I didnt realize that there were so many clues in the symbols to use while navigating. I thought the Navigation Instruction you were giving to the new guys was great. I even tried to use some of my new knowledge on the course.
NOTE: I tracked my race using my GPS device a Garmin Forerunner 305. This is posted on my activities page at www.MotionBased.com, or you can just go to http://donato.motionbased.com and look for the BAOC event on June 11th. I will attach a Google Earth file of the tracked results as well. Download file
PS: if anyone looks at my course and can tell me what I could have done better. Let me know. I might just buy you a beer... or whatever your beverage of choice is.
After checking in and even joining the BOAC I trudged up a 200-foot hill to the start of the Long Orange Course. I sign in and then 2 minutes later off I go to CP 1. Up a hill looking for a re-entrant. I had two choices here take the single track below the CP or stay on the fire road above it. I chose to stay high, probably not the wise choice as you couldn’t see (I couldn’t see the re-entrant) as I ran past it. Once, I got to the next trail (100 past the CP) I realized I had gone too far. Now, I bushwhacked down and across to try and locate CP one. [NOTE to Will Gilmore here: all of the sagely advice you gave me is now scrambling around in my head as I’m trying to bag CP1. Did you here me swearing your name at this point? ]. Still can’t find the CP, where the hell is this re-entrant? Back up to top of hill to see where I am. At this point I decide to head again away from the Road and track back down the hill slightly towards the start again. Finally see what looks like a reentrant, run down and see the CP. Which looks like I would have seen it from the single track below. Oops! At this point I realize I haven’t started my GPS watch to track my travels. Start it and off to CP2.
CP2: here I decided to stay on the trails and run fast to try and avoid getting lost. Once down to the area just above CP 2 I decide to run the switch backs until I see the reentrant for this CP. After the 1st switch back I see the reentrant clear as day and bushwhack on down to it. CP2 bagged no problem. Confidence back I move on to CP 3. But, not quite yet have to stop to water a tree on the way.
CP3: I’m my way to CP 3 I realize I’m not sure how far I have to run to get there. Not sure what the scale on the map is. Only a small problem at this point. I stay on trails here again until it gets me as close to the CP as possible. Wait a second the “Cheat-sheet” (or whatever the little piece of paper is that tells you hints on where each checkpoint is and what # etc.) I carried around had a X on it. I have no idea what that means. Hopefully the X is jump out at me. I get to the trail just west of CP3 and drop down the hill to where it is. And yes, CP3 jumped right out at me. Bagged that one. Grabbed a quick cup of water and off to CP4. Note: CP 3 was a water station, so we didn’t have to run with packs or water. Nice to be able to travel light (real light) sometimes. Don’t think it helped me today.
CP4: I had a good general idea where this CP was and once again decided to take trails there and run fast. I ran from CP 3 to the east side of Miwok Meadows, here the trail popped out near the road. So I decided to run down the shoulder of the road to the trail on the east side of Miwok Meadows and then run to a trail “Y” intersection just 50 yards east of CP4. This was for me a wise decision as I found the CP within one minute of getting to the trail junction. So far so good. Got a lot of the distance covered, so I thought! Off to CP 5.
CP5: this is where it started getting harder. CP 5 was in a clearing on the east side of a hill a couple hundred yards off the trail. At least in the direction I ran it. My problem here, what clearing. I found two or three. Before finding CP5 I found a “wrong CP” at a rock. Found the Rock on my map and re-found myself and took a bearing and just bushwhacked to the CP. I came into the clearing right in the middle. This time trusting myself ran to the east side of the cleaning and wa-la CP5. Off to CP 6 and my last chance for water on the course until the finish. I wasn’t carrying any pack or water today.
CP6: I decided to bushwhack the entire way to CP6 as it was about on my elevation on the tip of a ridge. So I headed out across the hillside trying not to lose more than 25 feet in elevation hope to run into the CP. It worked I ran straight into it. Bagged CP6, gobbled down a pack of GU, and washed it down with a cup of water. Off to CP 7.
CP7: This one was an easy one as well an intersection of two ditches and just under the big power lines to the west of a big dirt parking lot. I run through the parking lot down a fire road heading west under the power lines. Now, where were the ditches? Ah ha, right there to the south of me about 50-yards. CP7 bagged. Off to CP8 and thinking I was almost finished.
CP8: on top of a knoll to the west of a reentrant. I again followed the trails until I found the reentrant and then ran up the hill looking for the CP. Found it without too much trouble. Off to CP9 and were all my big problems began.
CP9: This was what really killed me on the o course. I lost more time looking for this CP than any other. Actually I ran right past it (20-yards to my right/west) and kept going up this hill looking for the infamous “X” CP. I must have run 15 minutes past it than 10 minutes back down to it. Then it just jumped out at me. At this point I was a little discouraged as I spent over 35 minutes going from CP8 to 9. I only lost about 3 minutes (each) looking for each previous CP. Almost done now. Off to CP9.
CP10: in a thicket at the bottom of a reentrant. Just so happens that I ran past this reentrant looking for CP9. So backtracking to that reentrant again and down to the ticket. What thicket. The whole damn area is one big thicket! I drop out of the so-called thicket and into a clearing and to my surprise there is CP10. Run over and bag it. Off to CP 11.
CP11: Bushwhacked most of the way to CP11, using a trail for about 100 yards perhaps. Looking for a CP on the top of a spur. Luckily for me I ran right into the CP because I never saw a spur in the area. Got it anyway. From CP11 you could see the finish line tent so a quick 30-second run to it and I actually finished my first O-race as a solo and survived. My time of 2 hours and 7 minutes wasn’t so hot and neither was my navigation. Got to work on that a bit. Did learn a lot lost out on the course.
Some Stats from my Garmin 305 watch for you geeks out there (with my corrections for not starting it until CP1):
Total Miles I ran: 8.2 (course setters optimal distance was 5.5km/3.4 miles. I went the long way I guess?)
Total Elevation Gain/Loss: 2,000 feet. (course setters optimal Climb was 225M/740 ft. Ouch, did I do some extra climbing?)
AVG heart rate: 133 bpm Max HR: 169 (steep hills and I ran up most of them).
Weather: 65F, 67% Rel humidity, 16MPH winds, partly cloudy skies. Oops this is California that should be partly sunny skies.
Posted by donato at June 13, 2006 07:12 PM
