June 28 at Lake Johnson

Finally, a sprint! Yay! I like sprints and I usually do well on sprint events. This time wasn't an exception. One strange thing though was that I felt that I ran course A perfectly (for myself) and I felt that I could have done better on course B. But I ended up winning course B and not A. Both runs were clean though and I am quite happy with the way I ran them both.

Heat wasn't a factor. Yes, it was hot (even at 9-10 AM), but for 18-19 minutes runs it was not such a big deal.

Here is how I ran.

Course A

#1: down to the trail, passed by two re-entrances and went up to the control

#2: back to the trail and used it as much as I could, then went up to the control

#3: went straight across the two roads, then used trail to get down to the creek and followed the creek to the control

#4: left re-entrant on my right and went up the hill to the road, took control from the road's bend

#5: went north a little bit as it was easier to run in that direction, then went down the hill watching for the peninsula to appear.

#6: to the trail, used it to get down to the creek, crossed it and went along the creek, passed #7, then another control from course B, reached the road, went to the fence and ran along the fence to the control

#7: went directly to the road, crossed in and move south a bit until I saw dry ditch with the control from course B, from there went to #7

#8: straight to the roads fork and down to the control

#9: now I think I made a mistake there by not going straight, but then I thought it was a good idea to get to the road as soon as possible. So I ended up with some extra distance there. Anyway, I used the road to get to the control and then went up to the finish.

Click on the image to enlarge.



Course B

#1: easy, the same as #9 on the course A

#2: to the road and after the road's bend to the re-entrant, went a bit too far down it, but not that much, so I could see the control from there

#3: aimed for the roads fork and avoided loosing any elevation. From the fork used road for a bit and went down to the re-entrant with the control after a small road's bend

#4: went along the creek to the control which I already visited during the course A

#5: again a dog leg from course A, simply repeated by steps

#6: to the trail and used it for a bit, from the trail's curve went south to the control

#7: just went north staying on the same elevation line, then when I saw the creek area, turned west to the dry ditch with the control

#8: started to feel tired there and wasn't running fast from that point on to the finish. Anyway, used the trails to get to the road, then cut across and went down to the big re-entrant. Surprisingly saw a trail there and followed it to the control

#9: used the same unmapped trail to get out of the re-entrant, then went to the road and uphill to the control. Didn't see the control and spend a few seconds looking around among the root stocks until I found it.

#10: to the road and used it as much as I could, then cut to the control.

and finish.

Click on the image to enlarge.



Thanks to Joseph and Ruth for setting up the event! It was fun!

June 7 at North Umstead

Brian promised an interesting courses today, and, indeed, the Green course I ran was quite unusual. What added to the challenge is "unevenness" of the course. Normally, all controls on advanced courses have similar degree of difficulty and are similarly placed, so runners could mentally adjust to the course after the first few controls. Not this time. Some controls were very easy (maybe too easy), but others were of very high degree of difficulty. Also some controls were low and hidden, while others hanged very high above the ground. I personally found such mixture quite difficult to adjust to, and ended up making several (medium) mistakes on the course. Mercifully, the weather wasn't very hot for this time of the year, so I was able to run most of the time and thus finished with an "all right" time.

Here is how I ran:

#1: down to the dry ditches, through some fallen trees, across the trail and creek, then up about 15 yards from the control. The control was hanged very high and I didn't notice it, ran north east to the cliff to confirm my position - it was correct. Returned back and saw the control this time.

#2: across the road and up the re-entrant, then used a gully as an attack point

#3: ran on the elevation line, missed the control as it was lying on the ground, but saw big rocks. Turned around and saw the control.

#4: to the road, then used the trail to get close to the control. Noticed one re-entrant on the left, then turned into the second one.

#5: ran across two creeks, then noticed a trail going by the shore and used it instead of cutting over over the hill. The trail lead me basically to the very control, I just needed to watch the shore line and get down to it where the control was placed.

#6: climbed up the slope, ran across the re-entrant and walked up to the control

#7: very difficult control: in a pit, on a flat, without good attack points. Ran by the top of the re-entrant, then aimed to the right (west) of the control and ran across the hill (probably missed a bit), then turned left looking for the pit. Didn't find it and noticed some not very distinct re-entrants, realized that I must have missed the pit and ran back. Found the pit this time.

#8: another difficult one: no sharp elevation features, no good attack points (rocks don't count as they were separated from the control by the green area). Anyway. Crossed the creek and went up watching re-entrant on my left, then aimed to the eastern side of the green area and went over the hill there. Went down the slope a little bit and turned right to the control.

#9: made my biggest mistake there. Went across the re-entrant and aimed for the corner of the restricted area, but missed and hit the creek farther west than I thought. Crossed the creek and went west looking for the re-entrant with the control, naturally, didn't find it and ended up in the re-entrant west of the control. Decided that I was going west for too long, stopped and realized the mistake. Went back and took the control.

#10: went around the re-entrants and reached the road exactly where I wanted - by the re-entrant on the other side. Went down using the northern slope and turned right to the control.

#11: returned back to the road, thought about getting to the trail, but decided to cut straight instead. Aimed to the right of the control, didn't see the trail, but when the slope went down, turned left and took the control.

#12: used the road to get close to the control, but exited to the forest too early. Ended up traversing the northern slope of the big re-entrant, then going north over the green hill. There I wasn't certain whether I was right or left of the re-entrant with the control and decided to go left with an idea of hitting either the re-entrant or the rocks cluster. Found rocks and used them as an attack point.

#13: down to the shore and used the trail and road to get close to the control. Went up to the dry ditch and reached it right by the bridge. The bridge and new trail should have been added to the control's legend. Unfortunately, they weren't, so I didn't look under the bridge and instead went up looking for the control. Didn't find it, returned back and decided to look further down (though I was starting to think that the control was taken away). As soon as I went over the bridge I saw the control right there. Bummer. Lost 2 minutes there...

And then finish with an OK 1:09 time.

Thanks to Brian for such unusual and challenging course!

Here is my route. Click on the image to enlarge. Blue - mostly running, yellow-brown - mostly walking.

May 17 in South Umstead

The day which started with heavy rain turned into the perfect weather for a run by the time I started. What a pleasant surprise for the middle of May event! Unfortunately, the morning rain seemed to scare away some orienteers, but those who came didn't regret it at all. Not only the weather was good, but also the advanced courses Charles and Nadya designed were a real treat.

Tanya went on Orange (which was on a yellowish side today) and I ran the Green (as usual). I ended up with result I am very happy about: made just two small/moderate mistakes and finished with 1:05 time (which I think is a good one).

Here is how I ran:

#1: cut to the trail using the re-entrant as a handrail, then used the trails to get to the control

#2: went east to avoid a small re-entrant, then cut across the big one to the control

#3: avoided the green area by getting up to the trail, used the trail and cut down to the control

#4: up to the trail, used it to get to the road and went down avoiding the green area, saw "our usual control dry ditches" on the left and turned right to the control

#5: went around the big re-entrant and green area, reaches the ridge, ran north east, passed re-entrant on the right, went down the slope a little bit and ran along the slope to the control.

#6: It was very well hidden, wasn't it? :-) Anyway, I went down to the creek, crossed it and started to look for a gully. It wasn't there. I wandered around a little bit and then realized that the gully should be on the slope facing the river. Went there and noticed the control, which was indeed very well hidden.

#7: went down, hoping to use a route on the river bank, but it simply wasn't there. The cliff was going straight to the water and there was no place to walk underneath the cliff. So I had to climb the steep slope up. From the top I went south-east, crossed the re-entrant above the green part and went down the hill to the control.

#8: went south to the road and south south west from there trying to avoid loosing too much elevation in re-entrants. Miscalculated and ended up further west than I thought, went up looking for gullies, but they weren't there. Stopped and realized the mistake, turned left and ran to the control.

#9: simply went over the hill and across the creek, then turned left to the gully.

#10: went down to the shore, thus avoiding elevation gain and used road to get to the control area. Ran a bit over, climbed up and had to return back a bit to the gully with the control.

#11: made a stupid mistake. Instead of going south to the road I went north to the same road... When I reached the road I realized what happened, but wasn't in a mood to climb back up right there. So I ran north east on the road and cut across in the less steep and green part. Crossed the opening and very carefully found one rock and then used it as an attack point to get to the rocks with the control.

#12: simply ran along the river and then used the trail to get close to the control. From the hill went north west noticing re-entrant on the right, crossed the creek and found the control.

#13: went north east to the trail, used the trail a bit until I saw the re-entrant forming on the right and went down into it to the control

#14: returned back to the trail a bit north from the point where I left it. Went down toward the re-entrant, but didn't go all the way down. Instead ran on its right slope until I saw the gully which I used as a catching feature and an attack point.

finish: just ran north, spending the energy I still had left.

Thanks to Charles and Nadya for the great course!

Here is my route. Click on the image to enlarge. Blue - mostly running, yellow-brown - mostly walking.

May 3 event results.

Posted results of the May 3 event on the BOK site.

Now I know how to download the results. Took me a while... Touch pad of the little BOK laptop drove me crazy... I wish I could plug in a real mouse to it, but there was only one USB port.

Oh, well.

As to the event, I think, it went good. The "treasure hunting" addition was perfectly all right to use. The result proved that it wasn't about luck - instead it was about identification of potential control spots on the map based on the legend and optimization of the course taking in account these spots.

April 26 at camp Lapihio

It was indeed one of those extremely hot events we seem to have every year at the end of April and in May. Last year I nearly blacked out on a course, so this time I decided to be extra cautious, walk more and monitor my condition all the time.

Artem offered both regular and Score-O courses and I was in serious doubt which one to choose (Score-O or Green).

Score-O pluses were:

• 1 hour time limit
• possibility to run only short legs

But Green had pluses too:

• Though it was unlikely that I could finish it in 1 hour, I would not have to think as much during the run, as I would have to in case of Score-O. In such hot weather simplicity was very desirable.
• The course had several challenging long legs, but not in sequence, which was good for me. And I really liked the way the course was designed.

So in the end I chose Green, mainly because my anticipation of slow thinking at the end of the course.

My strategy for the run was as following:

• I knew I wasn't going to run all the way and would have to switch to a walk sooner or later. I wanted to do it later, so I decided to avoid hills at all cost. Heat was enough to battle through, I didn't need hills to add up to the challenge.
• I was going to walk up every hill I couldn't avoid - no running up, even at the beginning of the course.
• I was going to monitor my condition in order to switch to a walk before it gets too bad.

Here is how I ran:

#1: along the green vegetation to the clearance, then used compass bearing to get to the re-entrant and used a small gully as an attack point

#2: down to the creek and ran along it switching sides till the big creek. Crossed it carefully and walked up hill to the trail. Used the trail to get to the road, crossed the power line. Went down to the re-entrant and used its northern slope to get to the clearance. The problem was that I didn't see this clearance on the map - I thought it was all white around the control. So when I reached the clearance I thought that it was the one north from there and instead of taking the control I went south east looking for it. Naturally, I didn't find it and stopped to assess the situation. And only then I noticed that the control was actually inside a clearance. Ouch... Returned back and took it.

#3: went down to the creek and walked up hill to the control watching re-entrant on my left along the way.

#4: was very difficult to get to. The area between #3 and #4 was so flat that the only choice I had was to take a compass bearing and hope for the best. So I took compass bearing to the top of the big re-entrant and fortunately hit it right where I wanted. From there it was an easy run to the control.

#5: crossed the re-entrant to avoid green and ran down to the creek. Ran along the creek and used its curve as an attack point.

#6: no way I was going up that hill, so I went around. Along the creek, used trail for a short while, then along another creek between two hills. As soon as the left hill ended I tuned west and ran on the same elevation till yet another creek, crossed it and went right to the control.

#7: walked up and across the power line and met Michael there. Together we ran west looking for the re-entrant but saw the control first.

#8: went down to the big creek, crossed it and walked up hill. That was my "switching" point. From that moment I pretty much walked all the way except for the final stretch. Anyway, after I crossed the second trail I went across the hill to the re-entrant with a small creek and swamp and used it as an attack point. Also saw the opening on my left when I was walking to the control.

#9: took compass bearing and walked uphill, then down to the re-entrant with the control

#10: with big difficulties (because of fallen trees and greens) went down to the trail. Used the trail to get closer to the control and cut north from the curve. Counted creeks and took creek #3 to go alongside to the control. Used rocks on the right bank as an attack point.

#11: walked up north and reached the trail. Then used the trail a little bit and went down to the control aiming for the cabins.

#12: ran all the way to the finish spending whatever strength I had left.

Ended up spending 74 minutes on the course - not bad for such weather.

Michael finished Orange and liked it very much. Thank you, Artem! Great courses.

Here is my route. Click on the image to enlarge. Blue - mostly running, yellow-brown - mostly walking.

Summer has come

Went to set ribbons to the Schenck forest today. After two hours walk hanged about 70% - will finish on Tuesday.

It was hot today. After a walk I surely felt like after a long hilly run. Tomorrow event will be tough. Maybe I should walk it too? I still remember how I nearly blacked out in similar conditions a year ago. We'll see.

Some information about the May 3 event.
It will be a Score-O with 32 controls, but only 23 of them will be shown on the map. For the remaining 9 controls only the legend will be present.

Points distribution:

• 5 points - 4 controls
• 10 points - 12 controls
• 15 points - 4 controls
• 20 points - 2 controls
• 25 points - 1 control
• And all 9 "hidden" controls will be for 20 points each - a big bonus.

I am thinking about setting 1.5 hours time limit - a straight line with all controls on it is more than 7 km. Or maybe we'll do both 1 and 1.5 hours like Artem did in Birkhead.

Because of the absence of white and yellow courses, expect somewhat more difficult controls than you usually see in Schenck, though it is virtually impossible to make it too hard out there.

See you tomorrow.

Orienteering in Birkhead Wilderness, Apr 12

Orienteering event was the last "point of interest" in our 5 days journey to South Carolina and Georgia. Tanya, Michael and I spent the last week on a "half-organized" family road trip, driving wherever we wanted, staying in cheap hotels, visiting all kinds of places and doing all kinds of activities (including getting into golf ball size hail). The orienteering event on a way back home capped it nicely.

Artem set up a Score-O event with an extra complexity twist. The sun was shining, the air was cool, the forest was quite open - simply beautiful. Plus I was able to draw a course avoiding big hills and ended up actually running most of the time. Tanya and Michael had a great time too. Thank you, Artem!

My overall strategy was:

• take easy #18, 17 and 16 at the very beginning in order to warm up and get a feel for the forest and the "complexity twist"
• go all the way to the 50 pointer #10, taking some controls on the way there
• then return back taking the rest of the controls on that route
• take #5, 4, 3 and 2 if time permits (ended up taking only #5 there)
• don't go over 1 hour

I think the strategy worked very well, especially taking in account that I was able to avoid hills by choosing this route.

Here is how I ran:

#18: simply using trails to get there

#17: ran back to the trail, then turned into the forest right after the re-entrant

#16: went north east till the re-entrant with the dry ditch and used it to get to the control. Found the control, but thought that it was too quick, so went around the pond, found the decoy control; stopped and thought, went back to the correct control and punched it

#15: used the trail until I saw big rocks on the right side, then cut to the control

#14: went over the hill, but didn't see the control - it was well hidden; took another bearing from the small re-entrant and eventually found the pit

#12: went down the hill and continued to the creeks junction, crossed the creek and ran north west to the control

#11: ran along th slope without loosing elevation, noticed re-entrants in a right and left, then went up the hill to the control

#9: decided to go for #9 before going to #10, as it looked easier than going to #10 directly. Simply ran north (north east and then north west) crossing two big re-entrants till I reached the control.

#10: ran east, watching re-entrant on the left, then north east and eventually reached the trail, used trail to get to the control and used trail/re-entrant crossing as an attack point

#8: simply ran south west and then west, avoiding gaining/loosing extra elevation (not much thinking was needed there as I had a good catching feature ahead - the creek), then went down to the creek and continued west along it, crossed the creek and ran along it toward the control, used a bend in the slope as an attack point.

#13: crossed the creek, ran till the green, then crossed the creek again to go around a cliff; after the cliff crossed the creek again and took the control

#7: crossed the creek back and used low ground to go around the hill; had to cut the north spur because of the unmapped green area and went south west; again crossed the creek to go around a cliff, but this time didn't see the control from the other side. Stopped for a few seconds and double-checked everything - everything seemed to be correct. So crossed the creek and immediately saw the control - it was very well hidden.

#6: walked up the hill, then ran along the slope counting re-entrants till the control

#5: went south east, then over the hill, noticed the small re-entrant, but didn't see a control at the rock piles close by, so continued to the next cluster of rocks, didn't see the control there either, spent some time looking then decided to double-check the first cluster and sure enough there was the control.

After that I had only 5 minutes left so I ran to the finish avoiding the re-entrants and using the trails to full advantage. Still ended up 4 minutes late... (with total time of 1:04)

Here is my route. Click on the image to enlarge.