The White course is perfect for first-timers and families with small children. It is a beginning-level orienteering course that is completely on trails and paths.
The Yellow course is advanced-beginner level, mostly along trails, but with easy cross-country opportunities available. If you wish, you can do both courses at this event, as there will be only one overlapping control.
Bayfront Park is fairly small in land area, high in visibility, and has many trails. Therefore we will offer "intermediate" and "advanced" courses with a few twists: there will be three loops available to run in Motala format. On intermediate (Orange) courses, runners may choose between one loop ("Orange-1"), two loops ("Orange-12"), or three loops ("Orange-123"), with a map exchange after each loop. Advanced runners have the same choices, but all of the trails will be removed from the maps. This provides a total distance of between 3.4 and 9.6 km.
Course Length Climb
White 1.6 km 30 m
Yellow 2.8 km 68 m
Orange-1 3.4 km 80 m
Orange-12 6.6 km 160 m
Orange-123 9.6 km 225 m
Advanced-1 3.4 km 80 m
Advanced-12 6.6 km 160 m
Advanced-123 9.6 km 225 m
Beginners should be aware that the course lengths above represent the cumulative straight-line distances between the controls. The actual distance you will travel will depend on your route choices (and any errors you might make), and will certainly be somewhat longer. The climb numbers represent the amount of ascent one would experience on the "optimum route", without regard for any decent along the course.
There is not much shade in the park, so plan ahead with hats and sunblock.
While most of Bayfront is mapped as rough open land, recent mowing has made some areas much more runnable than others. These will be very obvious. Although it may appear to be flat ground, be aware of the many holes hidden under the grass!! Ankle twisting is a real possibility.
For the rest of the park, expect tall (2–3 ft) grass and weeds with decreased runnability. Gaiters and long pants are recommended for the Orange and Advanced courses, though there will generally be trail options to get around the worst of the grass. There may be a fence crossing or two on the Orange/Advanced courses, and most people should be able to squeeze between the wooden beams.
Some of the mapped features are a bit non-standard. Brown triangles are listed in the map legend as covered knolls, but many are not high enough to be true knolls. What these features have in common is that they are vegetated bumps with rectangular lids on top. Many also have a post with caution tape. They are marked as man-made features (not knolls) on the clue sheets.
Brown ×'s, which traditionally represent rootstocks, may also be dead and/or fallen trees and branches. These are all denoted with the rootstock symbol on the clue sheet.
Objects marked with the cairn symbol are also not true cairns, but rather interpretive artwork involving arrangements of small boulders. Some are stacked; others are not.
For more information, examine the map legend.