We'd like to thank everyone who came out on National Orienteering Day to our first event at Knowland Park. A little over 100 people came out to run courses on our BAOC mapping director's (Bob Cooley) new map. Around 30 people ran a second course that day.
Thanks, Bob, for all your hard work in making this map for the club. Thanks to Rex Winterbottom who suggested this area as a good close-in area to map.
Thanks to Jim Fish, our course setter, for designing 5 courses for everyone to enjoy. Thanks to Rosemary Johnson and Dean French, our assistant event directors.
What a beautiful day for the event; we were so lucky that it wasn't hot. I think that this area would be good for an early spring event before the weather gets too hot.
There was some confusion of where to go when the first people arrived and parked their cars. Thanks to Penny DeMoss and Vicki Woolworth who put up signs and flagged the way to the start, and to Joan Roos who was the greeter at the bottom of the hill in the parking lot. I do like the idea of having a greeter.
Thanks to Brad Wetmore for making a map with a pin on it showing the exact location for the portable toilet so that I could e-mail it to Far West, the portable toilet company. I snail mailed them our orienteering map with the location circled, and e-mailed them another map of Oakland with directions to Knowland Park and to the toilet location.
Jim Fish drove all over the park Friday afternoon looking for the toilet that they said was delivered. Jim finally found it far away in another area of the park. By then it was too late to change the toilet location. (Oh well, we saved $100.)
The Sprint was part of the 2008 BAOC Sprint Series. Ben Legg won the Sprint in 17:19, and Fallan Swift won the Jr. Sprint (White Course) in 31:29.
Jan Hann put on an all-day Junior Orienteering Day Camp (from 9–5) that included lunch. I think 12 juniors showed up for our first BAOC Junior Orienteering Day Camp. Thanks, Jay, for organizing the special day for our juniors!
Thanks also to all these people who helped with the event:
Joel Parrott, Oakland Zoo Director, gave us permission to use the area, and seemed very happy to have us there
Bob Westfall, Security, opened the upper gate so that the portable toilet could be delivered, and so we could drive in the registration, E-punch, Junior Day Camp, and all our other equipment.
Alex Finch – For working with all of us to schedule the event
Rosemary Johnson – Vetting
Bob Cooley – Printing the maps
Steve Gregg and Rex Winterbottom – Prerunners
Dean and Donna French – Starts and bringing and setting up treats
Galina Shakhnousky – Starts
James Wilson – Registration
Rosemary Johnson and Greg Ehrensing – E-punch
Jennifer Kerr – Clinics
Wes Erck, Mark Blair, Manfred Kopish, Dean and Donna French – Control pick-up
Marina Keeting – Who e-mailed me that she would love to help (Her car broke down and she couldn't make it, but I liked her response.)
And thanks to anyone who pitched in to help that I didn't mention. I do appreciate all the help.
RouteGadget