By Martin Kunz
It takes a village ... to organize a stage at Cal-O-Fest, so the old saying goes. Of course the good people in and around BAOC stepped up and raised the third stage out of its inception to full completion. I entered the doing only at a fairly advanced stage, but as I heard through the grapevine, Stage 3 went through various levels of near-death experiences including a change of venue and a capricious permit procedure.
Gavin Wyatt-Mair, together of course with the Cal-O-Fest steering committee, were, so I have heard, instrumental in keeping the baby alive and unharmed by bureaucratic roundabouts and baby eaters. Many thanks to them from all the happy orienteers that eventually got to enjoy a most memorable stage in our beloved Morgan Territory.
I think this was the first time we dared to organize an event in this typical Bay Area terrain, with its oak chaparral meadows and distinctly structured terrains, in the middle of summer. It was a risk but we lucked out and the temperature was in the very acceptable mid-eighties. It's better to be lucky than to be good — another old saying I tend to live my life by.
Marie-Josée Parayre arm-twisted me into acting as Event Director for this stage, so I am not sure I should thank her for that. 🙂 But I definitely thank her for jumping in many, many times, and helping me with all the holes in my orienteering and BAOC knowledge that have opened in the past decade or so of inactivity, and answering questions before I even asked them.
I should also thank Marie-Josée Parayre for recruiting Deron van Hoff as course setter. It was not an easy task, especially since the days when the controls had to be put out were scorching hot. But he not only set interesting courses with a great mix of route choice and fine detail orienteering, but also hauled every single control unit, including many gallons of water, out there on two consecutive 100+°F days. Dennis Wildfogel and François Léonard vetted the courses, and gave the constructive criticism that is needed to enhance a great set of courses to excellent courses. The last helpful piece in the course setting puzzle was Jim Hall, who acted as the OUSA course consultant.
On the event day, countless BAOC members sprung into action and I am doing my very best not to forget anyone (if I do, please correct me):
- The day begins with setting up and organizing the start. Graham Brew with his crew Wayne Staats, Mikkel Conradi, Taylor Pospisil, Ken Vomaske, Tony Pinkham, Derek Maclean, Steph Maclean, Sheila Cotter, Terry Farrah, Tom De Vre, Mark Petersen, Janet Petersen, Ing Uhlin, Steve Tarry, and Betsy Giese established a smooth and flawless procedure streaming through their gates a total of 283 runners who came and braved the summer conditions at Morgan Territory.
- Stephanie and Derek Maclean were around wherever a quick hand or some trouble shooting was needed anywhere in the arena.
- Pre-runners were sent out ahead of the regular crowds. Sheila Cotter, Steve Gregg, Clint Morse, Jeff Goodwin, and AJ Riley covered between them all of the advanced controls, woke them up, and gladly found none missing.
- Sarah Williams, Gary and Olga Kraght, and Steve Haas were first on the line welcoming our competitors at the Registration desk.
- Although, the very first were really our parking wizards Marie-Josée Parayre (again!), Marcy and John Beard, Sheila Baker, and John Campbell. On this subject, also a big fat thank you to Morgan Territory neighbors Debra Dorn and Brian van Fossen, who allowed us to use their land for overflow parking, as well as to Ranger Chris Lyall for being so supportive with BAOC.
- Water and Snacks were coordinated by Vicki Woolworth with help by Matthias Kohler.
- The ePunch service was provided most professionally by Jay Hann’s Western Race Service helped by Jeff Lanam and Adam Nava and Rosemary Johnson.
- Beginner Clinics were coordinated (although not much used) by Daniel Sebo.
- Daniel Sebo also sprang into action in a small Search and Rescue operation (after having finished the M-20 course). Fortunately no real safety incident occurred, and all the minor cuts and bruises were competently taken care of by the First Aid crew Marie-Josée Parayre, Terry Farrah, Rex Winterbottom, and Evan Custer.
- The Finish was manned during pretty much the entire race by Steve Gregg who also befriended and improved our standing with the local coyote.
- Control pick-up, a significant task on a hot afternoon, was coordinated by Deron van Hoff and executed by Daniel Sebo (again!), Lubomir Sebo, Theo Verhoeven, Tony Pinkham, Terry Farrah, Eric Bone, John Harbuck, and semi-anonymous Greg (whose last name we missed).
- Last but not least, a thank you goes also to the three jury members (and their families) Peggy Dickison, Glen Tryson, and Wyatt Riley, who patiently waited until we were confident that no protests would be filed.
Thank you to the whole BAOC village. It was a fun Wednesday away from work!
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