By Brian Ritchken
Welcome to the Presidio! Never before have you orienteered with such picturesque backdrops of the Pacific surf and the Golden Gate Bridge. Well, okay, maybe you did at a previous Presidio event. 😊
First off: Wear long pants or gaiters if you plan on doing anything other than the Beginner course! I wore shorts on my first trek through the park planning the courses, and I'm still scratching my itchy legs. I'm not joking!
I've included pictures of what areas of the courses look like (taken Tuesday, June 4) to give you an idea of some of the terrain you might end up running through, though most of the thickest terrain can be avoided with different route choices. You can probably guess that the images with trails are from the Beginner course, while the others are from the advanced courses. (You can click on the photos to see larger images.)
Thanks for coming, and I hope you enjoy the courses! It's my first time setting courses, so if you find any inaccuracies, consider it an extra challenge.
The Map
Be aware that the map is not 100% up to date. Specifically, I couldn't find some of the trails in the field that are shown on the map, and I'm not sure why some trees are marked on the map when there are more-prominent trees nearby that are not on the map. But I've tried to have the courses avoid any of the map's inaccuracies.
Courses
In terms of the courses themselves, I've tried to invert the courses from 2024. This means that this summer's Short course resembles last summer's Long course, and vice-versa. If you do the same-length course as you did last year, you'll find that this year's course is very different from last year's, for better or worse.
The Start and Finish are at similar locations as last year, and both are close to registration.
Here are the course details:
Course Length Climb Controls
Beginner 2.0 km 70 m 9 Â
Short 2.8 km 185 m 7 Â
Long 4.9 km 245 m 12
Beginners should be aware that the course lengths shown are the cumulative straight-line distances between controls. The climb number represents the amount of ascending that would be done on the "optimum route" (in the Course Setter's opinion), without regard for any descending. Because you won't travel in straight lines, and might not follow the optimum routes, your actual distance and climb will be somewhat more than what is shown above, and will depend on your route choices (and any errors you make).
Keep in mind that you can earn Summer Series points from only the first course you run at the event, and only if it's one of the ranking courses. That is, you will not earn points if you run the Beginner course first and then one of the ranking courses.
Out-of-bounds Areas!
It is very important that everyone obey the out-of-bounds indications on the map.
Red cross-hatching: Don't go in any of the areas marked out-of-bounds, like the cemetery.
Olive green: People live in the Presidio. It should not be necessary to cut across anyone's lawn or go particularly close to anyone's house. If you find yourself wanting to cut through near a house (i.e., on private property) — please don't do it — change your route choice instead!