By Werner Haag
Courses
The course details are below.
Course Length Climb Controls
Beginner 1.9 km 45 m 9
Short 3.0 km 50 m 14
Long 5.3 km 120 m 20
Beginners should be aware that the distances shown are the cumulative straight-line distances between controls. The climb numbers represent the amount of ascending that would be done on the "optimum route" (in the Course Setters' 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).
For the Short and Long courses, keep in mind that you can earn Summer Series points from 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.
General Comments
The maps are all printed at 1:5000 scale. The contour interval is 2.5 m.
These are fast courses without much technical difficulty.
All the courses have a mix of on-campus and off-campus controls. The grass is cut short in the off-campus areas, for the most part, and long pants are not critical, although might be desired for the Long course.
The Short and Long courses will go off-trail, and soft-rubber cleats are recommended, especially for Long, which goes on some steep hillsides where the grass can be slippery. Shoes with metal spikes are not allowed on the campus.
Vegetation
The map uses a green × for standing dead trees, and a brown × for rootstocks and fallen dead trees.
Individual green dots represent anything from a small tree to a bush or bit of thicket. In the control descriptions (aka Clue Sheet), I've used the symbol for thicket for such features, because there is no way to distinguish a tree from a small bush.
Fake Boulder
In the spirit of the recent Bay-O-Net discussion, I added a fake boulder on one course where a pond in a streambed suddenly dried up, so the pond edge no longer exists, but I didn't want to move the control location.
Fences
Those marked with a single slash are passable, while those marked with double slashes are not legal to pass even if they could be climbed.
Canopies
Building canopies are generally passable on bottom and often on top. Top-passable canopies are identified by the existence of some feature such as vegetation or a man-made object mapped on them. However, dotted lines across a grey canopy indicate that there is passage on top, but not on the lower level.
Roads
There is no need to cross any road, except for some in the middle of campus where there will be minimal traffic on a Saturday. It is acceptable to run on the sidewalks adjacent to the roads on the perimeter of the campus.
Buildings
There is no need to enter any building, and it is against the rules to do so.
Controls
As we are not allowed to use stands poked into the ground near any irrigation lines on campus, we are taping the flags and punches to traffic cones. Due to the high visibility of the regular 18"-tall bright-orange cones, in some places we've used shorter, 12" cones that are covered by the bag and lower to the ground than usual.
Temperature & Water
The weather is forecast to be sunny with a high of 89°F. We will attempt to get the courses open before the usual 10:00, so that running can begin and finish before it gets too hot. Come early if you're concerned about the heat.
There will be one water stop on the Short and Long courses, but none on the Beginner course. The Beginner and Short courses are somewhat shaded and short enough that water should not be needed, unless you are walking. The Long course has sections with a lot of sun exposure, but again, fast runners are unlikely to need water. If you expect to take over an hour to complete your course, it might be wise to carry some water.
Hazards
Poison oak is almost non-existent, but there are a few easily-avoidable spots.
Uneven terrain due to ground-squirrel holes is probably the biggest hazard.
There is a homeless encampment at the very west end of the map. The courses are set to avoid that area, but if you happen to come close, it is easy to stay clear.