By Mikkel Conradi
Welcome to a TrailCross and Golden Goat event in Golden Gate Park! We decided that the 10-mile course was not worthy of a Goat designation, so we added a fourth course that is 25% longer. This smashes last year's record for the longest ever _Goat_—ours is 15.8 km.
But do not despair, for there is not much climb, and the navigation might also be the easiest ever for a Goat. Furthermore, some controls can be skipped—see the special rules below. Given the low gnarliness factor as well as the risk of controls being snagged by other park visitors, we have decided to maintain a standard 3:30 time limit for the courses. The expected winning time for the Golden Goat is 95–100 minutes.
Special Rules for the Golden Goat
For the Golden Goat course only:
- Competitors are not allowed to look at the map until the mass start.
- Competitors can skip any two non-consecutive controls.
- One of the controls will have a fork. Competitors need to go to one of the alternatives, or skip both. Skipping both forks counts as one of the two allowed skips.
Map
The base map is pretty old, and its age is starting to show. The features that have changed the most are the trail network and the vegetation. We have tried to update the map around controls and other important areas, but you may encounter discrepancies. Major roads, ponds, buildings, and contours should be accurate. Note that all maps will be printed on a 1:7500 scale. This means that 1cm on the map will equal 75m in the terrain. This is a smaller scale than most BAOC events - we usually use a 1:10000 scale.
The map has a few out-of-bounds areas:
- The golf course in the western end of the park.
- The disc-golf course close to Marx Meadow.
- All areas of Strawberry Hill other than trails and meadows.
- Planted and reforested areas.
It is essential that competitors stay out of these areas, so that we can continue to enjoy the hospitality of the park in future years.
Hazards
The course crosses active roads multiple times, so runners will need to watch out for motorized vehicles as well as bicyclists. Please be courteous to everyone, including pedestrians. The park also has stables, so keep in mind that horses have right of way. Slow to a walk and ask the rider if it is okay to jog. The park officials suspect that a coyote has its den in the woods close to the assembly area. Dogs are therefore not allowed in this area. Runners on the 10 km, 16 km, and Goat should note that the intersection at 19th Avenue and Martin Luther King Jr. Drive has traffic lights that may hold pedestrians up for a couple of minutes. Plan your routes accordingly.
Course Statistics
Here are the details of the courses:
Name Distance Climb Controls
5 km / Junior Goat ~5 km (real) 80 m 10
10 km / Golden Kid ~10 km (real) 190 m 19
10 mile ~16 km (real) 280 m 26
Golden Goat 15.8 km 360 m 32 (-2 skips)
(as the crow flies)
Water
Every course will visit two controls that have a staffed refreshment table. The park also contains numerous drinking fountains that are marked with a blue × on the map. Many of these are outside park bathrooms, which also have faucets. Runners who want more than two water stops should either plan their routes to take small detours to drinking fountains, or carry their own water.