[roc-info] ROC Meet - July 14th meet at Cobbs Hill Park

[robert holmes]

To all,

Just a reminder that the Rochester Orienteering Club will host a 
patriotic-themed summer Score-O and Sprint meet on Wednesday, July 14th, 
2010 at Cobbs Hill Park starting at the Tay House. Participants will be 
given maps of the park with fifty key locations noted. They must 'punch 
in' at as many of those locations that they can reach within one hour 
and return to the finish. A separate Sprint course will challenge 
participants to complete a 2km race through the park, reaching check-in 
points in a defined order. All ages and skill levels are welcome.

The Sprint is the second in the club's Sprint Series Championship. 
Points from this and the five additional races held through the summer 
will determine a Club Sprint Series Champion in September. The best four 
results over the six races will count, allowing for participants to miss 
an event or improve upon an earlier result (and participants can begin 
without having raced in the first event).

Sprint competitors will compete from 6:00 PM until 7:00 PM, and are 
eligible to participate in the Score-O event afterwards. The Score-O 
event begins at 7:00 PM with a mass-start. Competitors are encouraged to 
arrive with enough time to register and prepare, no pre-registration is 
necessary.

Instruction leading to a beginner course will be available, and walking 
such a course can easily be accomplished in under an hour with starts 
beginning at 6:00 PM.

Groups and families welcome. Cost: $6 per Score-O or Beginner (White) 
entry (groups count as 1 entry), and participation in the Sprint 
requires an additional $3 donation to the Orienteering USA National Team.

Recommended dress: Appropriate for walking, running, or off-trail 
movement within your capabilities. Long sleeves and nylon sweat pants 
can provide protection if you plan to leave the trail. A compass would 
be helpful, and the club has some to loan if needed.

Course Setter Notes:

Cobbs Hill Park is an urban park - and the course has made extensive use 
of man made objects that you might find - fences, buildings, signs, 
seats, and statues. It is also host to multiple athletic events. All 
fields and courts with activity on them are OUT OF BOUNDS, and reports 
of a competitor running through a game will invoke a stiff 10 control 
penalty - stay out of their way! Concerned citizens have recently been 
granted approval to cut out invasive trees from the part - Norway Maple 
as a prime example. And so this spring a number of smaller trees have 
been felled and left on the floor of the forested area of the park. It 
is mapped as open forest, but is generally less passable than that, 
though some areas are quite open. The course does cross the road in the 
North of the park, so please take care.  Road signs warns drivers, the 
road has speed bumps, and local drivers should know to watch, but please 
cross cautiously. There is parking by Tay House, but the nearby lots at 
the school and water authority should handle any overflow.

All maps are 1:5000 with 2.5m contours.

White:
The white course is shorter, and perhaps a bit easier than normal - 
hopefully those entrants will return and compete in the Score-O section.

Sprint:
The course makes extensive use of the park's forested area which is 
mapped as open. It isn't as open as one would hope (see note above), and 
trail routes may make sense.  If it looks like you have to fight to get 
through a section you may want to go around.

Score-O:
Each control is worth 1 point for a total of 50 points.
We've created a special 50-state punch card for this event.
The bonus for carrying around a flag of at least 1 sq ft is an 1 
additional point - the 51st point.
Controls are not terribly difficult to find - but with 50 of them, you 
will have to manage your effort carefully.
Even with 50 controls and only 60 minutes, it should be possible for 
some fast and efficient competitors to reach every location.
All controls have only 1 punch, so consider how you start - if you have 
to wait in line behind a dozen others to punch, you might not want to do 
that. There is a nearby control in every direction from the start!

The Course Setter predicts that the event will be won by an individual 
that is able to plan and run through the park while keeping their wits 
about themselves - while carrying a flag!  There will also be several 
handfuls of competitors that will wish the US had stopped at 48 states 
because they missed one or two and noticed too late...

Final notes:
  - The fact that the control for NY is located in a depression is 
merely coincidental.
  - It is also entirely accidental that NJ is by the water, VT is 
towards the top of a hill, and TX is along a fence.


Hope to see you there!

Rob Holmes