Despite some last-minute prayers to the weather gods, May 7 was a very foggy and wet day in the Oakland Hills. Undoubtedly this kept the numbers down, but didn't seem to diminish the enthusiasm of the approximately 40 non-soluble participants - almost all of whom were new to orienteering.
Starting in the lower meadow, the white course went up and back the main valley. The yellow course went through more varied terrain and had spectacular views across the bay to San Francisco (at least for those with the special fog-piercing glasses). The orange course started out in a similar vein to the yellow, but then had a strenuous climb up to the redwood section for some more challenging route-choice.
All the participants seemed to have a great time, with all but one completing at least one course. Tom Collett, at his first orienteering event, completed all three courses, the white and yellow in the fastest time - quite an achievement! Rex Winterbottom, with a few more events under his belt, had the fastest time on orange.
Thanks to the hardy souls who helped with the event: Joe Scarborough for vetting and some helpful course tuning, the DeMosses (start/finish), Steve Gregg (registration, setup), Gavin Wyatt-Mair (registration), and Rosemary Johnson (instruction). Thanks also for Brunton for their donation of hats, compasses (for competitors), and a banner.
White 2.0k, 85m climb
1. Tom Collett 18:10
2. Laz Sandor 28:40
3. Dan, Mary, Peter Moreno 32:30
4. Terry Pratt 34:35
5. Serrano Group 36:55
6. L. Smith, M. Gilmore, R. Mayeda 39:35
7. Deron, Alexander, Lauren, Allyson 44:30
8. Faries Veenstra 44:50
9. Tina Back 46:34
10. S. Cunningham 47:10
11. Steve & Janie Faelz 50:00
12. Robert Garcia 1:01:30
13. Rick & Jan Nullmeyer 1:02:43
14. Liz Burnett 1:08:25
Yellow 2.4k, 135m climb
1. Bob Gannon 54:30
2. Becky & Adam Redfield 1:51:50
Second course:
Tom Collett 30:00
Terry Pratt 53:47
L. Smith, M. Gilmore, R. Mayeda 53:50
Orange 3.6k, 310m climb
1. Rex Winterbottom 1:01:10
2. Peter Graube 1:09:50
3. Jim McMahon, Li-Chun Huang 1:58:06
4. Gur-Arieh & Gilon 3:22:18
Coni Cullimore DNF
Third course:
Tom Collett 1:18:30