Foothill Park
Come-And-Try-It event

Windsor, Saturday, August 17, 2002

By Scott Aster, Course Setter, Co-Meet Director , 415-456-8118

Lots of happy, enthusiastic locals came out to Foothill Park on Saturday to try a sport that was new to all but a handful of them, orienteering. Everyone who I talked with said they had a wonderful time, and most left clutching our latest club schedule flyer as they left.

BAOC was invited to run a "come & try it" event at the behest of the Sonoma County Parks Department. The day was their annual "Parks Day", where they try to feature a variety of activities in as many of the county parks as is practicable. Several activities were planned for Spring Lake park (where we have a good orienteering map), and the Director asked me if we would be willing to hold our event at one of their other, less developed parks. I asked if they had a decent map of Foothill Park, and they provided me with one that would allow me to set White & Yellow courses.

Participants went out on their courses with black & white copies of the park map, with the course pre-printed on it. Despite the lesser map quality, all entrants successfully completed their courses, and quite a few had such a good time that they elected to try a second course!

The park terrain consists mostly of rolling oak forest and meadow, surrounding three small lakes. Off-trail terrain is quite runnable and I think this park would make a good addition to BAOC for regular meets. The park department has said we could map it for orienteering meets, so now all we need is a mapper! Anyone want to volunteer?

This event was such a success largely due to the bunch of great club members who pitched in and helped out. Judy Koehler did extensive publicity work before the event, and helped out with just about everything (including picking up most of the controls!), and was indispensable. Her parents came out and ran the starts and finishes most of the day, while Martin Taylor, Alan Jones, Neil Peterson, Joan Roos and my parents all made the trip up to help out. Thank you all!

Results

This was definitely an event where the emphasis was on having fun and enjoying trying orienteering. So, in keeping with the relaxed nature of the day, we timed people only to the nearest minute. The two courses, Short and Long, were primarily White level of difficulty, with some more challenging route choices thrown in for the longer course. 
Short Course

   1  Evan Custer                            8:00
   2  Mark, Elizabeth & Stephanie Henry     13:00
   3  Vic & Chemi Suard                     15:00
   =  Steven O'Neal & Karen Amici           15:00
   5  Jim Hancock                           17:00
   6  Marty Lautze & Connie Bertlshofer     18:00
   7  Rose Knight                           19:00
   8  Robin Goodman                         20:00
   9  Darren, Patty, Stacy & Tara Barnes    21:00
  10  Robert & Taylor Rappa                 27:00

      John & Laura DeAguiar                  DNF  (Forgot to punch)


Long Course

   1  Otti Bisang                           18:00
   2  Evan Custer                           26:00
   3  Ed Voge                               29:00
   4  Carl Brodene                          32:00
   5  Bob Sandwina                          33:00
   =  Steve & Liz Richards                  33:00
   7  Jason Wright                          35:00
   8  Tim & Kyle Ibrahim                    39:00
   =  Joan Roos                             39:00
   =  Mark, Elizabeth & Stepanie Henry      39:00
  11  Don Gee                               43:00
  12  Mustafa Ozilgen                       44:00
   =  Derek & Cheryl LaSalle                44:00
  14  Rich & Heather Steiner                47:00
  15  Alan Jones                            49:00
  16  Jill Gaines                           55:00
  17  Jim Hancock                           58:00
   =  Judy Koehler                          58:00
   =  Neal Peterson                         58:00
  20  Darren, Patty, Stacy & Tara Barnes    62:00
   =  Martin Taylor                         62:00
  22  Julie, Chris & Valerie Major          67:00
   =  John Babich, Helen Crump,
         Julie Aquino & Joel Storns         67:00
   =  Marty Lautle & Connie Bertlshofer     67:00
  25  Linda Garth, Gail Onyett & Ali Jonk   79:00
  26  Sharon Alberts, Josh & Ellen Cox      83:00
  27  Kris & Julianne Cuneo                 84:00
  28  Mona, Jamie & Rachel Ibrahim          89:00
  29  Jeannie Laikam & Phil Kelly           93:00