Sierra 2000 O-Fest

Spooner Lake Relay

Sunday, July 30

Contact: Evan Custer, course setter and co-meet director

There will be two relays, advanced and intermediate, on the Spooner Lake map. The relay will be on the U.S. Forest Service property west of Highway 28. For general information about Lake Tahoe-Nevada State Park at Spooner Lake, including directions and the map, please see the Spooner B-meet writeup.

For a logistical overview of the venue, look at this map.

Advanced Relay

The advanced relay will have four legs, all of advanced technical difficulty. Here are the stats: 
		Distance    Climb   Controls
		
	Leg 1	3.525 km    200 m     13
	Leg 2	4.9 km      260 m     13
	Leg 3	3.525 km    200 m     13 
	Leg 4	6.625 km    345 m     19
The first and third legs will be forked. (The first and third legs are the same except for the forking variations. Approximately half of the teams will run variation A for the first leg, and the other half variation B for the first leg. Then in the third leg, the teams will do the variation they didn't do in the first leg.)

There will be open, 4-point, and 8-point categories for the advanced relay only. Points are determined by the participant's age and sex. Females get an additional point. 

	Age                   Points
	21-34			0
	18-20 or 35-49		1
	14-17 or 50-59		2
	<14 or >59		3
In the open category, there are no restrictions on the makeup of the team. Thus, the team may consist of four M21 runners. In the 4- and 8-point categories, the combined points of the team members must add up to at least 4 or 8 points, respectively.

There will be a mass start at 10:00 a.m. There will be a catch-up mass start for all participants who have not gone out at 1:30 p.m.

Intermediate Relay

There will be three legs, all of which will be of intermediate technical, or orange level, difficulty. The three legs will each be about 3.5 km and will be forked. (All three legs are the same course except for the forking variations. Each team will run all of the variations offered, but may run them at different times. ) There are no point categories.

The course stat for all three legs: 3.5 km long, 135 m climb, 7 controls.

There will be a mass start at 10:15 a.m. There will be a catch up mass start for all participants who have not gone out at 12:30 p.m.

Map

There will be no loose control description sheets printed. They will be printed on your map. Because many of the legs are similar, availability of the clue sheets before starting the course could cause an unfair advantage.

In order to improve legibility of the map, the finish circles will not be printed on the map. The start, finish, and exchange areas are at the same location.

Many of the clearings are indistinct. In addition, there are many stumps (mapped as a brown X) that are not shown on the map. Usually, the stump has to be 2 meters or higher before it is mapped. Some of the pits are extremely shallow.

Electronic Punching

SportIdent electronic punching will be used for all courses on both relays. You must either own or rent a SI e-card for this event.

Change-over

When a runner finishes his or her course, he or she will punch a SportIdent control at the finish line, run to the map board, pick up the map for the next runner on the team, run with the map to the exchange place, and hand the next runner the map. The new runner will then follow a marked route to the remote start triangle, and begin navigating the leg. The runner who just completed his or her course will then proceed to the SportIdent download control, download the data in the e-card, and return the rental e-cards.

Finish

Timing of the final leg runner will be done manually. Final leg runners (only!) will not have to punch the finish control. This will allow them to sprint to the finish without having to stop to punch. Runners on all other legs will have to punch the finish control at the finish line.

Registration

Print, fill out, and submit the entry form to the registration officials no later than 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, July 29.

To fill out the form, you will need to provide the following information:

  • Team name
  • Team leader
  • Type of relay (advanced or intermediate)
  • Category (advanced relay only: open, 4, or 8 points)
  • Name of runner for each leg
  • E-card number for each runner
  • Point status for each runner (advanced relay only)
The fee is $8 per person. SportIdent e-card rental is $2 per person if you do not own one.

Team packets, including bib numbers and rental punches, will be distributed at the competition site on the day of the event, beginning at 9:00 a.m.

On Saturday, we will have a large sheet of paper near the B-meet registration area to help people form pick-up teams. If you are not on a team by 3:00 p.m., meet at the registration area and attempts will be made to form teams of people who want to participate, but have not yet joined a team.

White and Yellow Courses

Besides the relays, we will have white and yellow courses for beginners and those not wishing to participate in the relays. There is no pre-registration; just show up and participate. There will not be a Start-O.

These courses will have a separate start and finish area from the relay. The white and yellow event will take place on the southern portion of the Forest Service property on the west side of Route 28, whereas the relay will take place on the northern portion (on the road to where the start for the US Champs Day 1 took place).

For more information about these courses, including fees and course lengths, see the Recreational Courses page. Thanks to GCO (Gold Country Orienteers) for putting them on.

Parking and Assembly Area

Park in the Lake Tahoe Nevada State Park at Spooner Lake. The park charges $5 per car. Follow the directions of the parking officials where to park. Do not park in the main lot, as these spaces are reserved for other park users. After parking, follow the signs to the assembly area, which is on the west side of the highway.

Amenities

There will be portable toilets near the assembly area. Water will be available. Bring a lunch, and either a portable stool, chair, or blanket to sit on, so that you can cheer your teammates on. There will be a spectator control on all legs of the advanced course.