Reserve a map by March 17!
It's been quite a while since the club has had a rogaine, so Harold and I figured, "Why not use the newly mapped areas plus the existing map of Briones?"
There will not be any other courses offered at this meet, nor will there be a beginner's clinic. Map scale will be 1:10000. The weather should be good and the ground soft.
Registration will be from 7:30 to 8:30 am. Registration will shut down at 8:30 in order to have time to hand out maps by 8:45. There will be a short briefing and then teams will have 10 minutes for planning before the mass start at 9am. The start is from the parking lot, NOT remote.
Because of the need to put the controls out before the morning of the event, there will not be any controls visible from trails. What we're getting at is: The level of orienteering skill needed to enjoy this event is intermediate to advanced.
There is water at the start/finish area, at the parking lot at the far end of the map, and we'll put out a massive water stop at a centrally located area, but that is all we'll be providing. Competitors should plan on carrying enough fluids and food to get them through this event.
Anyway, by group we mean that you have to go with at least one other person, so grab a partner and start making plans. A tip here: The more people you have on your team, the harder it is; you'll go at the speed of the slowest. For this reason teams are rarely more than two people. Teams will be issued only one punch card.
If your team finishes in under 4 hrs. you will automatically be included in the 4 hr. results. If your team finishes in over 4 hrs & 30 mins. you will automatically be included in the 6 hr. results since that would be over 300 penalty points. BUT if you finish between 4 hrs. and 4 hrs & 30 mins. there's a point at which you'll have to decide whether to take the penalty points, be listed in the 4 hr results and go home and not worry about it OR wait around to see how your team would fair in the 6 hr. results if you keep all your points.
This is a team event and you must stay together. Definition of 'together': In visual AND verbal contact at all times ( within approx. 50 m)? No walkie/talkies allowed. Have at least one whistle on each team for safety reasons.
There will be a map on display at registration (without controls) along with some useful info. Check it out, it will be helpful and may affect your route choices. Map scale is 1:10,000. Each person will get a map in a sealed map case. The punch card/clue sheet is also in a sealed map case. They are not water proof so do not unseal them. You do not need to put your names on the punch card, your team # will identify you.
There will be 4 places to get water during the event. The centrally located water stop will have 30 one-gallon jugs of water and a control. You are encouraged to refill bottles there, not just take a cup of water. The other three places to get water are drinking fountains and are not particularily near controls, but are on logical routes. Carry food, were're not supplying anything nourishing. Also, if it looks like rain showers, carry some protection. In some areas there's lots of knee-high poison oak. However, most of the poison oak is avoidable. We recommend you wear full leg coverings and gaiters.
There will be a large tent set up for the competitors to use in case of showers or to leave stuff (food, gear, etc.) during the race.