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CALERO - Cancelled
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This event was cancelled on 11/9 due to heavy rains from a big storm the night before. The rangers closed the park on the morning of the event. Hopefully this event will be re-scheduled.


Morgan Hill
Sunday, Nov. 9, 2003
- Cancelled on this date (check back soon for a future date)

Contact: Dan Greene, 408-732-4818 (event info updated 11/3) (event notes posted 11/7)

At this year's event, in addition to the regular beginner and intermediate courses, we will be using the "compressed chase" format for some of the advanced courses. The format is designed to generate a closely contested chase event, even with the number of competitors typical of a local event. (We've used this format successfully once before at Monte Bello in 2001, see the ONA article by Dennis Wildfogel). The idea of a compressed chase is that a short preliminary course is used to seed the competitors, and then the competitors start a second course on 30 second intervals, based on their rank on the first course. The finish order of the second course determines the winners. So even if the competitors spread out during the preliminary seeding course, their starts are "compressed" together in the second course, virtually guaranteeing participants a chance to run closely with other competitors. (In the first running of this format the order of the runners had almost completely scrambled before the first control!) If you've ever wondered what it's like to run in the "trains" that appear in a relay event, or some of the strategies used in head-to-head orienteering, here's a chance to get a taste of the experience.

The event will include regular beginner (white, yellow), intermediate (orange), and advanced (brown, green) courses (no red or blue courses). The brown and green courses will be shorter than usual, since they will also be used as the preliminary and final courses of the compressed chase. So if you are a regular brown runner you might consider moving up to green, and if you are a regular green runner, the courses have been shortened to make the compressed chase feasible for green runners (as well as for red and blue runners). If you are planning to run in the compressed chase, arrive early enough to allow time to get to the remote staging area, run a brown course, and allow any rest time you'd like before the start of the final of the compressed chase, which we will be starting as close to 12:00 noon as possible. Regular course participants should expect the usual schedule for local meets (i.e. starts from 10:00am - 12:30pm), with the exception that we will need to close the regular green course starts earlier than usual at 11:45am to prepare for the chase (we'll reopen them briefly after the chase starts to accommodate any late arrivals). There will be a remote start/finish area for all courses, so all participants are encouraged to bring a picnic lunch with them to the start/finish area and stay and enjoy the chase, which will contain spectator legs.

Directions

From the Peninsula, take Highway 85 south to Almaden Expressway. Head south 5 miles to the end of the road. Turn right onto Harry, and then immediately left onto McKean. The main park entrance is 5 miles south on McKean. Go past the boat ramp and turn right at the entrance marked "Calero County Park; Park Office; Equestrian Center; All Trailheads." From the East Bay, take Highway 101 south past San Jose and exit at Bernal Road west. Immediately turn south onto Monterey Highway (bear right, then make a left turn). Go south 3.4 miles and turn right at the traffic light onto Bailey Avenue. After 2.9 miles west, Bailey ends at McKean; turn left and go south 0.7 miles to the park entrance.

Update by Dan Greene (11/3/03):

Here are the course statistics:

Course  Length Climb  Navigation      Terrain
               (km)    (m)
White       3.4    195     Beginner         Trails
Yellow      3.1    210  Adv. Beginner  Mostly Trails
Shrt Orng 2.4     210   Intermediate Off-trail, moderate
Orange     3.2    240    Intermediate Off-trail, hard
Brown       2.1   195      Advanced   Off-trail, moderate
Green       3.3    285     Advanced    Off-trail, hard

Compressed chase participants (typically Blue, Red, and stronger Green
runners) will be using the Brown course as the preliminary, and the Green
course as the chase.  The chase will start shortly after noon.  So if you
plan to do the chase please arrive early enough to register, walk to the
start/finish staging area (approx. a 20 minute walk), run the Brown course,
and rest before the chase.  Even if you don't want much rest, we'll need
some time to compile the chase order from the Brown course results, so
please plan to finish by 11:50 am.  (Also note that  since almost all the
advanced runners will be running the Brown course, either as their regular
course, or as a preliminary, there may be a wait for a Brown start time.)

We need volunteers for:

Control pick-up
Beginner's clinics
Starts
Finish
Early runners

If you don't plan to do the chase, and could volunteer to help with
starts/finish during the chase, that would be helpful.  Also, I'm looking
for someone who would be willing to use a FSR radio to report back to the
other spectators on the progress of the chase from near the 1/2 way point.

 

 

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