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Rubin heads to the finish at the 2001 Morgan Territory A-meet, shadowed by proud papa Van Boughner (Photo: Tony Pinkham)

Bayfront Park

Date: Sunday, August 1, 2004
Location: Menlo Park, CA.
Event Director: - 650.321.9713
Course Setter: Nick Corsano
Type: C; Beginner and "special" courses

Last Minute Update

A few additional bits of information ...

Parking: Follow the "Orienteering Parking" signs and the directions of our friendly volunteers. Be especially alert when you turn off the main park road, because the Yellow course crosses that little road. Once you have parked, please follow signs to registration.

Yellow course: Be especially alert on your way to control #1, because you will be crossing the road to the parking area.

Trail-less, Trail-less+, and Trail-less+2 courses: Thanks to the ingenuity of Ev and Jean Beuerman, you will only have to carry one control card. It will have three blocks of control squares, labeled Loop A, Loop B and Loop C. (This is a change from the earlier announcement).

In order to be able to record times for each loop, maps for the three loops will be numbered (e.g. A1, A2, A3, B1, ...). At the start, your A map number will be recorded along with your name and start time. When you reach the map exchange point, if you decide to stop at that point, hand your control card to the volunteer there, and show her or him the number on your A map. If you are continuing on to Loop B, drop your A map face down in the "A" bin, pick up a new map from the "B" bin, and start immediately on Loop B. Follow the same procedures when you reach the map exchange point again at the end of the B loop. The C loop ends at the standard White/Yellow finish. Show your C map number to the person at the finish when you turn in your control card.

If you are doing the multi-loop course as a team, every team member should follow these instructions.

If you want to use a map case, they will be available at the start, but it will be your responsibility to take the A map out and put the B map in at the map exchange.

You may not start a new loop from the map exchange point after 1:30.

After completing your course, you may pick up maps for the earlier loop(s) at the map exchange point. You don't need to remember your map number - take any one. The parking, map exchange and finish are very close to one another.

We should have great running conditions on Sunday - cool weather and virtually no bothersome vegetation. See you then!

Original Announcement

Bayfront is a pleasant little park on the shores of the bay near the west end of the Dumbarton Bridge in Menlo Park. Almost completely surrounded by water, and featuring a number of modest hills and quite a few trails, it's an ideal place for first-time orienteers of all ages, and still provides a lot of fun for experienced competitors.

We will offer standard White and Yellow courses, plus the popular "trail-less" course with options for one, two or three loops around the park. Manual punching will be used. There will be water on all courses and loops.

Here are the final course statistics:

  White (beginner)                  2.1 km,  30 m climb, 10 controls
  Yellow (advanced beginner)        2.7 km,  50 m climb, 13 controls
  Trail-less (Loop A)               2.4 km,  60 m climb, 11 controls
  Trail-less+ (Loops A and B)       5.0 km, 110 m climb, 22 controls
  Trail-less+2 (Loops A, B, and C)  7.6 km, 155 m climb, 35 controls

Calero Reservoir, 1997

On the Trail-less course (first loop), none of the park's trails, roads, crossable fences or other person-made objects will be shown on the competitors' maps. On the second loop, the contour lines will also be removed from the maps, so you will be navigating only by rock and vegetation features. Those with the energy for a third loop will be rewarded with a full map! There will be map exchanges between loops, where you can make a real-time decision whether to do the next loop, or call it a day. You will however need a separate control card for each loop, so when you register, get as many as you think you may want.

Bayfront has a real bathroom and running water, but no picnic tables, barbecues or other facilities. Plan for sun; a hat and sunscreen are strongly recommended. The annual mowing of the park foliage is in progress, and about 80% complete at this point, but you should expect to have to cross some patches of tall grass, except on the White course.

Driving Directions

From the Peninsula, take Highway 101 to the Marsh Road East exit. Stay to the left so you can drive straight ahead into the park at the traffic signal where Marsh turns right into Bayfront Expressway.

From the East Bay, cross the Dumbarton Bridge. Go to the fifth traffic light after the bridge and turn right into the park.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Parking will be in a field a little bit uphill from the main park road. Follow the signs! There is no parking allowed on the outbound (west) side of the park road because of erosion concerns.