Big Basin State Park
Date: (Sun.) Aug. 14, 2005
Location: Boulder Creek, CA
Event Director: 
- 831.439.9822
Course Setters: Nick Corsano, Anneliese Steuben
Type: B; Standard 7 courses, plus Adventure Race (Long Orange) course
Related Information
Event Announcement Winsplits (http://www.obasen.nu/winsplits/online/en/default.asp?page=classes&databaseId=4972) Compare routes on RouteGadget (http://www.baoc.org/gadget/cgi/reitti.cgi)
Event Write-Up
By Sharon Evans
The weather was perfect at Big Basin on Sunday, 8/14/05. Unfortunately, two out of the 43 controls placed on the advanced/intermediate courses were not perfect — on the Blue course, to be specific (more about that below). But first, let me focus on the positive aspects of the Big Basin Redwoods O' Meet.
Everyone had a wonderful time on the White and Yellow courses! Much positive feedback was received on the courses that were well-set and well-thought-out by Anneliese Steuben. ("Hard, but fair." "Challenging!" "Fun!!" were some of the comments made.) Ingert Svard handily won the White course, with Brian & Jessica Kirshner placing second. Vince Witwer eeked out the win on the Yellow course over the group of Chris Contione, Linnen Wile, and Bruno Mendez. Vince may have had a slight advantage, as he had been on the course grounds with Anneliese a month or so before during a field check. Vince was a champion in the volunteer arena as well: he arrived early to help with setup, and right as he finished his course, still catching his breath, I asked if he could relieve Chuck Spalding (another stellar volunteer) at the Starts. Vince went without hesitation! (More on the wonderful volunteers, below.)
On the Orange course, Hanna Falk placed first, and Grant Glouser second. On the Adventure Racing Orange course, first place went to the team of John O'Donnell and Hani Juha, with the team of Wendell & Aaron Doman coming in second. (Kudos to Wendell for coming back out to Big Basin — the day before he and his Pacific Coast Trail Runs organization put on a big event there.)
Mike Fleishman took the Brown course, with the team of Alan Glendenning & Meg Gerstner following in second. Gary Carpenter pulled out first place by three minutes over Jonathan Owens on the Green course, and Tapio Karras came in first on the Red course, over Thorsten Graeve.
Much discussion has already been had regarding the Blue course; please accept my official apology for the two misplaced controls. As course setter Nick Corsano refers to them, "the evil twins" caused the Blue course to be voided. Though split times are available on Route Gadget for the Blue (and Orange through Red) courses, participant's names are simply listed in alphabetical order for the official results (according to IOF rules). Nick has also apologized for the mishap — please see his email titled "Big Basin Blues" on 8/19/05. I second all of his sentiments, and especially that of the course runners being such good sports about the error. Nick spent an extraordinary amount of time in the Park, trying to avoid just such a mistake. Indeed, his efforts paid off nicely on the other five courses he set (and 21 of the 23 Blue controls).
And now, I want to express my undying gratitude to the people who helped with the event and who were nothing less than phenomenal! Unfortunately, due to the remote location of Big Basin, and probably the PNWOF, the sheer number of volunteers was low; being spread so thin, everyone who volunteered put in an inordinate amount of time, for which I am deeply appreciative. I believe that the amount of time spent volunteering inadvertently affected some people's courses; because of the extreme nature of Big Basin and how long the Intermediate/Advanced courses were taking, I think some people ran into course closure (2 p.m.) issues, and had to DNF. That is one of the main things I do not wish to happen to the dedicated volunteers at an O' meet, and hope that this experience does not taint them toward volunteering in the future.
Nick Corsano was my right-hand man. Indeed, he acted as co-meet director in many ways, coaching and hand-holding. Nick also spent a tremendous amount of time in the woods during his field checking and course setting period. Every time I went out to Big Basin (vetting and map-correcting the lower courses, meeting with Rangers, etc.), Nick was already out there, and then left after me. Thank you Nick, for your tireless effort and excellent courses!
Anneliese Steuben laid out excellent White and Yellow courses. She also supplied lots of support and insight, as well as showing up early the day of the meet with Vince (please see Vince's extensive contributions, above) to help with set-up and last minute details.
Esther Heller did her usual incredible job of helping (with anything!) — this time she substituted for Ev and Jean (no easy feat!) and ran Registration without a hitch! Esther ran things smoothly, and with the ultra-capable help of ...
... Meg Gerstner, the Registration area was handled beautifully, and people had a very pleasant initial O' experience.
Chuck Spalding was one of the first to respond to my volunteer plea, and was extremely generous with his time. He (and his wonderful French friends) kept noticing what needed to be done, and just did the many tasks, including White & Yellow Starts and results checking and tabulating, beginner's clinics, etc. Thank you for always being there, and for just doing things that you saw needed to be done!
Pascal Corpet and Armelle Corpet, the French friends who came with Chuck Spalding, cheerfully and capably manned the beginner's Starts for over an hour (or two?)! Then, after successfully completing the Green course, Armelle returned to continue to help where she could, including checking and tabulating the White and Yellow course results.
Steve Gregg jumped in and gave Beginner's Clinics ALL MORNING. He is such a natural, and was always swarmed by at least 10 people. And I never saw him stop smiling. Thank you!
Jeff Lanam set up the beginner's Finish area, and then single-handedly manned it for over 2 hours!! Jeff was one of the people whose volunteer efforts negatively impacted his course. Thank you SO MUCH Jeff, for sacrificing, and for doing such a great job on the Finishes!!
Gary Carpenter was also one of the first to sign up to volunteer. He arrived early, was willing to help with anything, and then handled the Advanced Starts for most of the morning, before running his course.
Kent Ohlund was the very first person to volunteer his (and his van's) services!! He graciously lent us his van all day, whether or not he was driving it. Then, after being viciously stung (by ground-bees?) during his course, he made a couple more shuttle runs before doing the safe thing and returning home in case of a bad reaction to the stings.
Mark Rice also offered to lend us his van for shuttle runs, which came in very handy!
Bjorn Widerstorm pitched in to be a shuttle van driver on the spur of the moment, plus helped with e-punch and several of the meet set-up tasks. He even modified the time he wanted to start his course in order to keep things moving, which negatively impacted his course because of his volunteer efforts. Thanks to Bjorn and Trinka for making the sacrifice, and for all the great help!
Mark Blair, Martin Kunz, and Kelly Wells were also early to sign up to volunteer, and incredibly, after doing their own courses involving the terribly steep terrain, went back out to collect Advanced course controls!! Then, Kelly came back on a second day to retrieve more controls! You guys are da bomb(s)!
Fyodor Konkov, Natasha Doubson, and Julia Doubson (5 years old) were a huge help by picking up the White and Yellow course controls, and did so with complete glee and spirit at the day's end, which was so refreshing! Fyodor additionally helped me with retrieving the Advanced shuttle area and Finish controls and water. (Side note: 20 years ago Fyodor used to orienteer in his native homeland; he is very excited to have rediscovered his favorite sport in his new homeland - America - and is quickly climbing the Advanced course ranks! Welcome back to the wonderful world of orienteering!)
Trinka Gillis, Thorsten Graeve, Mark Rice, and Bjorn Widerstrom seamlessly manned the e-punch station, and Trinka, additionally, worked prior to and after the meet, which ensured that the e-punch aspect of the meet was flawless. Thorsten was the last to leave, and patiently assisted Nick in sleuthing the whereabouts of one late runner who had not returned by after 3 p.m. It was a relief to have this important part of the meet so capably staffed.
Galena Shakhnovsky immediately recognized the need, and sat right down upon completing her Yellow course to relieve me at the beginner Finishes for an hour. It was so nice to be able to simply pass off this important function to someone in-the-know!
Nancy Lindeman jumped in when there became a sudden shortage of shuttle drivers for retrieving people from the Advanced/Intermediate Finish. Thank you Nancy!
Esther Heller lent her sparkling new Prius for the return shuttle, and Nick drove. Thank you!
Peter Graube and Dennis Wildfogel did a great job vetting various parts of the Advanced courses.
Rosemary Johnson — thank you for your diligence and follow-though with acquiring the permit.
Special thanks go to Rangers Gary Brennan and Karsten Banz, Supervisor Mary Hazel, and Craig Holden of the Parks Department for allowing us to hold the meet, and working with us in handling the various technical aspects. They were always courteous, understanding, and kind, which is extra remarkable during this busy season at the Park.
Bob Cooley — thanks for your usual prowess with finessing and fine-tuning the maps, and then printing all of them.
Dan Vannatter — thanks for being the Shuttle Driver Extraordinaire! Dan also made the gorgeous signs for the Beginner course crossing, e-punch download reminders, and shuttle signs. Thanks also to John Kish for his loan of the Eurovan that Dan drove ALL DAY!!
If I have left anyone out, it is totally unintentional, and I greatly appreciate your contribution! Please let me know so you can be appropriately recognized!
Thank you to all the participants who came to Big Basin that day, and for your patience with the details that were less than perfect (no separately printed Yellow clue sheets; no functional walkie talkies, which led to communication issues; the misplaced Blue controls; the long volunteer hours; the shortage of shuttle drivers at the end, which prompted people to have to walk over a mile back to registration from the Advanced Finish - arghh!). I am glad you came out, and hope to make your experience much more enjoyable next time!
See you in the woods,
Sharon
Results
Big Basin State Park Boulder Creek, CA Sunday, August 14, 2005
White & Yellow Course Results
P1 Name(s) Time
White Course (1.8 km, 25 m climb, 10 controls)
1 Ingert Svard 17:03
2 Brian & Jessica Kirshner 31:07
3 Jeff & Elaine Weichert 43:11
4 Philip, Lauri, Andre, Evan Desjardins 44:11
5 Boy Scouts-Jan, Aliv, Arjun 55:22
6 Boy Scouts-Aubre, Aichilly, James 1:35:27
7 Natasha Doubson 1:36:31
8 Boy Scouts-Joe, Arjun 1:37:38
Boy Scouts-Nick, Sam MSP
Jen, Vivian, Callie, Quin MSP
Yellow Course (2.9 km, 85 m climb, 13 controls)
1 Vince Witwer
(Was Round 1 of 3 course setter) 42:14
2 Chris Contione, Linnen Wile, Bruno
Mendez 43:20
3 Simon Darling 47:19
4 Greg Lee, Lynne Martin 47:38
5 Bevan Waite 50:00
6 Chi Hoang, Dorothy Huang 54:32
7 Ellie Li, Michael Chan 54:54
8 Joanne and Grant Olecko 56:18
9 Lauren Knight 1:00:39
10 Joanne Thiel, David Caeiro 1:03:32
11 Rose Alvarez, Claire & Mike Kotawski,
Karen Barquero 1:05:35
12 Philip Kearney, John & Rhonda Laws,
Wes Wong, Nick Wilcox 1:07:07
13 Al & Nicholas Biggerstaff,
Marilyn Clemo 1:07:56
14 Boyd Potts 1:09:18
15 Jeff & Elaine Weichert 1:20:40
16 David Springer 1:22:20
17 Brad & Lisa Melton 1:23:07
18 Wilburt Labio, Johnny Vietvu 1:24:10
19 Katz, Katz, Starr 1:25:23
20 Michael Hay, Ann Jordan 1:29:30
21 Galena Shakhnovsky 1:31:42
22 The Twiggs family 1:32:15
23 Andre Barnes, Bessie Barnes,
Jenny Pale, Lisa Rocha 1:39:00
24 Sharon Denaro, Colleen Denaro 2:26:26
Jukka Karras DNF
E-Punch Results
Pl Name(s) Time
Orange Course (3.1 km, 220 m climb, 10 controls)
1 Hanna Falk 1:03:28
2 Grant Glouser 1:21:02
3 Jennifer Klafin 1:25:46
4 Lynne Martin, Greg Lee 1:29:37
5 Bill Voegele 1:30:07
6 M N G Glouser 1:40:03
7 Ron, Guy, & Niv Davidson 2:00:13
8 Hina Arora, Jayanth Majhi 2:02:52
9 Mark & Kathy Turner 2:07:16
10 Raina Langit, Loren Kwan,
Mike Foster, Noah Slattery 2:17:53
11 Tom & Judy Cronin 2:19:17
12 Trygve Thorsrud 2:40:36
B A T Redfield DNF
Host Mendes Wink DNF
Michael Mahoney DNF
Debbie Wetmore DNF
Long Orange Course (4.0 km 280 m climb, 13 controls)
1 John O'Donnell, Hani Juha 1:22:16
2 Wendell & Aaron Doman 2:30:41
3 Ellen Meeks, Kevin McCarty 2:35:10
4 Nancy Lindeman, James Fish 3:05:28
Marie-Josee Parayre DNF
Gabriel Ross, Hilary Hardcastle DNF
Brown Course (2.8 km, 220 m climb, 9 controls)
1 Mike Fleishman 1:33:08
2 Alan Glendinning, Meg Gerstner 1:44:20
3 Beth Dixon 2:12:45
4 Harold DeMoss 2:14:11
5 Richard Powell, Ken Sheaffer 2:43:38
Oleg Shakhnovsky DNF
Bjorn Widerstrom, Trinka Gillis DNF
Stephanie MacLean DNF
Jeff Lanam DNF
Green Course (3.8 km, 290 m climb, 13 controls)
1 Gary Carpenter 1:45:24
2 Jonathan Owens 1:48:39
3 Bob Cooley 1:51:59
4 Armelle Corpet 1:54:56
5 Anna Voegele 1:57:01
6 Jennifer Ratay 2:01:06
7 Jim Waite 2:07:05
8 Alak Ghosh 2:18:53
9 Svetlana Kopeikina 2:22:58
10 Kelly Wells 2:30:07
11 Penny DeMoss 2:40:55
12 Oliver Pohl 2:44:30
Evan Custer MSP
Jennifer Kerr DNF
Phillip Hoare DNF
Theo Verhoeven DNF
Leif Kirschenbaum DNF
Raymond Kemp DNF
Jim Duggan DNF
Dave Ingram DNF
Dwight Freund DNF
Brad Wetmore DNF
Joe Knapp DNF
Mark Rice DNF
Red Course (4.7 km, 380 m climb, 18 controls)
1 Tapio Karras 1:22:34
2 Thorsten Graeve 1:31:22
3 Anneliese Steuben 1:44:00
4 Doug Stein 1:48:11
5 Kent Ohlund 1:48:23
6 Steve Gregg 1:51:58
7 Matthias Kohler 1:56:20
8 Francois Leonard 2:05:27
9 Tony Pinkham 2:08:03
10 Bill Papendick 2:09:37
11 Mark Blair 2:34:00
12 Zbigniew Pisanski 2:40:25
13 Bob Strauss 2:49:24
14 Fyodor Konkov 3:14:11
Derek MacLean DNF
Dan Greene DNF
Bud Laird DNF
Eric Rosenzweig DNF
Chuck Spalding DNS
Blue Course (6.7 km, 510 m climb, 23 controls)
Results for this course were voided because of two misplaced
controls. These were the runners on the course:
Mikkel Conradi
Pascal Corpet
Mattias Eriksson
William Gilmore
Peter Graham
Vladimir Gusiatnikov
Brian Hayes
Martin Kunz
Phillip Lovalenti
Matthias Mahr
Andrejus Masalkovas
Attila Nagy
Scott Porter
Mike Prindiville
Mark Prior
Mutsumi Sugizaki
John Turner
Mattias Vangbo
_______________
DNF = Did not finish (missed one or more controls)
DNS = Did not start
MSP = Mispunched (one or more wrong controls)