Spring Lake Regional Park
Date: (Sat.) Apr. 15, 2006
Location: Santa Rosa, CA
Event Director: 
- 415.456.8118
Course Setter: Scott Aster
Type: C; White, Yellow, and Sprint courses, plus a special course with an Easter theme
Course Setter's Notes
By Scott Aster
Announcing the third annual Spring Lake sprint event, this Saturday, April 15th.
Come one and all to test yourself at this year's new and improved Sprint course at Spring Lake county park in Santa Rosa.
This sprint is part of the U.S. Sprint Series (http://www.petergagarin.org/), with the men's and women's winners each earning a whopping 30 points towards the series standings (http://www.petergagarin.org/2006ss/standings.htm). Coupled with last weekend's sprint at Stanford, participants will have a chance to make a huge jump in the national standings.
Last year's winner at Spring Lake was Boris Granovskiy, who came all the way from the East Coast to compete. Boris used his victory at Spring Lake to propel himself to an eventual national sprint championship!
I've not heard if Boris is coming out to defend his title this year, but with or without him, the competition should be fierce and fun.
The course is brand new, and covers much new terrain as well as a few sections of the map that were used last year. Due to some new park restrictions, the course will bend and turn in unusual ways with alternating sections of technical navigation, connected by trail runs offering a chance to show your pure speed. I've tried to make the course more technical than last year, with greater route choice and the use of more subtle control features when possible. You'll cross lots of bare rock, rocky pits, open forest, and clear meadows. Wet conditions should not be a significant consideration, as I've kept the course out of the areas made swampy by our unusual rains this spring. The only potential hazard is the creek that must be crossed twice. Normally it is just a trickle, but on Saturday it may be several feet deep. Fortunately, there are multiple crossing points with large rocks as stepping stones, though the serious runners will probably just splash across. Using the two bridges across the creek will take you significantly off the optimal route.
Starts will be staggered over the regular meet hours. You can try the course on your own anytime between 10:00 AM and 12:30 PM. You are welcome to come to the start with others and race head to head if you like.
In addition to the Sprint, there will also be White and Yellow (beginner) courses, and a special course combining the joy of an Easter Egg Hunt with the agony of completing your tax forms (it is April 15th after all). Come on out and enjoy the day with us.