Spring Lake Regional Park
Date: (Sun.) Sep. 20, 2009
Location: Santa Rosa, CA
Event Director: Judy Koehler - 707.778.1604
Course Setter: Scott Aster
Type: C; One of our National Orienteering Day (NOD) "Come and Try It!" events
Course Setter's Notes
By 
Welcome back to Spring Lake Regional Park! This is a map that probably has more features per square kilometer than any other map the club owns. The rock and pit detail, combined with all the paths, thickets, tanks, and the lake itself, lend the map to some very exciting and surprisingly challenging orienteering.
The following four courses are available today:
Course Length Climb
White 2.1 km 35 m Yellow 2.8 km 60 m Oak Sprint 2.2 km 35 m USTT Sprint 2.9 km 50 m
("USTT" = U.S. Team Trials—see below)
The White course is designed for people new to orienteering. It stays on trails and roads, and works on your map-reading skills.
The Yellow and two sprint courses are designed for people who have orienteered before, and emphasize route-choice skills and occasional fine navigation. While these courses do share several controls, they are each very unique experiences, and I definitely recommend that you try more than one!
It will most likely be quite hot, so please drink lots of water, and wear a hat if you have one. All of the courses pass water fountains along the way, indicated by the blue circles on the map.
There is very little poison oak on the courses, and what exists is currently bright red and easy to spot. Please watch out for cars on the road, and bikers, walkers, and equestrians on any of the trails. Please be courteous and don't spook the horses.
All of the courses take you near, or even through, the campground area. Please be considerate and don't run through any occupied campsites. There are numerous paths throughout the campground that will get you through much quicker than running directly into someone's tent or campfire!
I'm not sure if the swimming lagoon will still be open, but if it is, you are welcome to go for a dip after your run as a great way to cool off.
Special Note on the USTT Sprint Course
This course replicates (almost exactly) the course for the elite competitors at the U.S. Team Trials last May. This course has a separate Start and Finish from the other courses, which will not be staffed. The idea is for anyone who wants to see how they might have placed against the best in the country to run this course and see how you do. You will need to time yourself, and the results will not be official. You will get a course map at registration and will have to walk about 1.5 km to the Start. The Finish will be about 500 meters from the Oak Knoll picnic area—just walk on back when you are done.
Have a great time!