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Pearson-Arastradero Preserve

Date: (Tue.) Aug. 16, 2011
Location: Palo Alto, CA
Event Director: - 650.281.5280
Course Setter: Steve Haas
Type: Training; Fun Tuesday evening training event -- 75-minute Score-O


Steve Haas is setting up a fun training for us Tuesday evening, August 16, in the oaky and grassy Arastradero Preserve in Palo Alto. We'll be using an OCAD map, 1:10000 scale, with USGS contours and some work to get it up to orienteering standards. There's a 75-minute time limit — you can go grab as many checkpoints as you want, and don't have to spend the full 75 minutes.

Event Schedule

Starts from 5:30 to 7:00.

Course closes at 8:00.

We'll socialize somewhere nearby afterward for food and drink. One possibility is at a club member's nearby home with a swimming pool (which would be a bring-your-own-... event).

Format

Score-O with 75-minute time limit. There will be 15 controls, spread over the entire park, and you can find them in any order you want. Each control is worth 10 points; the overtime penalty is 2 points per minute or fraction of a minute late.

You can look at the map 5 minutes before you start, and plan your strategy.

Navigation is easy. All the controls are within 25 m or so of the trail; most are much less than 25 m, and visible from the trail.

Doing all or most of the course on the extensive trail network is recommended. The map does not currently have any off-trail detail. (We’re hoping to improve it, but not for this event.) There are lots of thistles and various kinds of brush that you may run into going off-trail.

To get all the controls would require you to cover 8–10 miles, so it's unlikely that anyone will be able to get all the controls within the time limit. The challenge is to determine which controls to go after and in which order, while making sure to get back on time. Thus, route selection and knowing your capabilities will be critical. (A lot like other score-O events!)

Clothes

As described above, you will be mostly on trails, so trail running shoes and shorts would be appropriate — unless you really want to go through the brush.

Driving Directions

Take Interstate 280 to Page Mill Road. Head south into the mountains (away from the bay) and make an almost immediate right onto Arastradero Road. After about a half mile, turn right into the parking lot.