Roberts Regional Recreation Area & Joaquin Miller Park
Date: (Sun.) Jul. 10, 2011
Location: Oakland, CA
Event Director: 
- 510.681.6181
Course Setter: Jonas Kjall
Type: B; Beginner (White and Yellow), intermediate (Orange), and two advanced (Brown/Green and Red/Blue) courses; followed by a social potluck and navigational training activities for everyone
Course Setter's Notes
By
The Courses
Course Length Climb Controls
White 1.5 km 35 m 9 Yellow 2.0 km 75 m 10 Orange 3.0 km 160 m 10 Brown/Green 3.1 km 180 m 13 Red/Blue 4.4 km 270 m 18
The Map
The map scale is 1:10000 (1:5000 for White and Yellow) with 20-ft (6.1-m) contours.
Joe Scarborough first mapped the area in 1978, and the map has had multiple major and minor updates over the years. The mapping style is more generalized than modern maps, and errors have accumulated over time. While I have tried very hard to make map corrections, I have very likely missed some features. The map is good enough for fair racing — but if you see something that doesn't make sense, it's possible that the map is just wrong. The best approach is to relocate and use another strong attackpoint to find your goal.
Roberts Regional Recreation Area
All the courses pass through Roberts Regional Recreation Area. This small park is highly developed and has many visitors (please be courteous to other park users!). In the forest, you will encounter resource protection areas marked with "keep out" signs. Please respect these! To help you pick routes and avoid those areas, we have marked the most important ones on the map with red hatching. If you get off course, you might find additional unmapped protection areas. Please respect these too! If unsure, stay on trails until you know where you are.
Joaquin Miller Park
The intermediate and advanced courses will cross the road into Joaquin Miller Park. This park is less developed, but still gets many visitors. It is a popular site for mountain biking, so be prepared to encounter fast bikers on the trails. There is also a horse facility, which Brown/Green runners might pass by. Use caution, and give wide berth to equestrians — they have the right of way.
Start
There is a 600-meter, mostly flat walk to the Start. Follow streamers through parking lots and along trails. Please stay along the streamered path (you will pass through the competition terrain).
Controls
There are a lot of controls in a small area, so check the control code number carefully. I just managed to keep controls on different features at least 30 m away from each other, and with a nice interpretation of "similar feature", to have controls on those at least 100 m (U.S. specific rule) apart from each other.
Hazards
There is a small amount of poison oak in the parks (all shorter than 1 foot). Intermediate and advanced courses cross Skyline Blvd twice — be very careful when crossing. This road is busy with cars and bikes, and has many turns with poor visibility. Also, be careful around cars in the parking areas of Roberts Regional Park.
Finish
Remember that all participants must check in at the Finish. The Finish chute and download station will be located in the event center. Stay for a picnic and cheer on your friends as they finish. On the White and Yellow courses, the path from the last checkpoint to the Finish chute will be marked with flagging.