Point Pinole Regional Shoreline
Date: (Sun.) Mar. 20, 2011
Location: Richmond, CA
Event Director: 
- 510.407.1876
Course Setter: Steve Gregg
Type: C; Steve's back with another Prologue/Chase two-part Sprint event, plus White, Yellow, and Orange courses
Course Setter's Notes
By
The main difference you will notice at Point Pinole this year is ... much more poison oak! It's taller and much more prevalent this year than I have ever seen it before. Orange and Chase course runners may get near enough to one large, head-high patch of the stuff to marvel at it, but for the most part, it appears at the park in isolated knee- to waist-high stalks. Most of the leaves are a beautiful shiny reddish-brown this time of year, easily avoidable if you notice it. But especially if you are running fast through the woods with your head in your map, it is very likely that you will brush up against at least a little bit of it on your course. So take the usual precautions, especially if you are particularly sensitive to PO.
All the maps except Orange will be printed at the standard 1:5000 sprint scale. That will mean that the Chase map will be printed on 11x17 paper, but the recent BAOC poll showed a clear preference for that. The Orange course will be printed at 1:7500, to make it fit on standard 8.5x11 paper.
Most of the depressions on the map will be full of water on Sunday. Right now the rest of the terrain is soft but nice for running, with little to no standing water in the low-lying areas. However, if the forecast for rain all of this week holds up, the terrain will get significantly wetter, and you will definitely come back from your run with wet shoes and socks. So come to the event prepared with any dry clothing you may need.
Courses
Here are the course stats:
Course Length Climb Controls
White 2.3 km 35 m 11 Yellow/Scout/JROTC 2.5 km 50 m 13 Orange 4.3 km 75 m 19 Prologue 3.0 km 50 m 14 Chase (*) 3.0 km 60 m 14
(*) First start at about 12:45 — remote start 1.7 km from staging area
Comments on the Courses
White: Easy navigation on trails. For beginners and younger children.
Yellow: Every control is less than 50 meters from a trail, and most will be clearly visible from the trails. However, the course is designed so that, in many cases, there will be much shorter off-trail route choices to the controls, across mostly open terrain. This course should be very good practice for advanced beginners. It is also specifically designed for the scout and JROTC groups that often attend this event.
Orange: This course is of roughly the same technical difficulty as the Prologue and Chase courses, and shares many controls with those courses. You should run this course if you are an intermediate or advanced orienteer, but do not want to participate in the two-part Prologue/Chase race. I have not placed water on the course, but there is a water faucet between controls 7 and 8 that will be clearly marked on the map.
Prologue and Chase: The starts for the Prologue will be first-come, first-served just like a regular event, but you need to start no later than 11:45 or so in order to get back in time for the Chase. We will start the 1.7-km walk to the Chase start at approximately 12:15, and I hope to start the first runner on the Chase course no later than 12:45. The fastest runner on the Prologue will start the Chase first, with everyone else following based on their time behind the lead runner in the Prologue. There is a water faucet at the Chase start, and there are restrooms near the Chase start. We will also be able to transport a limited amount of gear and clothing from the Chase start back to the staging area.