Willow Glen Neighborhood
Date: (Sat.) Dec. 17, 2011
Location: San Jose, CA
Event Director: 
- 857.361.8984
Course Setters: Brad Wetmore, Steve Harrison, David Harrison
Type: C; Score-O walk/run through San Jose's Willow Glen neighborhood while enjoying the festive decorations, followed by the annual BAOC potluck social and awards ceremony.
Course Setter's Notes
By
Please note: If you are going do the course but are not staying for the potluck/awards, please register on the event page so I can make sure to have enough maps available. We should have more than enough printed, but we are getting a lot of interest from friends & relatives.
Come join BAOC for another colorful evening among the many well-dressed houses of the Willow Glen neighborhood in San Jose. Your course setters have spent several nights searching out the more interesting areas/decorations, and have tried to set an interesting course with lots of route-choice options. This is the third event on this map: 1:15000 with 5-ft contours. There's only one area where you might realize you've lost/gained a contour (in other words, it's flat and fast)!
There are 66 controls spread out over a roughly 7 sq. kilometer area. For the 90-minute class, that gives just under 90 seconds per control. We're not expecting anyone to get all the controls, so it will really be an exercise in focusing on the right areas.
Several of the controls are close to the event center. This will give walkers more controls to visit (one route has 13 in just over 3.5 km), and will probably confound runners as they try to plan optimal routes.
Here are some important scoring items:
- Most controls are worth 10 points. There is one "don't miss" house worth 30 points (control 300), and two "shouldn't miss" houses worth 20 points each (controls 200 & 201). Naturally, they are on opposite corners of the map. If you don't get to the high-value controls during your stroll/walk/run, you might want to stop by on your way home.
- The format will be 60- or 90-minute Score-O. That means you can visit as many controls as you want, in any order, within the time limit you choose. You don't have to declare which course you're doing until you return.
- Controls will be environmental, such as:
At house #456, how many reindeer are on the roof?
A – 3 B – 8 C – 9
- The house number eliminates any ambiguity within the control circle, but it's up to you to navigate to the correct street.
- If any of the control answers have changed since the course was set, please write in the most appropriate answer, and we'll confirm after the event is over. (Unfortunately, lights can go out, decorations can be added/removed, etc.)
- There will be a 30-point penalty for each incorrect answer. DO NOT GUESS! A previous event was decided by a single incorrect answer.
- For each minute or partial minute that you're late in returning, 10 points will be deducted from your score (e.g., 61 seconds late will have 20 points deducted).
The house numbers are easiest to find on the curb. Otherwise, they are usually near the front door or garage.
A couple of controls advertise that they will not turn on their lights until 6:00 PM, so we adjusted the start time to compensate.
A strong word of warning: This is a night-time urban Orienteering event, in an area where automobile drivers will be looking at the lights and not for you. Plus if you bury your nose in your map, you'll miss lots of great houses along the way.
Please exercise extra caution: Be sure to have a good flashlight, and dress in light-colored clothing. A reflective vest is a good choice.
Please bring a pencil (preferred) or pen to mark your answers.
There is no BAOC-provided water on the course, but there are a few parks and stores on the course. It should be cool enough that this won't be an issue.
Please see the event announcement for other information.
One last item. If there are folks in your party who would rather not walk, but would still like to enjoy the area, there is a horse-drawn wagon ride (http://www.willowglen.org/events.php) departing continuously starting at 6:00 PM on Lincoln Street. The rides start/finish about 300 meters from the BAOC event center, and reservations are recommended. (There is no affiliation with BAOC; this is just an option.)
I hope you enjoy the evening. Being around this much festivity really puts us in the holiday mood!
(I'd like to thank my co-course setters Stephen and David Harrison. They were interested in learning how to set courses, and this was a good event for learning. David might be doing an Orienteering Project as part of his requirements to be an Eagle Scout!)