Trailcross Joaquin Miller
Joaquin Miller Park
Date: (Sun.) Aug. 25, 2013
Location: Oakland, CA
Event Directors: 
- 510.779.8808, - 510.325.8080
Course Setters: Steve Gregg, Bruce Wolfe
Type: C; 5 km, 10 km, and 10-mile trail runs with twists! Find your way with a map.
Course Setters' Notes
By
Joaquin Miller Park is one of the premiere trail running destinations in the Bay Area. Many high school cross-country teams (including the one at the high school where I teach) have been both training and racing there for at least the last 30 years. I live less than three miles from the park, and I run there often.
However, much of the park is of limited use for "standard" orienteering. The redwood area at the top end of the park is lovely, of course, but much of the rest of the map is steep, thick, and full of poison oak, which makes setting standard orienteering courses there quite a challenge.
Fortunately, the park also has an extensive trail network, which makes it a fine area for a TrailCross. Both legal park trails and illegal mountain biker created trails can be found throughout the park. Thus I expect this event to be of interest even to non-runners, as the courses do not contain many "dead running" zones—you will always need to be reading the map, both to make sure you go the right direction at the trail junctions, and to take advantage of the occasional off-trail shortcuts available. I have updated the map specifically for this event, and I believe that all the relevant trails you will encounter during your run are mapped correctly.
The course will consist of three loops, each of which starts and finishes at the staging area. The 5 km runners will do Loop A only, the 10 km runners will do Loop A followed by Loop B, and the 10-mile runners will do Loop A, then Loop B, then Loop C. You will receive the Loop A map when you register the morning of the event (primarily so that any non-orienteers at the event will get the opportunity to ask questions about the map), and then will exchange maps at the staging area if you go out on additional loops.
There will be a well-stocked aid station at the staging area, for refueling between loops. Additionally, a legitimate route choice option for both Loop A and Loop B takes you back to the staging area halfway through the loop, and you are of course welcome to stop at the aid station at that time. So there is perhaps no need to carry any water or food with you, although you are certainly free to do so if you anticipate taking a long time to finish your course.
The statistics for each loop are below. The distance and climb figures are taken directly from my GPS watch during my test run of each loop, taking what I believe are at least close to the optimal routes. (In other words, these are not straight-line distances, but actual running distances.) I've also included my test run times, for those of you who might find that information useful.
Loop Length Climb Controls Test Time
A 4.0 km 225 m 7 30 min
B 4.7 km 250 m 8 35 min
C 6.4 km 320 m 8 45 min
The combined statistics are:
Course Distance Climb Controls Test Time
Short 4.0 km (2.5 mi) 225 m (740 ft) 7 0:30
Medium 8.7 km (5.4 mi) 475 m (1560 ft) 15 1:05
Long 15.1 km (9.4 mi) 795 m (2610 ft) 23 1:50
Registration will open at 9 AM for a mass start at 10 AM. Please don't be late! Also, please preregister for the event if you intend to participate. Thanks!