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Oyster Bay Regional Shoreline

Date: (Sun.) Jan. 25, 2015
Location: San Leandro, CA
Event Director: - 510.407.1876
Course Setter: Steve Beuerman
Type: C; Beginner courses and Prologue-Chase Sprint

Please note that fees and time limits apply. Events are typically not canceled due to bad weather.


Yes, we are heading back to Oyster Bay in San Leandro for orienteering in January! Steve Beuerman is working on setting a Prologue-Chase Sprint event for those who enjoy head-to-head racing, and we will have beginner and advanced-beginner courses for everyone else.

Oyster Bay is an interesting venue​—​once a garbage dump, it is now a multi-use park by the bay, where you can run your dog, grill hot dogs, and watch jets land at Oakland airport. Bob Cooley has remapped most of the park (it keeps changing, skateboard park planned) so don’t rely on your memory.

Courses

Here are the details of the courses:

                                          Navigational  Physical  
    Course    Distance   Climb  Controls  Difficulty    Difficulty
    White      1.7 km     20 m     14     Easy          Easy  
    Yellow     2.1 km     30 m     11     Easy          Easy
    Prologue   2.6 km     40 m     10     Moderate      Moderate
    Chase      3.8 km     50 m     14     Moderate      Moderate

The White course is for beginners and young children. It's a great warmup if you're trying orienteering for the first time. You get to see the map before the start and experience how everything works.

The Yellow course is considered an advanced beginner's course. It's suitable for somebody with some orienteering experience, or who is comfortable reading topographic maps. At Oyster Bay it won't be much more difficult than the white, and at this park it is hard to get far off-course without going into the bay.

The Prologue is a standard-length Sprint course, with the same Start and Finish as the White and Yellow courses. You are not required to do the Chase after the Prologue and all are welcome to try it.

The Chase will have a remote Start, and finish back with the other courses. It's a bit longer than a classic Sprint course, with some long legs that hopefully will provide enough route choice to break up the packs a bit.

So what's special about this? For those of you who are new to this, the Prologue course will have first-come, first-served, staggered, starting times (starting at 10:00 A.M.), just like a regular event. However, if you wish to participate in the Chase that follows, you need to be sure you arrive early enough to finish the Prologue by 12:00 or so, since the fastest Prologue runner will start the Chase course first at approximately 12:45. Everyone else will start the Chase based on their Prologue times. The winners of the Prologue-Chase event will be the first people to cross the finish line at the end of the Chase.

Be sure to read the Course Setter's Notes for more information.

Schedule

The usual schedule will apply, with details coming for the Sprint participants.

  9:00 AM to noon – Registration open
  9:30 to 10:30 – Beginner's clinics/instruction (free)
10:00 to 12:30 – Starts open
  2:00 PM – Courses close, control pick-up begins

Note that you can register and start on courses any time between the open and close times above. Thus, for example, you do not need to be "punctual" at 9:00 (but you can if you want).

Beginner's clinics are short, repeating sessions that introduce the sport of orienteering, and provide enough instruction to be able to complete the beginner (White) course.

Please check in at the Finish by 2:00 PM even if you don't complete your course, so we can have everyone accounted for and start control pick-up on time so those volunteers can get home. This time may be extended for the Chase participants, check at the Chase start if you think this will be a problem.

After you finish, enjoy free snacks and refreshments, and socialize with other participants!

Request for Volunteers

Yes, we want you! Help is needed with beginners' clinics, starts, finishes, refreshments, control pickup, ... Maybe registration, and probably E-punch, too. Please contact , and let her know if you plan to do the Chase, so we can work around that.

Driving Directions

From north or south I-880 (Nimitz Hwy), exit at Marina Blvd (33B). Go right/West on Marina Blvd about 1.3 miles, just before the main road bends left, to a short right-turn lane at Neptune Dr. Turn right/North onto Neptune Dr, and go 0.6 miles to the end. Park on the street.

There's a map here that shows the location of the event.

Public Transit

Public transportation is poor in this area. Your best bet is BART to the San Leandro station, then walk (run?) or bicycle 2.7 miles, or hire a taxi cab. Better yet, maybe people can carpool...

Google walking directions from the San Leandro Bart Station:

  1. Head southeast on San Leandro Blvd toward Parrott St – About 5 mins, go 0.2 mi
  2. Turn right at Williams St – About 39 mins, go 2.0 mi
  3. Turn right at Neptune Dr – About 9 mins, go 0.5 mi – Total 2.7 mi