Tilden Regional Park
Date: (Sun.) Jan. 11, 2015
Location: Berkeley, CA
Event Director: - 510.525.1574
Course Setters: Graham Brew, Christine Brew
Type: B; Standard 7-course event for beginners through advanced
Course Setters' Notes
By Graham & Christine Brew
The Registration area and Finish for all the courses is at Lake Anza in Tilden Regional Park. The final gate into the Lake Anza parking area should operated by BAOC on the day of the event—in any case, follow the signs to Lake Anza as far as the road goes, and park there. If you have to park in the "lower" lot (before the final gate), simply climb the wooden steps to the Registration/Finish area, which is on the large grassy area adjacent to the main Lake Anza parking lot.
All the courses have the same remote Start. Please allow about ten minutes to walk uphill from the Registration area to the Start. The route will be signed and streamered.
Courses
A full suite of beginner to advanced courses is on offer. Here are the final details of the courses:
                                      Navigational Physical  Course Distance Climb Controls Difficulty Difficulty White 1.7 km 55 m 11 Easy Easy Yellow  1.9 km  85 m 13 Easy Easy Orange 3.6 km 155 m 14 Moderate Moderate Brown 3.4 km 135 m 14 Hard Harder Green 4.7 km 205 m 19 Hard Harder Red 6.2 km 495 m 21 Hard Hard Blue 7.1 km 610 m 27 Hard Hard
Beginners should be aware that the distances shown above are the cumulative straight-line distances between controls. The actual distance traveled on a course will be somewhat more, depending on route choices and any errors made.
The climb numbers above are approximate and represent the course setters' opinions of the optimum routes, with no consideration of downhill travel.
We offer a huge thank-you to the dedicated efforts of Steve Harrison and George & Leslie Minarik, who helped in vetting these courses and offering a wealth of feedback and advice. If you enjoy the courses, it is in no small part thanks to their seasoned and critical input.
Beginners' Courses
There is an extensive network of trails in Tilden Park, and in some cases new trails have been blazed near the old ones. It's a good idea to use other features to locate yourself, not just the trails. The White and Yellow courses do not have drinking water at any of the controls.
Advanced Courses
As can be expected at Tilden, the advanced courses are fairly steep. An effort has been made to keep the climb down on Brown and Green, where it is around 4%. Whereas Red and Blue both have around 8% climb. There are a number of water fountains near the advanced courses, and they are marked with blue circles on the map. Water has also been placed at selected controls—one on Orange and Green, two on Red and Blue.
Map
The Tilden Park map is generally accurate. Some areas of vegetation have grown up over the years, with the spread of impassable areas (thickets), and expanding undergrowth and debris in forest areas. Perhaps more significant is the recent, robust effort to reduce forest fuel, which has resulted in the removal of many eucalyptus trees, especially north of Lake Anza. Where these changes have occurred along obvious route choices, the map has been updated. There are a number of unmapped indistinct casual trails, as often found in highly-used, high-traffic areas.
The map scale is 1:7500 for the White, Yellow, and Brown courses, and 1:10,000 for other courses. The contour interval is 5 meters for all the courses.
Hazards
The longer courses in Tilden generally include steep areas, with a variety of undergrowth. The recent rains have softened the ground markedly, and it should make for good running. If there is appreciable rain immediately preceding the event, you can expect very soft—even slippery—conditions. Strong shoes with rubber cleats or studs are highly recommended, especially for the advanced courses on which there will be a lot of hillside traverses and uneven footing.
Long-sleeved shirts, long pants, and perhaps gaiters are also strongly advised for the advanced courses, because various undergrowth will be traversed. Poison oak is present in various areas off trail—take the usual precautions if you are sensitive to it. It tends to be in the dormant non-leafy state at this time of year—knowing how to recognize it would be useful!
Deer, wild turkey, and other typical wildlife are often encountered, but they aren't really hazards.
The courses have been designed away from active roads to a very large degree, but cars (and fast moving quiet bicycles!) are present, so please be very careful crossing roads. They are not a hazard as such, but please be mindful and respectful of all other park users. The park is centrally located in a large urban area, so is typically very busy on weekends, especially in fair weather.
We look forward to seeing you at Tilden.