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2016 U.S. Individual Championships

Morgan Territory Regional Preserve and Mills College

Date: Mar. 18 - 20, 2016
Location: Livermore and Oakland, CA
Event Director: - 650.281.5280
Course Setters: Graham Brew, Christine Brew, Steve Harrison
Type: A; This event will have Middle, Long, and Sprint events on consecutive days

Note: A PDF copy of these Notes is available here.


Event Director's Notes

By

Welcome to the 2016 U.S. Individual Championships: three distinct events (Sprint, Middle, Long) on three consecutive days.

The course setters have put in an enormous amount of time to create physically and mentally challenging courses, with lots and lots of input and guidance from the vetters and the course consultants. I'm confident that you will enjoy the results of their labor, as well as the surrounding activities.

This document focuses on the logistics of the three days, as well as some other items not related to the courses. See the Course Setters' Notes for course details.

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Event Schedule

Here is the schedule for the weekend's events:

Friday (Middle), Morgan Territory Regional Preserve

      Registration/Check-in        11:00 AM – 1:30 PM  
      Starts   Noon – 2:00 PM
      Courses Close   4:00 PM

Saturday (Long), Morgan Territory Regional Preserve

      Registration/Check-in      9:00 AM – Noon  
      Starts   10:00 AM – 12:30 PM
      Courses Close   3:30 PM
      Labyrinth-O Fund-raiser     2:00 PM – 4:00 PM  
      OUSA Board Meeting   3:30 PM – 5:30 PM  
      Banquet   6:00 PM – 9:00 PM  
      Middle/Long Awards   7:30 PM

Sunday (Sprint), Mills College

      Registration/Check-in     8:00 AM – 10:30 AM  
      Starts   9:00 AM – 11:00 AM
      Courses Close   Noon
      Sprint/All-Around Awards   11:30 AM or so

See Arrival Logistics below for information about getting to the Start on time.

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Fund-raising Activities

Two fund-raising activities during the event will support up-and-coming American Juniors.

Junior National Team Fund-raiser

To support the Junior National Team (JNT), you can purchase turkey or ham sandwiches plus chips after the races at Morgan Territory on Saturday and at Mills College on Sunday. Refuel after the races and support our Juniors at the same time!

World University Orienteering Championship Fund-raiser

The World University Orienteering Championship (WUOC) is an international meet held every two years for university students, with this year's event in Hungary at the end of July. Many of the top runners in the world compete, and it's a good opportunity for America's college juniors and seniors, graduate students, and 2016 graduates to get international racing experience. The U.S. should be fielding a good team this year, including many JWOC and WOC runners.

Participating in WUOC is expensive, so to help raise money for entry fees, we will be organizing a Labyrinth-O at Morgan Territory after the Saturday race. The suggested donation is $5 for the first course, and $1 for each additional course. Please stop by and support the university students!

Saturday Dinner

A group dinner will be held 6–9 PM Saturday evening at Handles Gastropub (http://www.handlesgastropub.com) in Pleasanton (855 Main St (https://goo.gl/maps/sKbAMkgyfNE2); phone 925.399.6690). The evening will include presentation of awards for the Middle and Long events, beginning around 7:30 PM.

Arrival Logistics

This section provides comments about getting to the Start on time, with time estimates for the various steps.

Start times are available here (https://www.orienteeringusa.org/eventregister/a40/reglist/home/2016-us-ind-champs).

Morgan Territory

The Assembly area (E-punch download, day-of-event registration, snacks, shuttle pick-up, restrooms and porta-potties, etc.) will be at the Morgan Territory parking lot Friday and Saturday. Since this parking lot has limited capacity, most people will have to park at Indian Springs Ranch (9601 Morgan Territory Rd) adjacent to Morgan Territory​—​there will be signs, parking staff, etc.

Note: The road from I-580 to the park includes a lengthy section of narrow, steep, twisty, 1.5-lane road. Please allow more time for the drive than the distance would lead you to expect.

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Carpooling is strongly encouraged due to possibly limited parking.

Note: There will not be toilets at the Starts​—​they're at the Assembly area.

Friday (Middle)

You should plan to arrive at the parking area about an hour before your scheduled start.

Extra clothing left at the Start will be carried to the Assembly area.

Saturday (Long)

You should plan to arrive at the parking area at least 75 minutes before your scheduled start.

Extra clothing left at the Start will be carried to the Finish area (not the Assembly area).

Mills College

We will have a room in the Haas Pavilion, just beyond the Assembly area, where items such as clothing can be stored, but you probably shouldn't leave anything valuable there.

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Sunday (Sprint)

You should plan to arrive at the parking lot at least 30 minutes before your scheduled start.

Please keep in mind that there is an embargo covering the Mills College campus.

Start Procedure

Start times are available here (https://www.orienteeringusa.org/eventregister/a40/reglist/home/2016-us-ind-champs).

The start sequence will be the same for both days at Morgan Territory.

Be sure to CLEAR and CHECK when you arrive at the Start location.

T-minus-4 minutes (Call Up and Move to Hold)

Orienteers report to the Call-up Line, where the competitor places his/her SI-card in a special CHECK unit (this ensures we have a record of all the starters in one unit). Once checked-in, the competitor proceeds to the Hold Line and picks up a control description. (Control descriptions will also be reproduced on the map.)

T-minus-2 minutes (Move to Start)

At two minutes before your start time you will move forward to the Start Line. Go to the bin for your course, and write your name and bib number on the back of the map. Do not look at the map. Leave the map in the bin until the start. You may ask a meet worker to verify that the map is for a course you specify, but the worker at the Start Line does not necessarily know your correct course. It is your responsibility to get the correct map, so double check again once you start.
Please be aware that there are two Brown courses and two Green courses at the Middle and Long events, and that elite women on Red will have a different Long map (1:15000 scale) than other Red-course competitors. Make sure you have the correct map.

T zero (Start)

Punch the START unit and pick up your map. There might be more competitors than START units​—​please let the faster runners punch first. Your time will begin when you actually punch this unit.
The start triangle is located at the Start Line.

Please be on time for your start. It will help the start crew greatly if you are there for your scheduled start. If you miss your start, unlike the common international practice, we will not penalize you. You will get a new start time, but because the start window is tightly scheduled, you will likely have to queue up and wait for a new start time.

Please bring the correct SI-card to the Start. Because the walks to the Start are long, we will allow you to start with an incorrect SI-card, but we cannot guarantee that your results (and others that might have used the same card) will be processed correctly.

We expect that the Sprint Start Procedure on Sunday will be the same as the above, except twice as fast: call up at T-2, move forward at T-1, and start at T. (On the course, you will also be expected to run twice as fast.)

Awards

There will be two sets of awards for the weekend's events:

The three individual events in this meet are, respectively, the U.S. Middle Championships, the U.S. Long Championships, and the U.S. Sprint Championships for 2016. For each event, awards will be presented in each National Meet class (except for Open classes) to the top three U.S.-Championships-eligible competitors with official finishes (i.e., no DNS, DNF, DSQ, MSP, OVT, or SPW).
All three events will be used to determine one set of All-Around awards for each National Meet class (age-based and Open) for the weekend. Points earned from the three events will be summed using the Scottish system as calculated in OE2010. Your score each day will be:
1000 × (your class winner's time) ÷ (your time)
All-Around awards will be presented in each class to the top-three overall competitors who have at least two valid finishes in that class. Note that you do not have to be present for all three races to be eligible for an All-Around award.

Awards Ceremonies

Awards for the Middle and Long courses will be presented at the Saturday evening dinner.

Awards for the Sprint and All-Around will be presented at the Assembly area at Mills College on Sunday, as soon as the results can be compiled, probably between 11:30 and noon.

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OUSA BOD Meeting

There will be an OUSA Board of Directors meeting on Saturday, March 19, from 3:30 PM to 5:30 PM at the Marriott Courtyard Pleasanton (5059 Hopyard Rd, Pleasanton, CA 94588). All OUSA members are welcome to attend.

Emergency Medical Care

Recommended nearby medical facilities:

Near Morgan Territory

Near Mills College

We'll have maps and driving directions at the Assembly area all three days.

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Driving Directions

Morgan Territory Regional Preserve

9401 Morgan Territory Rd  (Google Map (https://www.google.com/maps/place/Morgan+Territory+Road+Staging+Area/@37.847945,-122.0155067,11z))
Livermore, CA 94551

Note: We expect parking to be tight, so please carpool if possible.

From the West & South: From I-580 E, take the N Livermore Ave exit (#52B). Turn left onto N Livermore Ave. In 3.6 mi you'll make a forced left onto Manning Rd. Take the next right (0.5 mi) onto Morgan Territory Rd and continue 5.5 mi (up the narrow mountain road) to the parking lot on the right.

From the North: From I-680, in Concord, take the Willow Pass Rd exit (#51) toward Taylor Blvd. Turn left onto Willow Pass Rd. In 1.4 mi turn right onto Galindo St. Turn left at the second cross street onto Clayton Rd. Stay on Clayton Rd 7.0 mi, then continue onto Marsh Creek Rd. In 3.4 mi turn right onto Morgan Territory Rd and continue 9.2 mi (up the narrow mountain road) to the parking lot on the left.

From I-5 South (north of Tracy), exit to I-205 (exit 458B) and merge onto I-580 West after 13 mi. See continuation below.

From I-5 Nouth (south of Tracy), at exit 446, go straight onto I-580 West. See continuation below.

Continuation for coming from the east on I-580: After going over Altamont Pass (good luck avoiding the potholes!), take the N Livermore Ave exit (#52B), and turn right onto N Livermore Ave. In 3.6 mi you'll make a forced left onto Manning Rd. Take the next right (0.5 mi) onto Morgan Territory Rd and continue 5.5 mi (up the narrow mountain road) to the parking lot on the right.

Parking

In addition to the (small) lot at the park, we will be parking on an adjacent private property. Please follow the instructions from the parking crew when looking for a parking space, especially on the private property where some areas must not to be used due to poor drainage (i.e., you don't want to get stuck in mud!).

If you park on the private land, follow the flagged route to the Assembly area. Do not walk on Morgan Territory Road for safety reasons.

Public Transit

Arrange to be picked up at the Dublin/Pleasanton BART Station (https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ll=37.700936,-121.897538&spn=0.003476,0.005777&sll=37.700999,-121.896899&sspn=0.003519,0.005654&mrsp=0&sz=18&t=m&z=18) (17 miles from the event).

Carpool Sites

Carpooling is encouraged because of limited parking at the event. The Dublin/Pleasanton BART Station is a great place to pick up passengers for the ride up the mountain.

Another place to meet for a prearranged carpool is the Walmart parking lot (https://www.google.com/maps/@37.700036,-121.768405,16z?hl=en) (10 miles from the event). Just off I-680, at the North Livermore Ave exit​—​head south on N. Livermore Ave and turn left onto Las Positas Rd at the first intersection. Carpooling from a location that close to the event might not seem useful, but there are two benefits: one or more cars would avoid the drive up the narrow, twisty road, and more parking space would be available at the event site. (Please do not park close to the store entrance.)

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Mills College

5000 MacArthur Boulevard  (Google Map (https://www.google.com/maps/place/37%C2%B046%2756.9%22N+122%C2%B011%2713.9%22W/@37.7824631,-122.1877422,11z))
Oakland, CA 94613

From the west, get to I-580 East. Take the MacArthur Blvd exit (#25B). Continue on MacArthur Blvd to Richards Road (the campus entrance) on the left. See Parking below.

From the east, get to I-580 West. Take the MacArthur Blvd exit (#25). Turn left onto Buell St. Turn left onto MacArthur Blvd. Turn left onto Richards Road (the campus entrance). See Parking below.

From the south, take I-880 North to I-238 (exit 31A) toward Castro Valley. After about 2 miles, take exit 14 to I-580 West. After about 9 miles, take the MacArthur Blvd exit (#25). Turn left onto Buell St. Turn left onto MacArthur Blvd. Turn left onto Richards Road (the campus entrance). See Parking below.

Parking

After passing through the entrance station (they might ask you what you are coming for), turn right and then turn right immediately again to park in the visitor lot. Walk back to the main campus road, and then to the Assembly area next to the soccer field.

A small map showing the parking lot ("Renter Parking") and soccer field is available in this PDF file (280KB). (Before you ask, we don't know the significance of the dashed orange line.)

Public Transit

The AC Transit NL bus (http://www.actransit.org/maps/schedule_results.php?quick_line=NL&Go=Go) stops at the entrance to Mills College. The bus can be boarded at the San Francisco Temporary Transbay Terminal (http://temporaryterminal.org/find-your-bus-line/) (bounded by Folsom, Beale, Howard, and Main Streets), at the Oakland 19th St BART Station/Transit Center (1900 Broadway), or elsewhere along the bus route.

Carpool Sites

TBD