Presidio of San Francisco, Fort Scott
Event #3 of 4 in the BAOC 2017 Summer Series
Date: (Sun.) Aug. 13, 2017
Location: San Francisco, CA
Event Director: 
- 415.456.8118
Course Setter: Greg Khanlarov
Type: C; One advanced course with two maps & a short option, total distance ~4 km; Beginner Clinics will be available—beginners can run the course on the first map
Course Setter's Notes
By Greg Khanlarov
The event will feature a single course on two maps. Everyone will do Loop 1 first and Loop 2 second. You have an option of running just the first loop. It is a bit shorter, has fewer controls and longer legs. However, to earn Summer Series points, you must run the combined, two-loop course.
Course Length Climb Controls
Loop One 2.3 km 25 m 14
Loop Two 1.8 km 35 m 17
Combined 4.1 km 60 m 31
- Note: The course lengths for Loop One and Loop Two were swapped previously. The correct lengths are above.
We will have both maps in the same packet. After you punch the last control of Loop 1 (control #14), flip the map and navigate to control #15. Whether you are doing one or two loops, please ensure that the Finish control is the last control you punch (and punch it only when you are actually finishing).
Important: Note that the Combined course has more than 30 controls. Thus, you cannot use an SI-5 (1–499,999) or SI-8 (2xxxxxx) E-stick on that course. If you are planning to run both loops, you'll need a high-capacity E-stick, which is available for rent or exchange at Registration.
Map Notes
The Fort Scott map is a 1:4000 (20 ft contours) enlargement of a map made a long time ago. It is not an ISSOM (i.e., sprint) map; it uses an old ISOM symbol set. Many map corrections were made last year. For the most part the map is a reasonable representation of the terrain. The following notes should help you interpret the map.
- Two symbols, described below, that may be unfamiliar to you are featured prominently on the map. Both can be seen on the map snippet at the right. It appears that these two symbols were once part of ISOM, but were dropped when ISSOM came into existence.
- ISOM 506.5, "Paved trail": This is a thick line with alternating segments of black and beige. It is used to represent sidewalks (as opposed to roadways or other paved areas, which are all beige).
- ISOM 506.6, "Foot path": This is a series of short, black line segments perpendicular to the direction of the path. On this map, it is used to represent stairways. Fortunately, the symbol looks like a stairway.
- Note that many of the sidewalks in the terrain have short stairways within them that are not marked on the map, so be careful. The mapped stairways all seem to be ones that extend the length of the path (e.g., from one road or sidewalk up or down to another).
- Some symbols appear oversized, presumably as a result of the enlargement. For example, the map uses the symbol for "ditch" (officially, "small erosion gully"), a series of brown dots. The brown dots are a bit large, though, and it might appear to you as a line of small knolls. It's not, it's a ditch.
- Some of the paved areas are littered with small junk piles and various machine parts strewn about, so they may not be as runnable as they appear. Nevertheless, they are easy to get through or around without loss of time.
- In one case, what used to be a small paved area is now piled high with dirt and is impassable. It's not represented adequately on the map, and just marked as out of bounds.
- Two or more trees close enough together so that their canopies touch are generally mapped as a small patch of white. Sometimes, two very prominent trees are mapped as a patch of white because their branches touch, while next to them a rather less prominent tree is mapped as a "distinct tree" because its branches aren't touching the other trees. The mapping of trees is fairly easy to understand if you keep this in mind.
- There are many small unmapped bushes, generally right next to buildings. They won't affect your route choices in any way.
Hazards
Cars and bicyclists. Car traffic may get quite heavy in the afternoon. So, please, pay attention when crossing streets and parking lots. You will have to do it several times.
Out-of-Bounds Areas
Please respect all out-of-bounds areas. Vertical, red hatching is used to let you know not to run on the property of private residences. In many cases the hatching doesn't extend all the way to the sidewalk, but that is not an invitation to run on people's lawns. The rule of thumb is that if something looks like a private residence, avoid stepping on the property. This is an important condition of our permit.
Editor's Note: I don't know if this portion of the Presidio map also uses olive green to indicate out-of-bounds areas. If it does, you must stay out of those areas as well as those with red hatching.
What to Wear
It is an urban park. Both course loops can be covered on trails. So, one can wear shorts. However, there is a big open field with tall grass. I'd wear long pants when crossing the field unless you want to run around it.
Restroom
There is a restroom 70 m NE of the assembly area, in a small building on the north side of the basketball court.
Please do not use the restroom at the U.S. Park Police Station on the east side of Fort Scott.