2018 Golden Goat & Golden Kid

23rd Annual Golden Goat & Golden Kid

Shell Ridge Open Space

Date: (Sun.) Mar. 31, 2019
Location: Walnut Creek, CA
Event Director: - 925.516.7622
Course Setters: Erin Schirm, Jay Hann
Type: 23rd annual event with an extra-long "Goat" course, and a long "Kid" course, with a shared mass start; and regular beginner courses with separated starts

Related Event Information

Course Setters' Notes Online Registration (optional) (https://www.orienteeringusa.org/eventregister/a40/register/start/2019goat) Last Year's Event Event Results

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


Please join us on Sunday, March 31st at Shell Ridge Open Space for the 23rd Golden Goat. Shell Ridge is gorgeous this time of year​—​green rolling hills, scattered oaks, and blooms of wildflowers.

The Golden Goat, and the shorter Golden Kid, is a mass-start event, traditionally emphasizing long and hilly courses with some other deviations from traditional point-to-point orienteering.

In addition to the Goat and Kid courses, beginner (White) and advanced beginner (Yellow) courses will be available at this event. There will be short, introductory lessons for those new to orienteering. Beginners are welcome!

Online registration is available here (https://www.orienteeringusa.org/eventregister/a40/register/start/2019goat) until 5:00 PM on March 30th​—​it is encouraged, but is not required. (Advance registration simplifies check-in at the event, and helps us predict the needed maps.)

2018 Golden Goat Mass Start? Golden Goat Mass Start?

Schedule

Note that this event has a non-standard schedule, with a combined mass start for the Goat and Kid, and a non-standard period for separated starts on the beginner (White and Yellow) courses.

  9:00 – 9:45 AM: Registration in the parking lot/assembly area
  9:30 – 10:30 AM: Beginner instruction (times approximate)
  9:50 AM: Instructions for the Goat and Kid
10:00 AM: Mass start for the Goat and Kid
10:10 AM – noon: Starts for the beginner courses
  1:00 PM or sooner: Awards ceremony (Goat and Kid)
  2:00 PM: All courses close, pick-up of all controls begins

Notes:

  • People can start on the beginner (White) course anytime during the period shown above (but not earlier or later, please).
  • There is a four-hour time limit for the Goat and Kid courses.
  • For the beginner (White and Yellow) courses, the time limit is three hours or 2:00 PM, whichever is earlier.
  • Everyone must return to the assembly area by 2:00 PM and check in at the download table. The Goat, especially, travels a long distance from the Start/Finish​—​make sure you allow time to return!

Costs

The following fees apply at this event:

  $3 for each junior (age 8 through 20) on a beginner's (White or Yellow) course
  $8 for each adult on a beginner's course
  $5 for each junior on the Goat or Kid course  
$15 for each member on the Goat or Kid course
$20 for each non-member on the Goat or Kid course
  $1 for a compass rental (optional)  
  $5 for an electronic fingerstick rental (if you don't own one; you'll need one to complete the course)
$15 for the lowest-cost individual one-year BAOC membership (optional)  

Notes:

  • BAOC has a new fee structure for 2019, as shown above.
  • Online registration has closed. It is not required​—​you can register at the event.
    You can see who has already entered here (https://www.orienteeringusa.org/eventregister/a40/reglist/home/2019goat) (but keep in mind that people will also be registering at the event).
  • At the event, we are able to accept payment only by cash or check​—​no credit cards or electronic payments.
  • There is no longer a discount for "additional people" on a team.

More information about event pricing is available in the club FAQ. All the prices are also shown on the standard entry form (PDF/90KB), which you can print and fill out in advance to save some time at the event. (You will need one entry form for each group of people going on a course together.)

Bob Pond Picnic Area (Click on photo for larger image)

Location In The Park

The assembly area will be at the Bob Pond Picnic Area in Shell Ridge Open Space (near Borges Ranch; see the photo at the right).

Note: Do not park at the Registration/Start area at Bob Pond Picnic Area. Instead, park at the Orchard Staging Area/Castle Rock Parking lot (see the directions below), then take a 15-minute (70 m climb) walk/hike from the parking lot. Or the driver can drop off the group at Bob Pond (see below), immediately drive 5 minutes back to parking, and then do the 15-minute walk to Bob Pond.

From the southern-most corner of the parking lot, the trail to the Registration/Start area heads southwest. (Do not take the Castle Rock Trail the leaves the eastern-most corner of the lot.) The trail will be marked with small flags on wires (i.e., the kind that landscapers use). Follow the flagged trail to the Bob Pond Picnic Area for registration and the Start & Finish for the courses. (The approximate coordinates of the Bob Pond Picnic Area are 37.8919,-122.0026.)
 [Editor's note: This note was added after the event, after we heard that some people were unable to find their way from the parking lot to the assembly area. We're very disappointed that happened, and hope that the inclusion of the note here will cause it to be included in the information for the next event at this park.]

There are toilets and water at the Registration/Start area at Bob Pond Picnic Area. (Note: Contrary to previous information, there are not toilets at the Orchard Staging Area/Castle Rock Parking lot.)

Courses

The Golden Goat will be extra long and strenuous, and the Golden Kid will be (only) long and strenuous. In keeping with the spirit of the event, the climb will be higher than normal on all the courses.

The course details are below: 

    Course    Length       Climb      Controls
    White     1.9 km    110 m  5.8%      11  
    Yellow    2.5 km    135 m  5.4%       7
    Kid       6.6 km    465 m  7.1%      13   
    Goat     11.4 km    845 m  7.5%      24

Beginners should be aware that the course lengths shown are the cumulative straight-line distances between controls. Your actual distance will be somewhat longer. For a rough estimate of how far you will actually go, mentally change "km" to "mi" (e.g., for a "1.9 km" course, you might travel about "1.9 mi"). The climb numbers represent the amount of ascending that would be done on the "optimum route" (in the Course Setter's opinion), without regard for any descending.

Be sure to read the Course Setters' Notes for more information, including the rules for the Goat and Kid.

Awards

There will be special prizes for the first-place winners (man and woman) of the Goat and the winners (man and woman) of the Kid. There will be a special prize for the fastest split on a king-of-the-mountain leg on the Goat (see the Course Setters' Notes). The awards ceremony will take place soon after the awardees have finished.

In addition, the top 15 finishers on the Goat earn Golden Goat Lifetime Points. The current table of these points, and the rules for their awarding, are available here (PDF/82KB).

Volunteers

If you don’t plan on running the Goat or Kid, please consider volunteering for beginners clinics or starts of the White course. We will also need many people for control pickup. ☺

If you can commit in advance, please email [emailByName: unknown member name 'Marie-Josée Parayre'][emailByPosition: unknown position 'Marie-Josée Parayre'], the Event Director. Volunteers will also be enthusiastically accepted at the event.

Driving Directions

The approximate coordinates of the parking lot are 37.8955,-121.9967. You will have to walk to the Registration/Start area from there as described above.

Traveling north on I-680: 
Take the Ygnacio Valley Road exit (#46B, just north of the Hwy 24 interchange). Turn right onto Ygnacio Valley Road and go 2.3 miles to Walnut Avenue (past Walnut Blvd). Turn right onto Walnut Avenue (not Walnut Blvd), and continue 1.5 miles to a roundabout. Take the first exit onto Castle Rock Rd. See below for the continuation from there.
Traveling south on I-680: 
Take the N Main Street exit (#47), and head south on N Main St. Turn left onto Ygnacio Valley Road and go to Walnut Avenue (past Walnut Blvd). Turn right onto Walnut Avenue (not Walnut Blvd), and continue 1.5 miles to a roundabout. Take the first exit onto Castle Rock Rd. See below for the continuation from there.
Coming from the east: 
Take Ygnacio Valley Rd to Oak Grove Rd. Turn left onto Oak Grove Rd, and proceed for 1.0 mile to a roundabout. Take the second exit onto Castle Rock Rd. See below for the continuation from there.
Common to all three approaches: 
In 1.4 miles you will reach the Orchard Staging Area/Castle Rock Parking lot.
Note: If you want to drop people off close to the assembly area, turn right onto the signed road to Borges Ranch (about 1 mile from the roundabout), and continue for 0.6 mile to the Bob Pond parking area (approximate coordinates 37.8919,-122.0026). (You cannot park there.)

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