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Bedwell Bayfront Park

Event #6 of 6 in the BAOC 2023 Summer Series

Date: (Sun.) Aug. 27, 2023
Location: Menlo Park, CA
Event Director: - 650.281.5280
Course Setter: Matthias Kohler
Type: C; This is the final event of the 2023 Summer Series. Beginners are welcome!


Course Setter's Notes

By Matthias Kohler

Course Statistics

    Course      Length   Climb  Controls
    Beginners   2.2 km    50 m     16  
    Short       3.1 km    75 m     16  
    Long        4.9 km   100 m     23

Beginners should be aware that the lengths shown are the cumulative straight-line distances between controls. Your actual distance will be somewhat longer. The climb numbers represent the amount of ascending that would be done on the "optimum route" (i.e., in the Course Setter's opinion), without regard for any descending.

All Courses

Short and Long Advanced Courses

A Butterfly consists of two loops, A and B, that are attached to one another at one control, say number 15. The runner comes into the Butterfly at #15, goes through loop A (several controls), comes back to #15, goes through loop B (several controls), comes back to #15, and then leaves the Butterfly.
Another runner does loop B first followed by loop A (i.e., this runner's map is different).
So the runners have a different sequence of controls in the Butterfly, but will eventually run the same course. Important: Each runner will punch #15 three times (in this scenario).
For a detailed description of Butterfly loops in Orienteering, and their purpose, is here. At this event, we don't expect "trains" of runners will form to bring out the true benefits of the Butterfly, but we would like to spice up the event for the Long runners just a little.

Map Notes

Sprint rules will not apply at this event.

The map is not in compliance with Sprint-O standards​—​it is not a Sprint-O map. Also, the map has some symbols that are not in compliance with the International Specification for Orienteering Maps (ISOM 2017-2 [1MB PDF]).

The map scale for all the courses is 1:5000, with a (LiDAR-based) 2-meter contour interval. Blue magnetic-north lines are parallel to the map's long edge.

There has been construction going on since last spring. As a result many of those small water or gas features that are mapped as brown triangles ("knoll with cover") were rebuilt and are now man-made objects (close to or at the same location), which are wider in diameter and sometimes higher than the original knolls. The map is not updated with respect to these features. The courses will not use any of these objects as control locations, and it is best not to use these objects for navigation.

The map is still good with respect to vegetation. Some thickets are less dense than in previous years, and may be brown, not green as the map suggests. Generally, thickets are mapped accurately. Two levels of green are used: dark green usually represents thick bushes of various sizes (from as small as about 2 m to several tens of meters in diameter), while light green is very often a dense group of short pines. "White forest" often consists of a group of Eucalyptus trees.

The tall-vegetation map markings (green parallel lines, ISOM 409) are minimal, and represent current conditions in the park. However, where present, running will be very slow or impossible.

Boulders and boulder clusters are generally smaller than what would normally be mapped, and what we usually encounter at other BAOC events. Most "boulders" on the map are rocks of about 0.5 m in size; some boulders and clusters are not easily visible because of overgrown vegetation. The "cairn" symbol (ISOM 526) is used to denote the park's sequences of rock sculptures. These are not used as control features.

There are a few wooden fences along some of the bigger trails and roads in the park. Competitors are allowed to cross those fences (i.e., they are mapped as crossable).

The map uses a dark-yellow, non-ISOM symbol for "bare earth/sandy area" that may help with navigation.