This year I decided to use an area of the park which, to my knowledge, has never been used before for an orienteering event. Since the area is quite far away from the Porter Picnic area, only the Red and Blue courses used it. This also meant that we used two separate areas for the courses: a remote area for the Green, Red, and Blue courses; and a closer area for the White, yellow, Orange, and Brown courses.
The turnout was very good for an event at Nisene Marks, approximately 120 participants on seven courses. The event proceeded quite smoothly thanks to all the volunteers helping out. Below are the complete results.
On the whole, there were three organizational problems which stood out. First, those who did the Yellow course last year and this year experienced deja vu - that is, a control description error. Control 6 was described as a trail/creek crossing, when it really should have been described as a hill, side. Second, the winning times on most courses were too long with too many DNFs. This is usually the case in Nisene Marks, and this year certainly lived up to that reputation. Third, the parking lot quickly filled up, and two cars ended up nearly blocking the exit. It is likely that this experience will lead to a new approach for parking next year.
The good news was that there were no reports of killer wasps this year. Those who attended last year will understand what I am referring to. Scheduling the event later in August seems to have made the difference.
A first timer, Mark Rice, came away with an incredible three wins on the White, Yellow, and Orange courses. I hope Mark will become a regular participant - he has excellent potential for moving up to the more advanced courses. Similarly, Jessica Evans was the fastest woman on the White and Yellow course. Lauren Wolfe on the White course had an excellent run, as well, and came in third, the youngest individual not part of a group.
On the Orange course, Ron MacCracken finished a close second to Mark Rice. Ron has finished second before, and the pressure is on for him to come in first soon. (Ron is a colleague of mine, so I had to say that.) Audrey Warmuth, who came in third, was the first woman on the Orange course, not far behind Mark and Ron.
Dennis Wildfogel headed up the field on the Brown course, with perhaps the best relative winning time on any course, though Dennis pointed out that his time was more than 20 min/km which is usually not sufficient to win an advanced course - but Nisene Marks is not a usual venue. Nick Corsano did very well in second place, and Elizabeth Miller came in third (first for women), using the navigation skills she learned as a geologis - an impressive performance, considering that the Brown course was just as technical as every other advanced course and in one of BAOC¹s most difficult parks.
The Papendicks, Bill and Joe (in that order), dominated the Green course. They were followed by another "rivalry" - Edith Jacobi in third (the first woman) and two minutes ahead of her husband, Chris. We need to follow these contests for the rest of this year.
Bob Cooley, fresh off a US Championship win in Cle Elum, showed that he is in good shape not only physically, but even more so mentally (I am referring to the previous quote by Bob), by winning the Red course. Gary Carpenter, who placed third at the US Champs, came in second close behind Bob.
Slava Akinin, visiting from Russia, had the fastest time on the Blue course, and Bruce Wolfe came in second. I hope that we see Slava again. He could give our local speedster a run for the money every time. Neal Barlow came in early but finished with a long time. He sensed that he would place high based on the challenge which he had just overcome, and his prediction held true - third place despite a major problem with the first control (ouch).
Helping with control pickup, after spending a long time on their courses, were Kelly Wells and Michi Kamijima - I am amazed by their stamina. Helping with parking control was Peter Graube. My thanks to all who I neglected to mention and to everybody who attended.
White Course 1.4 km, 80 m 1) Mark Rice 19.10 2) Jessica Evans 26.10 3) Lauren Wolfe 29.30 4) Michael Johnson 30.30 5) Jeff Soares 32.00 5) Patricia Dunn 32.30 6) Audrie Faist 45.30 7) Margie, Larry Lynch-Fresher, Brendan, Brian Fresher 58.30 8) Jim Cramer, Linda Kincaid 60:00 Yellow Course 2.5 km, 130 m 1) Mark Rice 52.25 (2nd course) 2) Jessica Evans 70.32 (2nd course) 3) Jennifer, Quinn Wildman, Heather Gorman 74.10 4) Tapio, Mari, Jaakko, Jukka Karras 83.05 5) Tessa, Betty Zertuche, Kelly Masini 83.50 6) Daniel Ohlund 86.10 7) Julie Wells 92.24 8) Don, Dara Gee 102.55 9) Kelly Loos, Tracy Hammond 119.00 10) Molly Ann, Matt Rydzynski 121.40 11) Al Cox, Val Stack, Liz, Scott McCord 121.49 Jim Cramer, Linda Kincaid DNF Allen, Erica Denison DNF Carol Nolan DNF Matt, Patrick Rabuzzi DNF Carl, Aileen Reisinger, Tom Wills, Mary D. DNF Hillary Wolfe DNF Max Wright DNF Orange Course 2.5 km, 165 m 1) Mark Rice 123.45 (3rd course) 2) Ron MacCracken 125.38 3) Audrey Warmuth 130.15 4) Shawn Larsen 140.35 5) Idell Weydemeyer 146.05 6) Susan Lindeman, Rich Clark 148.55 7) Steve O'Keefe 160.05 8) Jonathan Gee 161.03 9) Jeff Soares 171.20 Brad Mayor DNF Dave Ginsburg, Hensl Lise DNF Tim, Kenneth Thompson DNF Neal Cuseck, Marc Padini DNF Jack Myers DNF Michael Johnson DNF Brown Course 2.7 km 180 m 1) Dennis Wildfogel 59.45 2) Nick Corsano 78.08 3) Ian Ramsey 81.15 4) Elizabeth Miller 91.55 5) Brian Donohue, Isabelle Gracie 131.11 Rosemary Johnson DNF Vivian Lee DNF Nancy Lindeman DNF David Meredith DNF Jonah Houston, Steve Sokol DNF Cheryl Madsen DNF Green Course 3.9 km, 195 m 1) Bill Papendick 95.30 2) Joe Papendick 102.30 3) Edith Jacobi 138.28 4) Chris Jacobi 140.50 5) Greg Lee 144.10 6) Robert Lewis 159.05 Jerry Goss OT (191.07) Vic Revenko OT (203.03) Gary Kraght DNF Stacy Goss DNF Terry Gleason DNF Joan Roos, Greg Bell DNF Red Course 5.6 km, 290 m 1) Bob Cooley 116.48 2) Gary Carpenter 120.15 3) Bruce Bassett 124.02 4) Ken Vomaske 131.40 5) Peter Graube 175.57 Kelly Wells OT (191.42) Julie Brook OT (196.40) Russel Green DNF Ralf Willecke DNF Trevor Pering DNF Hugh Wright DNF Blue Course 6.9 km, 400 m 1) Slava Akinin 113.00 2) Bruce Wolfe 117.11 3) Neal Barlow 140.28 4) Thorsten Graeve 142.19 5) Syd Reader 146.20 6) Van Boughner 161.16 Steve Gregg OT (190.42) Michi Kamijima DNF Doug Stein DNF Greg Thomas, Robin Davis, Jason Middleton DNF Rod Jaehn, Brett Lehigh DNF Team Pedicab DNF