The Sprints at Point Pinole
Date: (Sun.) Feb. 24, 2008
Location: Richmond, CA
Event Director: 
- 510.779.8808
Course Setter: Steve Gregg
Type: C; Prologue and Chase sprint courses, plus White, Yellow, and Orange courses
The Point Pinole sprints will return to their usual format this year, with a Prologue and a Chase, and with the fastest runners starting the Chase first. The Prologue will be a standard-length sprint course of about 3.0 km, which will explore some previously unused areas of the park. As usual, it will start at the staging area and have an unmanned remote Finish.
The Chase will have a remote Start, and finish back at the staging area. At about 3.5 km, it will be a bit longer than a classic sprint course, with some long legs that hopefully will provide enough route choice to break up the packs a bit. Expect a lot of criss-crossing throughout the more technical parts of the map! I will not be using any sort of butterfly loops or forking this year.
For those of you who are new to this, the Prologue course will have first-come, first-served starting times (starting at 10:00 A.M.), just like a regular event. However, if you wish to participate in the Chase that follows, you need to be sure you arrive early enough to finish your first run by 12:00 or so, since the first, fastest runner will start the Chase course at approximately 12:45. The winners of the event will be the first people to cross the finish line at the end of the Chase. I will provide some inexpensive, fun prizes to the first three finishers, and to the first-place woman, the first-place junior (under 21), and the first-place senior (over 50).
As usual, the terrain at Point Pinole is flat and blazingly fast. I hope most of the club "regulars" will choose to compete in the championships, as this particular event format is much more fun for everyone if a lot of people participate.
However, there will also be regular White, Yellow, and Orange courses (with electronic punching) for those people not interested in running the sprints. The Yellow course, in particular, will be specifically designed for the large scout groups that often attend this event.
All the maps will be printed at a 1:5000 scale this year, for greater legibility in the more technical areas.
Everyone should read the Course Setter's Notes—particularly those people who will run the Prologue.
If you have questions or want to volunteer to help, please contact .
I apologize to those of you who have a conflict with the Tucson A-meet, but the Point Pinole event will definitely be held on Sunday, February 24. :-)
Steve Gregg
Driving Directions
Take the Richmond Parkway exit off Interstate 80 in Richmond and go west for 1.3 miles. Immediately after the stoplight at San Pablo Avenue, turn right at the next light onto Atlas Road. After 0.8 miles on Atlas, you will cross over a set of railroad tracks and encounter a stop sign. Turn left onto Giant Highway at this intersection. You will pass a detention center on your right, and the park entrance will be immediately after that, also on your right. Pay the fee (I am almost certain there will be a parking fee this year), park, and walk over the railroad tracks to the staging area in the meadow.