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Point Pinole Regional Shoreline

Date: (Sat.) Feb. 21, 2009
Location: Richmond, CA
Event Director: - 510.779.8808
Course Setter: Steve Gregg
Type: C; White, Yellow, and Orange courses; Prologue-Chase two-part sprint

Related Event Information

Course Setter's Notes Concurrent COOL Championships Event Last Year's Event

Please note that fees and time limits apply, unless otherwise mentioned below. Events are typically not canceled due to bad weather.


The Point Pinole sprints will move to a Saturday date this year, so they can be held in conjunction with this year's COOL Championships. The sprints themselves will be held using the usual Prologue and Chase format, but I plan to return to the specific format used in 2007, where the slower runners will start the Chase first. That will make the Chase a "handicap race", where in theory, everyone will have an equal chance to win. I will provide some inexpensive prizes to the first three people to cross the finish line, and to the person with the fastest combined time for the two races (hopefully the E-punch software will be able to quickly compute all of this). Note: I reserve the right to penalize anyone who obviously sandbags their Prologue race, to get an earlier start in the Chase!

I do not intend to use any sort of "butterfly loops" or forking this year. Both the Prologue and Chase will be standard-length sprint courses, designed to be finished by the fastest runners in 15 minutes or so. As usual, the Prologue will start at the staging area and have an unmanned remote finish, and the Chase will have a remote start and finish back at the staging area.

For those of you who are new to this, the Prologue course will have first-come, first-served starting times (starting at 10 AM), 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 (slowest) 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.

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 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.

Here are the details of the courses: 

   Course                Length    Climb   Controls

   White/COOL 1          2.0 km    30 m       10
   Yellow/COOL 2         2.2 km    45 m       10
   Orange/COOL 3/JROTC   2.8 km    60 m       12
   Prologue/COOL 4       2.9 km    40 m       12    (See note #1)
   Chase                 3.4 km    70 m       12    (See note #2)

   Note #1: There is an unmanned remote finish 1.5 km from the staging area.
   Note #2: First start at about 12:45. Remote start 0.7 km from staging area.

See the Course Setter's Notes for more information about the courses.

Jay will probably provide more detail about the COOL Championships in a separate write-up.

Any COOL 4 runner who also wants to participate in the regular BAOC Chase can do so if they like.

Note: If you're doing COOL Course 4, and think you'd like to do the Chase, please make sure to register at the E-punch tent for the Prologue course. The reason for this is that we're using two computers, one for the COOL events and one for the Prologue/Chase. We already have you on the COOL machine, but we'll need you to be registered also on the Prologue/Chase machine to ensure the results are accurate.

If you're running the White, Yellow, or Orange courses, it would help our E-punch volunteers if you preregister here (http://wayoutyonder.com/BAOCPreRegister.php). Note: If you do that, you will still need to complete event registration, and pay fees, at the event.

If you have questions or want to volunteer to help (see below), please contact .

Driving directions are included below.

Request for Volunteers

The Point Pinole event is only two weeks away now (remember, it's on Saturday this year!), and I'm looking for a little more help. I could use two or three more people at the staging area to help with starts/finishes/beginners clinics. And I do not yet have any volunteers at all for control pickup—I would like to get a few people committed to that too, so I don't have to beg during the event.

Control pickup at Point Pinole is the easiest job you will ever have, as the park is so flat. Every part of the park is easily accessible by mountain bike, and in the past people on control pickup have used their bikes to make the job a bit easier.

Since everything at the staging area is so compact, I typically do not preassign people to starts/finishes/beginners clinics, but instead figure out as the event progresses where bodies are most needed, and move people around accordingly. Thus, if a large crowd of JROTC folks show up, we can put people in the correct places to accommodate their needs.

Anyway, let me know if you would be willing to help at the event. This event is also the COOL championships this year, so I'd like to make sure we have enough manpower in place for a successful event. Thanks!

Steve
Feb. 8, 2009

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 (if there is one), park, and walk over the railroad tracks to the staging area in the meadow.