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2014 Golden Goat, Golden Kid, & Golden Pygmy Goat

Morgan Territory Regional Preserve

Date: (Sun.) Nov. 2, 2014
Location: Livermore, CA
Event Directors: - 209.928.4771, - 209.928.4771
Course Setter: Martin Kunz
Type: Extra long courses, and a beginner-friendly course, all with mass starts.

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


Reminder: The Goat Weekend coincides with the end of Daylight Saving Time. Remember to change your alarm clocks ("fall back"), and you’ll get an extra hour of sleep to rest up before your run.


This will be the 19th annual Golden Goat and Golden Kid event in beautiful Morgan Territory. Enjoy the oak forest savannah and spectacular views of the Central Valley.

For those not familiar, the Golden Goat and Golden Kid are long and hilly, mass-start courses. Following is encouraged, but the course setter will introduce some twists to help break up the packs. The Golden Kid is a shortened version of the Golden Goat. The Golden Pygmy Goat … shorter still.

Note: The Golden Goat and Golden Kid are best for experienced orienteers. However, this year we offer a Golden Pygmy Goat​—​a shorter, beginner-friendly course with a mass start beginning just after the longer courses.

The 2013 Golden Goat Lifetime Points table is available here (PDF/72KB).

What is Orienteering?

An adventure: Discover the outdoors and discover yourself! Teams of 1 to 5 find checkpoints in parks and wilderness areas using specially-produced maps. All are welcome at our events​—​runners, joggers, hikers, and walkers.

Schedule

  9:00 AM – Registration opens – closes at 10:30 AM
  9:30 AM – Beginner's clinic instruction (free)
  9:40 AM – All Goat/Kid participants should be walking to the Start
  9:50 AM – Announcements, instructions, & explanations at the Goat/Kid Start
10:00 AMMass start for Goat and Kid courses
10:15 AMMass start for Pygmy Goat course (near the Registration area)
10:30 AM – Registration closes for late starters
11:00 AM – Starts close (time subject to change)
  2:00 PM – Courses close, checkpoint pick-up begins

Everyone must return to the Finish by 2:00 PM, and check in at E-Punch, even if you haven't completed your course. That's so we can have everyone accounted for and start checkpoint pick-up on time so those volunteers can get home.

Enjoy free snacks and refreshments from BAOC after you finish. Rare and exotic prizes will be awarded to top female and male finishers on each course.

Courses

The Goat course will be about 13 km in length.

The Kid course will be about 8 km in length.

The Pygmy course will be about 5 km in length.

See the Course Setter's Notes for more information.

Notes:

What to Bring

For the Pygmy Goat course, comfortable outdoor and "weather appropriate" attire and shoes are fine.

For the Goat and Kid courses, leg cover or gaiters are recommended, as well shoes with extra grip on the soles.

A compass is not necessary, but can be helpful. We have compasses available for a $1 rental fee.

We time the courses with the SPORTident system, so a SPORTident finger-stick rents for $3. (Use of the "E-punch" system is easy. You can learn how at the event, or read about it here.)

Venue Facilities

Picnic tables, piped water, and pit toilets are available, so please feel free to bring along a picnic lunch to enjoy after you finish your course.

Hazards

Courses may encounter rocks, steep cliffs, and stony ground.

For participants on the Goat and Kid courses, the park has some poison oak which you will want to avoid. It looks like this. Washing clothes and shoes and bathing exposed areas with dishwashing soap (which removes the irritant oil) or a commercial product such as Tecnu is recommended.

Costs

  $3 for juniors on the Pygmy Goat course
  $6 for adults on the Pygmy Goat course
  $5 for juniors on the Goat and Kid courses  
$10 adult member price for the Goat and Kid courses
$15 adult non-member price for the Goat and Kid courses
  $1 for a compass rental (optional)  
  $3 for an electronic finger-stick rental (optional, each team needs one to complete their course)
$15 for the lowest-cost individual 1-year BAOC membership (optional)

For extra people on a team, add $5 per adult for the Goat and Kid courses, or $3 per adult on the Pygmy Goat course. Those fees are slightly lower for juniors.

More information about event pricing is available in the club FAQ.

Location within the Park

Registration will be at the picnic tables near the parking lot.

Volunteers

If you can, please volunteer to help out at the event. Among other tasks, we need several volunteers for control pickup, and we need someone to bring snacks and set up a snack table. Please contact if you’re able to help out. Thanks!

Driving Directions

Take I-580 east to the North Livermore Avenue exit in Livermore. To get to the park, head north on North Livermore Ave until forced to turn left onto Manning Road. Take the next right onto Morgan Territory Road, and continue 5.6 miles to the Morgan Territory Regional Preserve parking lot on the right. The road is very narrow with many sharp curves, so allow extra time and drive carefully. Parking and park admission are free. Parking on the road outside the park is not permitted.

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

Carpool Site

Cars can be left in the Walmart parking lot, a short distance southeast of the exit from I-580. If you park there, please park away from the store entrance. Although this location is fairly close to the event, carpooling from here will reduce traffic on a narrow, twisty road, and will reduce our impact on a rather small parking lot.