O in the Oaks 2015
Joseph D. Grant County Park
Date: Apr. 25 - 26, 2015
Location: San Jose, CA
Event Director: 
- 408.732.4818
Course Setters: Misha Kreslavsky, Tapio Karras, Matthias Kohler
Type: A; 2-day, combined-time OUSA A-meet with Classic courses
Related Event Information
Main Event Page Day-1 Course Setter's Notes Day-2 Course Setter's Notes A-meet Start Times (https://www.orienteeringusa.org/eventregister/a40/reglist/home/joe-grant-april-2015)
Event Director's Notes
By
Welcome to the O in the Oaks A-meet. We have two days of classic orienteering courses that have been skillfully prepared by some of the club's most experienced course designers: Misha, Tapio, and Matthias. Even though these courses share the same park, they have strikingly different characters:
- Day 1 uses a shuttle to a much higher Start, which results in courses with a significant downhill component. The designer uses fewer controls and creates lots of interesting route choices. The downhill will increase speeds, but mistakes in route choice and accidentally missing controls will easily result in significant extra climb and time lost to navigation mistakes.
- By contrast, the Day-2 courses are folded and looped through irregular terrain near the event center. Orienteers will face a more rapid sequence of navigation challenges as they are slowed and accelerated by a series of climbs and descents, through faster open forest and thicker grasses. A spectator control two-thirds through the courses will let participants enjoy watching the progress of the Red and Blue runners.
Altogether, these courses promise an enjoyable weekend of orienteering.
Start Procedure
We will use the same start procedure both days:
- Clear and check your E-stick before entering the start area.
- (T-4) Call-up will be 4 minutes before your start time (https://www.orienteeringusa.org/eventregister/a40/reglist/home/joe-grant-april-2015).
- Name, bib, and whistle are checked.
- (T-2) Move forward to the second line, 2 minutes before your start time.
- Get your control description and map. Do not look at the map yet.
- (T) Start
- Punch the Start unit.
- View the map and begin navigation.
On Day 1, the start triangle is at the start line.
On Day 2, for the intermediate (Orange) and advanced (Brown, Green, Red, Blue) courses there is a short run, following streamers, to the start triangle (which does not have a punch). You must go to the triangle.
Schedule and Logistics
The meet assembly area, registration, and E-punch download will be located at the Stockman's Group Area both days. The road from the park entrance kiosk will lead you directly to the event.
Day-1 Schedule, Saturday, April 25
| 8:45 AM – Noon | A-meet registration and packet pick-up | |
| 9:00 AM – Noon | Recreational course registration | |
| 9:15 AM – 12:30 PM | Shuttle buses to Orange/Brown/Green/Red/Blue Start | |
| 9:30 AM – 11:00 AM | Beginner's clinics | |
| 10:00 AM – 12:30 PM | Recreational course starts | |
| 3:00 PM | Courses close | |
| 6:30 PM | Banquet |
The pre-assigned start times for A-meet participants are available here (https://www.orienteeringusa.org/eventregister/a40/reglist/home/joe-grant-april-2015).
Note: If you are a volunteer, you can ignore your assigned start time—you may start at any free slot. There will be additional start slots throughout the schedule, and you may start in the 15 minutes before or after the regular start window.
Per OUSA rules, the time limit for the A-meet courses is 3 hours. Any time over that will be recorded as overtime (OVT).
Everyone must return to the Finish by the course-closing time, and then report to the E-punch download tent (i.e., even if they have not completed their course). We want to know that everyone has returned safely from the courses. Otherwise we will have to initiate a search-and-rescue operation.
Day-1 Logistics
The Day-1 courses are on the Joseph Grant North map, some distance northeast of the Stockman's Group Area.
Start for White and Yellow courses
The White and Yellow participants have a 800-meter walk to their Start. The route will be marked with signs and streamers, and there will be maps available at registration showing the route. Proceed northeast from the assembly area until you reach the Hotel Trail. Turn left and then immediately right on the Loop Trail. When the Loop Trail reaches Mt. Hamilton Rd, carefully cross the road and you will see the Start and Finish for your courses. Allow 30 minutes to reach your Start. Since the Finish is close to the Start, there will not be a clothing return from the White and Yellow Start.
Start for Orange through Blue courses
All the other participants (Orange, Brown, Green, Red, Blue) will use a shuttle bus to reach their Start. The buses will run on roughly a 20-minute interval, and it will take approximately 20 minutes to reach the Start. The bus will deliver you very close to your Start. There is plenty of capacity in the buses, and there is extra flexibility in the start list, so please do not feel you need to arrive at the Start long before your start time. Clothing left at the Start will be returned to the assembly area.
- Important note: You cannot wear metal-studded shoes on the buses. If you use such shoes, please remove them while you are on the bus, or wear ordinary shoes and place them in the clothing return at the Start.
Finish for all courses
All the courses share the same Finish. After you finish, to return to the assembly area you will walk the reverse of the route described above for getting from the assembly area to the White and Yellow Start. Please remember to download when you return to the assembly area.
Banquet
We have planned a Saturday dinner at 6:30 PM at the Sonoma Chicken Coop in San Jose (5925 Almaden Expy, 408-997-1272)—the same place as for the Calero A-meet last September (see the map here).
Day-2 Schedule, Sunday, April 26
The schedule is similar to Day 1, except roughly 30 minutes earlier:
| 8:30 AM – 11:30 AM | A-meet and recreational registration | |
| 9:00 AM – 10:00 AM | Beginner's Clinics | |
| 9:30 AM – 12:00 AM | Recreational course Starts | |
| 12:00 N – 12:45 PM | Top orienteers visit spectator control | |
| 2:00 PM | Awards Ceremony | |
| 2:30 PM | Courses Close |
As for Saturday, the start times for A-meet participants are pre-assigned (https://www.orienteeringusa.org/eventregister/a40/reglist/home/joe-grant-april-2015), and the time limit for the A-meet courses is 3 hours.
Again, everyone must return to the Finish by the course-closing time, and then report to the E-punch download tent—even if they have not completed their course.
Day-2 Logistics
Everything is within a few hundred meters of the assembly area. The Start for the White and Yellow courses is roughly 400 meters from the assembly area, and the Start for the Orange, Brown, Green, Red, and Blue courses is 500 meters from the assembly area. The routes to these Starts will be streamered, and maps will be posted. The Finish is right next to the assembly area. There will be no clothing return on Day 2, since the weather is predicted to be clear and mild.
The Red and Blue courses have a spectator control that is approximately two-thirds of the way through the courses. If you are a top-3 finisher in either M–21+ or F–21+ on Day 1, then for Day 2 you will have a special starting position at the end of the starts for your group. Before the event you will be assigned a start time for Day 2, but if you have a top-3 finish on Day 1, you must move to one of the special slots for Day 2. (This will mean a slightly later start, but not substantially different from your scheduled start.) These "Top Orienteers" will start shortly after 11 AM, and will be visiting the spectator control shortly after noon. For those of you interested in following the action, Dennis Wildfogel will be providing analysis and commentary at the southeast side of the assembly area. At the appropriate time, maps of the Red and Blue courses will be available to spectators.
Awards, based on combined two-day results, will be presented when the results can be determined. We expect that to be around 2:00 PM.
The Brown course is split on Day 2
Day 2 includes some wonderfully runnable terrain, and has some great course designs, but because of the higher climb numbers and the longer grass, we are experimenting with a new BAOC club guideline for splitting the Brown course on Day 2. The Sunday Brown classes will be split as follows:
- Brown-X: M65+, M70+, M75+, F55+, F60+, F65+, F–18
- Brown-Y: M80+, M85+, M90+, F70+, F75+, F80+, F85+, F90+, M-Brown, F-Brown
Please pay attention to the split and make sure to get the correct map at the Start.
We expect that most participants will appreciate the split. The courses are not being split because of the number of participants—there will still be a lot in common between the two Brown courses. Nevertheless, if you want to run the longer Brown, you will have the opportunity to change your Sunday course (and class) at the event.
Changing your Brown course after the split
All participants in the same age class will run the same courses. For example, F80+ will run Brown on the first day and Brown-Y on the second day.
We are offering to let Brown runners "upgrade" if they are split to the shorter Brown-Y, but would prefer the longer Brown-X course. To do that, they will have to move to a younger class (on both days).
For example, an M90+ participant who does not like the shorter Brown-Y can move to M75+ (on both days) to get on the longer Brown-X. Likewise, an F85+ participant who does not like the shorter Brown-Y can move to F65+ (on both days) to get on the longer Brown-X. (Unfortunately, people in the M-Brown or F-Brown class will not be able to move to the Brown-X course.)
M75+ and F65+ are the oldest classes on the longer Brown-X course, and so should be the natural targets for older runners upgrading to the Brown-X course. We recommend using these two classes so that you will be competing with like-minded participants.
To move from the longer Brown-X course to the shorter Brown-Y, you will need to move to the M-Brown or F-Brown class (on both days).
E-Punch Procedure
All participants must download their E-punch data at the tent located in the assembly area immediately after their run—even if you did not complete the course.
Recreational runners must register at the E-punch tent before going to the Start.
The courses close at 3:30 on Saturday and 3:00 on Sunday. Everyone must report to the Finish by then, and then to the E-punch tent, even if they have not completed their course.
Poison Oak
Poison Oak is present throughout the park. Participants are encouraged to wash all exposed areas with Tecnu, or water and soap, as soon as possible after their run.
Full leg cover is recommended.
Ticks
We recommend inspecting for ticks after you finish, so you can remove them promptly. Consider applying insect repellent before going to the Start.