We had a nice turnout on a lightly raining day: 16 entries, and 18 total
participants. The vegetation was greener than mapped, due to the time of
year, and there was plenty of undergrowth as many of the areas which do get
mowed periodically had not been mowed this year. It’s impossible to know
when or why DEC does their mowing. Sometimes it’s for habitat, and sometimes
it’s to make it easier for hunters. Regardless, the waist-high undergrowth
in places made for slower movement, and the light rain made sure everyone
got wet going through the fields.
The Short/White course had one control which was harder than usual for a
White course, and it took both entrants some time to find it. There is no
way to create a loop on trails on the NW portion of Margaret Burke, so the
final legs were along a stonewall, which was easy enough once you found the
correct stonewall, which was made harder by the vegetation level. But, both
did find it, and made it home just fine.
The Intermediate/Orange and Long/Green courses were quite similar in
difficulty, and I probably should have called the Intermediate Brown, rather
than Orange. Still, all but one entrant finished, and he is pretty new to
orienteering.
The Results show some spread at the top, then some roughly similar times
from the middle on down. Our recent Swedish member smoked everyone on the
Green course, and the Madey Team had a solid win on Orange.
One of the fun things about our recent events is that we have had entrants
from around the world. Beyond the USA, we had entrants from: China, Japan,
Sweden, and our ex-pats from Hungary. That’s one of the reasons that
orienteering is such a cool sport: it is truly international.
Thanks to Sue for all her help with refreshments and instruction for the
newbies; to Laszlo for helping with pickup; and to everyone who came and
made it fun, despite the weather.
The courses will go up on UsynilgO later tonight, and those who couldn’t
make it today can do them ever after. As previously mentioned, it would be
nice if you could contribute the entry fee of $5, through PayPal (to my
philht@outlook.com <mailto:philht@outlook.com> e-mail address; that gets it
into the EMPO account).
Next up: Camp Wakpominee on Saturday, June 24. It’s a bit of trek (up near
Lake George) for some, but it is a fine map, used for a National
Championship event several years ago. I hope to see you there!
-Phil H-T