Event Details For:

"Wild Goat" Orienteering Meet at Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument (Florissant)
Saturday, August 13th, 2016

Course Setter: Jim Baker
Course Vetter: N / A
E-Punch Coordinators: Jim Baker & Doug Berling
Meet Equipment: Doug Berling & Galen Moore

Attention! Pre-Registration Deadline: 11:00 pm MDT on Wednesday, August 10th, 2016


[Results]

  • Pre-Registration: Due to National Park Service rules, we are not allowed to conduct registration or collect entry fees at the event site. Therefore, pre-registration and pre-payment are mandatory for this meet. The pre-registration deadline is 11:00 pm MDT on Wednesday, August 10th.

    [Online Pre-Registration Site]   ·   [List of Pre-Registered Participants]

  • Courses:

    • White -- Short Beginner course (~2 km), with standard point-to-point format.

    • Yellow -- Beginner course (~ 4 km), with standard point-to-point format.

    • Goat -- Long-distance course for intermediate and advanced orienteers. Three loops totalling 15 km. Complete one, two, or all three loops. Each loop is approximately 5 km. You must visit the controls in the order shown on the map, but you are allowed to skip one control per loop. Be sure to review the special Course Setter's Notes below.

  • Beginner Instruction: Basic Beginner Instruction will take place at 10:05 am at the Start area.

  • Schedule:

    9:00 - 9:30 amCheck-in, behind Visitor Center.
    9:30 amWalk to start (1,000 meters).
    Attention! The route to the Start will not be marked, so be ready to walk with the group promptly at 9:30 am.
    10:00 amMass start for Goat participants.
    10:05 - 10:30 amBeginner instruction and interval starts for White & Yellow (beginner) participants.
    1:00 pmAll courses close at 1:00 pm.
    Attention! We'll start picking up controls at 1:00 pm. Out of consideration for the meet volunteers, please check in at the Finish no later than 1:00 pm even if you haven't completed your course.

  • Event Fees:

    Member Status* White Yellow Goat
    One Loop
    Goat
    Two Loops
    Goat
    Three Loops
    RMOC Member $11 $11 $11 $14 $17
    Non-Member $15 $15 $15 $18 $21
    E-Punch Discount -$3
    Extra Maps** $3 per map
    Compass Rental $1

    *Members of other OUSA-sanctioned clubs are eligible for RMOC's discounted member rates.

    **The entry fee includes one map (or one set of maps). Groups and teams may choose to buy additional maps for each team member.

  • Course Setter's Notes:

    • Our permit prevents us from using stakes anywhere (due to fossils). All controls will be hung with the electronic punch atop the control on the string.

    • Note that there will be an out-of-bounds area around the Visitor Center and main interpretive trails, particularly on the third loop of the Goat course.

    • A "goat" is an orienteering event in which everyone starts at the same time, and following others is allowed. Packs of runners sometimes form and dissolve as people navigate around the course, but many do the course by themselves, too. The entire course is long (15km), but this year it will consist of three loops. Complete one, two, or all three loops for an official finish and simple souvenir.

      The more direct, faster routes between controls will be intricate forest navigation suitable for the most advanced orienteers. But, because I want this event to be of interest to as many as possible, there are also longer, easier routes around and through the fields that surround the forested hills, or via trails or the boundary fence, which are amenable to solid intermediate navigation, as well as routes that mix intermediate and advanced navigation. Or, group up with some others to find the controls!

      Each loop will have one roughly 1.75km leg with a number of route choice options. (Think fast, and pick a good route!) Participants can also skip any one control in each loop. This makes for strategy (skip now and get ahead, or save the skip for later?), but also lets you skip that control that you just can't find.

      For fun, I'll have participants introduce themselves before the start. I'll also have a contest for guessing one of the long legs before the start, with bragging rights after the finish for the closest guess, and also for the guess-leg that your fellow participants judge the most interesting. It will be possible to see some of the orienteering from the start/finish area, especially the end of the last loop, so there's plenty to watch for those who've finished. I'll have the usual simple snacks as well.

  • General Notes:

    • You do not need to display a park pass in your vehicle when parked at the Visitor Center (just buy or show it to staff inside the Visitor Center). A park pass must be displayed in the vehicle at any other parking in the park (such as if doing hikes later from another parking area). Passes are valid for seven days or one year, depending on the type of pass. Pass hangers can be obtained for free at the Visitor Center.

    • Water will be available at the Start / Finish area, but water will not be available on any of the courses. Bring your own water bottle or CamelBak sufficient for each of the 5km loops. You may stash additional water at the Start / Finish area, and some bottled water will be available at the Start / Finish area.

    • The Visitor Center has flush toilets and a drinking fountain with a tap for filling bottles. (It also has interesting exhibits and a video for after the race.)

    • Bring a chair to the Start / Finish for lounging and viewing the race after you finish.

    • All official finishers of the Goat (one, two, or three loops) will receive a small souvenir.

    • For fun, you can try to guess one of the long legs (roughly 1.7-1.8km). Leave your guess with Jim (Course Setter) before the mass start. The closest guess, and the leg that the most participants like, will get an extra souvenir, and bragging rights. Vote for your favorite leg after finishing, while waiting for the naming of the winners and eating snacks. Also leave a note of which route choices you took on the long legs, for other finishers to compare.

    • Please don't wear spiked shoes inside the Visitor Center.

  • Volunteers: Please contact Jim Baker if you can volunteer at this meet: email. If you volunteer, you can still run a course. The following roles need to be filled:

    • Check-in;
    • Beginner Instruction;
    • Starts;
    • E-Punch Timing; and
    • Control Pick-Up.

  • Local Weather Forecast: NOAA.gov
  • Driving Directions: Take U.S. 24 west from Interstate 25 (or Colorado 67), or east from U.S. 285 or Colorado 9, to the town of Florissant. Take Teller County 1 south from the center of Florissant; continue to the Visitor Center (not the Hornbek Homestead, which you'll pass first). Park in the overflow lot.

    [Google Map]


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