MNOC Rogaine at Pillsbury State Forest

Awesome team mate Pete, who is a much better orienteer than me, tough terrain, lots of brambles and a long distance to cover. Thankful for the cool temps and the finish on the beach and last CP in water! Great job on the course, Molly and Justin!

Link to results: 10th Annual Rogaine

Orienteering: 90 Minute Score O at Nerstrand Big Woods SP

No snow-no problem, for the first time this winter. I headed for the second of MNOC's two winter meets, at one of my favorite parks, Nerstrand Big Woods. Format was a 90 Minute Score O. This is only my third, and one of the previous one was part of the 2010 Adventure Race Tune-Up which I did with Bryan. Andrei set a beautiful course and Pete W as vetter, who made sure that the controls were in place. Pete also created a promotional clip for the event.

Pete's Nerstrand Woods Score O Trailer

We had a good turnout and after we received the maps, about 5' before the start I was able to plot an approximation to a route. One of the issues with these type of events is the mass start and the associated inevitable pack running. I have to admit that I probably got a little help from some stronger orienteerers who happened to start along the same route as I did. But I kept my errors to a minimum even after the initial five or six CPs, when I was finally on my own.

Sequence showing my approach to CP207. (Photos Andrei Karpov) 

I hit 20 of the 24 CPs, in sequence, returning 3:35 to spare. My one real map reading error was with CP208, coming from 207. I overshot it by 100 m and lost probably 3 minutes in the process. I should have followed the creek bank, then I would have found it without any problem.

Punching in at CP211. (Photos: Andrei Karpov) 

I decided to cross the larger creek and tick off some of the CPs to the north. I think that was a good decision but in hindsight, I could have easily taken along CP215 before doing CP213. I lost some time thinking about how to get to CP222. The reentrant is in dense woods and not that easy to see from the grassy area to the south. I ended up crossing the woods, climbing to the open area N of the woods and then followed the vegetation boundary to the corner and ran straight to it. That made it very easy. I skipped CP223, too far to the north, and CP226, on a rather shallow reentrant in a dark green area.

Now, back on the S of the creek I picked off 214 and 216, followed by 217 and 219. No more time for 224, which I could have made if it hadn't been for missing time on 208. All in all quite happy with my result. Andrei was out taking photos, a treat to have pictures of yourself while running through the woods.

Done! (Photos: Andrei Karpov)

Also quite happy with my result, 6th place, see at MNOC Results.

Red is the actual track from my Garmin FR305, blue is what I could have
done if I hadn't been pressed for time. Note my error at CP208: ran too far
and had to backtrack.