Our September 28th open event at Umstead South was a success, with 101 starts and a total of 140 participants enjoying a day of orienteering in the forest! Despite the forecast calling for rain, the weather held up, though it was a bit more humid than expected. We encountered one small hiccup during the event: […]

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On Sunday, 12 October at 10:00 AM, we will hold our 90-minute “Fox Chase Score-O”. This annual event has always been held at Carolina North Forest. . .until now! This year, just to change things up, we will hold the Fox Chase at Cane Creek Mountains Natural Area, in central Alamance Co. This is a very rugged and steep park, and promises to be a much more physical and much less beginner-friendly event than in past years. Thus, the event is open only to advanced orienteers (i.e. those who have completed an orange, brown, green, or red course). Map handout will start as early as 9:00. We will meet at 9:45 in the Pine Hill parking lot (GPS location = 35.958089, -79.420903 ) and then walk en masse to the start.

A “Score-O” involves a course with no predetermined route, in which competitors decide which controls they want to visit, and in which order. Controls that require more effort to find will earn you more points. The “Fox Chase” version of a Score-O has two additional features that make it especially fun and interesting. First, a punched control will score points only if it is followed by another punch (within the time limit) of a common control, #30. For example, a successful series of punches might look like: 56, 30, 72, 30, 63, 30, 58, 30, etc. The sequence: 56, 30, 72, 30, 63, 58, 30 would not score the points associated with control #63 because it was not followed by #30. It would score points for 56, 72, and 58, though.

Second, at the start of the race, the event director will walk at an even, brisk pace around a loop through the park. He will be carrying control #30 as well as the finish punch. Thus, you must plan your returns to control #30 to a constantly moving position. The route walked by the director will be marked on the map. The loop will take approximately 90 minutes for the director to walk, so the event should be over when he is through with the loop. (You can of course stop sooner and your accumulated score will still count.)

This year, we will again offer a variant of this course called ‘pairs’. When running the ‘pairs’ course, you will be allowed to punch two controls before coming back to punch #30. Thus, a sequence of punches like 56, 72, 30, 41, 48, 30, etc. would be valid. Runners on the pairs course will still have 90 minutes on their course; however, to make their scores more comparable to the other runners, their total point accumulation will be divided by 1.618. (Last year, we divided scores by 2 and decided that it was too stiff of a penalty.)

It is important that you are at the park and ready to run for the pre-race briefing and walk to the start at 9:45 AM. If you arrive late, the event director will be out on the course and you will not be able to participate. Note that there are bathroom facilities available at the start.

Learn radio orienteering (aka, ARDF) as the pros learned it. Experience the no-frustration step-by-step approach by which many have learned the sport.

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Race information and registration is now available for our Adventure Race on Sunday, October 19. This will be a fun multidisciplinary 8-hour event, involving foot orienteering, mountain bike riding, and paddling. Check out the event announcement here, and check back for updates as the race approaches.

Expert orienteers (i.e., those who have successfully completed a brown, green, red, or blue course) are welcome to join us for our annual coastal orienteering weekend.

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