Petrified Forest Rogaines

Petrified Forest National Park
Arizona

Saturday, October 17, 2015: 4-Hour Rogaine
Sunday, October 18, 2015: 4-Hour Rogaine

(Directions to the Petrified Forest National Park)
(Event Registration) (See who is registered)

DESCRIPTION:

Please join the Greater Phoenix Orienteering Club and the Tucson Orienteering Club as we present two days of orienteering events at the Petrified Forest National Park in eastern Arizona. On both Saturday, October 17 and Sunday, October 18, 2015, we will offer a 4-hour event called a "Rogaine" in which participants navigate on foot using only a map and compass to different locations within a designated area. Participants are allowed to visit as few or as many locations as they can within the 4-hour time limit. Our orienteering events at the Petrified Forest National Park offer an excellent opportunity to practice your navigation skills while at the same time exploring an incredibly beautiful and unique National Park. The Petrified Forest National Park has offered us an excellent and rare chance to practice our sport inside a National Park. We hope you'll take the opportunity to join us and discover this amazing national treasure.

NOTES:

Pre-Registration (Event Registration) (See who is registered)
Pre-Registration is Required! The Petrified Forest National Park does not allow any money exchange within the park. In addition, there is a strict limit to the number of competitors the Park is allowing for our events. Because of this, pre-registration is required for the events using our on-line registration site.

Registration/Fees (Event Registration) (See who is registered)
Because of the pre-registration requirement, we have setup an on-line registration site to help with the registration for the Petrified Forest Rogaines. Fees for the events are set on a staggered scale to encourage you to register early. (Early registration helps when it comes to printing the maps!) The entry fees are the same for each event and are per participant. Individuals who wish to compete as part of a team still must register and pay individually. We are allowing solos and teams of 2-4 individuals. If you would like to compete as a team, we ask that you include the name of your team in the "Notes" box of the registration screen.

Parental Consent Required (Click here for more information)
All participants under age 18 are required to have a signed parental consent form on file with the club. You can complete the form before the event and either scan it and send it to us by e-mail or bring it with you to the event.

Packet Pickup
We will give you several opportunities to pick up your packet. See the schedule below for details. The packet will include more detailed information concerning the Saturday and Sunday events.

Event Headquarters
For the Saturday and Sunday events, we will have an "Event Headquarters" located inside the park itself. The Event Headquarters IS NOT at the Visitor's Center. You need to allow an extra 15 minutes to get from the Visitor's Center to the Event Headquarters for each event. We will conduct a pre-event briefing each day at 8:30 sharp. Please plan your travel time accordingly.

Carpool to the Events
 On the days of the events, we ask participants to arrange to meet at the parking lot of the Petrified Forest National Park Visitor's Center then carpool to the Event Headquarters. The Visitor's Center, located just outside the park's fee area, has plenty of parking to accommodate all extra vehicles. The Event Headquarters locations have limited parking spaces. Also, there is a $10 fee per vehicle to enter the park. If you carpool, you can save on the entrance fee.

Accommodations
 We have made arrangements with several local businesses in the Holbrook area to provide a special rate for our group. The preferred lodging includes a deluxe and standard motel, RV sites, cabins, paid camping, and free camping. You can click on the List of Preferred Accommodations to see the places where we have arranged for a special group rate. To get the group rate, please call the desired business directly and tell them you are from "Petrified Forest Orienteering". We appreciate the cooperation of these local Holbrook businesses to help with our weekend of orienteering fun.

Awards/Categories
We will present awards to the top 3 finishers in each class. Each event has three classes of teams: Male Open, Female Open, and Mixed Open. For purposes of these events, a "team" consists of one to four members.

Map and Terrain
The map scale for both day's events is 1:15,000. The map will not use the standard brown color for "open terrain" but instead will use white (to avoid wasting ink when printing the maps). While the map will not meet the standard for high-quality orienteering maps, don't worry. We promise we'll only place controls on easy-to-see mapped features. For those of you who love running in the forest, you've come to the wrong place! We haven't decided yet, but we're considering offering a special bonus for each tree over 5-feet tall you're able to photograph during the events. The unique landscape in the Petrified Forest National Park is very rugged and very barren. You'll get to explore a badlands of rocks, gullies, cliffs, and most of all, petrified wood! We have specifically chosen sites for the controls which will take you through geologic layers with some of the heaviest concentrations of petrified wood in the park. You will NOT be disappointed you came!

Course Notes

Awards/Categories
We will present awards to the top 3 finishers in each class. Each event has three classes of teams: Male, Female, and Mixed. For purposes of these events, a "team" consists of one to four members.

SCHEDULE:

Friday, October 16, 2015
15:00 - 18:00 Packet Pickup Petrified Forest Visitor's Center (Directions)
19:00 - 21:00 Packet Pickup Motel 6 courtyard (just behind the motel office)
(Holbrook Accommodations)
Saturday, October 17, 2015
07:00 AM Park Gates Open (the park is open 07:00 to 19:00)  
07:00 to 07:45 Packet Pickup Petrified Forest Visitor's Center (Directions)
7:30 Beginner's Crash Course
A quick summary of orienteering navigation techniques.
Don't expect much detail! 		Event Headquarters (see packet)
8:30 Mandatory Briefing, Map Distribution
You'll have at least 30 minutes to plan your route. 		Event Headquarters (see packet)
9:30 Rogaine course opens
The start location is 600 meters from the Event Headquarters.
You have to walk to the start line. Please allow enough time. 		Start/Finish line (see packet).
1:30 Rogaine course closes
Participants are assessed a 10 point per minute penalty
for every minute they arrive after 1:30. 		Start/Finish line (see packet).
Sunday, October 18, 2015
07:00 AM Park Gates Open (the park is open 07:00 to 19:00)  
07:00 to 07:45 Packet Pickup Petrified Forest Visitor's Center (Directions)
7:30 Beginner's Crash Course
A quick summary of orienteering navigation techniques.
Don't expect much detail! 		Event Headquarters (see packet)
8:30 Mandatory Briefing, Map Distribution
You'll have at least 30 minutes to plan your route. 		Event Headquarters (see packet)
9:30 Rogaine course opens
The start location is 1500 meters from the Event Headquarters.
You have to walk to the start line. Please allow enough time. 		Start/Finish line (see packet).
1:30 Rogaine course closes
Participants are assessed a 10 point per minute penalty
for every minute they arrive after 1:30. 		Start/Finish line (see packet).
2:00 Awards Event Headquarters (see packet)

FOOD:

We will have drinks and snacks at the Event Headquarters. You just wandered around through the desert for 4 hours; you deserve something for your efforts!

WHAT TO BRING:

The list below is recommended gear for the rogaines.

CONTACT INFORMATION:

Please direct any questions to the Meet Director at birks(at)yahoo.com (The (at) refers to the "@" symbol.)

Directions to the Petrified Forest Visitor's Center:

Follow this hyperlink for directions to the Petrified Forest Visitor's Center.