Results: October 16, 2011 Coon Bluff Score-O and Adventure Race

SCORE-O

The first event of the 2011-2012 season was held at Coon Bluff. There was a Score-O and two Classic-O courses. The Start/Finish was in the Phon T. Sutton parking lot, which is on the opposite side of the area than we usually use. Having a new staging location made the meet more fun for those of us familiar with the area. There were plenty of controls to find within easy striking distance. Some controls were chosen to allow nice views of Mount McDowell (better known as Red Mountain), the Salt River, Four Peaks, the Usery Mountains and the Superstitions.

The meet took place in unexpected high heat, with temperatures in the upper nineties. We had a low turnout, but everyone who participated had a good time. We even had plenty of sightings of wildlife, including a small group of wild houres, some mule deer, vultures, hawks, coyotes and even a big owl eating a skunk.

Several new members came out and participated in our races. We even had a dog named Bear compete in the Score-O event. A big hoorah goes out to Bear. It was very warm for him, and he suffered the kind of cactus strike that no dog (or man) should ever have to endure. On that day he was the toughest dog on Earth. He can drink from my bowl anytime.

The Score-O course had 24 controls for a total of 700 points. Route selection was critical due to the heat. Ludwig Hill swept the course, with Glenn Haselfeld and Forest Brown not far behind. There was one male team, Team Korpong, and they decided to swim for a while to get from one control to the next. Bravo to them, we were all jealous! Julie and Merridi were our lone female team, and they had a nice run, fourth best overall. Two new club members, Jay Lewis and Mike Montalvo, completed the Yellow Classic course in a tie for first place. Check out Jay's meetup site for his PTTSA organization. Two large family groups completed the White Classic course. It made us happy to see our friends the Fedyk family again and see them enjoy some time together with their friends.

Thanks to everyone who came out and participated, and many thanks to our new club members for coming to our event. As the weather cools down, the events will be even more fun. And thanks to everyone who helped with equipment hauling, course checkout, course setting, bag retrieval, and equipment breakdown. The heat was tough but we made it. Now on to the next event of the season, Lake Pleasant on November 13. See you there!

Five-Hour Adventure Race

• UTM Plotting: 9 controls, all controls mandatory to be an official finisher.
• Mystery Navigation, Distance/Bearing: 5 controls.
• Score-O: 24 controls, all controls optional, all controls worth 1 point.
• Bike-O: 10 controls, all controls optional.

We decided to offer another adventure race for our Coon Bluff event. The five-hour adventure race format allows participants to get in a full day of racing at a very reasonable cost. It's an excellent idea for those who want to experience the feel of an adventure race without having to fork out a lot of money. Unfortunately, we were unable to generate much excitement and only had 4 participants for our adventure race. I hope we're able to do better in the future; adventure racing is my favorite sport and I'd like to help others get excited about it too.

One major problem for the Coon Bluff AR-5 was our inability to get a permit allowing us to include an official bicycle portion to the race. The National Forest can be quite stingy with permits for group activities. Individuals are welcome to ride wherever they like in the National Forest, but permits for use by large groups (> 75 individuals) are given out sparingly with rules not applied to individuals. Although we did not offer an official bicycle portion to today's race, we did allow users to ride a sample course on their own. Interestingly enough, only two participants even had time to get on their bikes during the race. The other participants used the entire 5 hours to negotiate the other portions of the race.

The race had four participants - Dave and Windy participated as a team, while Harry and Gary tackled the course solo. All four are navigation experts with Dave and Windy adding an impressive resumee of multi-sport race experience. The first part of the race had participants plot then visit 9 UTM controls. At UTM control #6, users were thrown a curve ball and were asked to find a circuit of 5 controls given only distance/bearing information. All participants found the UTM controls. Gary and Harry were also able to clear the Distance/Bearing portion of the race. Dave and Windy had difficulty finding DB control #1, but improvised and were able to navigate a back-course to find controls, except for control #1, in reverse order. After the UTM portion of the race, Harry and Gary arrived at the transition area after Dave and Windy but held a slight 1 control lead.

Once out on the Score-O section of the race, Dave and Windy's racing strength came through. They were able to clear the course (24 controls), then continue on to find two bicycle controls. Harry and Gary slowed down a little, but showed amazing perserverance and continued their head-to-head competition to finish the course several minutes apart. In the end, Harry pulled off a second-place finish by picking off one more control than Gary.

Thanks to all of you who participated in today's race. We really enjoy setting the courses and we're glad you took time out of your busy scheduled to join us. We hope you're able to join us again in future 5-hour adventure races.

Categories:
   M - Male
   F - Female
   TM - Male Team
	TF - Female Team
	TX - Mixed Team

Score-O

Total Points Possible:		700
Number of Controls:		24
Straight-Line Distance:		8.5 km, 363 meters climb
Total Participants:		8

Overall Place	Name	Total Points	Penalty	Number of Controls	Time	Category	Rank	Team Members
1	Ludwig Hill	700	0	24	1:52	M	1
2	Glenn Haselfeld	600	0	20	1:58	M	2
3	Forest Brown	460	0	15	1:49	M	3
4	Julie & Merridi	200	0	10	1:52	TF	1	Julie Calderwood & Merridi
5	Team Korpong	150	210	14	2:21	TM	1	Kurt Korpong, ?
Rec	Dianna Heath	Rec	Rec	6	1:31	F

Classic-O White

Classic-O Yellow

Adventure Race