Visit RouteGadget to draw your route, or
to share your GPS track. For an introduction to RouteGadget, see this page. The map has been
georeferenced and the tracks need no adjusment. For this event, selecting "View
routes" will show each team's checkpoint order even if no route or track has been
entered.
On the first weekend of November, 156 adventurous
souls—62 teams—scaled the slopes of Henry Coe State Park, braved the rain and
chilly nighttime temperatures, and Got Lost!!... at least a few of them did, anyway. The
hardiest ones—26 teams!!—participated in the 24 hour event, which served
as the 2011 U.S. Rogaine Championships.
Supervet teams (those over 55) dominated the field! Nothing like old bones to withstand
the rain. Aside from the impressive performance of Team Eastern Europe, which
covered the most distance and climbed the most mountains to take the overall and Open Men's win,
the highlights all belonged to very experienced folks: phast Generation,
hailing from Vermont and Maryland, took the second place in Open Men—and a win among the
Masters. Team Proceeding On, from Colorado and Illinois, was fifth
overall—and took the Open and Masters Women win. And Nightcrawlers from
New York State, yet another Supervet team, were just 40 points behind the overall Mixed
winners, locals Racing with Giant Dirty Avocados. These five teams qualified
for the 10th World Rogaining
Championships, which will be held in early September of 2012 in Czech Republic.
Few teams managed to keep moving through the dark hours; those who did were guaranteed a high
place in their category. Those who decided to crash for the night found welcome at the remote
aid station, where hot food was on offer through most of the event. Some teams went as far as to
plan multiple stops at the remote aid, or a stop at the aid and a pass through the main hash
house. At the risk of sounding like know-it-alls, think layers for next time! although typically
the first week of November is one of the last dry and warm weeks of fall in the Bay Area, 2011
was anything but typical.
We won't be offering a 24 hour rogaine in 2012, but join us for an adventure no less
epic: Henry Coe Adventure Trex! Run/camp/run, or
bike/camp/bike, or hike/camp/hike, and spend up to 40 hours with Mr. Coe. Cover tens of
miles, climb a few mountains, enjoy the views across expanses of oak land, navigate under the
stars, and catch up with old friends and make new ones at the camp! There will also be a
4 hour rogaine for those with smaller appetites.
We plan to hold one or two 24 hour rogaines in 2013, at Coe and a
new Northern California venue being developed. One of them will again be a bid for U.S. Rogaine
Championships. And if you can't wait this long—and would like a shortie warmup before the
Adventure Trex—MerGeo is putting on its Three15er, a bid event for the North American Rogaining Championships,
on 29 and 30 September 2012 in the general area of Yakima/Ellensburg,
Washington.
Backordered shirts are expected in the first week of January.
If you encountered particularly nasty poison oak and/or chaparral on the course, and it
was unmapped, please help us update the map! Your GPS tracks or map sketches are quite
welcome. We also are aware of a segment of trail that wasn't mapped, and if you saw others,
please let us know!
Trails at Henry Coe are largely built and maintained by volunteers, most of them avid
mountain bikers. Trailwork occurs on the second Saturday of each month. Contact us, or
search MTBR for
"Henry Coe trail work".
The 2011 event wouldn't have been possible without tremendous amounts of your help. We would
like to thank the following volunteers and staff:
It will be something like this... but
with less than 12 hours of daylight:
Thanks to Tamil Tigers Peoples
Liberation Revolutionary Front, who chronicled their team's journey through Henry Coe, 2010, in this video. The video also
features Team Keyser Soze & the Usual Suspects.
In the backyard of Silicon Valley, there's a special place called Henry Coe State Park. Tens of thousands
of acres of beautiful wilderness—oak forest, pine forest, grasslands, and some
chapparal. Trails, major and minor. Prominent peaks and long, meandering
valleys.
Gather a team of 2 to 5 adventurers. (Solo is okay
on the 4 hour course.) We'll give you 4, 8, or 24 hours to complete a course
that no team can possibly finish. Prioritize and plan a good route to maximize your point
scoring. Or just plan to have a grand adventure! You'll be using a custom-made map with
accurate elevation contours, trails, and vegetation coloring. Find up to
62 checkpoints—a compass is recommended to locate the ones off the trail.
Over 100 racers came to Coe last time
for our inaugural Get Lost!! in Henry Coe
rogaine. With the U.S. Rogaine Championships and longer courses, we're expecting an
expanded field—a great event for the casual adventurer and the serious
competitor!
The start and finish will be at the Hunting Hollow
entrance to the park. The entrance is located on Gilroy Hot Springs Road, the
same road you would take to get to Coyote Reservoir. To get to the entrance,
take Highway 101 to Gilroy (which is about 10 miles south of Morgan
Hill and 25 miles south of San José). The distance from
Highway 101 to the Hunting Hollow entrance is about 9 miles.
Take the Leavesley Road exit (County Road G9) and head east. After
about 1.8 miles, turn left (north) on New Avenue; go a little over half
a mile and then turn right (east) on Roop Road. About 3.3 miles up Roop
Road, you'll pass the Coyote Reservoir Road on the left. The Hunting Hollow
entrance is about 3.3 miles past the Coyote Reservoir Road turnoff, and
the Coyote Creek entrance (at road's end) is about 1.8 miles from the
Hunting Hollow entrance.
Packet pick-up on Friday will be at Zombie Runner and will not available at Hunting
Hollow. Packet pick-up will be on site on Saturday morning.
We do not expect to be able to offer
Friday-night camping at Hunting Hollow; if this changes, we will update this
page promptly.
The start/finish/parking are on
the edge of the map; a second base camp/aid station will be open in the approximate
center of the mapped area, with hot food, communications, first aid, and opportunities to
camp and sleep. We will transport your equipment and set it up there.
This event has been made possible by the following businesses and
organizations. We are delighted to offer a sampling of their products as prizes for
this event. Please patronize their offerings and services, and contribute to their
programs:
Zombie Runner is a local
business that serves the needs of trail runners, adventure racers, hikers, and
anyone who loves the outdoors. Friday packet pick-up will be at the Zombies'
Palo Alto store. The Zombies are experienced ultrarunners
and will be certain to stock all of your last-minute race needs!
From 1991 until today,
athletes the world over have come to the same conclusion: GU works. The
Berkeley-based sports nutrition company started with its original GU Energy Gel,
a revolutionary and more effective method to keep athletes fueled during
exercise. Since then, every product has been formulated to further GU’s mission:
to help athletes go faster and longer than ever before.
Scarborough Orienteering,
aka Orienteer.com, is a leading vendor of equipment. They carry compasses,
SPORTident cards, Inov-8™ shoes, and other gear and produce their own line
of o21e suits, club uniforms, and gaiters. Orienteer.com also offers map and
compass instruction and group outings, including orienteering and team-building
training, as corporate offsites.
o21e makes a
line of clothing for the map sport in Los Angeles, California.
The mission of
Road ID is twofold: One, to educate outdoor enthusiasts about the
importance of wearing ID. Two, to provide these athletes with innovative
identification products that they will want to include as part of their gear.
The dream of Road ID is to see the day where wearing ID is as common among
athletes as wearing a seatbelt is among motorists.
... I was
extremely impressed with the map. It was so much better than any rogaine map I
had ever used, and I even thought the tree and forest detail was more accurate
than many of the [other] maps. It would be quite interesting to
navigate out there at night, since with all the elevation change it's not that
easy to just follow a bearing...
—Dennis Wilkinson, Team TrackMe360, Get Lost!! in Henry
Coe winners.
Get Lost!! in Henry Coe is a rogaine. About 62 checkpoints scattered over the
southern part of Henry Coe State Park will be circled on a map and marked on the
ground by orange and white orienteering markers with SPORTident stations which create
a record of your visit on a small electronic card each participant will carry.
Each checkpoint has a point value, which is equal to the checkpoint number rounded
down to the tens. For example, Checkpoint 68 would be worth 60 points. The
objective is to score as many points as you can within the time limit by visiting
checkpoints along your planned route. There are point penalties
for returning late. Maps are issued well before the start, so that teams have time to
plan their route.
At each checkpoint visited, every team member must use her/his
ownSPORTident electronic
card to "punch" at the SPORTident station (International Rule B16(a)). To accomplish this by distributing all of a
team's SI cards to one person who goes and punches them all is breaking the
rules.
You may use your own SPORTident card, or rent one from us at no extra
charge.
The capacity of the largest SPORTident card is about
50 checkpoint records by default—but we think we have found a way for it to
hold more, the so-called "extended mode reset". If it works, which we
will verify about a week before the event, then there is no need for anyone to
carry multiple SPORTident cards. Each team member will need Model 6 or
Model 9 for the 24 hour event; if yours is a different model, we will
loan you a Model 6 at no charge.
2. Event staff
Event Director: Rex Winterbottom
Event Consultant: Peg Davis
Course Designer: Vladimir Gusiatnikov
Course Consultant: Bill Cusworth
Map Consultant: Eddie Bergeron
Course Setters: Alexei Azarov, Bill Cusworth, Heidi Cusworth,
Mike Minium, Eric Bone, George Minarik
Cartographers: Vladimir Kozlov, Vladimir Gusiatnikov
Safety Coordinator: Vladimir Gusiatnikov
Food Chief, Base Camp: Lani Schreibstein
Food Chief, Aid Station: Nadezhda Popova
Communications Chief: Bob Cooley
We will provide an expanded staff listing closer to the event.
3. The terrain
The terrain of Henry Coe State Park is hundreds of square kilometers (tens of
thousands of acres) of gorgeous central coast wilderness. An equal mix of grassland
and oak forest, most—but not all—of the acreage allows for rapid movement.
That is, the main obstacle is the grade of the hillsides, not disagreeable
vegetation.
What makes route planning interesting is steep—sometimes super
steep—hills and deep erosion features. There is some poison oak and chapparal,
and expanses of each are mapped. The elevation is 260 to 810 meters—in the
higher reaches you may encounter pine forest. There are some well-maintained roads and
trails. Views are out to the Pacific Ocean on a clear day.
A team's successful strategy will minimize traversing the steepest sections. It is
always faster in this park to go up-and-over or take a trail with some detour;
contouring (maintaining elevation) on hillsides is slow. The terrain in the western
and the southern reaches of the mapped area is the steepest, and is perhaps at its
most steepest right by the start/finish. If your team manages to get up to one of
the ridges that tower above Hunting Hollow, what lies to the east and north is less
steep, although also quite steep.
The slowest parts of the map are the canyons that empty into Coyote Creek and into
Hunting Hollow (itself) near the start/finish. Their north-facing sides are full of
poison oak, south-facing sides are high in chaparral, walls are riddled with cliffs,
and to go along streams that run down the canyons frequently means climbing over
car-size boulders. You really don't want to be in these canyons. Other places your
team won't want to be in are where contour lines run close to each other.
As to wildlife, deer and newts are abundant. Wild turkeys are frequently spotted.
This park doesn't have cows, so ground is soft and unbroken. Grass is typically low in
November, although given one of the rainiest years on record, it may be taller than
usual.
In addition, there is a small chance of hypothermia at this time
of the year. The chance of heat-related problems is exceedingly small.
Henry Coe is mountain lion habitat. Chances of encountering the reclusive cat are
very low. If you do, follow this protocol. If you turn around and run, the
cat's mind will more likely identify you as prey.
Poison oak produces an oil which may cause a delayed skin irritation reaction.
Know what it looks like, avoid contact, and wash exposed skin areas with
a detergent such as Tecnu®. We have attempted to map continuous, extended areas of
poison oak that significantly impede movement. There is more of it than is mapped.
This plant strongly prefers north-facing slopes.
Ticks, if attached, are best removed by yanking out firmly with tweezers. If you
later develop a rash, get tested for Lyme disease. Keep the offending tick in a
plastic bag for the doctor if it managed to stay with you after the event. Usually
ticks take more than several hours to transmit any diseases such as Lyme through their
mouthparts into your bloodstream.
The percent of ticks that can carry Lyme among all ticks in coastal California is
low; the incidence of Lyme among these ticks is also low. Lyme is effectively treated
with antibiotics. If left untreated, Lyme can evolve into a serious systemic disease
that often leads to disability; fortunately, many of its effects are reversible with
treatment.
5. Participant safety
Participants will be responsible for their own safety while taking part. Of course,
event staff will try to help you if we learn that you are seriously injured or
otherwise need assistance, but there is a good chance you would be waiting a long time
for help, and we don't have the level of staffing or expertise necessary to quickly
and expertly handle many emergency situations that might arise, so your best bet is to
be very careful not to get injured. If you are not comfortable assuming the risks
involved in prolonged exertion while traveling through rugged terrain under various
and possibly unexpected conditions, then you should not take part in the event.
The terrain has steep, and some possibly unstable, slopes. These potentially
dangerous areas are not explicitly delineated on the maps, so you will need to
determine the safety of traversing a prospective route for yourself. Close contours
indicate treacherous terrain.
Each person will be required to sign a liability waiver when registering online or
upon checking in for the event. A parent or guardian must sign for a minor.
The organizers are not in a position to review each participant's preparedness to
participate and will not do so. However, if it comes to the organizers' attention that
a person or a team is poorly prepared for the event, the organizers may deny entry to
that person or team in the interest of the safety of all the participants and staff of
the event.
The team aspect of the event is perhaps the best safety instrument. Team members
must stay together within unaided voice distance, and must punch together at checkpoints. Not staying together will
yield disqualification.
There is some cell phone coverage on ridgetops, and at the aid
station. We will provide a map that shows the approximate extent of the coverage.
Participants are advised to carry cell phones. If there is an emergency, call 911
and also notify the organizers. At least one of our cell phones will be reachable at
the aid station; this number will be on the front of the competition map. We plan to
have communications between the start/finish and the outside world via a radio link
between the start/finish and the aid station.
If a team has indicated an emergency, it is the duty of all other teams who
are nearby and hear the distress signal to help the team or participant in
distress.
There will be at least a licensed EMT, and quite possibly one or more medical
doctors, among the participants.
Each team will be required to fill out an intention sheet, which is a copy of the
competition map, with their intended route. The actual route taken does not have to
exactly match the intended route. Intention sheets are due at the briefing
15 minutes before the respective start.
The two main dangers that exist for participants of an ultralong endurance event
are dehydration and hyponatremia. We will provide water on the
course. However, to be on the safe side, teams may wish to carry a water purification
device, such as a portable filter or iodine tabs. This late summer has been quite dry.
There is not a lot of water in the creeks, some are completely dry; water in ponds is
stagnant, but should be safe to drink after filtering. There are no water
fountains/treated water sources/running water at the park bathrooms. All teams should
carry reservoirs that are large enough to sustain the team members between water
stations.
Consuming enough salt will mean the difference between being sluggish and not
thinking clearly, and being sharp and enjoying the experience throughout the whole
duration of the event. Take salt pills or eat salty food starting at 3 hours into
the event at the latest; 200–400 milligrams of sodium ion per hour are advised.
Drinking only plain water depletes sodium in your body. Other electrolytes may also
help prevent cramps. We suggest carrying electrolyte pills if you plan on doing the
8 hours or the 24 hours.
The safety bearing is west to Gilroy Hot Springs Road or Cañada
Road; this will be noted on the competition maps.
We have a safety and search/rescue plan you may
peruse. Information on this webpage supercedes the Safety Plan, where contradictory.
If you have any questions about information in this section, please contact our safety coordinator.
6. The competition map
The map will be 1:20,000 with 10 m
contours. We will offer high-legibility printing. The whole area will be on
a single map sheet. We do not feel that waterproof paper is needed for this event. We
will provide plastic map cases of appropriate thickness.
The primary source of data for this map is Santa Clara County lidar survey done in
2008. Raw data from this survey has been provided by the USGS. The USGS processed this data into a digital elevation
model, which we used for the elevation contours. Raw lidar data has been processed by
our bivariate kernel density estimator in search for vegetation classification and
boundaries. Where results have been satisfactory, our duo of cartographers is now
striving to bring you the best possible standard of vegetation depiction.
For about half of the area used at our 2010
event, we determined vegetation boundaries from high-resolution photos. For most
of the rest of the 2011 area, vegetation boundaries and density are digitally derived
from the lidar data, with some human oversight. Where this has not been possible (a
minority of the map), vegetation will be simplified.
The size of the mapped area will be between 70 km² and
75 km².
The symbols we use on this map will be largely the same as those we used on last year's map. Maps will be printed to
magnetic north, and will have a UTM grid (no indication of true
north).
A. CONTOURS: The contours are the most reliable and
consistent component of the map. The quality of the contour base is uniform throughout
the map, and the absolute accuracy is better than ±10 m lateral, ±2 m
vertical. What this means is that each and every single-contour reentrant is there.
The contours are unaltered by field survey, which could only make them worse.
Unlike the 2010 version, the 2011 map will have index contours and spot
heights.
B. TRAILS AND PONDS: All trails and ponds are from
high-resolution aerial photos, complemented by GPS survey in the field. Their accuracy
is such that you won't be disappointed. All official park trails are shown, plus
others in various states of disuse. Mapped trails can be used for navigation without
reservations.
C. VEGETATION: The positional accuracy is better than
±10 m lateral, referenced to the contours or to UTM. All distinct single trees
and bushes are shown. We use the following grades of vegetation:
"Normal forest" (light green): Areas with continuous canopy cover.
They usually consist of nice, runnable oak forest, but some may have undergrowth of
chaparral and/or poison oak. All of this grade should be passable, some of it
slower than the rest, especially on north-facing slopes.
Open land with scattered trees (light green dots): Areas where canopy cover is
not continuous, i.e. ground can be seen in aerial photos.
Chaparral (dark green): Thick, mostly impassable or very slow.
"Low chaparral" (vertical green lines): Areas of bush/thickets in
which ground is visible in the photo. These most typically/likely contain passable
bushes that are less than waist high.
"Poison oak" (yucky-olive green): Large expanses of thick vegetation
on north-facing slopes. Where we mapped it, you perhaps can go through, but if you
are susceptible, you are guaranteed a serious post-event rash absent
treatment.
Open land (white): Fast. May have moderately high grass.
We use a vegetation boundary symbol (a solid green line) between all areas of
different types to aid readability. This does not mean that all of these boundaries
are distinct. We also use a symbol for a gap that looks like a trail, but is skinnier
and has longer dashes. This symbol denotes long and narrow breaks in the canopy; there
is almost certainly no matching trail on the ground.
The use of color on this map is not the same as it is on an orienteering map; all
of the vegetation symbols are green or white. We feel that the two-color scheme is
most appropriate for low-light map reading.
D. STREAMS: The streams are from USGS quad data.
E. ROCK AND FENCES: There are some spectacular, towering rock
features, and in general quite a bit of rock in this terrain. There are many fences;
all of them are of the regular five-strand barbed wire variety, dating back to when
the park was an active ranch. Most of these fences are well on their way to
decomposition, and are easy to climb over.
We made a decision not to extensively survey the cliffs or the boulders, only
putting in what was immediately apparent in the photo and/or gigantic in the terrain.
No fences have been surveyed or shown.
The official park
map can be obtained from many outdoor stores: ISBN 0-9700007-9-0. This map does
not depict vegetation. Its contour base appears directly inherited from USGS 1:24,000
data. The trail network on this map was GPS'ed by park volunteers, and is exquisitely
accurate and complete as far as the official trails.
7. Course specifics
There will be about 62 checkpoints, totaling 3600 points. The optimum
distance to get them all and to stop at all water stations and the aid
station will be between 70 and 75 km along straight lines. Climb on
this route will be between 7% and 8% of the actual distance traveled. This
course is enough to keep even the World Champion rogainers awake for the full
24 hours.
The number of points awarded for visiting a checkpoint is the first digit of the
checkpoint's code, times 10; for example, Checkpoint 68 is worth
60 points. The penalty for being late is 10 points per minute, or fraction
thereof. Teams finishing more than 30 minutes after the deadline will be
disqualified and will get a score of 0.
Most locations are technically easy to moderate, while a small number are hard or
very hard. We will assign values to checkpoints based on their combined navigational
and physical difficulty. In other words, don't expect a gimme from an 80-pointer.
There will be five water stations. These locations will not be at checkpoints,
and will not be worth any points. Most of these stations will be at one of
the park's many natural springs, and so will not have water containers.
Instead, we will place a high-throughput water filter. The filters are advertised
at 0.5 liters/minute, and we haven't tested them. So, plan on spending a
little bit more time filling at each station than if the station had pre-filled
water jugs.
There will be a trash bag at each water station. You are allowed to dispose of
your trash into these bags, but not elsewhere on the course other than the
start/finish and the aid station. There will not be any other
drinks, food, or supplements at the water stations.
Each checkpoint will be equipped with an orange and white orienteering control
marker, a SPORTident
electronic station, and a red, white, and blue reflector. There
will not be sign-in/intention sheets at checkpoints. Water stations will have
reflectors, but not orienteering markers or SPORTident. A very small number of
checkpoints and water stations may be manned.
The orienteering marker may have a number/code that will not match the checkpoint
code. The correct code is shown on the SPORTident station. To punch, put the
SPORTident tag through the opening. If there is no confirmation beep nor a light
flash, use a paper punch attached to the control marker to punch your map. If you are
unable to find the checkpoint but think you are in the right location, take a picture.
All locations will have been verified with GPS.
All team members must punch the SPORTident station within 60 seconds
(first to last) in order to claim credit for the checkpoint.
8. Aid station
Because the staging area at Hunting Hollow is not central to the course, there will
be an additional staffed aid station at Willson Camp with hot food service. This is
the location marked with a bucket on the 2010
map. There is a bathroom at this location, but no other permanent facilities.
The aid station will be open, and food will be served, as specified in the event schedule. The menu will be the same as at Hunting Hollow. The aid station
will also feature a supply of energy gels by GU Energy.
Because we believe a rogaine should test the ability of a team to navigate long
distances, not to haul sizeable backpacks, we are offering all teams the opportunity
to transport their gear to the aid station, and to set up their tents. The equipment
will depart Hunting Hollow promptly after the start with most of the aid station's
staff and supplies, and will return before the 24 hour finish. The park has a
limit on the number of vehicles we are allowed to drive. Consequentially, the weight
limit for this equipment is 10 kg/22 lbs per team.
We will only charge for this
service if we have to set up a tent, or do something involving a similar amount of
labor. Reasonably-sized drop bags are free and encouraged, and will be available at
the aid station per the schedule.
The aid station opens up a number of possibilities for teams. The top teams will
undoubtedly spend the whole 24 hours on their feet, perhaps stopping at the aid
station, perhaps not. Those less competitive may enjoy crashing at the aid station for
a few hours; it is a lot more welcoming plan than to rest back at Hunting Hollow, the
lowest point of the course. Teams out to enjoy themselves, and perhaps competitive
8 hour teams, may want to use the aid station as a destination.
There will be a SPORTident station at the aid station, however its use is not
mandatory and is for route analysis purposes only. Visits to the aid station will not
earn points.
9. Classes and categories
There will be three event divisions, the 4 hour, the 8 hour,
and the 24 hour (the Saturday and Sunday 4 hour competitions will not be
scored separately). Solo competitors are allowed in the 4 hour division, but not
in the longer divisions. The maximum team size is 5 members. A team that has a
member born after 1997 must also have a member born in 1993 or earlier.
There will be the following gender classes:
Men;
Mixed; and
Women.
A mixed team is one that has members of both genders.
There will be the following age categories:
Open;
Juniors (each team member born in 1993 or later);
Masters (each team member born in 1971 or earlier); and
Supervets (each team member born in 1956 or earlier).
You may notice that these categories are slightly
different from what Orienteering USA Rules for Rogaine Competition state. These
Rules, and the International Rules of Rogaining, categorize teams by age on the first
day of the event, not on 31 December 2011. A small number of teams may be
affected by this distinction. If your team is, please contact us and we will ask Orienteering USA for
clarification. The age on 31 December 2011 is what the rest of
Orienteering USA Rules use.
Every team is eligible for awards in the Open category. Some teams may fall into
multiple age categories. In this case the team is eligible for awards in all
categories in which they meet the criteria.
Logical combinations of the above classifications will constitute awardable
categories, for example, "24 hour Supervet Women" or "4 hour
Junior Mixed". Categories with few teams will not be consolidated for
the purposes of awards.
10. Scoring, results, and awards
All teammates must stay within unaided voice distance and all must punch at a
checkpoint in order to claim credit, within 60 seconds (first to last). If one team
member is unable to continue, the whole team must report to the start/finish. A new
team may be formed and it may then go on the course, but it will be unable to claim
credit for checkpoints already visited.
The number of points awarded for visiting a checkpoint is the first digit of the
checkpoint's code, times 10; for example, Checkpoint 68 is worth
60 points. The penalty for being late is 10 points per minute, or fraction
thereof. Teams finishing more than 30 minutes after the deadline will be
disqualified and will get a score of 0.
Teams will be ranked within their division, age, and gender categories according to their total score. Among teams with
identical scores, the earliest finishing team will be ranked highest. Teams that are
disqualified or do not finish do not get a place.
(Every team that finishes within 30 minutes of
the time limit, and does not break certain rules, gets a score.
You don't have to stay out for the full 4, 8, or 24 hours! You can finish earlier
if you feel like it.)
Upon finishing, teams should proceed to a SPORTident download station. Points will
be tallied, and each team will receive a copy of their score sheet that will contain
checkpoint-by-checkpoint split times, the total straight-line distance traveled, and
the approximate climb.
U.S. Championship medals will be given at the award ceremony to all members of the top 3 eligible
teams in each category of the 24 hour division. The eligibility criteria are
quite simple:
Each member of the team must be a member of USOF; and
No member of the team may compete in the same calendar year for the same
category of championship in any other national championships.
Top teams in all divisions, classes, and categories, whether eligible for
U.S. Championship or not, will also get prizes from our sponsors. Event results, splits, and RouteGadget will be
promptly made available online.
11. Weather and recommended clothing
"Late summer" in the Bay Area sometimes creeps into early November, or
the rainy season may get an early start. Typically, the weather is quite perfect for a
long endurance event—sunny with highs in the 60s
(+16– +21 °C) and overnight lows in the high 40s
(+8– +10 °C). In the unlikely situation of "late
summer", highs could be in the 80s or 90s (up to +35 °C). The chance of
any rain showers during the event is probably at most 10%. There has not been any
rain during the first week of November in each of the past 7 years. On the colder
extreme, daytime highs could be in the low 50s (as low as +10 °C) and
overnight lows in the high 30s (just above freezing).
Layers are advised. Remember, we can transport your stuff up to the aid station.
Team members must stay together (within unaided verbal contact) the whole time
they are on the course (Orienteering USA Rule 5.5).
All team members must go to each checkpoint visited by the team, meaning all
must punch within 60 seconds (IRF Rule B16). (This rule is why
each team member must carry a SPORTident card.)
All participants are required to respond to a distress signal and to assist a
participant who is injured and needs assistance (Orienteering USA
Rule 10.2).
All participants are responsible for their own safety while they participate,
and participants should make themselves aware of the hazards associated with the
weather, rugged terrain, health risks of extreme exertion, equipment malfunction,
and remoteness from emergency assistance.
Except in case of emergency, all participants must check in with event staff
before leaving the area; in case of emergency, an evacuated participant or her/his
team members should notify event staff of the situation as soon as possible after
attending to the emergency.
Points will be deducted from the scores of late returning teams, and teams
finishing more than 30 minutes late will receive a score of zero
(Orienteering USA Rule 9.1).
A team may be disqualified for infringing these rules
(Orienteering USA Rule 8.1).
Solo participants are allowed in the 4 hour events (exception to
Orienteering USA Rule 3.1 and IRF
Rule B1).
GPS devices and altimeters (such as GPS tracking watches) may be
carried on the course (to allow tracking analysis afterward) but not used for
navigation by teams. If carried, any such devices that have a display must be
presented to race officals to be sealed (after tracking is activated, if desired)
before the start. Without going into the details of the sealing method, we can say
that participants with GPS watches and altimeters should plan to carry them, not
wear them. This is an exception to Orienteering USA Rule 5.2
and IRF Rule B7.
We will transport your stuff to the aid station. We only charge for it if we
have to set up a tent, or do something involving a similar amount of labor. Drop
bags are free and encouraged, and will be available per the schedule. This is an exception to
Orienteering USA Rule 5.8 and IRF
Rule B13.
Gas burners are OK, but open fires are not allowed in this park.
The required equipment is (we may modify this list up to one week before the
event):
Each team must have bottles or other containers able to carry at least
0.5 liters of water per team member.
Each participant must carry a whistle for signaling in case of emergency
(three short blasts).
Each team must have a watch, or another time-telling device.
Each individual should have clothing appropriate to the weather, accounting
for the possibility of injury or exhaustion.
Each 24 hour team must have 2 operational flashlights.
We will check this equipment before the start. Teams who do not possess it will
not be allowed to start.
13. Suggested equipment
Each team should have a compass, shoes with treads appropriate for the steep
slopes, salt tablets, food, blister tape, a first aid kit, and a space blanket.
14. Future closure of Henry Coe State Park
The park wasscheduled to close to the public sometime between September
of 2011 and July of 2012, but the eventuality has been averted. Many thanks go out to Coe Park Preservation
Fund, an arm of Pine Ridge Association,
and personally to Daniel McCranie for making this possible. Get
Lost!! hopes to hold rogaines and mountain marathon-like events at Coe Park for years
to come.
Event Menu
We will serve the same menu at the start/finish and at the aid station. Food will be served at an appropriate temperature
according to the schedule.
Super soup
Sausage pasta
Veggie pasta
Fresh tomatoes and pasta sauce
Stuffed grape leaves, aka dolma
Chicken breasts
Mashed potatoes
Watermelon
Muffins, bagels, and pastries
Coffee and tea
The details of the pre-event Friday dinner are still being worked out.
Just wanted to say
thank you guys for such a fun event. It was a great navigation exercise and an
awesome workout. I have also never been at an event with such great food! I don't
even eat that well at home!
—Stephanie, Team Racing With Giants
Get Lost!! sold out its first independently produced event at Henry W. Coe State
Park on 11 December 2010. The rogaine was one
of a very small number of organized activities held in the park; one hundred and eight
rogainers, orienteers, hikers, adventure racers, and ultrarunners took part. Two event
durations were offered, 4 hours and 8 hours.
The 8 hour event was won by Team TrackMe360 (Gerrell Elliott,
Mats Jansson, and Dennis Wilkinson). Team SOAR of Redding took the
mixed honors. Evil Geniuses for a Better Tomorrow blazed through the
4 hour rogaine at 12:43 min/km straight-line pace.
The style of the map used for
this year's event will be very similar to one used in 2010. Checkpoint placement
will again be mostly easy and moderate, with a small number being technically hard and
very hard.
Travel and Accommodations
The directions to the start/finish are here. The closest airport is San José International,
43 miles to the Hunting Hollow entrance start/finish. San Francisco and Oakland
airports are also valid options. Gilroy Transit Center is reliably reachable by public
transit; from there, it is a $35 (with tip) taxicab ride to Hunting Hollow.
We recommend Hertz, an Orienteering USA partner, for car rentals. By booking
through this link, you will be supporting U.S. orienteering and rogaining.
Our discount code will be displayed on the reservations page.
Packet pick-up will be at the Zombie Runner
store on Friday, and on site on Saturday. There will be no camping at the
start/finish on Friday night.
Orienteering USA has negotiated discounted rates with its sponsor, Motel 6.
The closest Motel 6 is in Gilroy, 12.0 miles from the start/finish. At the time
of this writing, members of Orienteering USA were offered rates from $44.99 to
$55.79 per night, plus tax. In order to get these rates, you must book through the Motel 6/Orienteering USA partnership program. By making
your booking through this website, you will be supporting U.S. orienteering and
rogaining.
For camping, we recommend the Casa de Fruta Orchard Resort. (Note that this is a
third-party website, and Casa de Fruta's own website appears to have no info about the
campground or reservations. Please contact Casa de Fruta directly by phone for
reservations.) Although the resort is not far from the boundary of Henry Coe, the
drive to Hunting Hollow entrance is quite long, and takes at least 35 minutes.
For activities in the Gilroy area, please check with our partner, the Gilroy Visitors
Bureau.
Entry and Registration
We have a registration limit of 260 participants, of whom
at most 120 can be in the 24 hour division. This limit is due to both park
constraints, and to the extent of what we can do while maintaining a quality experience
for everyone. As of 27 October, the 24 hour event is 65% full, the event
overall is 56% full.
As of 27 October, T shirts are
sold out. Teams and individuals who register after this date will automatically
receive the no-shirt discount.
All food during and after the event is included in the registration price, as is SPORTident rental for each
team member.
The T shirt is a high-quality o21e production; the sides will be rockin' black and the
front and back, grey with the cougar design.
A part of the event proceeds will benefit the training programs of Team USA
Orienteering.
Pre-registration is open. Team members may enter together (be
entered by the same person), or separately. If you would like to go with a team, but
don't know your teammates' names yet, you can enter yourself and other members can join
the team at a later time.
As with all events by Get Lost!!, fees for teams are capped. Three, four, or
five people enter at the team price; each team member gets a map. The price for a team is
determined when the last member joins it; additions after the deadline will increase the team
fee. The fees are:
Orienteering USA is offering $20 off the entry fee for the 24 hour
Championship division, per person, for first-time A event attendees. If you have
never participated in a sanctioned Championship rogaine nor in national-level
orienteering A event, simply print out the
coupon, have it endorsed by us at the event, and mail it in. This is a
rebate—you will pay the regular entry fee during our registration process.
On top of these prices, we offer the following discounts:
Family/junior (at least one participant age 20 or under)
–
$10.00 per team
The BAOC discount only applies to individuals, not teams.
That is, a registration for two people who are both BAOC members will cost less than the
team price. A three-person team is always best off taking the team deal.
These discounts are taken and combined automatically by the registration system.
Each team must mark their intended route on a copy of the competition map. This
so-called intention sheet will be collected at the briefing 15 minutes before the
start of each division. Teams who do not provide an intention sheet will not be allowed
to start. It is not critical that the team follow this plan, however the intention sheet
will give us a good idea where to look for a team should it become missing.
There will be a jury of 3 people whose responsibility will be to deal with
complaints and protests. The make-up of the jury will be announced a few days before the
event.
We maintain a discussion board for all our events on Attackpoint. Popular
among map and adventure-sports athletes in the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and
other countries, the site is the one to go to for the latest navigation-sport news,
schedules, discussion, and gossip.