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Discover a new neighborhood... or one you thought you knew well!!

7-hour event participants before Mill Valley Street Scramble 2013 startMill Valley Street Scramble
Urban Adventure Hunt

Explore the paths, streets, stairs, and open spaces of Mill Valley, Tamalpais-Homestead Valley, Marin City, Strawberry, Sausalito, Corte Madera, and Tiburon!

Forty-five locations are circled on a map. On foot or bike, how many can you visit in 90 minutes? in 3 hours? or in 7 hours?? Score points by visiting checkpoints in any order, and answer a simple question to prove you were there. Those who score the most are the winners! Be competitive or casual; go team or solo. Fun for families, runners, cyclists, and anyone who likes to explore!! Awards and refreshments at the finish.

Mill Valley, seen from Ring Mountain Open SpaceLocation and Schedule

On Saturday, 12 July 2014, three event durations will be offered: 7 hours, 3 hours, and 90 minutes. You can do either on foot or on bike. The headquarters will be at the Almonte District Improvement Club, 105 Wisteria Way, Mill Valley, CA 94941.

This is the fourth annual Mill Valley Street Scramble. Check out the description and our calendar of Street Scramble events!

This event is the second in the 2014/2015 Urban Adventure Hunt series, and your next chance to collect points and win a trip to the series Final, the San Francisco Night & Day Challenge.

Event schedule:

11:00  Registration and check-in open
       for 7-hour event participants
       only, Almonte Club
11:30  Maps are available for route
       planning for 7-hour event
       participants
12:30  Start, 7-hour divisions,
       foot and bike
12:30  Registration and check-in open
       for 3-hour and 90-minute event
       participants, Almonte Club
13:00  Maps are available for route
       planning
13:40  Briefing and instructions
14:00  Start, 3-hour and 90-minute
       divisions, foot and bike
15:30  Finish, 90-minute divisions
15:45  Afternoon tea and snacks are
       served
16:00  Awards, 90-minute divisions
17:00  Finish, 3-hour divisions
17:30  Awards, 3-hour divisions
19:30  Finish, 7-hour divisions
20:00  Awards, 3-hour divisions
Google map
View Larger Map

Transit directions: Golden Gate Transit bus 17 to Miller Ave. and Almonte Blvd. The club is a 3 minute walk from this bus stop. From San Francisco, take Golden Gate bus 10, 70, or 80 and change to the 17 in Marin City.

You will score checkpoint visits by texting us the answer to the question on your scorecard. Checkpoint visits will be instantly tabulated, and scores available upon the teams' return. If you'd rather not use the cellphone for any reason, you can instead circle answers on the paper scorecard. More details are here...

This is the map that was used for the 2013 Mill Valley Street Scramble:

Mill Valley Street Scramble 2013 map

Our Sponsors!!

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:

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.

Road ID
RRS Adventure Run!

Road Runner Sports' Adventure Runs, held at the San Carlos store every fourth Thursday and at the Campbell store every second Wednesday, are a total blast!

Seattle's Meridian Geographics is an active outdoor lifestyle company. It produces the Street Scramble, Northwest Trail Runs, and BEAST Adventure Race series. Its showcase events are the annual Seattle and San Francisco Night & Day challenges, and the Rock Creek Ramble, Three15er, and Big Tahoma rogaines.

MerGeo
o21e.com

o21e—the Official Uniform Provider of Team USA Orienteering—makes a line of clothing for adventure running in Los Angeles, California.

Scarborough Orienteering, aka Orienteer.com, is a leading vendor of equipment. They carry compasses, SPORTident 1cards, 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.

Orienteer.com

The Street Scramble Experience

Street Scramble races can be enjoyed by anyone who (a) can travel under their own power for 90 minutes—walking, running, biking, or moving in a wheelchair; (b) can follow a street map; and (c) likes to explore.

(Strollers and power wheelchairs are OK for those who need them. If you can't read a map, you can be on a team with someone who can.)

When you arrive at a Street Scramble event, you will check in (most events don't sell out and allow onsite registration). Then, an hour before the start time, you will receive a map with thirty (or so) checkpoint locations circled. Each circle has a number between 10 and 99. The point value of the checkpoint is equal to its number rounded down to the tens; for example, Checkpoint 35 is worth 30 points; Checkpoint 12 is worth 10 points. The back of your map will have a description of a feature to be found at each checkpoint, such as "Statue" or "Pier". You will also receive a scorecard with the same information as on the back of your map; use this scorecard if you are not using electronic scoring.

You (together with your team, if you have a team) will then plan which checkpoints you will try to visit, and in what order. You can visit as many or as few checkpoints as you want, and in any order. Your team will need to stay together at all times. You can change your plan as you go along, but it's very helpful to at least start with some kind of plan.

About 20 minutes before the start there will be a pre-Scramble-race briefing, at which the event director will review rules and safety. There will be a countdown to the start, after which you will head out to visit checkpoints. Again, your team must stay together at all times. Checkpoints are found at the precise centers of the circles on the map. When you arrive at a checkpoint location, look for the feature described on the back of your map.

At most locations, you will need to answer a simple multiple-choice question, found on the back of your map and on your scorecard, to prove you were there. Example:

35   Statue, NE side: What is the last word on the plaque?
(a) Arts   (b) Commission   (c) Space

If you are not using the electronic scoring system, circle the correct answer on your scorecard and proceed to another checkpoint. Also write down the time of your checkpoint visit.

We offer two electronic ways to record your checkpoint visits. One option is available at all events and all checkpoints, and involves sending us, the organizers, a text message with your answer to the question on the back of the map. For example, suppose you are Team 1191 and the correct answer to the question at Checkpoint 35 is (a), "Arts". You will send, to the phone number we provide at registration, a message with the text

Mirabel Avenue steps
35 A
—or—
35A
—or—
a35

and you will get back a confirmation message that says

Team 1191 Checkpoint 35 Answer A at 10:31:23.
The other electronic option will only be available at some events and at select checkpoints that are at locations of participating businesses, and only to those entrants who have a smartphone capable of recognizing QR codes, and the necessary phone app. Simply snap a picture of the code and get on your way!
If you don't have the hardware or the app, just answer the multiple-choice question—on paper or by texting.

To participate in the 90 minute division, you must return to the event center within 90 minutes. To participate in the 3 hour option, return within 3 hours. You can decide which option you want while you're out there. Returning on time requires planning!

Our maps run the gamut from specially surveyed and produced city and wilderness maps to improved USGS topographic maps, and sometimes include off-the-shelf (off-the-screen?) maps. We use information from a variety of sources. Our maps only have a few street names on them, and often no street names at all—so it will be important for you to keep track of where you are on the map.

It is perfectly fine to utilize other maps you may bring, or to look at a map on your smartphone. You can also use the phone's GPS; any GPS units, altimeters, and pedometers are all fair game—but please don't get so distracted by the gadgets as to lose track of vehicle traffic!

When you return, you will turn in your scorecard; if you used electronic scoring, your score will be ready and waiting for you. (In case your phone turns out to be less sweat-resistant than you thought, we can handle answers that are partially submitted electronically and partially handwritten.) All team members must finish together at the same time; your official finish time is when the last team member arrives at the finish line. It is important to be on time because you will lose points for each minute you are late. We will keep your scorecard, but you get to take your map home with you. If your answers are handwritten, we will tally your score while you enjoy refreshments, included in your entry fee. After refreshments, awards will be given out for those with the highest scores in different divisions and categories.

As a minimum, we will award the best men, women, and mixed teams in the following categories: Juniors (each team member must be 20 years of age or younger on 31 December 2014), Masters (40 or older on 31 December 2014), and Open. Awards will also be given to the best family teams; a family team is one that has anyone 20 years of age or younger, and also someone 21 years of age or older.

If you have further questions, you may be able to find answers to them on the Equipment and Detailed Rules pages.

Entry and Registration

San Francisco Night & Day Challenge 2013 T shirt designThe first 50 teams to enter get technical-fabric T shirts with the Street Scramble design. That's right, a complimentary shirt for each and every team member! Please select the shirt size during the registration process. These shirts can be obtained at the event only if we do not sell out, or if there are cancellations. If you would rather not have another shirt—even as cool as this—we offer a discount.

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, including families, are capped. Three, four, or five people enter at the team price; each team member gets a map. The fees are:
90-minute event Individual Team        Cal-ARA Team
Enter and pay on or before Monday 16 June $39.00 $74.00 $66.60
Enter and pay on or before Monday 07 July $44.00 $84.00 $75.60
Enter and pay on or after Tuesday 08 July $54.00 $104.00 $93.60
 
3-hour event Individual Team        Cal-ARA Team
Enter and pay on or before Monday 16 June $39.00 $74.00 $66.60
Enter and pay on or before Monday 07 July $44.00 $84.00 $75.60
Enter and pay on or after Tuesday 08 July $54.00 $104.00 $93.60
 
7-hour event Individual Team        Cal-ARA Team
Enter and pay on or before Monday 16 June $59.00 $114.00 $102.60
Enter and pay on or before Monday 07 July $64.00 $124.00 $111.60
Enter and pay on or after Tuesday 08 July $79.00 $154.00 $138.60

Fine print: Each team member of the first 50 teams that enter must be entered by the last entry deadline in order to be guaranteed a shirt in her/his size. Because of the lead time involved in printing the shirts, it is not possible for us to provide shirts to late-entering participants.

More fine print: Team member additions after the deadline increase the price, so as to account for the extra cost associated with providing supplies and insurance to the participants at the last moment. Team member substitutions are always free.

The maximum team size at Street Scramble is 5 people. We have found that it becomes increasingly difficult for larger teams to stay together throughout the event, which is required by the rules. If you aren't sure how many of your friends will show up, you are welcome to enter everyone on the same team and then split the team if more than 5 people do show up. By participating as multiple teams, your group will quite possibly be eligible for more awards!

Discounts!!

On top of these prices, we offer the following discounts:

Bay Area OC member registering her/himself $5.00
Active-duty military (at least one member in a team)   early fees apply through the day of the event
No shirt(s) $7.00 individual, $14.00 team
Family (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.

Examples:

  • California ARA team of 4, standard registration including shirts: $18.90 per person
  • BAOC member going solo, early registration, no shirt: $27.00
  • Family of 3, day-of-event registration, no shirts: $26.67 per person

These discounts are taken and combined automatically by the registration system. Make sure to indicate the team association, individual participant's club membership, and the correct (or at least approximately correct) ages for the team members.

We accept VISA, MasterCard, American Express, and DiscoverWe accept credit cards online through Google Checkout, and cash, checks, and credit cards on site.

Go register!!

Event-Day Information

Event-day details are posted about one week before each Street Scramble event, usually on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday. We send an email to all registered participants when the notes are ready.

Cellphone scoring

Cellphone scoring will be offered for this event, and here's a short tutorial.

T commandOur receiving phone number is +1 503 567 8924. (It spells out LOST X24. Hope you aren't.)

Start with registering your team's cell phone number. You can send us answers from more than one cell phone. We don't pull the phone number information from your registration, so this step must be done for at least one phone. From this phone, send us a text message that says T followed by your team number. You will find out your team number at check-in, or if you would like to complete this step early, e-mail us and we'll let you know your team number. For example, if your team number is 142, text

T 142

You will receive a short confirmatory message. It may take a few seconds for the system to issue a confirmation to each of your commands and answers, sometimes up to about half a minute, more if your phone moves in and out of coverage.

Q commandAfter you have registered your team number, you're clear to head out on the course! One of the neat features is the ability to retrieve checkpoint questions and answer choices as you go. Just say Q? followed by the checkpoint number, like this:

Q? 42

Checkpoint answerAnd now to the most important part—sending us answers to checkpoint questions! Just send us the checkpoint number and the answer choice, in this order or answer first, with or without a space; the answer (as all commands) is case-insensitive. For each answer, you get a short confirmatory message.

Please take care in answering the questions. Sometimes, teams give a literal answer, for example if the answer choices are (A) 1; (B) 2; (C) 3, a team can text 2. This answer will not count as a wrong answer and the system will simply ask you to try again. Only the first valid answer choice counts. If you send in a wrong answer choice, for example if the correct answer is B and you say A, the mistake cannot be corrected.

S commandYou can find out how many checkpoints you have visited, and how many points they are worth, by texting S?. This score is not graded; that is, the points are calculated without take into account whether your answers are correct or not.

The full command set is

Q?  R?  S?  T/T?  U  W?

We already went over most of those. The remaining commands are: R? tells you how long your team has been on the course; T? replies with your team number on record; U is used to unsubsribe the phone number; and W? lets you know which ones you got wrong.

We maintain a discussion board for all our events on Attackpoint. Popular among 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 adventure-running news, schedules, discussion, and gossip.

Forum for the Mill Valley Street Scramble.

We also post updates to our Facebook pages:

Facebook event for the Mill Valley Street Scramble.

Created: 29 July 2013
Last updated: 29 July 2013, ver. 000

© 2011–2013 Get Lost!! Running, Racing, Inc.
Street Scramble® is a registered trademark of Meridian Geographics.

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