The meet today had a couple of mis-placed controls, so finishing times won't be to useful for comparison. Anyone else take lap times? Post your results here if you have them. Here are my split times for the race minus the two legs.

1: 4:48 2: 8:21 3: 7:45 5: 5:41 6: 6:19 7: 8:28 9: 3:01 F: 0:42 Total Revised Time = 45:06

-- Eric S. (erics1999@msn.com), October 26, 2002

Answers

Here are my splits:

1 3:54, 2 7:42 (Dave Cozhair and I missed a minute or so at the control), 3 6:12, (I never found 4), 5 3:52 (time is approximate because I'm not exactly sure when I punched my watch after giving up looking for 4), 6 4:48, 7 6:52. I never found 8 and then didn't stop my watch until after I'd crossed the finish line.

-- Michael (meglin@juno.com), October 27, 2002.

Can someone familiar with the PTOC scene say how often it is that controls there are in the wrong place? When was the previous time this happened? Is it the course setter's fault or was there foul play?

-- Doctor M (everett@psi.edu), October 27, 2002.

Can someone familiar with the PTOC scene say how often it is that controls there are in the wrong place? When was the previous time this happened? Is it the course setter's fault or was there foul play?

It is fairly common that controls are misplaced a little bit -- like a line too far up or down a reentrant. Usually, you can see the marker from the center of the circle. But, it is unusual for a control to be far enough off that it takes a lot of time to find the marker (at Burr Oak, there were two markers I never found).

At Shawnee Mission Park there was one marker that I didn't find and one that was misplaced. The one I didn't find was close, but apparently it was a bit further down the reentrant from the correct spot. I came directly to the right spot, didn't see the marker and just went on. The other was in a much less distinct location (a short bit of fence on a hillside in the woods). I found the marker when Dave Cozhair pointed it out to me. As I left the marker, I read the map carefully and it was clear that the marker was mishung.

At Burr Oak, the problem seems to be that the map that was used to put the markers out didn't match the mastermaps.

I think it is a tougher to get the markers in the right spot when the leaves are out (and they are still mostly out around KC now).

Personally, I'd rather see easier courses with the markers hung in exactly the right spot, than "harder courses with some of the markers mis-hung.

-- Michael (mike_eglinski@kcmo.org), October 28, 2002.

I set courses a couple of months ago and will again next month. It is always a bit of a nervous thing to wait until runners come in from the courses to see if there was something wrong. I worry most about control "bag" thieves. The places I'm setting courses are crawling with people. I haven't had the problem yet, but it is just a matter of time. One problem is that I have to set many controls which are in sight of roads, etc., at the last moment as fast as I can. There is possibly room for making a mistake, but I think if you check everything multiple times, it works. I even hang tape out beforehand even though I'm the only one setting and vetting the course. The pressure of having other people notice when things go wrong is a really good incentive to having good courses! If there's a problem on a course you run, and you're sure of it, it is good to let people know! If the course setters or vetters are good, they'll figure out how it went wrong and take steps to correct the problems the next time. I wouldn't be too harsh though since volunteers to work meets don't just grow on trees.

-- M (everett@psi.edu), October 29, 2002.

One possible problem at some PTOC meets is that people show up before the advertised registration time. Sometimes this creates some added stress for the meet officials -- especially if it is a bus load of Junior ROTC kids, for example.

I'm not sure if that was a factor at the SMP or Burr Oak meets, but it might have been.

-- Michael (mike_eglinski@kcmo.org), October 29, 2002.

I always (well, almost always) pre-tape my courses, even if I'm not using a vetter. That way, when I put the bags out under time pressure, I'm not having to wonder if I'm putting them in the right spot.

Bag thieves are a real problem; many of them belong to the Boy Scouts. I was at a meet a week ago where the scouts used the course during the day and the orienteers were going to do it at night. Only problem was that the "helpful" scout leaders brought all the controls in. Fortunately, the meet director found out about it and got the controls back out.

We rarely lose a control on an advanced course, but we have to put the easy controls out right before the meet or they'll be gone.

-- Eric (ejbuckley@earthlink.net), October 29, 2002.