Even the "Short" course was epic and
breezy - short being a relative term. Folks on the Long
course had it warmest at the start in Miller Knox. And the
Middle was meaty. This experience will never be duplicated,
at least by me - it was an interesting corridor to use once,
particularly on the Long course, giving a tour of the
waterfront from Richmond to Berkeley. It was a dream of mine
to do such an event and I'm glad I realized
it.
There were so many different course
categories with foot / duathlon, age, and length that it
seems almost everybody won something. Great spirit and
energy from all the participants seeking an adventure into
new places in their own backyard - er, frontyard, since it's
the coastline. Bruce Wolfe must know everything about the
East Bay and he went to a few unfamiliar spots (and he
didn't even see all the Long course, since he was on the
Medium.) Sorry about the challenging checkpoint Q
& A at Albany Hill and the Albany
Bulb.
What a diverse group of participants.
We had almost as many women as men, one junior, and folks
from their 20s to their 70s. Experienced veterans, fast
learning newcomers, and some intermediates. Orienteers from
the Bay
Area Orienteering Club,
adventure race teams such as Crossfit
Adventure, and other folks who
were looking for adventure. I am especially impressed
by all the individuals and teams who did the Long course on
foot - it was over 24 miles actual distance, according to
one GPS track. And we had some faraway visitors - Dean
from the Adventure Turtles returned from Texas, and Bill and
Heidi of the Whidby Island Nerds happened to be visiting
from Washington state.
Thanks to everybody for making it such
a great time. A big thanks to hired hand Ben Legg who helped
with registration, friendly navigation clinics, checkpoint
pickup at Miller Knox, and retrieving the remote aid
station. Ben also rented out his sharp Berkeley waterfront
map which was used on all the courses.
click any photo to see the event
album!
Results
Short - Foot - Open Women
Anonymous 77:45
Short - Foot - Open Men
Anonymous 44:16
Alex Van Hoff 107:25
Short - Foot - Masters Women
Judy Koehler 127:40
Rosemary Johnson 149:33
Sally Sweetser 176:00
Short - Foot - Masters Mixed
Adventure Turtles - Nancy Lindeman, Jim Fish, Dean
French 150:54
John Pattillo, Laura Pattillo 197:37
Short - Choose Your Own Adventure - Masters
Men
Alex Newman 154:30
Medium - Foot - Masters Men
Deron Van Hoff 127:49
Mark Blair 209:30
Medium - Duathlon - Open Mixed
Anonymous, Stephen Pepe 140:28
Michelle Bender, David Galuszka 189:33
Medium - Duathlon - Open Men
Jason Lorenz 149:18
Medium - Duathlon - Masters Mixed
McKinley - Robin McDonnell, Susan Church 246:10
Medium - Duathlon - Masters Men
Bruce Wolfe 122:21
Long - Foot - Masters Mixed
Whidby Island Nerds - Bill Cusworth, Heidi Cusworth
318:45
Long - Foot - Masters Men
Greg Favor 302:47
Steve Haas 338:20
Long - Duathlon - Open Mixed
CrossFit Adventure - Nathan Brammeier, Carolyn Scalia, Doug
Scalia, Gary Maldonado, Jen Merlo 293:43
Anonymous 296:50
Long - Duathlon - Open Men
Steve Gregg 229:12
Long - Choose Your Own Adventure - Masters Women
Vicki Woolworth 248:20
Long - Choose Your Own Adventure - Masters Mixed
Skinner Family - Nadine Skinner, John Skinner 390:00
Long - Choose Your Own Adventure - Open Men
Shura Kretchetov 272:46
Original
Announcement
Register
online (see Registration
form, waiver) | return to
terraloco
home
It's Urban. It's Wild. Grab your
Map, and get those Checkpoints!
Maybe you're up for a fun 5km or 10 km
jaunt around the Albany and Berkeley shoreline... or start
at Point Richmond for the long haul course: 30 km connects
all the dots from Miller Knox Regional Shoreline to Aquatic
Park in Berkeley. Checkpoint highlights include: Eastshore
State Park, the Albany Bulb, Albany Hill, Cesar Chavez Park
at the Berkeley Marina, Rosie the Riveter National Monument,
coastside neighborhoods, and some historical industrial
zones.
All courses feature a custom-made
1:15000 map; interesting, non-trivial navigation; and
awesome checkpoints. At some checkpoints, you will find a
colored bag with a unique pin punch to mark your course
passport; at others, you will answer a simple
multiple-choice question on your passport regarding a
feature at the checkpoint.
Enjoy the adventure on foot or as a
duathlon - the Medium and Long courses will have a segment
where you may use a bicycle to complete it. Do it
solo or in a team.
More detailed course statistics and
information will be published prior to the
event.
Event Schedule:
09:00 Registration open, Miller Knox Regional Shoreline, 30
km Long course
09:30 Mass Start, 30 km Long course
11:00 Registration open, Aquatic Park, Berkeley, 5 km Short
and 10 km Medium courses
11:30 Mass Start, 5 km Short and 10 km Medium courses
11:31 Individual Starts available on 5 km Short and 10 km
Medium courses until 01:00
01:00 Starts close
02:00 Awards
03:00 Courses close
Event Details:
1. Required gear: suitable shoes and clothes for
trekking in the weather, cell phone, pen or pencil.
(No "bushwacking" is necessary, so shorts are okay.
But, there are some steep off-trail slopes on the Long
course, so pick shoes accordingly.)
2. Recommended gear: personal hydration system,
snacks, sunscreen
3. Optional gear: compass, bicycle - and if you
bring a bicycle, you must have a helmet and a lock
4. Prohibited gear: GPS (a tracker watch
with no map display is okay, or use a sealed envelope if you
want to record your track with a display device.)
5. Provided gear: terraloco gives you an 11" x
17", double-sided map in a clear, plastic map case with a
passport for recording your checkpoints
6. Aid stations: the start point at Miller Knox
and the start/finish at Aquatic Park are also hubs for
segments / loops on the course, water and snacks are
available at each.
7. Picnic! We have a picnic spot reserved at Aquatic
Park; terraloco will provide some goodies, but also bring
your own!
8. Results & Awards: Categories for each
course include foot and duathlon divisions and Open and
Masters (average age 40+) age divisions.
Cost and Registration:
|
register
by Friday, May 28
|
register
by Monday, June 7
|
register
after Monday, June 7
|
Short Course, about 5
km
|
$10 per
person
|
$12.50 per
person
|
$15 per
person
|
Medium Course, about10
km
|
$15 per
person
|
$20 per
person
|
$25 per
person
|
Long Course, about 30
km
|
$25 per
person
|
$30 per
person
|
$40 per
person
|
How to register and pay: use
terraloco's online
registration form for this
event. Then, I will send you a Google Checkout email
invoice for the appropriate price - see the table. You may
either pay the invoice by credit card or send a check to the
included address. Or, you may pay at Miller Knox if you're
doing the Long Course. (However, payment cannot be accepted
at Aquatic Park for any course, as per City of Berkeley
regulations.) You may cancel your registration for any
reason and receive a full refund; I will also do this
if you are unable to make the event.
If you're on a team, each team member
must do the registration and payment process individually.
On the event day when you sign your forms, you may also sign
up your team on the list of teams for results
purposes.
Course Statistics:
1. Long = 27.4 km total = 2.4 km trek
on foot + 18.4 km bike or trek + 6.7 km trek on foot;
climb from sea level to 360 ft. in Miller Knox and from sea
level to 300 ft. on Albany Hill.
2. Medium = 16.2 km total = 9.5 km bike or trek + 6.7 km
trek on foot; climb from sea level to 300 ft. on Albany
Hill.
3. Short = 6.7 km trek on foot, minimal climb.
Maps and terrain and
hazards:
The map is a "combo" of photos,
orienteering maps, and orienteering symbols on top of a
USGS base with 20 foot contours, produced at
a scale of 1:15000.
All courses:
All courses will use Ben Legg's sharp
map of the Berkeley Marina and Aquatic Park. 1:10000, 2.5
meter contours, ISSOM standard. There will be some 1:5000
detail blowups provided. There are some grassy patches
you'll have to negotiate but I didn't observe any poison
oak, I just came out with a lot of stickers in my socks.
Make sure you don't go in or through the forbidden
areas, not only are they marked olive green on the map,
they are also fenced off.
Medium and Long
course:
The portion of the course in Albany
and Berkeley will mostly use a street map; Albany Hill will
show the USGS base with some streets and trailheads, but it
won't be completely field checked. At the Albany Bulb,
there's about a mile long round trip on dirt trails which
are more appropriate for a mountain bike; a road bike might
get a bit banged up. Or just lock your bike at the end of
the pavement - there's a rack of bike locks.
Long course only:
Miller Knox: There's an
orienteering map laid over the EBRPD map; the trails on
the EBRPD map are accurate, but note that a few more
unofficial ones have been added by people making shortcuts.
The contours should help you figure out if you're at the
proper trail junction or not. Off trail on the orienteering
map part of the map, things have very much changed in the
rough southern third of the map. It's not recommended you
cross the rough open with scattered thick vegetation down
there. Off trail on the EBRPD part of the map - going
on the more open hillsides is not too bad, but beware, the
rest is thick vegetation with a lot of it poison oak. Stay
on the trails to stay out of it! You'll still get exposed to
the grass which is high and encroaching on many of the
trails.
The rest of the "First page" of
the map: You'll see a sign that says "Bikes Go Back" if
you follow the optimum route to checkpoint b3.
Ignore, and proceed. Just be careful not to trip up your
bike on the train tracks in the street. After checkpoint
b4, headed to b5, b6, and b7,
there are many gated communities in the Marina Bay
development. You need not (and cannot) go through them
to get checkpoints. On the map, I've put uncrossable fences
across the streets going into them to help you.
Final Details:
1. So what do I wear? I could do the
whole thing in shorts and trail runners. In Miller Knox and
the Berkeley Marina there are some "stickers" / foxtails to
deal with, which make my legs itch a bit for a few moments,
and populate my socks with seeds. If I had nice breathable
pants I might want to wear those - perhaps switch them on
and off?
2. No poison oak! Unless you are determined to find some -
that would require bushwhacking. But the course is designed
to reward the elegant planner who avoids the bush.
Seriously, this is the most overgrown time of year, after a
very wet spring. The grasses are covering many of the trails
at Miller Knox. In most cases, bushwhacking is not
helpful.
3. Biking - recommended on the Medium and Long courses! Not
available on the Short course. If biking, you need a lock!
If solo, and you need to go where a bike can't go to get a
checkpoint, you'll need to lock your bike up. Most all of it
can be done on a road bike, but there is a section - about 1
mile roundtrip - that's doable on a road bike, but better
with a mountain bike. You have the option of locking the
bike up and trekking it too. Even if you have the mountain
bike, it won't get you all the way to the checkpoint, so
you'll need to lock it to itself after going as far as you
can, or have your partner wait with it. About 50% of the
Medium course distance is bikeable... about 75% of the Long
course distance.
4. Transit / logistics. I think there's enough to go on in
the web page, but let me know if you need help figuring out
how to make it work for you. For Long course participants,
plan on arriving no later than 9:15 at the Richmond Ramblers
clubhouse at Miller Knox. Everybody else, no later than
11:15 at the end of Bancroft in Aquatic Park, Berkeley, for
the mass start, although you can solo start up until
1:00.
5. Checkpoints: All simple question
and answer - multiple choice with three possible answers.
Except, there's a few pin punch control bags at the
beginning of the Long course. There will be one card you
carry to circle answers and, if needed, punch, so you need a
pen or pencil.
6. Aid stations: The start / finish in
Aquatic Park will have water and snacks. There will be
snacks put out on the Bay Trail, marked on the map, for Long
course participants, almost halfway through the Long course.
Also, there will be water and snacks at the start for the
Long course which is also a transition point on the
course.
Directions:
To Aquatic Park (finish for all
courses): Take Interstate 80 to the University Ave. exit in
Berkeley, and head east towards the hills. Make the first
right onto 6th Street. After three blocks, make a right onto
Bancroft Way, and take it until it dead ends. Hopefully,
you'll find parking on the block before the dead end, but
you may have to backtrack a bit more.
Public Transit to Aquatic Park: You
can take a bike on AC Transit buses, BART trains, and Amtrak
trains, and all will get you close. It's 1.6 miles from the
North Berkeley BART station. The AC Transit 51B line runs
down University and can pick you up not far from the North
Berkeley BART on University and take you down to 4th St.,
where you travel south to Bancroft Way and make a right.
Since the Amtrak station is at 4th Street and University,
traveling directions are the same as arriving on the AC
Transit 51B. Schedules are available at http://actransit.org
and http://bart.gov
and http://www.capitolcorridor.org.
To Miller Knox Regional Shoreline
(start for Long Course only):
From I-580 West in Richmond, exit at
Canal Boulevard. Turn left at the light onto
Canal.
From I-580 East (coming from the
bridge), exit at Canal Boulevard. Turn right at the light
onto Canal.
Going on Canal, turn right at the
light onto W. Cutting Bl., then left at the stop sign onto
Garrard Bl. Proceed through the auto tunnel; Garrard becomes
Dornan Drive on the south side of the auto tunnel. The first
parking lot on your left after about 1/4 to 1/2 of a mile is
in front of the Richmond Ramblers clubhouse. You'll see a
control bag on your left at the entrance to the parking lot.
Turn in there and park, I'll have a table set up and a few
chairs.
Public Transit to Miller Knox Regional
Shoreline:
From the Richmond BART / Amtrak
station, take AC Transit bus 72M towards Point
Richmond, and get off at South Garrard Blvd. / Dornan Dr.
& Railroad Ave. / E. Richmond Ave. - this stop
happens to be at Judge G. Carroll Park. Walk on Dornan Drive
south towards the bay - you must go through a tunnel - once
you're out of the tunnel, follow the "driving
directions" in the preceding section.
The 72M bus runs every 30 minutes
on Saturdays. It's about a 10 minute bus ride to the stop
where you start walking toward the park. Schedules are
available at http://actransit.org
and http://bart.gov
and http://www.capitolcorridor.org.
How can I plan for the long
course?
1. Take transit! Both the start and finish are conveniently
located - see the directions above. If you're biking, it's a
short ride from BART and Amtrak in both places.
2. Car buddies: Park one car at Aquatic Park, and park the
other at the Ramblers lot in Miller Knox Regional Shoreline.
It's about a 15 minute drive from one spot to the
other.
Event Contact: Rex, 5 1 0 - 6 8
1 - 6 1 8 1, rex@terraloco.com
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