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Oakland Ramble: Saturday, August 7, 2010

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How Droopy's Mates managed to return with 5 seconds left is amazing to me! Especially coming in at full speed. Now that's called "leaving it all out there." Hamstrung and Stephen Pepe did the same, as did One Big Guy. The rest of the pack didn't have to sweat too hard coming in to the finish.

The avid runners from San Francisco's Pamakids club cleaned up the course on foot, the only team to do so. (Hamstrung also did, but with the aid of a bike. Interestingly, the Pamakids had a faster time. I was originally going to make it bike or trek, but decided there would be less problems with some of the checkpoints if I didn't advertise this as a bike event - and as it turned out, there was a wedding at one of the checkpoints, so I think it was a good call. What's interesting is, I designed the course to not give the bikers an advantage, and it seems to have worked!)

Penny DeMoss was the top woman with 260 points and finished 3rd place overall amongst the foot pedalers. Droopy's Mates led all the mixed teams with 250 points. Everyone had a good show and interesting stories to tell upon returning. The city is a fun playground, and there's plenty going on to distract you.

I think the weather was great for moving around, but morning seemed to be the optimum time to do the event as things were still warming up. The evening finishers didn't have much reason to stick around and socialize with the chill setting in. Perhaps 3:00 or 4:00 would have been a better time to open registration; I thought we might have a night social in the Oakland uptown district, but that wasn't happening!

Thanks to Judy Koehler for helping with registration and Joe Knapp and Antoine Calando for helping with takedown. Thanks to everybody who showed up; it was fun for me to celebrate two years of terraloco with you.

Results by Category

Family
1. Team 51

Masters Men
1. Ex-Tournesols
2. One Big Guy
3. Ummmm
4. Shura Krechetov
5. Wireboy
6. Jeff Lanam
7. Dead Man Punching

Masters Men - Bike
1. Hamstrung

Masters Women
1. Penny DeMoss
2. Judy Koehler
3. Enjoying the Day

Masters Mixed
1. California Adventure Racing
2. Chris Mellor, Minore Tsuge

Open Men
1. Pamakid Runners
2. Rambling Wreck
3. Stephen Pepe

Open Mixed
1. Droopy's Mates
2. Obama Buendia
3. Trevelyn
4. Savory Breakfast

Overall Results

Team

Total Points

Total Time

Raw Score

- Overtime points

- Wrong Guess points

Pamakid Runnders - John Gieng, Anders Ryerson

310

116:40

310

0

0

Hamstrung - Steve Gregg (bike)

310

119:37

310

0

0

Ex-Tournesols - Joe Knapp, Antoine Calando

280

105:50

280

0

0

Penny DeMoss

260

110:08

260

0

0

Rambling Wreck - Paul Rosenberg

260

116:20

260

0

0

Stephen Pepe

250

119:43

250

0

0

Droopy's Mates - Lisa Horner, Chris Turner

250

119:55

250

0

0

Team 51 - Wendell Doman, Phyllis Lum, Aaron Doman

240

116:53

240

0

0

One Big Guy - Geoffrey Sears

240

119:30

240

0

0

Ummmm - Gavin Wyatt-Mair

240

123:18

280

40

0

Shura Krechetov

220

121:30

240

20

0

California Adventure Racing - Hani Juha, Gwen Juha

180

117:16

180

0

0

Wireboy - Bob Baylor

180

123:27

220

40

0

Jeff Lanam

150

106:34

150

0

0

Dead Man Punching - Mark Blair

150

127:58

230

80

0

Obama Buendia - Noah Winters, Karen Buendia

140

117:20

140

0

0

Judy Koehler

120

117:00

120

0

0

Trevelyn - Trevor Perrin, Evelyn Gee

110

114:20

110

0

0

Chris Mellor, Minori Tsuge

100

125:08

160

60

0

Savory Breakfast - Robert Fleming, Lucy Jackson

100

122:59

130

30

0

Enjoying the Day - Nancy Lindeman, anonymous

90

105:05

90

0

0

Original Announcements

01

02

03

04

05

Cathedral Bldg. 

Cool Apartments 

City Hall 

Route Planning 

After Party 

06

07

08

09

10

Easy Pace 

Find your Way 

Jumpin' Off

In a Hurry 

Chase Scene 

Event Update

A 15 minute planning period has been added to the schedule, after maps are distributed you'll have 15 minutes to plan a route before starting.

Comments from Vladimir, who tested the course: "This venue is one of the most scenic for urban map sport in the Bay Area; certainly the most scenic east side of the Bay. You'll see happy walkers at Lake Merritt, dash through the empty downtown, evade the crowds in Chinatown, and perhaps even wander among tall palm trees if you make it to the far reaches! The course takes you through the nooks you probably never thought were there, even if you live or work in Oakland. The experience can be fast and furious if you so desire, since traffic at this time of the weekend day should be tame. Don't forget sunscreen!"

It's Urban. It's Wild. Grab your Map, and get those Checkpoints!

Discover the hidden wonders of Oakland: Chinatown, Ivy Hill, Adams Pt., Downtown, Lake Merritt, Uptown, Haddon Hill, and more... it all begins in Lakeside Park on beautiful Lake Merritt. You'll spend up to two hours navigating your way to widely scattered checkpoints on a custom 1:15000 map. A possible optimal tour is about 12 miles, so it will be a challenge to get all the checkpoints on foot in the two hour time limit. Do it solo or in a team. You may choose to do the event in the morning or early evening.

Event Schedule: Your choice of start time - morning or early evening!

Morning registration: 10:00, Lakeside Park
Morning maps distributed: 10:30
Morning mass start: 10:45
Morning finish: 12:45

or

Evening registration: 5:00, Lakeside Park
Evening maps distributed: 5:30
Evening mass start: 5:45
Evening finish: 7:45

So how does this work?

When you arrive at the event center near the corner of Grand Ave. & Perkins, you'll complete your registration form and sign the waiver. Before the "mass start," there will be a course briefing with hints and tips to help make it a fun and safe outing. You will get your custom-made 1:15000 scale maps in clear, protective plastic cases and your Q & A sheets. Then you'll have 15 minutes to plan a route. Once the start signal has been given, it's a good idea to take a minute or two to plan your route using the map.

You'll be on foot - no bikes! The detailed map will help you navigate your way to the checkpoints. When you arrive at each, you'll consult a "question and answer" sheet. It might ask how many benches are underneath a tree, or a piece of information from a sign. It should be quick and easy to determine which of the two or three multiple choice answers is correct so you can move on to the next one.

Keep track of the time, and make sure you get back to the finish on time, because you could lose points that you've accumulated on the course!

What will I need?

  • Comfortable clothes for moving around, possibly layers if it's a foggy day.
  • Comfortable walking / hiking / running shoes.
  • Head cover, and apply sunscreen to exposed skin.
  • A watch to keep track of the time limit.
  • A pen or pencil (or two) to mark the answers on your Q & A sheet.
  • Bringing your own water and energy snack is recommended, although there are plenty of places you can stop. There are parks, playgrounds, and buildings with water fountains on the course too. You can also visit the start / finish area for a pit stop during the course.

Optional gear:

  • Compass: it's not necessary, but could help you reorient your map if you're disoriented.
  • GPS logger: it might be fun to record your route, but don't use it to aid your navigation. That's why you have a map!

What happens when we're done?

There's always lots to talk about and people to visit! Hang around and enjoy complimentary refreshments and snacks. We'll tabulate and post results as soon as we can process them. There will be award certificates for the top three teams in "open" and "masters" (average age over 40) categories, and since we have to combine results from the morning and afternoon events, these will be sent out after the event.

Our focus is not on competition; we feel everyone should enjoy themselves whether they break a sweat or take an easy hike. But everyone will be scored so they are recognized for what they've accomplished on the course. There's plenty of skill involved in planning routes for your own optimal tour and then correctly following those routes.

Scoring:

  • 10 points for each correctly answered checkpoint question. No points are awarded if the "visiting time" isn't marked, another reason you need a watch!
  • -10 points for each incorrectly answered checkpoint question. To discourage you from guessing the ones you don't visit!
  • -10 points for each minute (or fraction thereof) you are late to the finish. An evening team returing at 7:46:03 would lose 20 points.

Cost and Registration:

signup online by August 4
signup online by August 6
event day signup
Adults, per person
$10
$15
$20
Students and juniors, per person
$5
$7
$10

When you signup online, you are not committing to show up or pay. Online signups help us prepare for the event. We'd rather be overprepared, and encourage you to sign up ahead of time if you have any interest in attending.

Payment cannot be collected in Oakland parks; you will receive an email invoice if you show up to the event and participate, which you can pay after the event by credit card or by mailing a check.

Directions:

We'll meet at the circular marble fountain in the forest by the eastern bocce ball court. A walking route to the fountain will be signed and streamered from the parkside corner of Grand Ave. and Perkins St.

Take Interstate 580 to Oakland.

From Interstate 580 going east, exit at Grand Ave. Turn right, and drive about 0.4 miles to Perkins St. and find parking.

From Interstate 580 going west, exit at Grand Ave. This exit loops around, so you actually turn right on Grand Ave. Drive about 0.5 miles to Perkins St. and find parking.

Registration will be signed from the corner of Grand Ave. and Perkins St.

However, if you enter Lakeside Park at Bellevue Ave., you may be charged a $3 parking fee if the fee station is staffed. There's also street parking in the neighborhoods along Grand. Meters are active on Saturday.

Public Transit:

AC Transit bus lines NL and 12 stop on Grand near Perkins. Line 57 stops at Grand and MacArthur if you're willing to walk 0.4 miles. If you take BART to 19th St. Oakland, you can catch the NL, or catch the 57 from MacArthur BART. Or to walk or bike from 19th St. BART, head up Broadway to Grand Ave. (near where 24th St. would be), turn right on Grand, and go about 1/2 mile to Perkins.

bart.gov, actransit.org or try the 511 transit planner at 511.org

Event Contact: Rex, 5 1 0 - 6 8 1 - 6 1 8 1, rex@terraloco.com