Amazingly, even after I'd warned about restrictions and long walks to Start, 242 of you showed up, even without any JROTC cadets, and not counting the two sadly discouraged families who gave up and went home without even starting their courses after hiking all the way to Sand Lake looking for our Start table. We apologize to them most sincerely. It’s fair to say that doesn’t happen at FLO events very often.
And more amazing was the bounty of volunteers: so many that several helpers offered, but weren’t needed. I can remember John Ide as Event Coordinator, Missy Kaler, Artur Intson and Nikki Wright on Start, Greg Owens as Shuttle driver and Start setup. And then there was “Doc” Toney, Mike Dempsey (who also put together the 30,000th Award and hustled allover that day doing it), Andy Canelos, Kim Johnson and Russ Steinke on Registration, with Nikki Wright, Jerry Sirmans and Joe Maliszewski retrieving controls, plus Jonathan Linforth (who also vetted and ribboned all my controls beforehand) and Andy Canelos (again) setting controls. So folks like the Pyros's and Alicia Vaughn, who were available, simply enjoyed a wonderful day hiking. I'm sure there were other registration helpers and Start/Finish helpers whose names I've forgotten. Thank you all.
The day was perfect for orienteering. It never got (much) above 80, the sun was out all day, and that 72F Spring was right there for anyone to enjoy.
The story of the day was the 30,000th FLO starter, photographed and celebrated by Missy and Artur, as I understand it, out at the Start Line presenting the stuff Mike D. had assembled. Details in the newsletter. Lots and lots of scout groups. So many newcomers I don’t think I stopped talking for 90 minutes doing instruction for one group after another. That’s great news. Now I have just one request - please lets all agree to seriously try to limit the size of groups going out together, however young and however inexperienced. Large groups just simply poison the experience for all. The smaller the better. I’ll pledge to do my part to persuade leaders to split up, registration table folks will try to urge the same, but leaders reading this need to take it to heart. Please understand: others will enjoy the day more and your kids will learn more, to the degree you “keep it small”. That last is most important: your kids will learn more in a smaller group. Remember that we have a secret subversive agenda here: we are teaching them things while they have fun, map literacy being just the most obvious. But a whole curriculum of learning is underway when they successfully manage their own navigation in the big wide woods. End of sermon 101....
I must tell you more about the day's adventures. First, the rangers let a few of us park out near the remote Start to set controls early and instructed us to park in the campground sanitary dump station loop. Simple enough but we all remember how we were reprimanded in years past for parking on the grassy shoulders, so we kept our wheels on pavement. That blocked the dump station. Oops. One camper wishing to ‘dump’ was angry enough to demand we be towed. But we had our instructions and in the end the rangers understood we were not at fault but not before John Ide met me in the woods with the above quote about a likely reprimand. Next comes the bear story. A carcass was reported by Chris Johnson on red - somewhere between #10 and #11. I called Chris afterward to confirm he’d told rangers about it (actually ‘them’, since he saw another, older, skull nearby) and in passing he explained why he hadn’t been O’ing in 6 months. “Had a skydiving accident”. After I congratulated him for being able to report in person on such a thing, he also told me he’s soon moving out of FLO country, to Texas. So we wish him Godspeed, full healing of that ankle, and thanks for the hot competition he’s provided, lo these many years. And then there was Jonathan Linforth’s almost-a-parking-ticket, but only a Warning, received from a DER patrolman because Jonathan had actually parked OUTSIDE the Park on Ponkan Road to place advance red/green/brown controls early in the morning, jumping the fence to do so. This as you may guess is a no-no without prior dispensation, in writing. Gotta remember that ‘writing’ part.
I was very pleased to see the winning times on White, Yellow and Orange. Those were just about as targeted and also just about equal the USOF guidelines. Troop 274 seems to be working their way up to Orange course competence very quickly. Keith Patillo should probably be congratulated for winning orange, since Jerry Sirmans only ran orange because he dropped down from his usual red in order to leave time to retrieve. A very generous gesture.
Congratulations go to Dave Gottschalk who blew my red course out of the water, since I’d predicted a winning time of 90 minutes. That’s a pretty long red course, you say? Yup. About 7.7 km makes for challenge enough, but I put them through some unfamiliar territory, with some green-ishly slow going, so I was chuckling diabolically in letting folks know it would be tough. On Green Mitch Jarvis nosed out Joe Malizsewski and Nikki Wright, each being just over 100 minutes. Why is that significant? It shows why you should never slack off (even for 24 seconds Nikki) even when it seems like you’ve been out a long time. Usually everyone else is taking a long time too. As a course designer I was especially pleased to see so few DNF's. That's reassurance that even if some of the courses were longish and physically grueling, they were not unfair.
Name | Time |
BSA 274 #3 | 34:20 |
BSA 274 #4 | 35:02 |
BSA 274 #5 | 37:45 |
BSA 274 #1 | 38:15 |
Arnold Toney | 40:02 |
BSA 234 | 40:35 |
BSA 225 #2 | 45:00 |
GSA 4140 | 47:38 |
BSA 274 #2 | 48:08 |
Rick Holley | 54:42 |
Karen Pyros | 55:00 |
BSA 225 #3 | 62:50 |
BSA 225 #1 | 69:03 |
Wayne Sloymoker | 73:00 |
Aaron Lowe Grp | 75:00 |
BSA 234 | 77:00 |
Name | Time |
BSA 274 ‘B’ | 48:15 |
Pack 183 Parker | 49:05 |
All Girls Team | 51:32 |
Pack 183 Smith | 64:00 |
BSA 274 ‘A’ | 65:00 |
David Hall | 66:00 |
RK Hill | 70:30 |
Melanie Tundall | 70:49 |
Pack 183 | 70:56 |
William Bekker | 71:30 |
Delahuny | 71:49 |
Pack 183 Frey | 73:35 |
Jeff Whitt | 74:00 |
Pack 173 #1 | 76:00 |
George Pyros | 78:25 |
Pack 173 #2 | 79:58 |
Team Maria | 83:18 |
Old Ladies | 88:00 |
Hot Chicks | 88:35 |
Den 5 Brian Mullen | 88:39 |
Jeff & Daniel Whitt | 114:32 |
Geiger 161 | 120:00 |
Riccaboni 161 | 120:00 |
Paula & Ronnie Pitino | 124:00 |
Name | Time |
Sirmans | 45:35 |
Keith Patillo | 48:30 |
Missy Kaler | 54:17 |
Chloe Tochenhagen | 59:00 |
Schwietenman | 59:50 |
Pure Ownage | 63:40 |
Chris Rusch | 64:26 |
Alisha Vaugh | 70:27 |
Tim Ziegler | 71:17 |
All Girls Team | 78:33 |
PBARCRAZY_S | 84:30 |
Rebels | 93:20 |
Pownd | 93:40 |
John Joiner & Laurie | 105:35 |
Cindy Lavigne | 124:00 |
Pradella | 128:50 |
Name | Time |
Eric Benton | 86:20 |
David Webster | 89:37 |
Rodemeyer | 89:37 |
Russ Steinke | 106:07 |
Stepanther | 135:00 |
Carlson Family | 155:43 |
Name | Time |
Mitch Jarvis | 91:47 |
Joe Maliszewski | 105:36 |
Nicole Wright | 106:00 |
Mike Fleming | 110:00 |
Mike Dempsey | 124:55 |
John Ide | 138:16 |
Brian & Heather | 143:18 |
Keyes/Schmidt | 151:00 |
Lost | 165:57 |
Name | Time |
Dave Gottshalk | 80:47 |
Artur Intson | 106:51 |
Blitskreeg | 107:44 |
Chris Johnson | 113:00 |
Debbie Gottschalk | 116:20 |
Bryan Shultz | 127:23 |
Ray Bruneau | 128:20 |
Susan Hewlings | 156:00 |
Andrea Canelos | 160:43 |
John Hollingsworth | 167:09 |
Lundin | 173:23 |
David Hatten | 188:56 |
Hot Runners | 219:00 |
Nolebuc | DNF |
Joerg Doerner | DNF |
CPDM-Lost | DNF |
Name | Time |
DNF | Did Not Finish |
DQ | Disqualified (Missed Controls) |
OT | Over 3 Hour Time Limit |