O-Marathon
Nov 7th, 2007 by speedy
Valley Forge Battle to the End O’ Marathon.
What
An Orienteering race of full Marathon distance - 42.2km/26 miles.
- This is the first known Orienteering event to be held in the US that is of full Marathon (42.2km) distance.
- A half-marathon option is available.
- This is a fundraiser for the US Orienteering Team & DVOA.
When
Saturday, December 15th, 2007.
- Normal mass-start is 9AM, early-start at 7AM available on request, course closes at 4PM.
- Cutoff times will be in place to make sure everyone is done before dark (which comes around 4:45pm):
- 1/2-way-point: 12:30pm.
- 3/4-point: 2:15pm.
- Please arrive at the event and check in at least 30 minutes prior to the start.
- Please contact angelicariley[at]yahoo[dot]com to request an early start.
Where
The start & finish (and halfway point of the marathon) will be at Washington’s Headquaters, Valley Forge National Historic Park, Valley Forge, PA. (Just northwest of the intersection of Routes 252 and 23). From the end of 252 North, turn right onto 23, then left into the parking lot.
Maps
All 3 Valley Forge Park Orienteering maps (1:10,000) & 2 adjoining hybrid (sample) photo/O’ maps (1:15,000) will be used.
Course
- Length Orienteering-measured distance (minimum permitted* distance) is the full 21.1km on each half of the marathon. Actual distance of the ideal route appears to be ~23km on each half.
*(Note you are not permitted to cross into private property marked on the map, or cross freeways, swim wide rivers, or cross high fences or cliffs. Route is measured around such obstacles). - Climb is less than 2%.
- Half: 21.10km, 370m climb, 24 controls.
- Full: 42.20km, 615m climb, 49 controls.
- The navigational difficulty ranges from beginner (White) to intermediate (Orange) level, usually on the easier side of that range. The goal is to allow many people to finish this marathon w/o the need for advanced navigational skills. Figuring out what trail you are on, and planning which to take next is sufficient for the vast majority of the course, with further ‘advanced’ level optimizations possible in some cases.
- The best route is ~30% paved trail*, 40% dirt trail, and 25% off-trail (mostly fields, a little forest), with <5% on the side of roads. (*dirt shoulder usually available if you’re really pavement averse).
- As of 12/7, the course is expected to be clear of snow (1-2 inches today, but weather forecast in the 40’s for next 5 days).
- Course Setter is Wyatt Riley.
Gear
- You probably don’t want to wear metal spiked shoes due to the amount of pavement.
- Full leg covering would be good through the fields and forests, although those are mostly avoidable if you’re willing to run a little longer.
Aid Stations
- At 13km, 21km, 28km, 31km, 35km, there will be aid stations with water, Gatorade, Coke, Mt. Dew, and bananas.
- Additional water at winterized drinking fountains will likely be available at 9km, and 38km (although these can freeze up - if that happens we’ll drop a few water gallons beside one or more of the drinking fountains.
- The halfway point (21km) is the same as the start/finish, so feel free to leave further aid items for yourself there, e.g. in your car.
Controls
Controls will be a mixture of wire flags & regular orienteering bags, some of which will have Epunching for splits and verificaiton that you got all the controls, in order.
Accomodation
Contact angelicariley[at]yahoo[dot]com if you’d like to reserve some floor space to sleep on the night before/after, just 2 miles from the start/finish. There are also plenty of hotels nearby.
Registration & Cost
Online pre-registration is required and available for $26 (”miles” price) at Active.com (closes 12/10). On-site, day-of-event registration is also available at a cost of $42 (”kilometers” price), if you email the event director angelicariley[at]yahoo[dot]com by Thirsday morning, 12/13, to make sure we print a set of maps for you! Additonal contributions to the US Orienteering Team are encouraged, but certainly not required.
Other
Some info also available via DVOA and Attackpoint.
The background
The course setter, his wife, and some friends have never run a Marathon, and aren’t particularly interested in doing so on a paved road… So we thought - how about an Orienteering Marathon, mostly on trails? This is it! Your chance to do so! Quite possibly your one chance, as we do not plan to make this an annual event…
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2 Responses to “O-Marathon”
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Dear Event Organizers,
This kind of event requires a permit within the park. We would be interested in talking with you about what you are planning on doing on December 15 since setting up water stops, etc is part of your plan in staging an event in the national park.
You can download a copy of our permit application from the website, www.nps.gov/vafo.
You can also speak with our permit staffer, Lisa Waterman, at 610-783-1087.
Will pass along notice of the planned event to the Chief Ranger.
Sincerely,
Barbara L. Pollarine
Deputy Superintendent
Barbara,
Thanks for being so pro-active to find this announcement of the event, and to ensure we’re in the process of getting a permit.
As the latest of many DVOA and Valley Forge Park orienteering events over the past 3 decades, we are aware of the permit process, and Mary Frank of DVOA has already been in contact with Lisa.
I apologize that this process is running so late - I understand that Mary Frank began contacting some park officials as early as a month ago, which was already later than we usually begin the process due to some confusion on our part. Then, I understand that Mary had contact information for a previous permit staffer and it took a while to get us redirected. The good news is that at this point I understand Mary spoke with Lisa Waterman yesterday, and that Lisa was planning to talk one of the park Superintendents, perhaps yourself, yesterday.
Some details you may need: (Mary has probably already given this to Lisa.)
This event will probably be quite small by ‘event’ standards - we currently expect about 30 to 40 people at the start, who will spread out rapidly as they go to find control points in and beyond the park.
We hope to start and finish from the Washington’s HQ parking area, which seems to still have plenty of parking for the small number of people we have, and the typical number of other park users in that lot. The two other ‘aid stations’ are actually outside the park, in nearby neighborhoods.
We do plan to hang controls (flags, tied to tree branches) on the day of the event, in the park, as we do with most orienteering events.
Again I apologize that we are running behind in the permit process, and I appreciate your proactive search to find this event announcement and help ensure we’re contacting the right people!
- Wyatt Riley, Course Setter & Co-Event-Director