2021 Wednesday Evening #2 – Big Finn Hill Park

WEDNESDAY EVENING

Wednesday, July 28 at Big Finn Hill – parking at Finn Hill in Kirkland, WA

Meet Director: Will Enger

The second event in the 2021 Wednesday Evening Series will be held at Big Finn Hill Park, in Kirkland. The Wednesday Evening Series is our most relaxed, casual set of navigation events, held in local parks once the weather warms up. These events are a little more low-key than those in the Winter League, and we typically offer a barbeque afterward for all participants.

Events in the Wednesday Evening Series are generally less challenging (both physically and navigationally) than many of our other events, and are therefore great for beginners and those less experienced with orienteering – while also offering a challenge to longtime participants of the sport.

We will be offering the usual post-race fare, with the familiar precautions – please practice social distancing, avoid congregating in large groups, and wear a mask when around others. Thank you!

COURSES

Course designer(s): Cynthia Bartok, Jon Olson

Course

Controls

Length (km)

Climb (m)

1

8

1.2

25

2

8

2.0

55

3

12

3.1

95

4

17

4.9

155

How are courses measured?

Courses are measured as the crow flies, in a direct line from control to control. Unless you have wings, you will travel farther than this distance! Courses are measured in kilometers, so a good rule of thumb is to simply round up to miles to estimate how far you will go. So in a 5 kilometer race, you’ll likely travel up to 5 miles.

COURSE NOTES

Big Finn Hill offers a great mixture of terrain, with open fields and vegetated woods that vary from slow to fight levels of “run-ability.”  The park is divided into two sections – east and west of Juanita Drive. The eastern side of the park includes ball fields, open areas, and wooded trails. The western side of the park includes more challenging terrain characterized by a dense maze of trails, elevation change, and complex route choice decisions. The park allows off-trail navigation, and if you anticipate doing so we recommend leg protection due to nettle, oregon grape, and holly bushes throughout the park.
Thanks to Dave Tallent who spent countless hours updating the Big Finn Hill map, the map accurately reflects the current state of trails, vegetation, and features in the park.  Due to the density of trails in many areas, we will be using a large format 1:5000 scale map for this event. The courses will include many newly mapped features and courses 2, 3, and 4 will strongly emphasize route choice. Here are some notes for each course:
Course 1: This is a beginner’s course with controls placed on prominent features or at trail intersections. Runners on this course will remain on the eastern side of the park and will not cross Juanita Drive.
Couse 2: This is an intermediate course that is also limited to the eastern side of the park. The course will bring runners deeper into the trail network and will have some moderate level of route choice decisions.
Course 3: This shorter advanced course will include areas on both sides of the park. As runners cross Juanita Drive, they must use the mandatory crossing on the map (crosswalk with light signals). Please use caution as the road tends to be busy on weekday evenings, and motorists are not always good about stopping when the crosswalk lights are flashing. Please be willing to give up a few seconds to make sure that approaching motorists see you and that you can safely cross the street. We did not place controls right at the crosswalk, but control placement will lead logically to the mandatory crossing point. Once across the road, runners will find a dense network of trails with plenty of route choices, including on-trail and off-trail options.
Course 4: We have designed a separate advanced course for this event (rather than combining courses 2 and 3 as is done for many Wednesday night events). This course will include controls on both sides of the park (see notes for course 3 about the mandatory crossing). Course 4 is more challenging than course 3 in several ways: it is longer, it includes more elevation gain, and it includes some required off-trail navigation.

SCHEDULE

5:00 pm – Registration and starts open.

7:00 pm – Registration and starts close.

8:00 pm – Course closure.

Why is there a start window?

This event uses an interval start, which means that participants are started in waves instead of all at once. When you arrive at the start tent, find the chute for your course and follow the start volunteer’s instructions.

PRICES

PRE-REGISTRATION PRICES
$17 base price
– subtract $5 for CascadeOC members
– subtract $5 for using your own e-punch

DAY-OF-EVENT REGISTRATION
$20 base price
– subtract $5 for CascadeOC members
– subtract $5 for using your own e-punch

Become a member for $5-20

Buy your own e-punch for $38

What’s an e-punch?

An e-punch records your race. At each control, you’ll dip the e-punch into an electronic box, which will beep and flash as confirmation. After you finish, you’ll download the e-punch at the download tent and get a receipt that show which controls you visited and how long you took between each; these are your “splits.”

Part of the fun of orienteering is comparing your splits with people who completed the same course, and discussing the routes you took!

SIGN UP

Online pre-registration closes: 7/27/2021

Day-of-event registration is available by cash or check, made payable to Cascade Orienteering Club

Learn more about volunteering

Volunteers make these events happen! You can volunteer and participate on the same day, plus earn volunteer points to earn a free meet.

LOCATION

PARKING

Parking will be located in the lot accessed from Juanita Drive via NE 138th Street.

CARPOOL

Looking for a carpool? Join the Yahoo listserv and share your request to find a ride.

THE MAP

There are delights here for beginners and advanced orienteers alike. Buildings, ballfields, and trails provide a great beginner and intermediate area, while the forest is a giant knot of trails that can terrorize any advanced orienteer who becomes lazy about reading contours or using their compass to check the direction of the trail.

Read more on the map page

Navigational Challenge: 5/10

Physical Challenge: 5/10

SAFETY & ETIQUETTE

Return to the Finish
All participants MUST return to the finish and download their e-punch or turn in their punch card.

Even if you have not finished your course, you must still return to the the finish and confirm with event staff that you have returned safely.

Out of Bounds
Some areas may be marked out of bounds. It is imperative to respect these boundaries to maintain our relationships with land managers. Participants MUST NOT go out of bounds. Any participant caught going out of bounds will be disqualified.

Course Closure
All participants MUST return to the finish by course closure time. If a participant does not return by course closure, event volunteers will begin coordinating a search party.

If you need a long time on the course, start as early in the start window as possible, wear a watch, and be prepared to cut your course short to make it back by the course closure time.

Whistle
All participants MUST carry a whistle on the course. Complimentary whistles are available at the start tent (please only take one).

If you are injured on the course and need assistance, blow three long blasts to call for help.

If you hear a call for help, abandon your course to find the person in distress.

Voices
Part of the fun and fairness of orienteering is navigating your own course, so please be polite when you find a checkpoint and don’t holler that you’ve found it.