2023-24 Winter League Celebration Weekend Relay – Luther Burbank Park

WINTER LEAGUE

Sunday, February 18 at Luther Burbank Park (north entrance) in Mercer Island, WA

  • Pre-registration only for this event. There is NO day-of-event registration.
  • Registration closes on 2/15/24 at 11:59pm for this meet.
  • Mass start at 11 am for first leg.
  • Site map is here.

To celebrate the end of another successful Winter League season, we are hosting a low-cost 3-person WL Relay on Sunday, February 18th. We hope you join us for the fun and excitement! 

How it will work:

  1. Gather your team of three and decide your team name and who is running which leg.
    • Legs 1 and 3 will be equal in distance and difficulty. If you choose Leg 1, you will be part of the mass start at 11 am.
    • Leg 2 will be easier than legs 1 & 3. Leg 2 will be equivalent to JV Rookie/Advanced Beginner.
    • If you want to participate but do not have a team you can do that too!
  2. Everyone registers in the Public Registration system here.  When you register:
    • ONLY if ALL three team members were WIOL runners this season, choose WIOL Relay (Leg 1, 2, or 3).
    • All others choose OPEN Relay (Leg 1, 2, or 3).
    • There are no other restrictions when forming a team.
    • Be sure to tell us your team name and list of teammates when you register.
    • If you want to participate but do not have a team, just choose the seventh-course option “I don’t have a team, please pair me up” and we will do that for you.

COURSES

Course designer(s): Nancy Devine

Course distances will be provided here once the courses are finalized.

Course  Controls  Length  Climb
Leg 1 20 3.5 km 80 m
Leg 2 16 2.4 km 45 m
Leg 3 20 3.5 km 80 m

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

Get ready for some fast, wet running at Luther Burbank Park on an entirely redrawn map. Ethan O’Connor created a beautiful, accurate map using his GPS tools and outstanding mapping skills.
For the relay, Legs 1 and 3 are a little bit longer with more opportunities for route choices. Leg 2 is set at the advanced beginner/intermediate level and includes a lot of handrails while offering the option to make some route choices, too.
Luther Burbank Park is relatively flat, with an abundance of open grassy areas. The open grassy areas are currently saturated with winter rains and will be sloppy. In addition to the open areas, there are several environmentally sensitive areas (wetlands, eagle habitat) that have been marked out of bounds. Both the olive green and purple hash marks are used for out-of-bounds areas. Be aware that there are also uncrossable fences and walls throughout the park. Make sure that you understand sprint mapping symbols!
A unique feature of Luther Burbank Park is its shoreline along Lake Washington. The water level in Lake Washington is lowered each winter. Since the map at Luther Burbank is used both in the winter and summer, a compromise lake level was used for the map. Since the actual lake level is lower than what is shown on the map, there may be runnable beach that is not shown on the map. Those areas are not out of bounds.

SCHEDULE

9:30 am Team check-in opens
10:00 am Beginner instruction opens
10:30 am Team check-in closes
10:40 am Beginner instruction ends
10:45 am Pre-start briefing; demonstration of exchange procedures
11:00 am Mass start

11:45 am Leg 2 mass start if your teammate is not back to tag you

12:30 pm Leg 3 mass start if your teammate is not back to tag you

1:45 pm Course Closure

This event will be a mass start at 11 am.

PRICES

PRE-REGISTRATION PRICES

$3 or 1.5 volunteer points = base price  (Cascade OC members and non-members, with or without e-punch rental)

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

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 is at Luther Burbank’s North Lot. Overflow parking is available at the Mercer Island Community Event Center.   See site map here.

 

CARPOOL

Looking for a carpool? Join the club email group and share your request to find a ride.

THE MAP

Luther Burbank Park is a long, narrow park with a number of different micro-areas. At the south end is a grassy area, beach distinctive landform sculpture, and parking area. To the west, connected only by trail, is a campus and garden areas. To the north, through the woods, is another parking area and playground, and another open area.  And further north is a dog park and yet another open area.

Together, these form a lot of open, grassy areas, but because they are compartmentalized, the park feels bigger than the 1:5,000-scale indicates, and it is feature-rich for city park course design.

Read more on the map page

Navigational Challenge: 3/10

Physical Challenge: 2/10

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.