2023 Wednesday Evening #4 – Big Finn Hill Park
WEDNESDAY EVENING
Wednesday, July 12 at Big Finn Hill – parking at Finn Hill in Kirkland, WA
Meet Director: Will Enger
The fourth event in the 2023 Wednesday Evening Series will be held at Big Finn Hill! The Wednesday Evening Series is our most relaxed, casual set of navigation events, held in local parks once the weather (hopefully) 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 day-of event registration in addition to preregistration. There will be no start time pre-signup.
COURSES
Course designer(s): Jon Olson
Here are the course statistics:
Course 1: 1.1 km, 9 controls, 20m climb
Course 2: 2.0 km, 8 controls, 40m climb
Course 3: 3.1 km, 12 controls, 100m climb
Course 4 (2+3): 5.1 km, 20 controls, 140m climb
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 (from Course Designer Jon Olson):
Big Finn Hill Park is a fun venue with a great mix of open fields and woodland areas with a dense network of trails. The park is divided by Juanita Drive, which is a busy arterial. Courses 1 and 2 will stay entirely on the east side of Juanita Drive, but Course 3 will cross the road. As we have done in the past, we have included a mandatory crossing point at the crosswalk that connects the east and west sections of the park (clearly marked on the map). Please press the button to initiate the crosswalk lights and wait for traffic to stop before crossing the road. In my experience, people are not always good about stopping for the flashing lights, so please be willing to give up a few seconds of time to stay safe.
I have just a few notes about the courses. First, if you are counting trails on any of the courses, please note that some indistinct “social” trails are fairly overgrown. This means that if you are not looking carefully, you might easily miss that you just walked or ran past a trail. The major trails, however, are clearly marked and updated on the current map. As for the individual courses, Course 1 will be entirely on-trail and is designed for those with little to no orienteering experience. Course 2 introduces some choices about routes, and some controls are placed a little bit off trail but not far enough to require any off-trail navigation. Course 3 takes advantage of the dense network of trails on the west side of the park, with most controls having multiple route choices. Many controls are placed in off-trail locations, but none are “deep off-trail” – meaning that you can decide if it is best to stay on-trail or to go off-trail as you navigate from control to control.
As you consider off-trail navigation, please note that most vegetation is denser than it appears on the map, as nettle and blackberry have grown in areas that were open and runnable just a couple of months ago. As such, I would strongly advise lower leg protection if you do plan to use off-trail routes. One other note on Course 3 is that the west side of the park is divided into north and south sections, with a residential road running through them (NE 138th Place). Although there is a crosswalk on this road, it is not a mandatory crossing point, meaning that you can cross anywhere on that road. That said, please use caution when crossing the road, especially since the sun tends to be in drivers’ eyes when they are heading west in the evening hours. I hope you enjoy these courses and would love to receive feedback after you finish your event!
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
$22 base price
– subtract $5 for CascadeOC members
– subtract $5 for using your own e-punch
DAY-OF-EVENT REGISTRATION
$25 base price
– subtract $5 for CascadeOC members
– subtract $5 for using your own e-punch
Participating as a group? Just $5 for each additional adult (16+) group
member, no cost for additional minors.
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:
Day-of-event registration is available by cash or check, made payable to Cascade Orienteering Club
LOCATION
PARKING
Parking will be located in the park’s main lot accessed from Juanita Drive NE via NE 138th St.
CARPOOL
Looking for a carpool? Join the club email group 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 pageSAFETY & 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.
