2024-25 Winter League #4 – Hamlin Park

WINTER LEAGUE

Saturday, December 21 at Hamlin Park-Kellogg Middle School in Shoreline, WA

Meet Director: Michelle Kastner

  • Pre-registration is required for ALL Winter League Events. There is NO day-of-event registration.
  • Public Reg will close 12/18/24 at 11:59 pm for this meet.
  • PUBLIC start time sign-ups are open from Dec 7th at 3 pm to Dec 18th at 11:59 pm.
  • ALL runners will be called to enter the start procedure line 8 minutes prior to their assigned/picked start time. Please be race-ready when your name is called.
  • 2024-25 Start Procedures can be found here.
  • Read the 2024-25 WIOL Rules here and the 2024-25 Public Rules here.
  • Site map is here.
  • Start list is here.

Winter League is the Pacific Northwest’s premier competitive orienteering series for all ages.

  • Elementary, Middle School, High School and College students compete under the banner of the Washington Interscholastic Orienteering League (WIOL).
  • Winter League public courses offer a range of categories from a competitive long advanced category to non-competitive beginner-friendly categories at every event!

COURSES

Course designer(s): Eric Jones

WIOL Courses

Course  Controls Length  Climb 
Elementary 13 1.3 km 35 m
Middle School 14 1.7 km 65 m
Rookie Female 13 1.8 km 60 m
Rookie Male 14 1.9 km 70 m
JV Female /JV College 15 2.8 km 115 m
JV Male 15 2.8 km 110 m
Varsity 19 4.0 km 155 m
Collegiate Varsity 23 5.3 km 180 m

 

Public Courses

Course  Controls Length  Climb 
Beginner 13 1.3 km 35 m
Advanced Beginner 13 1.8 km 60 m
Intermediate 15 2.8 km 115 m
Short Advanced 17 3.8 km 155 m
Long Advanced 23 5.3 km 180 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

Welcome to Hamlin Park!
The park is mapped at sprint standard and all courses are printed at 1:4000 scale, 3m contours, on 8.5” by 14” paper.
 Hamlin is relatively small compared to our previous venues – to reach desired distances / winning times, longer courses will feel like a long sprint, testing your ability to stay focused as you bounce around the map. I hope you enjoy!
 The park is primarily forested with a dense trail network, plus a few baseball fields. The forest ranges from true “white” (open fast running!) woods, to thick and overgrown. There is some off-trail navigation opportunity on most courses other than beginner, but even when off trail you’ll rarely be more than 25m from a trail. Of course, with density comes complexity – you’ll need to make many decisions as you navigate between controls. And there are a LOT of controls out there! As always, check your codes. This is not the rootstock you’re looking for.
 Large hills and re-entrants divide the park into a few sections. Participants on longer courses may want to pay attention to contours to help make a decision between “over” vs “around.” For re-location, use your compass to verify trail directions and junction shapes. Don’t be afraid to bail out to larger trails – you should never be too far from one. Contours can also be helpful for re-location.
The bomb cyclone took down 20+ large trees in a couple areas across the park, and cleanup is ongoing as of 2 weeks before this event. Many trails, especially those in white areas, may be difficult to see as tree branch debris still litters the ground. (And don’t forget this is a 1:4000 map, so *everything* comes quickly.) Trails are mostly unblocked and good running other than one area in the east that has been marked out of bounds for safety reasons, where the blowdown is thick and cleanup has been ongoing. There is no on-the-ground-marking of this out-of-bounds area (no fence, tape, etc) as it has been changing slightly every week. Courses were adjusted to avoid this area. At this point I don’t believe any advantage could be gained by crossing the out of bounds, and I hope you’ll respect the rules and avoid it even if you think otherwise.
Based on my last visit, participants on courses 1 and 2 will need to cross one large fallen tree that has not yet had a section cut for the trail. This may be clear by event day. If needed, pin flags will help identify the easiest crossing and routes to/from the trail.
Run-out Start:
To help with event center logistics, all courses use a run-out start. On your map you’ll see a small T symbol rather than a triangle where the start box is – you’ll still punch the start box here to start your time. You’ll then follow a dashed line on your map, and pin flags on the ground, about 100m down a trail. This is a required route. At the end of this, on your map you’ll find the traditional start triangle, and in the real world you’ll find a control flag without an SI box. You are required to pass by here, but there is no punch box. From here, take whatever route you’d like to the control marked 1 on your map and continue as normal.
To summarize:
  1. Punch the start box on the sawhorse after tent 4, this starts your time.
  2. Follow the pin flags ~100m to a control flag.
  3. At this control flag, there is no SI box to punch. This is where the start triangle is on your map
  4. Navigate to control number 1.
  5. Have fun!
Map Flip:
Varsity, Short Advanced, and Long Advanced all have a map flip to keep things slightly more legible – when you get to a control that doesn’t have a line out of it to continue, flip your map over. The transition control is on both sides – on part 2 it also has a “start” triangle inscribed. You’ll also find a “map flip” icon on the control description sheet.
For example: if your map seemingly ends at #9, when you get there, flip your map over and you’ll find #9 marked again, with a triangle, and a line to #10.
Symbology:
This map uses a green x for stumps, and a brown triangle for rootstocks. Control descriptions do not differentiate between these features, so pay attention to your map to know what you’re looking for.
A black x on the map is typically a bench or sign, a black o on the map is typically a pole. Control descriptions use the same for these “special items.”

SCHEDULE

This event is Pre-Registration Only.

Schedule:

9 am – Info Tent and Newcomer Instruction Opens

9:38 am – Start process begins

9:46 am – First start

12:40 pm – Last Start

2:40 pm – Course Closure

PRICES

PRE-REGISTRATION PRICES
$22 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. Max group size is 4 participants.

Become a member for $5-25

Purchase your own e-punch for $40-$80

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

There is no Day-of-Event registration. Pre-registration will close Wednesday 12/18/2024 at 11:59:00 PM.

Remember to also sign up for a start time for public runners.  Start time sign-ups for WL #4 will be open from December 7th at 3 pm to Dec 18th at 11:59 pm.

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 for this event will be at Kellogg Middle School’s parking lots in front and behind the school, plus the small lot for the park off of 25th, and also street parking along 25th Ave NE as well as all side streets in the area. See site map here.

CARPOOL

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

THE MAP

With its combination of varied contours and runnable forest, Hamlin Park was one of our favorite training maps for years. The contours remain, but the park has increasingly focused on planting new forest undergrowth–perhaps necessary in a popular city park that gets constant foot traffic. So today most contour recognition happens from the trails.

Read more on the map page

Navigational Challenge: 5/10

Physical Challenge: 3/10

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.