Choose Your Adventure #3 – Corn Maze!
CHOOSE YOUR ADVENTURE
Sunday, September 15 at Bob’s Corn Maze & Pumpkin Farm in Snohomish, WA
Meet Director: Patrick Nuss
Special changes from earlier years:
- The start is at 8:15am, which is 1 hour earlier than previous years.
- There is no day-of-event pre-registration, in order to streamline check-in and have us start and finish on time.
- We will be parking in a different lot. Enter through the gate to the south at the intersection of Elliott Road & Fales Road. This lot is called “Fales Road Parking Lot” and is ~275 meters east of where we used to park. We will have orienteering signs guiding you.
- Event check-in will be adjacent to the parking. From check-in, there will be about a 450-500 meter walk to the start. And from the start, another 400 meters to the maze.
- There is a map “flip” this year, meaning that both maps #1 and #2 will be printed on the same sheet of paper (as opposed to swapping one piece of paper for another). There will also be a mandatory “halfway” control that you’ll punch between maps #1 and #2.
The Choose Your Adventure series is designed to be extra fun, social, and friendly for beginners, yet interesting for seasoned veterans.
At Choose Your Adventure events, everyone gets the same map with checkpoints marked all over it. Then, after a mass start, you can find as many checkpoints as you want, in whichever order you want! Just be sure to mind the time, since there’s also a time limit. Return to the finish on-time, or lose precious points for every minute you’re late. (Wear a watch!)
Choose Your Adventure is especially good for beginners, since if you can’t find a checkpoint, you can just skip it and keep going. Veterans are challenged by trying to identify the most efficient route to find all the checkpoints, and the mass start means head-to-head racing for some.
Thanks to the excitement-inducing time limit, everyone finishes around the same time, making post-event socializing a core feature of Choose Your Adventure events.
Come join the fun!
COURSES
Course designer(s): Patrick Nuss
There is just a one-size-fits-all course for beginners through advanced runners. We’ll have a mass start and one map “flip”. 12 checkpoints will be marked on the first side of the map (Map #1). Once you visit all 12 checkpoints (in any order you want) and exit the maze, you’ll punch a “halfway” control, and then re-enter the maze with the second side of the map (Map #2) with 12 more checkpoints (which you can also visit in any order you want). The total time limit is 75 minutes!
How does the scoring work?
All 24 checkpoints in the maze are worth the same amount: 1 point per checkpoint. The maximum score is 24 points. The first person or team returning with 24 points wins!
The “halfway” control is mandatory to punch if you want to re-enter the maze for Map #2, but it is not worth any points.
There’s a time limit of 75 minutes, and for every minute late, there’s a 1 point penalty.
Note for the map flip: If you skipped any checkpoints from the first side of the map, you cannot go back and get them once you have punched the “halfway” control. (This rule is to prevent an unfair advantage by collecting both sets of checkpoints during one loop).
COURSE NOTES
DO NOT TAKE SHORTCUTS THROUGH CORN! This rule applies to all maze visitors, not just orienteers. Anyone caught taking a shortcut will be disqualified. We want to be able to have events here in the future! All paths through the maze are about two meters wide. You should be able to complete the entire course without touching a single stalk of corn!
The uncut corn is mapped as “area with forbidden access” (ISSOM 527.1 Olive Green).
The paths within the maze have more rounded corners in reality than they do on the map.
Bring a compass, especially if it’s cloudy. Bearings won’t do much for you, but man, it’s easy to get disoriented in there! Also, bring a pen/pencil/marker/highlighter. You’ll thank me later.
We’ll be starting in a different spot than usual this year, but it will still be north of the road, and it will still be a ways from the start to the maze (the start is ~475m from the check-in tent, and the maze is an additional~400m from the start). You can certainly use the run from the start race to plan both your first and second loops!
We’re also going to enter the maze a little differently.
If you’re familiar with how Farmer Bob cuts his mazes, you’ll know that there’s basically one giant loop of a maze path, and only two locations get into the maze, with each of those two locations having its own entrance and exit.
- The maze start/finish area. There’s a large tent with info counter, with a path entering the maze to the right, and a path exiting the maze on the left.
- The halfway area. There’s another large tent, picnic tables, and a fire pit. There’s also “Second Half” entrance sign and a “First Half” exit sign.
At every other orienteering event we’ve done here, we’ve always first entered the maze through the official start (and exited through the finish). However, for this event, the maze is designed where it makes more sense for us to first enter the maze at the halfway area, because it’s ~150m closer to where we’ll be starting.
For orienteers who will complete the entire course, your race flow will be:
- Start 400m from the maze, and run there.
- Arrive at maze at its halfway area, and enter the “Second Half” of the maze and start finding checkpoints on Map #1
- Pass through the maze’s official start/finish area, exiting from the finish path, and re-entering at the start path, and continuing to find checkpoints on Map #1.
- Re-arrive at the halfway area. Punch the “halfway” control. Re-enter the maze through the “Second Half” entrance and start finding checkpoints on Map #2.
- Pass through (again) at the maze’s official start/finish area, exiting from the finish path, and re-entering at the start path, and continuing to find checkpoints on Map #2.
- Re-arrive at the halfway area. Punch the Finish sawhorse.
- Walk 900m back to the parking lot to download.
Please respect the maze flow in regards to entrance and exits. Don’t enter the maze backwards. We want to minimize the risk for collisions, and having everyone follow the same flow will help!
SCHEDULE
Note: the schedule has moved 1 hour earlier than previous years! We need to be completely out of the maze (including control pickup!) before they open to the public!
7:30am – Check-in Opens (there is no day-of-event registration)
8:00am – Check-in Closes
8:15am – Mass Start!
9:30am – Time Limit Ends
PRICES
PRE-REGISTRATION PRICES
$25 base price (includes entry into Bob’s Corn Maze)
– subtract $5 for CascadeOC members
– subtract $5 for using your own e-punch
DAY-OF-EVENT REGISTRATION
There is NO day-of-event registration for this event. We’re trying to expedite the check-in process and stay on schedule, since we need to be completely out of the maze by 10:00am!
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
LOCATION
PARKING
Enter the “Fales Road Parking Lot” which you enter to the south through a gate at the intersection of Elliott Road & Fales Road. (This is about 275m east of where we parked in previous years, at the main entrance where the farmhouse and country store are.
Event check-in is adjacent to the parking.
There are toilets at the farm, and at all entrances to the maze.
CARPOOL
Looking for a carpool? Join the club email group and share your request to find a ride.
THE MAP
The corn maze changes every year, and we have a 1:1250 scale of it, mapped to orienteering specifications. Most of the map is corn (out-of-bounds olive green), with a maze of paths throughout. There are a few other features, like firepits and a bridge/underpass.
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.
