2024 Choose Your Adventure Series #5 – Vampire-O!
At the time of originally publishing this (January 2024), we’re tentatively planning on Skeleton Bones and the Annual Meeting being at Bellevue College, with Vampire-O being across the street at Robinswood Park.
This is the second event of our Halloween Doubleheader!
The Choose Your Adventure Series is meant to be fun, social, friendly for beginners, yet interesting for seasoned veterans. Everyone starts together, so run head-to-head with your friends or against your rivals. Who will visit the most checkpoints within the time limit? Who will run the fastest? And with vampires roaming the woods at this event, who will avoid getting bitten?
This format is great for beginners! With many checkpoints along trails and open areas, you’ll be sure to visit a lot! And if there’s one that’s hard to find, don’t worry, you can skip it and keep going. For the advanced navigators, the races will be a challenging exercise in figuring out the most efficient and optimal route to try to get them all (and avoid the vampires)!
Obviously, vampires are only out at night, so you’ll need to bring a flashlight or headlamp! Come join the fun!
Is this your first event or do you want to improve your skills? Meet us from 5:30pm – 6:30pm for up to an hour of free skills instruction!
If you need a waiver to print and sign for a youth attending without parent/guardian, download here.
COURSES
Course designer(s):
There is just a one-size-fits-all race for beginners through advanced runners. Your goal is to visit as many checkpoints as you can (in any order you want), and to avoid the vampires, who are trying to bite you! It’s ghoulishly fun!
The total time limit is 60 minutes!
How does the scoring work?
Each checkpoint has a unique pin-puncher, with which you punch your punchcard. For example, use the pin-puncher at checkpoint #1 to punch box #1 on your punchcard.
There are 24 checkpoints on the course, all worth the same amount: 1 point. Therefore, the maximum score is 24 points. The first person or team returning with all 24 punches on a punchcard wins!
But, there’s a twist! There are vampires running around the park, too, and if they bite you, you have to swap punchcards –and roles (you’re the new vampire!)– and then go bite someone else! You may be nearing a full punchcard and lose them all! Or you may have an empty punchcard and get lucky! Remember, the winner is the first person or team back with a full punchcard. You don’t necessarily need to visit all of the checkpoints!
COURSE NOTES
The 24 checkpoints are generally on the beginner and intermediate difficulty level, which is appropriate for a Vampire-O.
SCHEDULE
Choose Your Adventure: Skeleton Bones!
12:00pm – Registration & Instruction Open
01:00pm – Registration & Instruction Close
01:10pm – Map Handout
01:15pm – MASS START!
02:30 pm – Finish & Course Closure
Annual Club Meeting
03:00pm – Annual Club Meeting
Choose Your Adventure: Vampire-O!
05:30pm – Registration & Instruction Opens
06:30pm – Registration & Instruction Closes
06:45pm – Rules Review!
07:00pm – MASS START!
07:02pm – Vampires Start!
08:00pm – Finish & Course Closure
How does the start work?
At registration and check-in, we’ll give you a checkpoint map with a copy of the rules. Note: this is a change from previous years where we gave you the map right before the start. We usually have a lot of first-time orienteers at this event. Handing out maps earlier will help ensure that everyone gets a map, has time to understand the map and rules, and develop a plan before the start.
Shortly before the start, we’ll go over the rules again and start handing out the punchcards. There will 4 randomly assigned vampires at the start of the race. At 7:00pm sharp, we’ll yell GO!, and everyone except the vampires can scatter into the night. At 7:02pm, we’ll release the vampires to go chase you!
PRICES
PRE-REGISTRATION PRICES
$17 base price
– subtract $5 for CascadeOC members
DAY-OF-EVENT REGISTRATION
$20 base price
– subtract $5 for CascadeOC members
Participating as a group? Just $5 for each additional adult (16+) group
member, no cost for additional minors.
SIGN UP
Online pre-registration closes: 9pm on Thursday, 10/17.
Day-of-event registration is available by cash or check, made payable to Cascade Orienteering Club
LOCATION
CARPOOL
Looking for a carpool? Join the club email group and share your request to find a ride.
THE MAP
No map preview available
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.
