2023 Laramie Daze Event Recap

August 30 – September 4, 2023

Daze 1 – The Unfair Race

Daze 2 – Knockout Sprints

Daze 3 – One Cowboy Relay

Daze 4 – Sugar Hill NRE

Daze 5 – Area 307 NRE

Daze 6 – Remarkable Flats NRE

TrailO Goes Tech

New TempO software is introduced during the first World Ranking TrailO event in U.S.

By: Jennifer A. Sheffield

The 2023 Navy Yard TrailO World Ranking Event (WRE) started with a 20-station riverfront Sprint PreO held at Philadelphia’s Navy Yard and ended with an eclectic tour of 25 flagged locations that took competitors through a mix of soccer fields, cultural markets, and around two large lakes within South Philadelphia’s FDR Park over the weekend of August 18-20. But it was two TempO events (both public), which kept the combined fields of Open (O), Juniors (J), and Physically Challenged (P) competitors on the edge of their seats.

Competitors dealt with flags set on a course designed by Daniel Heimgartner among gravel paths dotted with public art pieces at Central Green Park, then navigated a series of controls placed among the architectural elements of buildings surrounding Crescent Park at The Yard.

“It was challenging,” said U.S. Air Force Lt Col (ret.) and 2023 World Championships OUSA team member, Anne Maker (P), after completing the TempO on Central Green at The Yard. “There were circles everywhere, so, I had to figure out which circle I needed to focus on, at each stop, because this park is a circle,” she said.

Marshals on the TempO courses were equally challenged with using one of the first applications of a new time and scoring software, called Toepunch, which was tested against the speed and accuracy of each athlete’s decision. The point is to match the data entered, to the reality of a competitors’ experience, at each station. The app means marshals don’t have to set down a pen after the athlete gives their fourth answer, hit the stopwatch at the same time, then write down their final answer.

Amy Latva-Kokko, whose husband Mika and children, Jarmo and Katja, competed in the 2023 Trail-O World Championships was a marshal for the event. “I enjoyed using the handheld mobile devices on the TempO. I found it user-friendly, and much quicker,” she said. “If there was an error, I was able to fix it,” Latva-Kokko, explained. “We had a second marshal as a back-up, but I like the mobile device, because if the second marshal had a time difference of one second we can add that information to the device and it gets submitted to the server.”

Libor Forst of the Czech Republic created of this software because connectivity for a sport like orienteering is important. The success of the rollout also gave him confidence the sport can serve athletes with disabilities better while making stations enjoyable, and exact, for everyone; whether they are a beginner or seasoned racer. “Considering it was the first time that an American team made an WRE it was a good competition,” Forst said. “Regarding the technology everything worked very well for us in Philadelphia.”

Retired Armed Forces member, Charles Bromly Gardner, is an ElitO competitor, who also competes in FootO, and SkiO for Great Britain. He reflected on 40 years of doing the sport abroad. “I’ve not been to America for trail orienteering before and that was the attraction,” he said. The last, high standard (non-WRE) event held in Britain, was the 2019 European Cup.

Even with new technology applied for its competition, Gardner still stated the model event held prior to the weekend was useful to see what the mapper is putting on the map and is not. “It’s a mental challenge and I’m better at precision rather than the timed events. I’m starting to take my time in TempO but the youngsters still make quicker decisions,” Gardner said.

Cruising Through Obstacles

The 2023 IOFTOC TrailO WRE was hosted by OUSA’s Capital Region Nordic Alliance (CNRA) based in Albany, N.Y. Director, Russ Meyer said compared to the 2021 OUSA Veteran Paralympic National Championships, shipyard courses were condensed, for specific areas.

Using electronic punch cards, wirelessly attached to electronic boxes placed at each station was a big change for athletes. “For para (P) athletes who have hand mobility challenges, or use a wheelchair, it can be difficult, but with patience they can manage it,” said Latva-Kokko. This is a reason P and O athletes get different times to finish problems.

Gardner added, “It reduces man hours, but, what the software does, that is what you do, so if you wish to change it, the software has to change.”

However, the system has increased flexibility in FootO and mappers can now design looped courses. Toepunch shows real-time results, but this also means the race host is putting more expense out into the forest.

Philadelphia’s FDR Park cartographic work was done by an experienced consortium of Ari Tertsunen, Richard H. Ebright and Bob Burg.

Orienteering USA President and TrailO competitor Clare Durand commented the sightlines across bodies of water made the course especially challenging. “I had some issues reading how they mapped some of the vegetation, which was not standard combined with problems that were vegetation based but I was happy with the difficult controls that made me think,” said Durand.

Forst added, “The WRE TempO course, specifically, could be a good competition for any country to use.”

“The PreO had problems because if you make a competition a public park, you have people there. The other thing was light conditions which was the reason for voiding some controls,” Forst explained.

U.S. National team member, Paige Suhocki (J; DVOA) marshaled at The Yard and did the long PreO. It was her first time trying TrailO. “It felt inclusive,” she said. “It is all about having good flow.”

Continuing to Connect

Overall, Durand acknowledged that it is not OUSA, but the work of clubs like CRNA that do the event work whose efforts lead the way to leveling the playing field, and bringing international competitors together.

CRNA is a Move United chapter that sponsors Paralympic athletes in cross-country skiing, biathlon, skeleton and bobsled year-round. It added orienteering to its Nordic menu after receiving a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) adaptive sports grant.

U.S. Army Sergeant Major (ret.) Kevin Bittenbender competed in Philadelphia with his service dog, Kirby, and said, TrailO really requires the participants to get out of their comfort zones. “It provides those with disabilities, a chance to be involved, in something and it narrows that excuse not to get out, because it gets you outdoors,” he said.

Bittenbender learned land navigation in the Army, but he practiced for WRE, using online orienteering. He appreciates the focus that is necessary for TempO, and that the Toepunch system made it easy to navigate the course and stay organized along the route. “You don’t miss a station, or, accidently punch something,” he said. “You do have to make sure you have the right card in your hand, though.”

For veterans, the sport also creates camaraderie, whether the competitor lives with a disability, or not.

In 2021, at The Yard, Lee Kuxhaus had never competed in TrailO and this year spent her free time studying her mistakes and was awarded for that with the second place medal in the WRE PreO para (P) class. “It is fun to introduce any sport, to new people,” she said. “Because when you go to a competition know that you’re going to build memories.”

One thing that drives Bittenbender is a recipe he calls P-3, which stands for purpose, passion, and a part bigger than yourself. “In TrailO you’re pushing your abilities, and whether you get 100% or 10% on a problem, it provides you a level upon which you can improve.”

From a technology standpoint too, “Everything can be solved before the time clock is running,” said Forst. “I am glad we got a chance to try this technology over the ocean and it worked.”

Results at: top.yq.cz 
Photos at: Orienteering USA Facebook
Photos courtesy Orienteering USA and Jennifer Sheffield

Correction: The new ToePunch software, which was approved in January 2023, was used for the PreO events. The TempO events used existing ANT software, also developed by Libor Forst, that has been in approved usage since 2016.

Nominations sought for 2023 Silva & Golden Service Awards

The Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Orienteering USA will be held virtually on Tuesday, September 19th, 2023. One of the highlights of the AGM is the announcement of the annual Silva & Golden Service awards to recognize individuals who have contributed to our sport both at the national and club level. Nominations are now being accepted for both of these prestigious awards and are due by Sunday, September 10th.

Photo of 2022 Silva Award winner Cristina Luis receiving her award at the 2022 OUSA Nationals.

Virtual AGM – 2023

The 2023 Orienteering USA Annual General Meeting will take place online on Tuesday, September 19 from 8:00 to 10:00 pm (EDT) via Google Meet.

Your membership in Orienteering USA helps us to bring programs and services to orienteers and clubs throughout the country. Thank you for your support.

Sincerely,

Clare Durand
President, Orienteering USA

Access the meeting

Online: September 19, 8:00-10:00 pm EDT
Note: Delegates should log in 20-30 minutes early for credentialing.
This will allow the meeting to start ontime.
URL: meet.google.com/onp-uutw-pmq   
Phone: (‪US‬)‪+1 240-544-6519‬  PIN: ‪941 751 767#‬

Agenda

Club Membership Lists

As outlined in the USOF Bylaws, the number of votes your club’s delegates may cast is based on the number of USOF members in good standing, designating your club as their primary club, as of August 31, 2023.

All clubs are afforded 1 delegate and 1 alternate. For clubs with more than 25 members, they can choose to have 1 additional delegate for every 25 members.

You can find a list of your club members in good standing at: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Wjk3cpDwckILc6vYaJgJ6Wdylo0yQOHK {link no longer valid – removed 18 January 2024}

Please notify the USOF Office of the names of your delegates and alternates. The delegate appointments should be emailed from a club officer to contact@nullorienteeringusa.org

Delegates and alternates representing your club must be OUSA members, designating your club as their primary club, as of August 31, 2023.

Your club may assign its votes by proxy to another club.  The proxy will only be valid if no OUSA-primary member of your club will be present at the AGM. Proxies may not be assigned to a particular member of another club. Email proxy assignments to: contact@nullorienteeringusa.org

Check your personal memberships

The upcoming AGM presents a good time for all OUSA members to be sure that their information is current in our database. We recommend that you login to our portal and check your profile to be sure that it is accurate. There are known issues in our system that we are still working on. Checking for accuracy is especially recommended if you have family memberships or if you use the auto-renew feature.

Note on Presidential Succession from Clare Durand

I’ve served on the Orienteering USA board for a long time. I am currently in the fifth year of my second stint as President, having previously served as President for four years from 2007-2011. My current three-year board term expires this year and I have agreed to run for another term with a commitment to continue serving as President for up to two more years. Then I plan to step down from the Presidency and use my last year on the board to overlap with the new President.

We have no clear succession plan. If you have an interest in serving or know someone who might please contact me or Jon Torrance, nominating committee chair. The future of Orienteering USA depends on volunteers willing to lead the organization, and the transition to a new President will be much smoother if that person joins the board sooner and understands our administrative systems before taking over. I hope that a suitable candidate comes forward this year or next to keep Orienteering USA moving forward.

California Orienteering Festival Event Recap

July 17-30, 2023

  • Event Website
  • Director: Gavin Wyatt-Mair
    • Coordination: Sarah Williams
    • Registrar: Team
    • Technical quality: Erin Schirm
    • Technology: Jay Hann
    • Volunteers: Marie-Josee Parayre
    • Publicity: Stephanie MacLean
    • Mapping: Bill Cusworth
    • Consulting: Tapio Karras
    • Treasurer: Gary Kraght
    • IOF advisor: Erik Blake
    • IRF advisors: Merv Trease, Vic Sedunary, Phil Wood

July 17 – Sprint NRE @ Presidio

July 18 – Middle NRE @ Golden Gate Park

  • Western States Orienteering Championships – Day 2
  • Stage #2 Info
  • Event Summary from Stage 2 Director Rex Winterbottom:
    • The persistent fog and slight bluster made it a true San Francisco Summer event, more so than Presidio. I think if we had our choice, it was better to have the better weather the first day to ease people into these 2 weeks of adventures.
    • Although wearing the event-director hat the majority of the time, from when I arrived at 5:55 A.M. until departing after 4:00 P.M., I was able to escape into the woods as the starts were closing and tremendously enjoyed the ping-pongy jaunt through a variety of Golden Gate Park habitats. Well done on the course planning, Andrejus!
    • Course setter Andrejus Masalkovas had 92 checkpoints to place, we weren’t allowed to place any the day before according to the permit, and we were severely limited for placings. 80% of the checkpoints had to be cones or stands according to Parks & Rec. So major thanks to Vladimir, Steve Haas, Dan Greene, and another guy who happened to be there earlier than planned at 5:55 A.M. to get it done. It was a tight squeeze before the first scheduled starts, and our pre-runners Clinton Morse and Steve Gregg didn’t have much time to verify the controls — none of which, fortunately, were disturbed, and all were easily recovered after the event.
    • An absolute thank you to all of our volunteers and participants for building a day in the park we could all enjoy. Thank you so much!
  • Official Results
  • Results at Orienteering USA Rankings
  • Results / Splits from AttackPoint
  • RouteGadget – view maps and compare GPS routes
  • Orienteering USA Official Photos [235 photos]

July 19 – Long NRE @ Morgan Territory

  • Western States Orienteering Championships – Day 3
  • Stage #3 Info
  • Event Summary from Stage 3 Director Martin Kunz:
    • It takes a village …  to organize a stage at Cal-O-Fest, so the old saying goes. Of course the good people in and around BAOC stepped up and raised the third stage out of its inception to full completion. I entered the doing only at a fairly advanced stage but as I heard through the grapevine, stage 3 went through various levels of near death experiences including a change of venue and a capricious permit procedure.
    • Gavin Wyatt-Mair, together of course with the Cal-O-Fest steering committee, were, so I have heard, instrumental in keeping the baby alive and unharmed by bureaucratic round-abouts and baby eaters. Many thanks to them from all the happy Orienteers that eventually got to enjoy a most memorable stage in our beloved Morgan Territory. 
    • I think this was the first time we dared to organize an event in this typical Bay Area terrain with its oak chaparral meadows and distinctly structured terrains in the middle of summer. It was a risk but we lucked out and the temperatures were in the very acceptable mid-eighties. It’s better to be lucky than to be good – another old saying I tend to live my life by. A total of 283 runners who came and braved the summer conditions at Morgan Territory.
  • Official Results
  • Results at Orienteering USA Rankings
  • RouteGadget – view maps and compare GPS routes
  • Orienteering USA Official Photos [76 photos]

July 20 – Rest Day

July 21 – Sprint WRE @ Northstar California

  • North American Orienteering Championships – Day 1
  • Stage #4 Info
  • Official Results
  • Results at Orienteering USA Rankings
    • Additional Results at Orienteering USA Rankings
    • (due to WRE some classes processed separately
  • Bjorn Kjellstrom & Future Champions Cup scoring
    • The battle for the Bjorn Kjellstrom Cup as well as the Future Champions Cup is underway in California. In today’s Sprint at Northstar California Resort, the US squad came out on top in the preliminary scoring.
    • BK Cup scores after today puts USA 126 vs Canada 62.
    • Future Champions scoring the tally was USA 109 Canada 46.
    • Scoring orienteers can be found at Orienteering USA Facebook
    • Thanks to Orienteering USA VP Competition Jon Torrance for tallying up these scores for us.
  • RouteGadget – view maps and compare GPS routes
  • Orienteering USA Official Photos [345 photos]

July 22 – Middle WRE @ Little Truckee Summit

July 23 – Long WRE @ Sagehen

July 24 – NAOC Relay @ Northstar California

July 25 – Rest Day

July 26 – Middle NRE @ Independence Creek

July 27 – Long NRE @ Spooner Lake

July 28 – Rest Day / WRC Model

July 29-30 – World Rogaining Championships

JWOC ’23 Event Recap

July 2-9, 2023

July 2nd – Opening Ceremony (& pre-event)

July 3rd – Individual Sprint

https://youtu.be/v1x4Y9lyfBI
Livestream Replay – YouTube

July 4th – Sprint Relay

https://youtu.be/zh_ui50Svdc
Livestream Replay – YouTube

July 5th – Middle Distance

https://youtu.be/Us_6iqQF1cA
Livestream Replay – YouTube

July 7th – Long Distance

July 8th – Forest Relay

https://youtu.be/nL67Wger9XQ
Livestream Replay – YouTube

Trail-O Team heads for Czech Republic

With all of the pre-event hype for JWOC, it would be easy to overlook that another TeamUSA contingent is on it’s way to Europe to compete at the World Trail Orienteering Championships (WTOC) in the Czech Republic. The WTOC is running concurrently with JWOC, so we will venture to bring you all the news from both events and hopefully not get you too confused!

A portion of the team including Clare Durand (LAOC), Piotr Zielczynski (HVO), Daniel Heimgartner (QOC) and Sharon Crawford (RMOC) will run the PreWTOC TrailO Adventure, a two event WRE warmup this coming weekend with a PreO event on Friday and TempO on Saturday. Daniel will only be competing on Saturday, according to the start lists.

The team will then travel on to Kokořínsko, a beautiful natural region of rocks, small lakes and its unique sandstone towers, gates, windows and other formations. They will meet up with the remainder of TeamUSA for opening ceremonies on Sunday with competition running Monday through Thursday of next week. If the map snippets and photo look familiar, the same area hosted the World Orienteering Championships in 2021. Check our Event Recap page for a look back at WOC ’21.

It is our understanding that the full team composition for the World Champs events has changed somewhat from that initially announced back in May. We’ll bring you an updated list of who is competing in the coming days. The team will probably also update us on the current team via the US Trail-O Blog, which has been reactivated. In the meantime, please join us in wishing our TeamUSA athletes safe travels and speedy and accurate courses at both the WRE’s and the ensuing World Champs!

Photos: Map snippets & terrain photo from organizer website (photographer not mentioned). Selfie: Clare Durand.

2023 Wilson Character through Competition Awards Announced

Philadelphia, PA — The Wilson Awards, in partnership with Orienteering USA, proudly announce two winners of our 2023 Character through Competition Awards. Alex Merka of Mt. Airy, Maryland and Ben Brady of Maple Valley, Washington have been chosen to receive this $1,000 award, which honors the memory of our friend and family member, Iain Wilson. The awards seek to amplify the energy and commitment young orienteers bring to our sport and community.  While we are delighted when our awardees are successful in local and even international competition, in a broader sense we hope to encourage the kind of character that communicates to others the joy of competing as a shared endeavor.   

Alex has been orienteering since, as a toddler, she was old enough to hold a map. Taking advantage of Quantico Orienteering Club’s (QOC) junior training opportunities, she developed skills so that two decades later she was selected to represent the United States at the international level. In addition to being a fierce competitor she is also described as an enthusiastic volunteer who is always ready to help others.

Franklin Fish, President of QOC writes, “what impresses me the most about Alex is her willingness to help out our club whenever and wherever she is needed, usually without being asked.” This was on display when Alex taught orienteering to groups of middle schoolers last summer and when she created a campus map for a local school’s PE and after-school programs. This combination of ambition and selflessness is the kind of character that the committee is thrilled to support.

Like Alex, Ben started orienteering early in life and in the Northwest, where he embraced the exceptional training and competition programs available through Cascade Orienteering Club (COC) and Tahoma Orienteering in Maple Valley. He has used this platform to build his skills while mentoring up-and-coming young athletes.

Chris Cooper, Head Coach of Tahoma Orienteering Club writes, “He is one of a kind. He achieves success at the highest level but is willing to help those around him…. I have never had the opportunity to coach someone who is such a well—rounded and grounded human being.” Ben’s own words capture his enthusiasm for the sport, “The ability to race against my friends, run in unknown terrain and have fun throughout the process is something that only orienteering competition can bring.”

Ben and his teammates recently gave back by spending a week mapping Fisk State Park for future COC programs. Ben represents the second time that a parent-child pair has received Wilson Awards. His mother, Sherri Brady, spearheaded a 2017 Wilson Community Growth Grant in partnership with Tahoma Middle School’s PE program. Many of its participants have gone on to compete at the high school and national level.

The committee seeks individuals who have the willingness and ability to see beyond their own individual ambition and spread the spirit that brightens their lives and the lives of those around them.  We feel their enthusiasm for the outdoors, for running, for navigation, and for their fellow competitors sets an example for all of us.

Looking back on ten years of awards, Iain’s sister, Kate Wilson writes, “I am delighted at the inclusiveness of the award.  When I first went orienteering in the 1980s there were very few women.  To my surprise I saw that we have made awards to eleven women and six men.  This says great things about orienteering as a sport for everyone – looks as if I‘d better get my boys out in the woods so they can catch up.”

Applications for the 2024 Wilson Awards will be accepted later this fall. Additional information can be found at  https://orienteeringusa.org/about/recognition/#wilson.

Official Press Release (PDF Version of this post)

Photo credits: Evalin Brautigam (1 & 3), Clinton Morse for Orienteering USA (2 & 4)

SLO Go! Sprint Festival Event Recap

May 27-29, 2023

  • Host: Terraloco & BAOC
  • Venue(s):
    • Saturday AM Stage 1 – Heilmann Regional Park, Atascadero – Trial
    • Saturday PM Stage 2 – Morro Bay – Urban
    • Sunday AM Stage 3 – Cal Poly San Luis Obispo – Campus NRE
    • Sunday PM Stage 4 – Cal Poly San Luis Obispo –  Chase
    • Sunday PM Stage 5 – Terrace Hill, San Luis Obispo – Ascent
    • Monday AM Stage 6 – Waller Park, Santa Maria – Motala
  • Event Director: Rex Winterbottom
  • Event Website

Results & Media

Boulder Dash Event Recap

May 6-7, 2023

Results & Media