Jug Bay

RouteGadget and splits on both WinSplits and Attackpoint are all now online for this event.

It was a great day to be in the woods as temperatures in the mid-70s, a few puffy clouds and a cool breeze from Jug Bay set the stage for QOC’s season ending Chase at Jug Bay. Approximately 145 orienteers walked, jogged or ran the famous loops or classic courses.

The featured Long Chase was a 6.4 kilometer nail-biter right to the end. After quaffing their first drink and picking up the loop 1 map, US Team member Ken Walker, Jr., QOC’s Johan Aström and QOC President and Canadian stalwart Jon Torrance exchanged turns in the lead, accompanied by DVOA’s Clem McGrath and QOC’s Ted Good part of the way. The start of loop 2 almost resulted in disaster for Ken: “We picked up the second map, which had loops 2 and 3 on opposite sides, and I almost ran off on loop 3, but luckily was still following Jon when I realized the mistake,” he said. Going into the last control on loop 2 the three were within a second of each other. That’s when Ken made his winning move to gain a scant 4 second advantage by turning on the speed at the edge of the meadow from 11 to 12 into the beverage station while Jon and Johan took the trail along the bay. Ken increased his lead to 6 seconds going into loop 3 with a nice chugging split time. Johan worked hard to register blistering times to controls 14 and 15 to get within a single second of Ken. Jon pulled ahead of Ken after control 15 but didn’t hold the lead for long.

“It all came down to the moderately long leg to the second last control, a hundred meters or so north of the finish,” said Jon. That’s where Jon misjudged and had to detour around the community garden fence and Johan was hindered slightly by tall grass. Ken managed to navigate to the control unscathed, sprinted in for the last drink, then on to punch the Finish for a three second win over Johan and 17 seconds over Jon.

SVO’s Eddie Bergeron fought back after losing time going to control 4 with a flurry of top splits but came up a minute short to place 4th. QOC’s Dan Quinn was stalking the leaders the entire race to come in 5th. Aussie Amber Tomas from QOC paced the women and came in 7th overall.

QOC’s Mike Berry led wire-to-wire to win the 4.5k Short Chase. Videlin Aleksiev and Linus Hamilton, both from QOC, took 2nd and 3rd . Kattis Aström from QOC was the top women’s finisher and 8th overall.

Lots of food and refreshing drinks by the bay were enjoyed by everyone after the race. In addition, meet directors and course designers from the second half of the season were rewarded for their efforts with a custom QOC Beer Glass. Congratulations to Sam Listwak, who was recognized as QOC’s “Volunteer of the Year”.

This event would not have been a success without the many people who pitched in to help. Appreciation goes out to Glen Schorr, Anne Jepsen, and Elliott and Linus Hamilton for helping with set-up. Don Fish, Luisa Bishop and Kim Jepsen made sure registration ran smoothly. Eric and Joan Lyness and Amber Tomas helped with ePunch registration. Of course, it would not be the “Beverage Chase” without the frosty keg of Sam Adams provided by John and Jody Landers. Andrew Bishop and Florence Tan made sure the cups were full for the runners at the beverage station. Control pick-up was a breeze thanks to Johan and Kattis Aström, Tom Nolan, Don Ames and John Baker. Lisa Beck hung around to help with clean-up. Thank you to Dave Linthicum and Peggy Brosnan for allowing access to this great venue.

Thank you to Dasa Merka for setting-up and running the Silly Obstacle Course. It was a fun challenge that had people going for bragging rights on the surprisingly difficult “canoeing leg”!

Special thanks as always to Valerie Meyer for her ePunch expertise. Also, thank you to Heidi Onkst for providing the soft drinks for the picnic, John Baker and David Onkst for the music, and Kathleen Lennon for the QOC Jersey Survey & Sizing Station. Finally, thank you to course designer Francis Hogle for laying out the fantastic courses.

- Alex Bishop, Meet Director