National Mall Virtual MapRun

December 3 - December 4
Friday - Saturday

Registration is now open!

Quantico Orienteering Club is pleased to announce a GPS Orienteering Event from Monday 22 November through Saturday 04 December on the National Mall, Washington DC. This event will take place over two weeks to enable our participants to choose their date and time to run throughout the Thanksgiving holiday period.

There are 6 conventional courses to choose from (1 beginner, 3 short advanced, 1 medium advanced, and 1 long advanced) thanks to course setter Karla Hulett and supported with map updates from Gary Smith. Detailed course notes and updates are posted below. This distributed, GPS Orienteering event requires on-line pre-registration, which is now open (see below).

This event requires MapRun6 software [2], available from Google Play [3] and the Apple App Store [4].

If you don’t like to carry your phone when you run, MapRun can also be used on sufficiently modern Garmin watches using MapRunG [5], downloaded from the Garmin Connect IQ store. Learn more about MapRunG from the developers’ site [6]. If there’s time and interest, we may develop a very short, informal course to enable Garmin watch-only participants to test their watches prior to starting one of the full courses.

With the start and finish being at Federal Triangle Metro Station, the best bet is to use that form of transport. There is public parking at the Reagan Building for $17 weekends and holidays, and $35 on weekdays. Everyone in the car must have an ID to enter the parking garage.

Other points:

• Properly worn masks are required for everyone, regardless of vaccination status, in crowded outdoor spaces, in all National Park Service Buildings, and in all forms of enclosed public transportation.
• Due to the urban and distributed nature of this event, water will not provided. Bring your own water.
• The National Mall provides many public restrooms. See this page [7] provided by the DC Department of Human Services.
• There will be no on-site QOC presence during the event. Unlike other events, there is no safety plan to ensure all participants depart the site safely. We recommend all participants ensure someone knows their plans and provide some degree of overwatch to confirm your safety. If an emergency arises, call 911.
• For this event, there are no streamers or physical controls. The sole indication of your participation will be the Satellite Navigation Track recorded in the MapRun app, or in a GPS recording watch.
• Pets are permitted on the National Mall, but must be on the leash at all times.
• Beginners are encouraged to watch relevant videos such as this one [8] created by QOC's instructional guru David Onkst.

• This is our second fully distributed, multi-day GPS Orienteering event. We have done many trials of the approach with our one-day “COVID-normal” events this season and are pretty confident we have the bugs worked out, but this will only be the second full scale event of its type. Please email feedback to the Event Director [9].


• For Participants:
  • Choose your preferred day within the event window and register.
  • Cost will be a flat fee of $ 10.00 per registration.
  • After completing registration and payment on PayPal, you will be presented a button to “Return to the Merchant.”
  • Follow that link.
  • That will provide access to the printable map files, MapRun Access Codes (PINs), printing instructions, and a MapRun tutorial.
  • If you miss this step, contact the Event Director [9], who will verify your registration and send the link – but this might take a day or two, depending on availability.
  • If you have not already done so, download and install MapRun6 [2].
  • If you want a hard copy map print them from the provided package. Color printing is recommended.
  • Come to the National Mall on your chosen day and run your course.
  • For updates on standings check out the results in these course links:
    • Blue [10]
    • Red [11]
    • Brown - Short Advanced GWU [12]
    • Beige - Short Advanced Capitol [13]
    • Short Advanced Southwest Waterfront [14]
    • Beginner [15]
    • Practice [16]
  • Participate in QOC’s Course Review after the event concludes. Contact Sid Sachs [17] for schedule specifics, tentatively planned for 8 pm Monday, 6 December.
  • If you notice unsafe conditions, or get injured, please notify the Event Director [9]. We’ll keep updating this page with all reports in the Course Notes below.