Hemlock Overlook

As we drove the winding roads from Clifton to Hemlock Park a feeling of being in the midst of a fairytale hit me. The trees were sparkling in the sun. What is usually green, had started to turn yellow and red and was beaming at us as we arrived at the parking lot. With a little breeze in the air – the conditions were perfect for cross-country orienteering.

The turnout (200+) and the atmosphere today was incredible. There were newcomers and old faces. There were young and old and lots of four-footers. There were locals and people who had traveled far. Common to them all was the urge to get out enjoy the sun, the forest, and get some exercise. The number of participants doing second courses definitely said that we had a lot of happy runners today, so thank you Bjorn Skjaevestad for making the courses both interesting and challenging.

We had several groups of young people try our courses today. Loudoun High School was one of them. It was a pure joy to see their competitiveness, their eagerness to finish and to challenge themselves. The same goes for several groups of people, who tried orienteering for their first time today. We saw lots of positive attitude. I hope we will see you all again soon.

There are many people involved in organizing each meet. This time around we would like to thank Kathleen Lennon, Greg Lennon, Gary Smith, Karla Hulett, Jon Torrance and Dan Do + all of the others who pitched in collecting controls, cleaning up and preparing for the event. A special thanks to our youngest volunteers; Nicole and Johanne, who were in charge of the registration desk. You did great!

And to all of you - Thanks for coming out today! You helped make this the fantastic cross-country orienteering day it was!

- Regan (Event Director)