Oregon Ridge

After a scary pre-Halloween Saturday with lots of rain and an early snowfall, Sunday arrived sunny and clear, if still somewhat chilly and damp at ground level. Thanks to Jon and Dan the controls were all in place on the courses that Ted Good designed before heading to St. Louis for the US Relay Championships. Thanks also go to Greg Lennon and Valerie Meyer for printing the maps before also flying off to St. Louis. Where, we should add, they were part of the QOC team that won the 12 point category in the relays.

There were 109 starts on all the courses, a little low compared to past attendance at the venue, probably due to a combination of concerns about the weekend forecast, cool temperatures on the day, and people being in Missouri instead for the US relay championships. Last year, although held on November 21, we had a perfect Maryland autumn day. Despite the chill, this Sunday was still a great day for orienteering (aren’t they all?) . Many of the runners, before or after enjoying Ted’s courses, also visited the turtles, snakes, frogs and other fauna, live or stuffed, at the Nature Center and took in the exhibits on the history of the Oregon Ridge area.

Many thanks to our wonderful volunteers:

Registration and setup: Alex Bishop, Bill Carruth, Brian Dolan, Ioana Fleming, and Bill Vienna.

Epunching: Heidi Onkst

Control pickup: Charles Carrick, Amy Louden (also for delicious cookies and sorting of dibbers), Mark Mace, Mike Newman, Dave Onkst, Dan Tam Do, and Jon Torrance.

We appreciate the Baltimore County Parks Department and the Nature Center allowing the club to stage an event at Oregon Ridge.

Finally, QOC regrets that the Nature Center calendar was published before QOC moved the meet from Nov. 6 to October 30 to avoid a conflict with the SVO Stumble. There will not be an orienteering event at Oregon Ridge on Nov. 6. Hopefully, anyone who finds that disappointing will be able to come to our event on Nov. 13 at Great Falls or one of our other events this season.