Schenck Forest meet, 5/16/99
Andy Huber (meet director) and Bob Smith

by Bob Smith

The calendar said it was the middle of May, but it felt more like March when the day started. Fortunately, the sun came out by the time the meet started and it warmed up quickly. Turnout was low, but enthusiastic. Brian Thompson was so enthusiastic that he ran the White, Yellow and Orange courses and probably would have done more if he'd had time.

Andy Huber set three normal courses (White, Yellow, and Orange), and a Score-O that was distinctly abnormal. Score-O itself isn't abnormal--we usually do it once or twice a year. You get a map showing all the controls, each with a point value based on distance and difficulty. You also have a time limit, and points are deducted for every minute you go overtime. Since you can't get all the controls within the time limit, you have to decide your own best strategy. Do you go for the close and easy (but low-value) controls, or for the high-value (but more distant and difficult) ones? Should you risk going overtime, and hope the extra points you collect will outweigh the time penalty?

That's a normal Score-O. What made this one abnormal was a "phantom" control; it was marked on the map, but wasn't really out in the woods. Any time you spent looking for it was time you couldn't spend looking for real controls. With a 50 minute time limit, that could mean a big difference in scores!

I have to admit that Andy was scrupulously honest. All the clues were in plain sight, and if you figured them out the phantom control was obvious. Apparently, though, just about everyone who did the Score course overlooked the obvious. I know I did. Fortunately, it was the most distant control (and the only one that required crossing the creek), so most people didn't even try for it. Dennis Walters, with Dan and Zach Kholstrom, did try for it. They spent a big part of their 50 minutes searching for it, and finished more than 18 minutes overtime. Adding to the fun, Dennis and Dan were also carrying full field packs.

Blake Norwood got the highest score, and even finished with 3 minutes to spare. Peter Brock finished with 7 minutes to spare, but also with 10 fewer points. Time penalties made a real dent in some scores. Dennis, Dan and Zach even ended up on the minus side.

The top times on White and Yellow were well under 20 minutes, and the rest were all over 45. It's pretty clear who was running, and who was out for a nice walk in the woods! The spread wasn't as dramatic on Orange, which had the most participants. Zsuzsa Palotas finished in 36:37, even though she had to borrow a compass to do it. Ric Hoyt was second at 37:09. The Sheer Determination award should probably go to Christy Rahman. It took her several tries (and, by her reckoning, about an hour) to find the third control, but she didn't give up. After she finally found it, the rest of the course was easy!

Andy Huber and I shared the registration and start duties, and Andy gave instruction to a few novices. Our thanks to William Ebenstein, Cyrus Rahman, and the indomitable team of Dennis, Dan and Zach for helping pick up controls.