December 4, 2022 Lapham Peak
45 starts today at Lapham Peak. Temperatures were in the 30's, but felt warmer with sunny skies! The shelter was stocked with snacks, a warm fire, and lots of smiling faces.
Derek McKenzie edged out Hiroki Nakata by 1:44 on the Advanced Long course for the win! Results for all courses are here.
Thank you to everyone that contributed to a great final event of 2022!
Oh, and check out this fun video that one of our new participants posted online!
November 12, 2022 Greenbush
Another beautiful day in the Northern Kettle Moraine, with just a few snow flurries to remind us that winter is around the corner.
Many thanks to Derek for setting 4 fun courses, Tom for handling the job of Meet Director, Gregg for running the e-punch, Lara, Madeline, and many others for helping our 26+ participants get registered and on their way to their courses.
Attendance was mysteriously low today, which meant that lots of people missed out on an incredible day in the woods! Join us next time!
October 15, 2022 Devil's Lake
A perfect fall day at Devil's Lake! Peak fall colors added to the beauty and excitement of the day.
Kendra from Minnesota Orienteering Club set 4 courses.
In a turn from Badger club's usual "relaxed" way of doing things, participants were not permitted to peek at their maps until the clock had started. This is how traditional O-meets are run, and it does make a difference for competitive orienteers. (Exception: Beginners at our events can always get an instructional clinic before they go out on course, and can look at their maps whenever they like.)
Derek came in 1st on the Advanced-Long course, with Daniel Westerberg following 37 minutes behind him, and Andy Novak trailing for 3rd place by less than 2 minutes!
Thank you to all of our competitive and non-competitive orienteers. Everyone had fun just trying (even if not finishing) their courses! Practice always makes for better orienteering!
The club is fortunate to have a number of dedicated volunteers, who made this event successful. Thank you to our start assistants, e-punch operators, control picker-uppers, beginner clinic instructors, mappers, and all of the behind-the-scenes organizers who help make these events happen.
May 15, 2022 Lapham Peak
What a fantastic day we had at Lapham Peak for our final spring orienteering event. We had 56 starts and about 100 people in attendance.
The courses seemed to be good and challenging from what the participants said. Lots of Chicago Area Orienteering Club members in attendance and volunteering too! The biggest challenge might of been 3-4 on the advanced courses??
All this would not have been possible without the support of the Lapham Peak State Park and their Superintendent Colton Kelly. We also had at least 16 volunteers helping onsite or behind the scenes to help make this event a success. All day-of volunteers were able to spend time running their chosen course. Here is the list of volunteers -- thank You all for helping out on our event! Derek MacKenzie, Rick Schnell, Susie Madden, Alicia Johnson, Brian Tuson, Rachel Geiselman, Chris Svoboda, Ben Spaier, Mark Reed, Bob Doro,and wife, Madeline McCarren, Andy McCarthy, Anthony Leiton, Tom and Linda Southworth, Paul Chodak.
Well, I enjoyed spending lots of time at the park, hope to see you all at the next event. Thank you, thank you and thank you!! - Charlie
(link to SportIdent Center)
May 1, 2022 Greenbush
Meet Director's recap:
52 timed starts on a cloudy day with temperatures in the 50's. Many said perfect for orienteering! Early May events at Greenbush offer great visibility and an enjoyable experience in the woods!
The big story here is how smooth registration ran. All the credit belongs to the great volunteers we have in our club. It's great to see more and more members chipping in!
The process to host a meet can be quite complicated. It's impressive how efficient we are becoming! Clear communication and working together with the variety of roles is key to creating a successful event.
It all begins with our Course Setter communicating with the Mapping Director. The Club Secretary and Registrar take care of a lot of the behind the scenes work making sure positions are filled and reports can be established.
Course Setters discuss plans with Course Vetters. Meet Directors establish a game plan with start assistants, Beginner's Clinic Instructor, Epunch Volunteer, control pickup, then transferring the equipment to the next Course Setter/Meet Director. It sounds exhausting! However, club member's enthusiasm during events make it all worthwhile!
Please consider learning more about these key roles and how to become involved. It's a great way to meet other club members while giving back.
(link to SportIdent Center)
April 10, 2022 Blue Mound
Meet Director's recap:
57 timed starts and great weather. Blue Mound State Park provided an excellent registration area and a beautiful course. Early spring made wet trail conditions for the beginner course, but helped with the brambles and off-trail vegetation on the intermediate and advanced courses. The beginner’s clinic was well attended and there were lots of great navigation questions and tips throughout the day with all skill levels mingling and bonding over the common interest.
Experience is building among the volunteers too and it really came together for a great event. Special thanks to registration volunteers Rachel Geiselman and Ben Spaier, finish volunteer Mark Reed, course designer Charlie Shahbazian, vetter Peter Zakrevski, and basemap field checker Kevin Thier. Anthony Leiton added some nice touches with tech development and the rest of the board members all pulled their normal loads producing the maps, updating the website, handling registrations, and doing the significant amount of background work that goes into every single event.
It was a fun event to be Meet Director for and I was very glad getting to see so many of you. Thank you for the great event!
(link to SportIdent Center)
November 13, 2021 Greenbush
Meet Director's recap:
67 participants made it out for the November Greenbush event. It was cooler temperatures typical of the season but you couldn’t tell it with all the fun. The Greenbush trail systems, glacial hill terrain, and new maps (even if still in progress) provided navigation suitable for all levels. The attendance, comments, and smiles from everyone involved help keep these events coming and improving. Today was a success for many individuals and for the club.
Check out the results to reveal insights as you reflect and see what can be learned for next time. Finishers posted excellent times in all courses and the ones who wanted a workout certainly got it. The long course top performance stood out (to say the least…) with Aidan Rigby finishing in 38:25.
There were many hands to help with this event and all volunteers and club officers should know that they are appreciated!
Derek
(link to SportIdent Center)
October 24, 2021 Devil's Lake - East Bluff
A chilly and crowded day at Devil's Lake. If you were on a course, you warmed up fast. The rocky terrain and challenging courses proved too difficult for many on the intermediate and advanced courses.
Thank you to all of the volunteers who made this event possible - Brian T., Mark R., Rick S., Anthony L., Madeline M., Susie M., Derek M., Bob & Karan D., Lara E., and Ellen H. Rock stars!!
(link to SportIdent Center)
May.16.2021 Lapham Peak
Awesome day at Lapham Peak! We had over 50 starts. Our beginner course participants all finished the course -- success! There were 22 finishers on the Long course -- with the top 3 leaders within 2 minutes of each other, with 1st and 2nd place within 14 seconds!
Charlie once again set interesting courses with great route choice and fun control locations.
Thank you to our event-day volunteers as well as those who worked behind-the-scenes. We couldn't have these meets without all of you.
(link to SportIdent Center)
May.2.2021 Kellings Lakes
Wow, what a great day in the woods & marshes! We're so thankful to Anthony Leiton for his dedication to the club and for making this event GO! And a big shout out to our other volunteers, Tom S., Ben S., Rick S., Kathy B., Cathy Y. Rich G. And to all of you who showed up to run in this event, whether to compete or just explore outdoors on a beautiful spring day.
Congrats to Jan Erik Naess (CAOC) for dominating the Long course at 34:23 minutes (it's as if he was flying!); Tonya Kuzmis (CAOC) for leading the Medium course in 53:41; and our hometown club member Ben Spaier (BGR) for taking 1st place in the short course at 30:39.
We were joined by many beginners as well, who all rose to the challenge. Thanks all for coming out today!
(link to SportIdent Center)
Oct.25.2020 Lapham Peak
Short, Medium and Long course results (link to SportIdent Center)