Valentine Hunt 2016
Woodland Trails Scout Camp - February 14, 2016
The day started bright and sunny, though chilly (10F). By 2pm, the clouds had moved in and 3pm saw the start of snow, which soon increased in intensity to drop 6 inches by nightfall. Several runners abandoned the orange course due to nervousness about the drive home.
We had 40 starts and about 50 orienteers.
An interesting feature of the results is that no one over the age of 25 was able to claim victory on any course.
On the signature Valentine's Hunt “Purple Heart” course, Gabe S. just edged out young phenom Aidan M., winning by a less than 1 percent. Both finished in less than the magical 2 hour mark. Rob M. was knocked out of the running by a mental lapse at about the halfway mark while trailing the leaders by just a few minutes; he did, however, register some impressive split times.
On the Green course, high school varsity runner James R edged out veteran Ted H. by 4 minutes, and claimed the fastest finish chute split of the day. (Was he sandbagging? Both Gabe S. and Aidan M. decisively beat him on the previous leg. Maybe he needs to work on his terrain running.)
On the Orange course, speedy Luke B., blazed the winning time of 45 minutes, beating former track star Warren M. by over 12 minutes.
The yellow course was won by Jordan H. in under 15 minutes decisively beating the adults. The young gals Priscilla K. and Sophie R. were able to successfully finish the course in tough weather. In fact, Sophie liked it so much out there, it appears that she did some of the course twice.
James R. and Jordan H., running down on the White course, both finished in under 10 minutes. The fastest legitimate age-group winner was John R.
A battery died on a control, and thanks to Ben B. for his prompt reporting we were able to replace it quickly and only one runner (Greg F.) had to paper punch. Meet software was promptly adjusted with the magical appearance of Matthew R. at exactly the right time.
Thanks to Matt and Sharon Bond for help with registration, and to Ben Hart, Matthew Robbins and Gabe Svobodny for control pickup.
Tom Svobodny
Meet Director