| GRITS'2004 - USOF Convention Report By Laurie Searle Ten days of rain is enough to dampen anyone's spirit. Unless it brings cool temperatures and stops long enough to orienteer nine days in the South. Such was the case at the 2004 USOF Convention hosted by GAOC and COK in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains of Western Carolina and North Georgia. COK kicked off the event with its two-day Blue Ridge Challenge A-Meet on a new and challenging map at DuPont State Forest, NC. More than 70 competitors were treated to early morning temperatures of 65 degrees - ideal for fast runs through the woods. About half of the competitors stayed over on Monday to try the Mountain Bike-O at the same park before enjoying a leisurely car-o on their way to the convention site in Cleveland, GA. Once people arrived at the convention site, they had the choice to sit back and enjoy a restful vacation or they could fill almost every single minute with orienteering workshops, fun-o events, and orienteering competitions. Most filled up on enough orienteering to last for the next six months. SPECIAL CLINICS Many attendees opted for a special clinic that focused on a single aspect of orienteering for the entire week. - 18 people attended the Mapping Clinic, led by J-J Cote with the assistance of Sam Smith. They learned how to prepare a base map, the finer points of field checking, and OCAD basics. - 5 juniors attended the Junior Training Camp, led by Bob and Josephine Turbyfill. They learned the 5 basic principles of orienteering and practiced course study, pacing, and other o-exercises. - 3-7 kids attended the KIDS Camp, led by Pam, Nancy, and Emily Ferguson. These kids had a crash course in crafts and later put on a fashion show to display their tie-dyed t-shirts, painted bird houses, mugs, picture frames and more. ORIENTEERING WORKSHOPS So many orienteering workshops were sandwiched in between orienteering events and fun-o that many people complained because they couldn't attend everything. Among the most popular workshops were the Geology Grab Bag, Geocashing and Letterboxing, and promotional clinics. FUN-O Robin and Steve Shannonhouse kept everyone entertained with their Fun-O events which included Poker-O and Un-Extreme-O, while Walter Siegenthaler led a late-night vampire-O with red flashlights and punch card exchanges. OTHER-O The U.S. Trail-O Champs offered fierce competition this year, but Bob Turbyfill took home the gold and a chance to represent the U.S. in the upcoming international competition. The Bubba Goat was set by Sam Smith on one of the most technical maps our competitors had ever run on. Competitors had the option of following others and could skip up to 2 controls for the traditional long course or up to 7 controls for the shorter option. GAOCer Andreas Haldi set the bar high at 95 minutes earlier in the month during the pre-run, but winner J.J. Cote had an outstanding run as the long course winner at 135 minutes. GAOC hosted its first Park-O, thanks to Kevin Haywood who took advantage of a USOF grant to make a new Park-O map of the Truett-McConnell College. GAOC also trialed e-punching, thanks to Valerie Meyer who lent her expertise in setting up the e-punches and programs. USOF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING I was not able to attend the AGM, but while checking in on the participants I was given the President's award, which I greatly appreciated. The meeting looked well attended and several people were giving reports as I left. JUNIOR TEAM FUND RAISER
The USOF Convention did well by the Jr Team Fund: ENTERTAINMENT GAOC closed out the week with its
two-day GA Navigator Cup A-Meet at Smithgall Woods. With
early morning starts at 8am to take advantage of the cool temperatures,
most competitors finished well before noon. The first day was extremely
challenging but many competitors reported a better time the second day
once they had a chance to learn the terrain. Winners were treated to
custom stained glass awards designed and created by GAOCer Guido
Nordman. |