Hard Labor Creek State Park

Hard Labor Creek State Park
Sunday, 11/6/2011

Our club event at Hard Labor Creek on the Lake Brantley map will be a Thomass (The Handicap Orienteering Method And Scoring System!) event. The Thomass event uses a Mass Start which we plan to be at 11:30 am, so please arrive early enough to get registered in time. Remember, too, that the clock changes on Sunday and that everyone gets and extra hour in bed, so there will be no excuses for tardiness! We will also be offering White and Yellow courses for beginners.

A key characteristic of the Thomass format is the Thomass Box. The Thomass Box is an area on the map that marks a set of controls that may be visited in any order. Depending on your handicap, you may drop controls (not visit) according to the following table. Please note that the control locations in the Thomass Box are always marked with a letter; the mandatory controls are marked with a number and must be visited in order. Of course, anyone can visit all the controls to take advantage of training opportunities and also to take advantage of visiting a nice location in the forest. The challenge for the course setter is to choreograph the handicaps to, ideally, create a mass finish. The challenge for the competitor is to visit the boxed controls to minimize overall time and finish before everyone else, even the elite aged competitors. The idea is that anybody can win!

Category	Handicap
female	add 2
12 or younger	4
65 or older	4
14 or younger	3
55 or older	3
16 or younger	2
45 or older	2
19 or younger	1
35 or older	1

Examples:

Woman, age 36, handicap will be 3 (1+2) or, drop 3 controls in each Thomass Box
Male, age 15, handicap will be 2 or, drop 2 controls
Woman, age 58, handicap will be 5 (3+2) or, drop 5 controls
Male, age 25, handicap will be 0 or, visit all controls
Woman, age 66, handicap will be 6 (4+2) or, drop 6 controls

On Sunday we will have 6 controls in a loop, leading through a spectator area and into the Thomass Box. There will be 7 controls inside the Thomass box, so W65+ runners will only have to get 1 control and the M21+ guys will have to get all 7. Then there are 4 controls to the finish.

Here are some sample maps:
Map 1
Map 2
Map 3

So, the whole idea is a Mass Start, and most folks should finish around the same time. Please bring something to eat and stick around for the finish!

By the way, there will also be a JROTC meet on the same map that morning, although it should be earlier than ours. The JROTC meet is at the BBQ shelter, and our meet is at the usual shelter #2 past the Office Trading Post and Blacksmith Shop at the bottom of the hill below the parking lot.

If you are coming, please let me know so that we will have enough maps.

Thanks and see you there!

Directions

Directions from Atlanta: I-20 East to exit 105 and go North into Rutledge and proceed 3 miles on Fairplay Road.

Location

Registration Form

Electronically fill out this registration form and save it to your computer. Then just print, sign, and date for each meet.

Fees

Typical fees are shown below. Participants may go out on the course as individuals or with a group. E-chip rental is required if you do not have your own stick.

Members	$6
Non-members	$10
Additional Maps	$3
E-chip Rental	$2
State Park Parking Fee	$5

Weather

For current forecast click here.

Meet Director

Charlie & Chun Bleau 404-276-6558