Join GAOC Sunday, September 15th at Don Carter State Park for a Score-O, White and Yellow courses. Beginner instruction is available at 9:30am.
Score-O: The Score-O will have a mass start at 10:00am as well as staggered starts where you choose your start time. You get to choose which controls to visit and the order in which to visit them in order to maximize the points you get within the time limit. (Different controls have different point values.) A total of 27 controls with 72 points are possible. Regardless of when you start the Score-O, the time limit is 1 hour and 15 minutes. If you are late but less than 5 minutes late, your score will be reduced by 2 points for every minute that you are late. If you are more than 5 minutes late but less than 10 minutes late, your score will be reduced by 4 points for every minute that your are late. If you are more than 10 minutes late, you will be disqualified.
Some of the trails at Don Carter State Park are for equestrian use only, and are blazed with colored diamond shapes. Please avoid running on trails that are blazed with diamond shapes. Trails blazed with colored rectangles are multi-use; running on trails blazed with rectangle shapes is fine, but horses are allowed and expected to be on these trails. If you're on a trail and meet or need to pass a horse and rider, slow down and get off the trail. Make sure not to make abrupt movements and talk calmly when approaching to avoid startling the animal. Give the horse and rider as wide a berth as possible, on the downhill side. Horses are more likely to run uphill than downhill when spooked, and you definitely don't want to be in the path of a spooked horse.
| Course | Description | Controls | Distance | Climb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| White | Beginner course | 9 | 2.4 km | 70 m |
| Yellow | Novice course | 10 | 2.4 km | 130 m |
| Score-O | any route | 27 |
Event volunteers are always needed and appreciated. Each volunteer is awarded a coupon that may be used for discounted (and early) event registration or items from our merchandise page.
If you are interested in helping out at the start, search and rescue, or control pickup, please select your volunteer position(s) on the registration page or contact the meet director.
Runners must select their start time when pre-registering, and will be started promptly at their selected start time. To facilitate social distancing, please come to the start no earlier than 3 minutes before your start time, but be sure to be at the start on time. There is a 3-hour time limit for all courses. All runners must be off all courses by 2:00 pm.
Directions to the park from the DNR web page go out of their way to go too far north.
Suggested alternate directions below consist of only a short stretch of gravel road:
Take I-985 to Gainesville
Take exit 24 (to US 129N)
Right on Limestone Pkwy (129N) at McDonalds
Right on Clarks Bridge Road
after 4.8 miles, right on B. Clark Road (gravel - changes to paved)
at dead end, right on N Browning Road into park.
The address is 5000 N Browning Bridge Rd, Gainesville, GA 30506.
Typical fees are shown below. Participants may go out on the course as an individual or as a small group of up to 5 people.
| Individual | Small Group | |
|---|---|---|
| Full Members | $7 | $12 |
| Associate and Non-members | $10 | $15 |
| Second course | $5 | $10 |
| State Park Parking Fee | $5 per car | $5 per car |
For current forecast click here.
Siargey Pisarchyk 408-745-9733