Georgia Navigator Cup

 

Last weekend I competed in the Georgia Navigator Cup, a 3 day orienteering meet.  This year it was also the OUSA Master's National Championships. While I did this last year, I was a complete newbie and stuck with the Orange courses.  I moved up to the advanced short course for this meet. This would be my fourth orienteering event, since I began this journey in 2024, and the second time I would be running a Brown course. While I was not eligible to compete for the championship (requires an OUSA membership), I would still be running against some very fast ladies in my age category.  The Brown courses' maps were 1:7500, whereas the Green and Red were 1:10,000.  My old eyes were most thankful for the larger scale.

DAY 1

Friday's course was at Red Top Mountain State Park. There were 11 controls (checkpoints).  It took me a minute, more like 4, to get my brain in gear.  Heading south for the first one, plus the fact that I could not find the trail from where I was going to attack (some of the trails on the map are no longer in use and are very faint, especially when covered in leaves), I shoulda just taken a bearing.  The next control wasn't any easier, as the terrain for this course was relatively flat, so hard to navigate off trail since there were no prominent landmarks, i.e. hill tops, re-entrants. I ended up running 50 yards past it, back tracked for what seemed like an eternity, and eventually found it.  Sheesh!  Once again, shoulda took a bearing.

3 and 4 were obtained much quicker as they were located near old mining pits.  5 was a SOB, as I got temporarily "lost" and couldn't figure out which trail I was on.  And the control flag was in a 5 foot deep pit, so unless you were right on top of it, you couldn't see it.  It was here that I ran into a little kid running a course; she seemed to know what she was doing, which deflated my ego and inspired me at the same time 😆.

7, 8, and 9 went quickly.  10, as you can see from my Strava file, was a sh!tshow.  I dunno, my navigational neural pathways was frickin' glitchy.

At least 11 was a hill top, easy enough to spot, even on flat terrain.  From there a short run up to the finish.  My time was 1:39:42.  The winning time in F55+ was 47:54.  The lesson I learned:  take more bearings and try to be as accurate as possible.  Ended up 4th on the day.

DAY 2

Saturday's course was at Sweetwater Creek State Park.  This was also the first day of the OUSA's Master's Championship. The terrain was hillier and easier to navigate for me.  Today I was going to take more bearings and be more consistent with pace counting. There were 14 controls.

Which way do I go, George?  Which way do I go?

1 and 2 were easy peasy.  3 required a bit more effort staying on the bearing as it was 600 meters away.  One thing to note is that I was using a base plate compass versus a thumb compass, which while it can be very accurate, takes a bit longer to use. I do have a thumb compass but was intimidated by it because of size and the lack of markings on it.  But most orienteers use one, as it can be a lot faster and you can hold it and the map with one hand; a base plate compass requires 2 hands.  4,5, and 6 were straight forward, with many re-entrant crossings which made it easy for me to know where I was on the map.  

7 was 600 meters away.  I took another bearing and with the help of several trail and creek crossings I went right to it ... until I looked at the electronic punch number and saw that I actually navigated to control 8, which was about 50 meters north west of control 7.  If you punch out of order, you will be DQ'd.  So I did a quick out and back to control 7, punched it, and then headed back to control 8 and got it.

The remaining controls were quickly found, and I finished with a time of 1:18:30.  I was extremely pleased with my navigation today; my brain showed up to play.  I ended up third in the F55+.  First place finished with a time of 1:01:58.  

I also felt pretty good because I was running just behind the 2nd place woman in the F60+, who only finished 6 minutes ahead of me.  When I first came upon her around control 3, I tried making small talk with her, but got ghosted!  I guess she figured I was her competition.  Not wanting to just be her shadow, I slowed down and let her get out of sight.  But I would end up catching back up around each control.  Later I found out that she has been doing this for 35+ years.  Now that was a little ego boost for me.

Day 3

Sunday's course was also at Sweetwater Creek, just in a different part of the park.  There were 15 controls.  Although not as hilly, still enough variety in the terrain to help me navigate better.

Brain dead on the first control, I ran around in circles, but then eventually found it. Too much greyhound, not enough beagle.  2 through 6 were quick; I was actually able to run through the woods at a decent pace and got to watch a West Point cadet take a huge digger.  He was in the process of jumping onto a downed tree when a vine caught his leading foot, causing him to belly flop onto the tree and tumble over.  He popped up immediately, so I knew only his pride was hurt.

Control 7 should not have been difficult, but when running, you got to pay attention even more so to keeping a straight bearing, which I did not. I ended up over shooting to the north.  When I realized my error, I headed to a trail where I could reassess.  How I managed to run RIGHT TO control 7 (on my way to the trail) I do not know. I suppose I had a little heavenly help?

Control 7, thank God!

On my way to control 8, I stopped and helped a teenager out, showing him where he was on the map.  His map was 1:10,000, so that was FUn. I did not have any issues with the remaining controls.  I found most by shooting a bearing and focusing on running a straight line and not losing myself on the map.  The last 4 I was neck in neck with a fella.  He had an orienteering club kit on, so I prided myself in being able to beat him to the finish.

Fortunately found this one, coming from below.

I finished with a time of 1:14:48.  The first place F55+ completed the course in 52:09 and won the overall championship.  I was happy that each day I got a little faster and made less errors, although still a lot of room for improvement.  I did end up third in my class.  The winner's name was Zakrevski, Russian origin, so probably had a compass placed in her hands as soon as she could walk.  Orienteering is HUGE in Europe, not so much here.

Lisa managed to get second in F45+ and with that took home a silver medal.  She was less than 3 minutes off of first and is still kicking herself because of a few mistakes she made.  I am so glad she kept pestering me to try this sport ... it only took 2 years for me to cave into my fear of failure.  Yep, I was afraid to try, but now am hooked.  And this is a sport I can take to my grave.  I saw many people in their 70's, even one lady who sliced her scalp open on the first day, went to the ER, got 10 staples, and then returned to compete. With all the brain power necessary for this sport, I am hoping it staves off dementia.

And I am gonna learn to use that damn intimidating thumb compass!