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2024 Summer Series

Table of contents

1 The Schedule 2 Note to Beginners 3 Summer Series Discount Package 4 Important Note to All Participants 5 The Series Competition 6 Scoring and Awards 7 Series Results

Hi Folks! It has been great to see everyone at BAOC events over the last several months. A big thanks to all the volunteers and participants that have made these events successful.

As usual, over the late spring and summer, BAOC will be switching to predominantly shorter format events on typically more urban maps. This is the 2024 BAOC Summer Series!

Each Summer Series event will typically have a beginner (White) course, a "Short" intermediate course, and a "Long" intermediate course. (The "Short" and "Long" courses will have a difficulty of about a regular Orange course, or whatever technical level the map can support.) There will be six Summer Series events, as listed below. And the whole Series will run as an overall competition. In actual fact, there will be two separate competitions at each event​—​a "Short" and a "Long"​—​just like last year. (Athletes can score points on only the first of either the "Short" or the "Long" course they run at each event.)

The exact scoring will be explained in detail later, but basically participants' results are weighted by age and gender (see the explanation from last year below, which is subject to change for this year). And the best four scores from the six events for each participant will be considered for the final standings. In this fashion, all participants have a chance at the top spot​—​and missing an event or two will not spoil your chances. Points are also awarded for the Course Setter and Event Director of each event (since they cannot participate).

Note that, like last year, a special "Series Discount Package" is offered, providing a discount for registering in advance for the entire Series​—​see the details below. (Registering for the Discount Package does not require that you attend every event in the Series.)

As ever, these events are run entirely thanks to the efforts of volunteers. So please reach out to the individual Event Directors, or your Regional Event Coordinators, for volunteer opportunities at these events. And a huge thank-you to everyone who has already volunteered!

Looking forward to seeing you out there! Your BAOC Regional Event Coordinators:

• East Bay  REC: Jeff Goodwin ()
• North Bay REC: Scott Aster ()
• Peninsula REC: Graham Brew ()
• South Bay REC: Graham Brew ()
• San Fran. REC: Deron van Hoff ()

The Schedule

The Summer Series schedule is below. Click on an "Event" link to go to the event webpage. After each event, you can click on results links to see the event results.

• Event #1 – Sunday, June 2 – Presidio of San Francisco (at Fort Scott)
• Event #2 – Saturday, June 15 – Evergreen Valley College, San Jose
• Event #3 – Sunday, July 7 – Diablo Valley College, Pleasant Hill
• Event #4 – Sunday, July 21 – UC Berkeley
• Event #5 – Saturday, August 3 – Tahoe Basin (location TBD)
• Event #6 – Sunday, August 25 – Bedwell Bayfront Park, Menlo Park

Note to Beginners

BAOC welcomes beginners at events, with (free) "clinics" that introduce orienteering, and with "beginner" courses. We hope you will come to one or more of the Summer Series events (there is no requirement to attend all the events), and/or to our "regular" events listed in the Schedule.

Summer Series Discount Package

Like last year, there is a Summer Series Discount Package again this year. The package deal — which is available only for BAOC members — will cover the six events in the Summer Series.

The package price is $60 for adults, $20 for juniors (ages 8–20), for all six (or fewer) events​—​thus presenting a great discount, even if you don't attend all of the events.

Here is the "fine print" for the Summer Series Discount Package:

• This fabulous deal is for club members running the Short or Long courses at the Summer Series events. (Click here to join BAOC or renew your membership. The least expensive membership is $15/year [$16 if paid online].)
• Beginner courses are available at all of the events, but there is no package price for them. Beginners will register for each event separately (i.e., either online or at the event).
• If you own an E-stick that you will use for the whole Series, you will be able to go directly to the Start at each event. You will not need to visit Registration or E-Punch first (except go to E-Punch if you need to change your course selection).
• E-stick rental is not available through the Discount Package entry form, despite what the entry form appears to offer (i.e., ignore everything related to a rental E-stick). You will be able to rent an E-stick at each event by visiting the Registration table.
• There will be no refunds if you can't make it to all the events (but you will have the satisfaction of donating to your favorite O' club).
• The Discount Package must be purchased through the link below. It cannot be purchased at an event.
• Registering for the Discount Package automatically enters you in all the remaining 2024 Summer Series events. Thus, you should not register for individual events, and nothing needs to be done if you do not attend an event.
• You must register for the Discount Package at least two days before the next event.
• When you go to an event, you can go directly to the Start if you do not need to change your course selection or E-punch number.

You can sign up for the Summer Series Discount Package here (https://eventreg.orienteeringusa.org/eventregister/register/start/24sspackage).

Note: If you are not a BAOC member (and thus not eligible for the package), or you do not want to register for the Discount Package, each event will also have its own entry form. To sign up for a single event, register online before the event or register at the event. (If registering at the event, to save some time at the event, you can download and print the entry form linked on the event's webpage, and bring the form to Registration at the event.)

Important Note to All Participants

Everyone must observe out-of-bounds areas indicated on the maps. Please note, in particular, that olive-green areas are out of bounds.

Failure to stay out of out-of-bounds areas could jeopardize our ability to get permission to hold future events at the venue, as well as being unfair to those participants who go around the areas.

Some of the events will use maps with ISSprOM (International Standard for Sprint Orienteering Maps) symbols, which indicate impassible features like buildings, fences, vegetation, and walls. Note that the rules forbid crossing (including reaching over or through) any feature shown on the map as "impassible", even if it's physically possible to cross (or reach over or through).

The Series Competition

The BAOC Summer Series will be split into two competitions, a series of Short courses and a series Long courses, both of which will be "handicapped" by age and gender​—​that is, using the same system we used in 2017–2019, 2022, and 2023.

The six planned Summer Series events (see above) will be set on some of our best "urban" maps​—​campuses, parks, etc.​—​which make for better events during the summer. There will, in fact, be effectively two Summer Series​—​a Short-distance version, and a Long-distance version. We have made this decision acknowledging the diversity of the athletes we have at BAOC events, and hopefully everyone will find a distance they are comfortable with. Both Short and Long will be basically "the most technically challenging courses the map will support". The Short courses will not be "easier", they are simply shorter.

Note that, in addition to the Ranking-Short course and the Ranking-Long course, each event will have a non-ranking White course, and perhaps a second non-ranking course. Further details for each event will be released closer to the date (i.e., on the webpage for the event).

As in previous years, the Summer Series results are weighted ("handicapped") by age and gender, to create something closer to a level playing field for all athletes. The participants' age and gender information will be obtained from past BAOC events where this information was used. Failing that, the OSUA rankings website (https://rankings.orienteeringusa.org/find.php) will be referenced. (If we do not have access to the information, you will need to tell us your birth year [just the year, not the date] and gender, so we can give each athlete a fair representation in the points.)

If you are a relative newcomer to BAOC events, and you know you are not listed on that OUSA website, you can help us out by sending your gender and year of birth (please do not send your complete date of birth​—​we have no interest in that). You can send the information to Graham Brew (), or give it to Registration at your first event. If we don't have your information, we will try to reach you to get the information. If we ultimately fail to determine an athlete's age and gender, they will be assumed to be a 21-year-old male. Hence, it is in each athlete's best interest to give us accurate information.

The Series rankings will be released (to the BayONet (https://groups.io/g/BAOC) and on the BAOC website) as quickly as possible after each event, although please allow a few days for the various processing to take place.

As in previous years, credit will be given for Course Setting and Event Directing (so contact us now if you would like to earn some "free" points this way!).

If there are any questions or comments on any of the above, you can contact Graham Brew (). However, questions about specific events, locations, etc. are best addressed to the Event Director for each event.

Very best of luck to all competitors, and we look forward to seeing you out there!

– Graham Brew, BAOC Event Coordinator, and the entire BAOC Summer Series Team

Scoring and Awards

To make things a little more interesting, participants can accumulate points throughout the Series based on their results. Some of the best minds in the world's greatest database companies, and in the nation's finest research labs have deliberated carefully, and arrived at a scoring system for the Summer Series. (It's the same system that was used in 2017–2019, 2022, and 2023, crafted by François and Dennis.)

The scoring system for the Summer Series will combine all participants into two categories by making adjustments, based on age and gender, to each person's performance. The person with the best adjusted performance in a given race will be awarded 1000 points. Everyone else will be awarded points in proportion to how their own adjusted performance compares to that of the person given 1000 points.

At each event in the Series there will be two identified ranking courses, which will be used for scoring. The other course(s) offered at the event will have no affect on the Series scoring.

Here are the details.

• We will use tables developed by USA Track and Field that make adjustments to 10 km road-race times based on age and gender.
• Each participant in the Summer Series has a fixed reference time based on those tables.
• For a given race, each person's adjusted performance ratio is calculated as their actual time for that race divided by their reference time.
• The person with the best adjusted performance ratio for the day is the leader and is awarded 1000 points.
• For anyone else, their point score is the leader's adjusted performance ratio divided by their own adjusted performance ratio, then multiplied by 1000, and rounded off to the nearest whole number.

This means it is possible for someone who finishes with the slowest legal time in a race to still have the highest point score for the day. So, don't give up!

Now that you've studied the methodology for scoring in minute detail, perhaps an example is in order.

Suppose there is an event with just three people: a 45-year-old male who we'll call "F"; a 70-year-old male called "D", and a 25-year-old female called "T". (Amazingly, their ages haven't changed since the first Summer Series in 2017! 😉) Suppose their times on the course are as follows:

F   45:51

T   49:30

D   57:20

Given their ages and genders, their reference times are as follows.

F   28:30

T   29:43

D   35:45

Dividing the actual course times by the reference times gives these adjusted performance ratios for the course:

F   1.60877

T   1.66573

D   1.60373

So, with the lowest adjusted performance ratio, D is the leader (despite having the slowest time) and gets 1000 points. To get the points for the others, divide their ratios into D's and multiply by 1000, and you get F with 997 points and T with 963.

Conclusion: If you want to win in the Summer Series, either (a) get fast, or (b) get old fast.

By popular demand, final standings will be based on each person's four best scores in the six-event Series.

For the record, note that Graham Brew is the Official Scorer, so all queries and compliments should go to him. Complaints should be sent to DeptOfComplaints@whitehouse.gov (Good luck with that!).

We need to know everyone's age in order to make these calculations. As usual, your orienteering age is your age at the end of the calendar year. So what we really want is your year of birth, not your actual birth date. There will be sign-up sheets at either Registration or the E-punch download table at each event. Please write down your name and year of birth if we don't already have them.

Some "fine print":

1. Everyone who has a valid finish for that day's full ranking course will be awarded points (except group entries will not earn points). However, to be eligible for the cumulative awards, you must be a BAOC member in good standing as of the date of the final event of the Series.
2. If you don't tell us your year of birth, we will assume you are a 21-year-old male. If you like that idea better than you like getting more points, well, that's up to you.
3. If we find out your age after some of the point calculations have been made, we will try to go back and recalculate your point scores for the earlier events. In no case, though, will such retroactive point adjustments exceed 1000 points for a given race. (In other words, if you don't tell us your year of birth in time, and you should have been the leader that day, you won't quite get all the credit you might have gotten.)
4. Course Setters for events in the Series will be given points for their own event equal to their best other point score in the Series. Event Directors (some of whom may be able to run in their own event) will be given the higher of (a) their actual score in the event or (b) their best other point score in the Series.

Series Results

The final Series results will be posted here after the last event. The results for each event, and the Series standings through each event, will be available on the results page for each event (links will be added to the Schedule above).