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Morgan Territory Regional Preserve

Date: (Sun.) Mar. 1, 2020
Location: Livermore, CA
Event Director: - 650.404.7037
Course Setter: Yurii Konovalenko
Type: B; Standard 7-course event for beginners through advanced at one of our popular parks

After a gap of a couple of years, we finally return to Morgan Territory, with stunning views north to Mt. Diablo and south to the Livermore valley, and a high quality map from the U.S. individual championships a few years ago. Yurii Konovalenko has designed a full range of courses (White through Blue) for beginners through advanced orienteers, in this beautiful and complex terrain.

Please consider volunteering to help at the event. No matter what your skill set or experience, we can use you! The list of needs is below.

If you're interested in knowing more about Morgan Territory Regional Preserve, the park website is here (https://www.ebparks.org/parks/morgan/).

What is Orienteering?

An adventure! Discover the outdoors and discover yourself! You can explore a course by yourself or go as a team with your friends. You will get a highly detailed orienteering map, probably unlike any map you have seen before. The map will have a lot of detail on it, such as fences, boulders, lone trees, vegetation boundaries, and anything else you might see. Your course will be printed on the map.

Orienteering is easy to learn, a challenge to master, and incredibly fun! You can read more about orienteering here.

Schedule

  9:00 AM – 11:59 AM: Registration open

  9:30 AM – 10:30 AM: Beginners’ clinic instruction (free)

  9:30 AM – 12:30 PM: Starts are open for all courses

                  2:00 PM: Courses close, checkpoint control pick-up begins

At registration, all juniors must be accompanied by parents or legal guardians, or bring with them a waiver signed by their parent or legal guardian (the registration form is available here (PDF/90KB)).

Note that you can register and start on the courses anytime during the open times above. Thus, for example, you do not need to be “punctual” at 9:00 (but you can if you want, but please don’t show up earlier and expect to be served).

Beginners’ clinics are 15–20 minute, repeating sessions that introduce the sport of orienteering, and provide enough instruction to be able to complete the beginner (White) course.

Note that you must return to the Finish by 2:00 PM, and then go to the download tent, even if you have not finished your course. Please do not leave without checking in! If there are unaccounted people after 2:00, we must initiate a search for them.

After you finish, enjoy free refreshments, and stick around and socialize with other participants!

Costs

The following fees apply at this event:

  $3 for each junior on beginner’s (White) and advanced beginner’s (Yellow) courses

  $8 for each adult on beginner’s and advanced beginner’s courses

  $5 for each junior on intermediate (Orange) and advanced (Brown–Blue) courses  

$15 for each member on intermediate and advanced courses

$20 for each non-member on intermediate and advanced courses

  $1 for a compass rental (optional)  

  $5 for an E-punch fingerstick rental (if you don’t own one; each group will need one to complete their course)

$15 (and up) for one-year BAOC membership (optional)  

More information about event pricing is available in the club FAQ. All the prices are also shown on the standard entry form (PDF/90KB), which you can print and fill out in advance to save some time at the event. (You will need one entry form for each group of people going on a course together.)

More information about event pricing is available in the club FAQ.

Location Within the Park

The assembly area (E-punch download, registration, snacks, and restrooms) will be at the Morgan Territory Road Staging Area, on the right almost immediately after entering the park from the south side. The driving directions are below.

There are toilets and picnic tables at the assembly area, as well as unlimited beautiful outdoor space, so please feel free to bring along a blanket and a picnic lunch for after the course. The water fountain and bottle filler are once again functional and potable.

What to Bring

For beginner courses (White and Yellow), comfortable outdoors attire and shoes are fine.

For intermediate (Orange) and advanced (Brown through Blue) courses, leg cover or gaiters are recommended, as well as shoes with some extra grip on the sole.

A compass is not necessary, but can be very helpful. We have compasses available for a $1 rental fee.

We time the courses with the SPORTident system, so each entry/team needs to have a SPORTident fingerstick. If you don’t have your own, you can rent one at registration for $5. (Use of the E-punch system is easy. You can learn how at the event, or read about it here.)

Courses

The course details are below.

                                                Water    Map 
    Course   Distance      Climb      Controls  Stops   Scale
    White     1.9 km     40 m (2.1%)      8       0    1:10,000  
    Yellow    2.8 km     60 m (2.1%)      9       1    1:10,000
    Orange    4.3 km    140 m (3.3%)     12       2    1:10,000
    Brown     3.9 km    100 m (2.6%)     13       2    1:10,000
    Green     4.9 km    140 m (2.9%)     17       2    1:10,000
    Red       6.5 km    200 m (3.1%)     21       2    1:10,000
    Blue      8.3 km    275 m (3.3%)     26       2    1:10,000

Be sure to read the Course Setter’s Notes for more information.

Note: Horses always have the right of way. If you encounter a horse, you must stop running and respond to the rider’s direction.

Hazards

Participants on the intermediate and advanced courses should be aware that the park has some poison oak that you will want to avoid. It looks like this. Washing clothes and shoes, and bathing with dishwashing soap or a commercial product such as Tecnu, is recommended to remove the irritant oil.

Request for Volunteers

As usual, we need many volunteers at this event. In particular, we still need people for these tasks:

1. Beginner’s clinics II (10:30–11:30)
2. Starts II (11–12:30)
3. Control pickup (2:00)
4. Breakdown (1:30–2:30)
5. Refreshments

If you are willing to help, please contact , and/or add yourself to this Google Sheet (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1inyLNTbRHlPx_1cVc-PoTs3dT6oPy_9XUQWyMexUxB0/edit#gid=0).

Driving Directions

The approximate coordinates of the assembly area are 37.8186,-121.7956.

Carpooling is encouraged due to possibly limited parking.

From most of the Bay Area, take I-580 East to North Livermore Ave. After a straight, tree-lined stretch, North Livermore Ave ends at a "T" at Manning Road. Go left and then promptly right on Morgan Territory Road, the first real street, which will ascend into the hills and to the event.

For anyone east of Livermore, do the same, reaching North Livermore Ave from I-580 West.

From the northeast bay (e.g., Antioch), there are more interesting route choices entering the park from the north. Consult your favorite mapping website or app (the coordinates of the assembly area are above).

There's a map here that shows the location of the event.