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Browns Valley Open Space Preserve

Table of contents
1 Event Center
2 Schedule
3 Costs and Registration
4 What To Bring
5 Courses
6 E-Punch Notice
7 Request for Volunteers
8 Course Setter’s Notes
9 Driving Directions

Date: (Sun.) Mar. 9, 2025
Location: Vacaville, CA
Event Director: - 415.456.8118
Course Setter: Andrew Masalkov
Type: C; This event will offer courses for first-timers & experienced orienteers; non-members and beginners are welcome; brief, free beginner instruction will be available

Related Event Information

Event Results Course Setter’s Notes Last Year’s Event

Please note that fees and time limits apply. Events are typically not canceled due to bad weather.


Note: 
The park permit has been approved!
Daylight Saving Time begins on March 9th — remember to set your clocks forward 1 hour Saturday night.
Be aware of the note below about E-stick capacity.


This will be our third visit to the new map (created in 2023) of this interesting area. There are some photos of the terrain here (https://photos.app.goo.gl/AwT3thZBytU4UtTW6).

Andrew Masalkov will be doing the course setting for this event. He was the Course Consultant for the event last year.

You can find information about Browns Valley Open Space Preserve here (https://www.visitvacaville.com/directory/browns-valley-open-space/).

Note: Remember to "spring forward" your clocks Saturday night, as we go onto Daylight Saving Time at 2 AM Sunday! We all lose an hour of sleep, but get an extra hour of daylight in the late afternoon or evening.

Event Center

Parking and the event assembly area (registration, beginner clinics, E-punch, restrooms, etc.) will be at the Jacqueline Pelton Pavilion at this nearby school (location map (https://maps.app.goo.gl/RtbbYGksXru17ZFs8), driving directions):

Browns Valley Elementary School
333 Wrentham Drive
Vacaville, CA 95688

There’s a sheltered picnic area on campus with plenty of tables. There are restrooms and water fountains nearby.

As you’ll see below, there will be longish walks between the school and the Open Space park (i.e., to the Start, and back from the Finish). We’re focusing on the school because it’s the closest facility with restrooms.

Schedule

The standard BAOC event schedule will be followed:

  9:00 AM – 11:59 AM: Registration open
  9:30 AM – 10:30 AM: Beginner clinic instruction (free)
 10:00 AM – 12:30 PM: Starts are open
                  2:00 PM: Everyone must have returned to the Finish
Note: At on-site registration, all participants under age 18 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 [12KB PDF]).

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

Beginner 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 at this event.

Note: Beginners are given their course maps at registration. You should get your map before joining a beginner clinic.

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

Costs and Registration

The following fees apply at this event:

  $3 for each junior on the beginner (White) course
  $8 for each adult on the beginner (White) course
  $5 for each junior on the Score-O course (see a note below re. 1-hour vs 2-hour) 
$15 for each adult member on the Score-O course (see a note below re. 1-hour vs 2-hour)
$20 for each adult non-member on the Score-O course (see a note below re. 1-hour vs 2-hour)
  $1 for a compass rental (optional)  
  $5 for an electronic fingerstick rental (optional, but each team will need one to complete the course)
$15 for the lowest-cost individual one-year BAOC membership (optional)  
Notes:
  • You can register at the event or online before the event (see below).
  • At the event, we can accept payment by cash, check, or credit/debit card (but no electronic payments — e.g., PayPal, Venmo).
  • Juniors are age 8 through 20 (under age 8 is free).
  • If you register for the Score-O course, please register for your best guess at whether you will do the 1-hour option or the 2-hour option. You can change your mind later, but it will help E-punch if they have best guesses at the outset.
  • There is no charge for a second course (but you must end up paying for the more expensive course​—​i.e., Score-O after Beginner).
  • Members of other orienteering clubs can pay the "member" fee. (We hope your club would do the same for our members. 🙂)

More information about event pricing is available in the club FAQ. All the prices are also shown on the standard entry form (PDF/12KB), 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.)

Optional Online Registration

Online registration has closed, but you can still register at the event.

Notes:
  • Online registration is not required​—​you can register at the event.
  • You can see who is registered here (https://eventreg.orienteeringusa.org/eventregister/a40/reglist/home/brownsvalley2025) (but keep in mind that others will register at the event).

What To Bring

There will be drinking water at the assembly area (at the school), but limited water on the courses.

Comfortable outdoors attire and walking shoes are fine for the beginner (White) course.

For the Score-O course, leg cover or gaiters are recommended, as well as shoes with some extra grip on the sole.

A compass is not absolutely necessary, but can be very helpful (especially on the Score-O course). 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 (note that there’s a significant charge for a lost rental). Use of the "E-punch" system is easy. You can learn how at the event, or read about it here.

Courses

The White course is a standard, point-to-point course for beginners.

For everyone else, the Score-O course has 1-hour and 2-hour options. The objective is to score as many control points as possible in your chosen time period. However, there is a penalty for exceeding your chosen time period: 5 points per minute, or fraction of a minute, late. (See the Course Setter’s Notes below for an example.)

Here are the course details: 

    White course:   2.1 km length, 40 m climb, 10 controls
    Score-O course: 35 controls with point values of 10, 20, and 30 per control  

Notes:
  • Maps for the beginner (White) course are given out at registration, and can be looked at before starting the course.
  • Maps for the Score-O course' are provided at the Start, and must not be looked at before starting the course.
  • Beginners should be aware that the course length shown above is the cumulative straight-line distances between controls. The climb number represents the amount of ascending that would be done on the "optimum route" (in the Course Setter's opinion), without regard for any descending. Because you won't travel in straight lines, and might not follow the optimum routes, your actual distance and climb will be somewhat more than what is shown above, and will depend on your route choices (and any errors you make).

The map for both courses has a 1:7500 scale.

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

There is a 10-minute walk from the school to the Start (see the directions below). There is a 5-minute walk from the Finish back to the school (reverse the walk to the Start).

E-Punch Notice

Be aware that the Score-O has 35 controls, which is more than the capacity of some E-punch fingersticks. If your E-punch is one that does not have that many places for controls, and you think you will get more than 30, you should rent a newer one. Here are the SPORTident models that have limited capacity (other models are listed here): 

    Epunch ID Number        Capacity
          1-499999             30  
    2000000-2999999            30
    4000000-4999999 (pCard)    20  
    6000000-6999999 (tCard)    25

I don't think anyone uses pCards or tCards, but I've included them for completeness.

Also, I would like to do a course myself, so I would appreciate having a volunteer staff the E-punch table after registration closes at noon. At that point it's mostly making sure everyone downloads, so it's not a lot of work.

– Jeff Lanam

Request for Volunteers

Can you help?

Please let me know if you can spare on hour or so helping with starts, beginner clinics, or control pick-up. The more volunteers we get, the lighter the load on us all!

If you think you can help, please drop me an when you have the chance.

Thanks! Scott Aster, Event Director (and Regional Event Coordinator)

Course Setter’s Notes

By Andrew Masalkov

Browns Valley is in full bloom, with green grass and wild flowers starting to show up on the southern sides of the hills. The ground is soft, and most of the park is already dried, making it a perfect time to enjoy the beautiful, but steep, landscape. Runnability might not be the best — there is lots of stony ground, and small rocks scattered all over the place add to the challenge. Grazing cows, which are present in the park, left a lot of small holes, so one needs to be careful while looking at scattered terrain around controls. Poison oak is there, but not very abundant — it is easily avoidable.

The Start for both the White and Score-O courses will be located about a 650-meter (0.4-mile) walk from the registration area at the local school. (The location is the same as used last year.) Follow signs to the closest park entrance: from the school, head south on Wrentham Dr, turn left onto Wethersfield Dr, then left onto Rambleton Dr; after about 30 meters, turn left onto a path to a gate.

The Start is up the hill, another 200 m walk with around 50 meters climb. The route to the Start will be marked. Plan for a 10-minute walk from the school.

The Finish is located near the entry gate. The walk back to the school will be about 450 meters (1/4 mile), reversing the route from the school to the gate.

The White course will have a (straight-line) length of around 2.1 km (little bit more than usual, but this was a tradeoff for a lower climb number); the climb will be about 40 meters; there will be 10 controls.

The Score-O will have 1- and 2-hour options using the same map. The total number of controls is 35, amounting to 410 points in total. Control values are in the range of 10, 20, and 30 per control, depending on location. There are premiums for visiting the highest park vistas — the more you sweat, the more you get. The late penalty is 5 points per minute (and fraction of a minute) late — for example, if you are late by 3 minutes and 10 seconds, then 20 points (15 for 3 minutes, 5 for 10 seconds) will be deducted from your final score. Plan accordingly.

The map used is a couple years old, and is mostly correct. The maps for both courses are printed at 1:7500 scale. Some areas require corrections, but nothing dramatic.

Note for White-course participants: 
Trails might not be distinct on the southern hillside — not enough people have used them yet, and some trails are overgrown with grass. In any case, controls are set such that they are visible from one location to another to avoid bigger confusion.

There will be some water on the Score-O course. One dedicated water drop is close to the Finish area, not associated with any control. Another two water controls will be located on the northern part of the map. There is no water on the White course.

The following is optional — you may start at any time until starts close at 12:30: per Rex's suggestion, we might try to have a mass start for the 2-hour event around 10 AM, and around 10:50 for 1-hour participants. That way we can get everyone finishing around noon, and really have a social!

Note that everyone must return to the Finish by 2:00, whether or not they have completed their course, and then return to the school to download.

Don't forget that the Daylight Saving Time change happens this Sunday.

Driving Directions

The approximate coordinates of the school parking lot are 38.3830,-121.9833. The address is given above.

From the Bay Area or the Sacramento area, make your way to I-80 through Vacaville. Take exit 55 for Nut Tree Parkway/Allison Drive/Monte Vista Ave.

If you’re coming from the Bay Area, turn left onto Allison Dr. After 0.7 mile, turn left onto Browns Valley Pkwy. After 0.8 mile, turn left onto Wrentham Dr. After 0.5 mile, the school will be on your right.

If you’re coming from the Sacramento area, turn left onto E Monte Vista Ave, and then turn right onto Browns Valley Pkwy. After 1.2 mile, turn left onto Wrentham Dr. After 0.5 mile, the school will be on your right. (Google Maps shows other routes if you want to get off I-80 earlier.)

After parking in the school lot, walk south, past the first building, to the assembly area.