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University of California

Event #4 of 6 in the BAOC 2023 Summer Series

Date: (Sun.) Jul. 9, 2023
Location: Berkeley, CA
Event Director:
Course Setter: François Léonard
Type: C; This is the fourth event of the 2023 Summer Series. Beginners are welcome!

This event will be the fourth of six events in the 2023 Summer Series. However, we want to emphasize that everyone is welcome to come out and do one (or more) of the courses, regardless of whether or not you have attended, or plan to attend, other Summer Series events.

We encourage beginners to attend, no experience is necessary. The UC campus has many distinctive landmarks, such as the Campanile, so anyone should be able to navigate the Beginner course.

The conditions of our permit do not allow us to serve food at the event, so we will not be able to supply the usual snacks. Thus, this event will be BYOS (Bring Your Own Snacks).

We look forward to seeing everyone at what is always a fun event!

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 for all courses

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

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 (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 table, even if you have not finished your course. Please do not leave without checking in! We need to have everyone accounted for so checkpoint pick-up can start on time so those volunteers can get home.

Registration and Costs

The following fees apply at this event (if you have not registered for the Summer Series Discount Package):

  $3 for each junior on the Beginner course

  $8 for each adult on the Beginner course

  $5 for each junior on the Short or Long course  

$15 for each adult member on the Short or Long course

$20 for each adult non-member on the Short or Long course

  $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)  

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

Location on Campus

Registration will be held at the courtyard of the Social Sciences Building (https://www.berkeley.edu/map/) (formerly Barrows Hall), which is located on the south side of the campus, near Bancroft Way, and near Sather Gate and Sproul Plaza.

This is the same location we have used for the last several events.

Venue Facilities

Water and restrooms should be available inside the Social Sciences Building. If it happens that the building is closed that day, there will be open restrooms at Sproul Hall about 150 meters away.

As mentioned above, no snacks will be served at this event. There are many food opportunities just steps away on Bancroft Way.

What to Bring

Running attire and running shoes are fine. Comfortable outdoors attire and walking shoes are fine for those who will walk their course.

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

We time the courses with the SPORTident system, so a SPORTident fingerstick is required for each team​—​they rent for $5. (Use of the “E-punch” system is easy. You can learn how at the event, or read about it here.)

Courses

Here are course details:

    Course     Length   Controls
    Beginner   1.7 km      12  
    Short      3.0 km      16  
    Long       4.8 km      27

There is not much climb on any of the courses.

The Short and Long courses will be the ranking courses for the respective Summer Series.

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

Important Note:

This event will observe Sprint rules for all the courses, which means there are strict interpretations of some of the symbols on the map. In particular, some symbols indicate features that must not be crossed (i.e., even if it’s physically possible to cross them), and areas that are out of bounds (i.e., must not be entered). If you don’t know about those symbols, be sure to ask somebody before going to the Start.

In addition to being against orienteering rules, violating those restrictions could jeopardize our ability to hold events on the campus in the future!

Course Setter’s Notes

By François Léonard

Welcome to the U.C. Berkeley Summer Series event. We are holding this event close to the CalOFest (https://cal-o-fest.com/stage_01) and the NAOC (http://cal-o-fest.com/stage_04) Sprints because there was a request for a Sprint-like event before those big races. U.C. Berkely is a perfect venue for Sprint orienteering. As a preparation for the upcoming Sprint races, the courses have been designed with an “educational” theme in mind, i.e., to get you to learn and practice the new Sprint orienteering mapping. The quality of some of the course legs is bit compromised due to this emphasis.

Please see the Course Setter’s Notes for the 2022 U.C. Berkeley event for Matej’s excellent description of Sprint orienteering mapping, with specifics to the U.C. Berkeley map (which he made).

Be careful of the traffic everywhere on this map.

There will be no water on the courses.

Maps will be printed at 1:4000 scale. This is to match the NAOC Sprint scale. The contour interval is 2.5 m.

Construction on the campus ebbs and flows. I added the latest as of June 24​—​there could be variations by race day.

The Start is about 2 minutes from the assembly area. The Finish is close by.

2023 Summer Series

This is the fourth event of the BAOC 2023 Summer Series. The Series consists of six events, each of which has two “ranking courses” for the overall “Short” and “Long” Summer Series results. At this event, points will be awarded to all the individuals (but not groups or teams) who complete the Short or Long course (as their first course at the event).

Details of the Summer Series scoring system are available here. (Note that we need your birth year if you want to be scored properly.)

Volunteers

For all of you who enjoy orienteering, help us help others catch that joy.

Please contact me if you can help for about an hour at the U.C. Berkeley event. Here are the available offerings:

• Setup
• Registration, either of two shifts
• Beginner Clinics
• Hospitality/Greeters
• Starts, either of two shifts
• Checkpoint Pickup, need 4 or more
• Take Down

Thank you kindly, Daniel Å ebo, Event Director ()

Parking

Parking, although always tight, is free on Sunday along the roads south and north of the main campus (Bancroft and Hearst, respectively). Arrive early to secure space on Bancroft near Telegraph (closest to the Social Sciences Building). More free Sunday parking is available on the streets south of Bancroft. There are many pay spaces around the campus and in nearby garages, such as the Upper and Lower Bancroft Garages, and Telegraph & Channing Garage. Suggested streets and garages are shown in the map to the right (click on the map to see a larger image, and click on that image for an even larger one).

Public Transit

Public Transit is highly encouraged! The Downtown Berkeley BART station (http://www.bart.gov/stations/dbrk) is one block west of campus, and from there it's a pleasant 0.5-mile walk through campus to the Social Sciences Building (see the map above).

Local buses are also available at Telegraph & Bancroft/Durant. AC Transit routes 6, 36, 51B, 52, 79, and F stop here, and connect with Downtown Berkeley BART, North Berkeley BART, Rockridge BART, Telegraph Ave, University Ave, etc. Please refer to the map above, and check Google Maps (https://www.google.com/maps/dir//Social+Sciences+Building,+Berkeley,+CA/@37.870027,-122.2930081,13z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m9!4m8!1m0!1m5!1m1!1s0x80857c25938066c3:0x73f82f3646d8e0bd!2m2!1d-122.2579888!2d37.8700322!3e3!5m1!1e2) and AC Transit (http://www.actransit.org/maps/) for more information.