Event Schedule

Saturday 17 March 2012

09:00  Check-in and packet pickup open, Road Runner Sports

       (in conjunction with Sprint Black Diamond)

16:00  Check-in and packet pickup close

Sunday 18 March 2012

08:15  Check-in and packet pickup open, Road Runner Sports

08:45  Check-in and packet pickup close

08:45  Shuttle leaves Road Runner Sports

09:00  Check-in and packet pickup open, Black Diamond Mines

09:30  Maps are available for route planning, all divisions

10:10  Briefing and instructions

10:30  Start, all divisions

12:15  Food service begins

12:30  Finish, 2 hours

13:00  2 hour teams not finished are disqualified

13:10  Awards, 2 hours

14:30  Finish, 4 hours

15:00  4 hour teams not finished are disqualified

15:10  Awards, 4 hours

15:30  Food service ends

15:30  Shuttle departs for Road Runner Sports

19:17  Sunset

Our Sponsors!!

This event has been made possible by the following businesses and organizations. We are delighted to offer a sampling of their products as prizes for this event. Please patronize their offerings and services, and contribute to their programs:

• Event description
  • SPORTident
• Staff
• Terrain
• Hazards
• Safety
• The map
• Course specifics
  • Aid
  • Water stations

• Classes and categories
• Scoring and awards
• Weather and clothing
• Parking
  • Directions
  • Shuttle
• Rules
  • Allowed equipment
  • Required equipment
• Suggested equipment

1. Event description

Get Lost!! in Black Diamond is a rogaine. About 36 checkpoints scattered over the entire Black Diamond Mines Regional Preserve will be circled on a map and marked on the ground by orange and white orienteering markers with SPORTident stations which create a record of your visit on a small electronic card each participant will carry.

Each checkpoint has a point value, which is equal to the checkpoint number rounded down to the tens. For example, Checkpoint 68 would be worth 60 points. The objective is to score as many points as you can within the time limit by visiting checkpoints along your planned route. There are point penalties for returning late. Maps are issued well before the start, so that teams have time to plan their route.

2. Event staff

Administrative Director:   Vladimir Gusiatnikov

Course Designers:          Bill Cusworth

                           Heidi Cusworth

Cartographer:              Vladimir Gusiatnikov

Results/Scoring:           Vladimir Gusiatnikov

Food Chief:                TBA

3. The terrain

The terrain of Black Diamond Mines Regional Preserve is 19.3 square kilometers of steep, grassy hills. Most of the area is treeless. There are a few areas of chaparral, some of which are forbidden to enter. The elevation is 70 to 500 meters, with expansive views of the Sacramento River Delta to the north and Mount Diablo to the south. There are many roads and trails.

Because of the unusual winter weather, grass is very low and the ground is not hard. This park has cows, and they may be removed by the day of the event because there is not enough new grass for them to eat. Cows tend to make ruts and holes in the ground, so one should be especially careful when running downhill.

4. Potential hazards

The main hazards are steep slopes and heat exposure. As of now, no parts of the slopes have been marked out of bounds, although one certainly must exercise caution when going down the steepest ones.

Stay well hydrated—there will be water stations on the course. Look out for signs of heat stroke in your teammate, such as absence of sweating, rapid pulse, difficulty breathing, and confusion; if these are spotted, discontinue your route and head straight to the finish or, if not possible, to the main park (Somersville) road.

5. Participant safety

Participants will be responsible for their own safety while taking part. Of course, event staff will try to help you if we learn that you are seriously injured or otherwise need assistance, but there is a good chance you would be waiting a long time for help, and we don't have the level of staffing or expertise necessary to quickly and expertly handle many emergency situations that might arise, so your best bet is to be very careful not to get injured. If you are not comfortable assuming the risks involved in prolonged exertion while traveling through rugged terrain under various and possibly unexpected conditions, then you should not take part in the event.

Each person will be required to sign a liability waiver when registering online or upon checking in for the event. A parent or guardian must sign for a minor.

The organizers are not in a position to review each participant's preparedness to participate and will not do so. However, if it comes to the organizers' attention that a person or a team is poorly prepared for the event, the organizers may deny entry to that person or team in the interest of the safety of all the participants and staff of the event.

The team aspect of the event is perhaps the best safety instrument. Team members must stay together within unaided voice distance, and must approach checkpoints at the same time. Not staying together will yield disqualification. If you would like additional reassurance, team up with a friend.

There is cell phone coverage by AT&T and Verizon, somewhat reliable on ridgetops, intermittent at the start/finish/parking. Participants are advised to carry cell phones. If there is an emergency, call 911 and also notify the organizers. At least one of our cell phones will be reachable; this number will be on the front of the competition map.

If a team has indicated an emergency, it is the duty of all other teams who are nearby and hear the distress signal to help the team or participant in distress.

We plan to have a licensed EMT on site, and there is a possibility there will be additional medical help.

Each team will be required to fill out an intention sheet, which is a copy of the competition map, with their intended route. The actual route taken does not have to exactly match the intended route. Intention sheets are due at the briefing 15 minutes before the start.

We will provide water on the course. However, to be on the safe side, individuals and teams who participate in the 4 hour event should carry enough water to sustain them for three hours.

The safety bearing is north to James Donlon Boulevard; this will be noted on the competition maps.

We have a safety, emergency/accident response, communications, and search/rescue plan you may peruse. Information on this webpage supercedes the Safety Plan, where contradictory. If you have any questions about information in this section, please contact our Administrative Director.

6. The competition map

The map will be 1:20,000 with 10 m contours. We will offer high-legibility printing. The whole area will be on a single map sheet. We do not feel that waterproof paper is needed for this event. We will provide plastic map cases of appropriate thickness.

The source of elevation data for this map is Contra Costa County lidar survey. We derived elevation contours directly from this data.

The symbols we use on this map are largely the same as those we used on last year's Henry Coe map. Maps will be printed to magnetic north, and will have a UTM grid (no indication of true north).

A. CONTOURS: The contours are the most reliable and consistent component of the map. The quality of the contour base is uniform throughout the map, and the absolute accuracy is better than ±3 m lateral, ±1 m vertical. The contours are unaltered by field survey, which could only make them worse.

B. TRAILS: Trails are from high-resolution aerial photos.

C. VEGETATION: The positional accuracy is better than ±10 m lateral, referenced to the contours or to UTM. In the final version of this map, all distinct single trees and bushes will be shown, however for this initial revision vegetation is largely generalized. We use the following grades of vegetation:

• Open land (white): Most of the map.
• "Normal forest" (light green): Areas with continuous canopy cover. There are few obstacles to travel in these areas.
• Open land with scattered trees (light green dots): Areas where canopy cover is not continuous, i.e. ground can be seen in aerial photos. Also fast.
• Chaparral (dark green): Thick, mostly impassable or very slow.
• "Low chaparral" (vertical green lines): Areas of bush/thickets in which ground is visible in the photo. These most typically/likely contain passable bushes that are less than waist high.

We use a vegetation boundary symbol (a solid green line) between all areas of different types to aid readability. This does not mean that all of these boundaries are distinct. The use of color on this map is not the same as it is on an orienteering map; all of the vegetation symbols are green or white, to conform to our standard for wilderness maps.

D. STREAMS: The streams are from USGS 7.5' quad data.

E. ROCK AND FENCES: We didn't show rock, but put down fences that were obvious in the aerial photo, in particular these that comprise the park boundary.

The official park map has true-to-life trails, and can be useful for pre-event preparation.

7. Course specifics

There will be about 36 checkpoints, totaling 1000 points. The optimum distance to get them all and to stop at all water stations will be between 28 and 30 km along straight lines. Climb on this route will be between 7% and 8% of the actual distance traveled.

The number of points awarded for visiting a checkpoint is the first digit of the checkpoint's code, times 10; for example, Checkpoint 68 is worth 60 points. The penalty for being late is 10 points per minute, or fraction thereof. Teams finishing more than 30 minutes after the deadline will be disqualified and will get a score of 0.

Most locations are technically quite easy. We will assign values to checkpoints based on their combined navigational and physical difficulty. In other words, don't expect a gimme from a 50-pointer.

Each checkpoint will be equipped with an orange and white orienteering control marker and a SPORTident electronic station. There will not be sign-in/intention sheets at checkpoints. Water stations will not have orienteering markers or SPORTident.

The orienteering marker may have a number/code that will not match the checkpoint code. The correct code is shown on the SPORTident station. To punch, put the SPORTident tag through the opening. If there is no confirmation beep nor a light flash, use a paper punch attached to the control marker to punch your map. If you are unable to find the checkpoint but think you are in the right location, take a picture. All locations will have been verified with GPS.

All team members must punch the SPORTident station within 60 seconds (first to last) in order to claim credit for the checkpoint.

8. Classes and categories

There will be two event divisions, the 4 hour and the 2 hour. Solo competitors and teams are allowed in each of the two divisions. The maximum team size is 5 members. A team that has a member born after 1998 must also have a member born in 1994 or earlier.

There will be the following gender classes:

• Men;
• Mixed; and
• Women.

A mixed team is one that has members of both genders.

There will be the following age categories:

• Open;
• Juniors (each team member born in 1992 or later);
• Masters (each team member born in 1972 or earlier); and
• Supervets (each team member born in 1957 or earlier).

Every team is eligible for awards in the Open category. Some teams may fall into multiple age categories. In this case the team is eligible for awards in all categories in which they meet the criteria.

Logical combinations of the above classifications will constitute awardable categories, for example, "4 hour Supervet Women" or "2 hour Junior Mixed". Categories with few teams will not be consolidated for the purposes of awards.

9. Scoring, results, and awards

All teammates must stay within unaided voice distance and all must punch at a checkpoint in order to claim credit, within 60 seconds (first to last). If one team member is unable to continue, the whole team must report to the start/finish. A new team may be formed and it may then go on the course, but it will be unable to claim credit for checkpoints already visited.

The number of points awarded for visiting a checkpoint is the first digit of the checkpoint's code, times 10; for example, Checkpoint 68 is worth 60 points. The penalty for being late is 10 points per minute, or fraction thereof. Teams finishing more than 30 minutes after the deadline will be disqualified and will get a score of 0.

Teams will be ranked within their division, age, and gender categories according to their total score. Among teams with identical scores, the earliest finishing team will be ranked highest. Teams that are disqualified or do not finish do not get a place.

(Every team that finishes within 30 minutes of the time limit, and does not break certain rules, gets a score. You don't have to stay out for the full 2 or 4 hours! You can finish earlier if you feel like it.)

Upon finishing, teams should proceed to a SPORTident download station. Points will be tallied, and each team will receive a copy of their score sheet that will contain checkpoint-by-checkpoint split times, the total straight-line distance traveled, and the approximate climb.

Top teams in all divisions, classes will get prizes from our sponsors. Event results, splits, and RouteGadget will be promptly made available online.

10. Weather and recommended clothing

"Late winter" in inland Bay Area can assume a range of shapes. Sustained rain is possible, as is sustained sunshine. It cannot be too cold; the recorded lows in Antioch in March never dropped below freezing. It can, however, get in the 80s (above +27 °C). The average high is +22 °C (71 °F) and the average low, +8 °C (46 °F).

We will have tents erected, but there are no shelters or heated indoor facilities at the parking/start/finish. These are available at the visitor center, about 0.9 miles (1.4 km) from the start/finish.

11. Parking

We are limited to about 40 participant vehicles, and will implement capacity control and a shuttle from Road Runner Sports in Concord. Parking fee at Black Diamond Mines is $5 per vehicle, payable in cash to the park. On top of this fee, each participant vehicle is required to obtain a parking pass from us; this pass also costs $5. This levy was agreed upon as a condition of us holding the event so as to not overcrowd the limited parking, leaving room for regular park users; the parking lots typically fill up on a good-weather March weekend even without a special event going on. The parking pass will be e-mailed to the team upon payment for its registration.

12. The rules

Orienteering USA Rules for Rogaine Competition and the International Rogaining Federation Rules of Rogaining will be in effect, supplemented by this information. When there is a conflict between the two sets of Rules, U.S. Rules take precedence.

Here are a few rules highlights:

1. Team members must stay together (within unaided verbal contact) the whole time they are on the course (Orienteering USA Rule 5.5).
2. All team members must go to each checkpoint visited by the team, meaning all must punch within 60 seconds (IRF Rule B16). (This rule is why each team member must carry a SPORTident card.)
3. All participants are required to respond to a distress signal and to assist a participant who is injured and needs assistance (Orienteering USA Rule 10.2).
4. All participants are responsible for their own safety while they participate, and participants should make themselves aware of the hazards associated with the weather, rugged terrain, health risks of extreme exertion, equipment malfunction, and remoteness from emergency assistance.
5. Except in case of emergency, all participants must check in with event staff before leaving the area; in case of emergency, an evacuated participant or her/his team members should notify event staff of the situation as soon as possible after attending to the emergency.
6. Points will be deducted from the scores of late returning teams, and teams finishing more than 30 minutes late will receive a score of zero (Orienteering USA Rule 9.1).
7. A team may be disqualified for infringing these rules (Orienteering USA Rule 8.1).
8. Solo participants are allowed in all divisions (exception to Orienteering USA Rule 3.1 and IRF Rule B1).
9. GPS devices and altimeters (such as GPS tracking watches) may be carried on the course (to allow tracking analysis afterward) but not used for navigation by teams. If carried, any such devices that have a display must be presented to race officals to be sealed (after tracking is activated, if desired) before the start. Without going into the details of the sealing method, we can say that participants with GPS watches and altimeters should plan to carry them, not wear them. This is an exception to Orienteering USA Rule 5.2 and IRF Rule B7.

13. Suggested equipment

Each team should have a cellphone (AT&T or Verizon); a compass; clothing appropriate to the weather, accounting for the possibility of injury or exhaustion; shoes with treads appropriate for the steep slopes; food/energy snacks; a first aid kit; and a space blanket. Salt tablets are advised for 4 hour division participants.

Just wanted to say thank you guys for such a fun event. It was a great navigation exercise and an awesome workout. I have also never been at an event with such great food! I don't even eat that well at home!

—Stephanie, Team Racing With Giants

We have a limit of 70 participants. This event will sell out. There will be no waitlist.

We will offer tech shirts with this design to the first 50 individuals and teams who enter. All food during and after the event is included in the registration price.

Pre-registration is open. Team members may enter together (be entered by the same person), or separately. If you would like to go with a team, but don't know your teammates' names yet, you can enter yourself and other members can join the team at a later time.