In March,
Encompass is hosting an "
Adventure run and long orienteering event"
at York River State Park. I've talked with Encompass and some
others about this, and it sounds like it will be a "goat" orienteering
event -- not everyone knows what a Goat event is so when I came across
this
great write-up on a Goat event in Cincinatti last month by Eric Buckley of adventure racing team
Carol's Team
I thought I should share it. Eric's article even has links to the
maps so you can can get a feel for the decision making involved.
This write up illustrates the decision making of a goat race with the
mass start, alternate routes, skipped points, and other strategies.
It sounds like a fun change of pace!
While I don't know
for sure what the Encompass guys have up
their sleeves for the March event, I know they like to be innovative
and maybe one of them can chime in with more specifics.
One quote to note in Eric Buckley's piece:
"The course largely avoided the very technical area of the park (an appropriate choice for a goat
event)"
Based on my experience orienteering in York River State Park and with
Encompass events in the past, avoiding "very technical" areas might be
tough to do and -- secretly -- I suspect the Encompass guys harbour a
desire to put racers into technical areas that will really challenge
them. That's just my unconfirmed suspicion, though.
I'm bummed that I'll miss the March event, but I have some
other arrangements for that time period.