"Did you swim the canal?"
Joe Maliszewski, sitting at the Start/Finish table, was jus' grinnin' away as I ran my hardest down the last 100 yards of trail. I had barely crossed the finish line before he'd asked.
"Oh, yeah!" I wheezed.
The "canal thing" had been the topic of discussion since we all peeked at the pre-printed red course early in the day and saw Joe-the- course-designer's 'invitation': a control at the south-center-edge of a 300 meter lake with the next control on a spur near the north edge. Thus, two choices for route: East shore via long trails, or the dog- leg to the West crossing a feeder canal at a bridge. Tantalizingly, 3 or 4 minutes of the West route could be saved by swimming the canal.
In all our years at Split Oak, course designs had avoided this swim and we knew of no one who had tried. It's a dinky 10 meter wide canal, half choked with weeds. All the preparatory dares and speculations involved depth, mud-factor, alligators and snakes.
It was the highlight of my run and I was sorry to learn I have only two others to share the True Tales with, though in fact I never did speak to them; a JROTC cadet they tell me, plus new FLO Prez Derek Bohn. Derek neglected to use a plastic bag for his map, it being sunny & all, so it dissolved in the canal swim. How he miraculously finished the course without a map is another story he will hopefully share with us.
Yes, it was a good day for all that orienteering is good for. Big crowds: about 260. A real picnic pavilion. A visit by the resident Sandhill Cranes. Fine weather: 75F, sunshine and puffy Florida clouds. And a flooded, muddy ankle deep slog the last ¼ mile to the start, thanks to the S. FL Water Man. Dist's controlling Lake Hart level rather high. Hope y'all enjoyed that!
Many changes to Moss Park with new facilities. Many changes to the Split Oak portion of the map with field updates. It was quite a relief to finally get this event in. The '04 hurricanes had disrupted our schedule so Joe had these courses on hold for over 5 months.
We were again graced with celebrities from distant lands. Inger Vamnes came all the way from Norway to inaugurate her 50th year Orienteering with FLO. We were privileged to have her on such an occasion and we only wish there had been more Brown course competitors, so you could plainly see how accomplished she is. Also attending was Ingvar Braaten, mapper of the classically famous 1983 US Championships map at Telemark, Wisconsin, visiting from Norway. Ingvar ran Green but clearly had the fastest pace, in minutes per km, of the day. And the Reids (Kiwis) from New Zealand joined us for one or two last runs, this time without the children, before returning home after several years with here. Godspeed to all.
Notice the good distribution of winning times on these courses: 30 minutes or so on White & Yellow; roughly 50 minutes on orange; roughly 50 to 60 minutes on the Advanced courses. All evidence of good course design by Joe M. And under 7% of entrants failed to finish, another mark of good course design.
The turnout by the way was so good, we ran out of the pre-printed maps. Or at least ran out on some courses and had to pirate maps from others. You were all very patient and understanding, for which we thank you all.
Many thanks go to the helper crew, especially Rick & Kathy Orcutt and Joe Maliszewski, all of whom put in a full 8am to 5:30 pm day. Janet Putnam helped Kathy at registration. Ray Bruneau, Jerry Sirmans and Russ Steinke helped Joe retrieve controls. And I'm certain lots of other folks pitched in but either I've forgotten or didn't take note. Jim Paradise, the aptly named Park Superintendent, turned out several four-wheeled 'mules' to help search for a lost – excuse me, mis- oriented – JROTC cadet. Found him, too.
We sure appreciate all those JROTC participants coming to our events. This event was their final warm-up for the annual Florida Scholastics Championship event next month at Rock Springs Run State Reserve, to be held in conjunction with the regular FLO event.
See you there.
| Name | Time |
| Vargas, BCHS | 24:38 |
| Ferrer Angel, BCHS | 34:50 |
| BSA Pack 183 | 45:40 |
| Stoll | 81:50 |
| West Orange #2 | 48:46 |
| West Orange 3000 | 49:28 |
| Murphy | 53:40 |
| Frey | 67:14 |
| Rossi | 68:07 |
| Besuden | 68:14 |
| K Pyros | 87:00 |
| Gene Shipley | 87:06 |
| Warren | 116:45 |
| Magnabosco | NTR |
| Name | Time |
| Matt Vanendingham | 27 ;13 |
| The Kiwis (Reids) | 31:16 |
| Joseph Bonelli | 31:27 |
| K. Patillo, TVHS | 32:02 |
| McCullough, TVHS | 33:55 |
| Anna Leonard, Dunedin | 36:12 |
| Roe | 39:33 |
| DeGreave, BCHS | 39:45 |
| Bishop, Central TMI | 39:45 |
| Grace, Caery | 41:10 |
| LeBlanc, Central TMI | 41:40 |
| Kristina Youngs | 42:06 |
| Jon Chointere | 43:17 |
| Burgess, Central TMI | 46:13 |
| McKormick | 46:40 |
| Chrystala Munoz | 47:30 |
| Skowron | 48:26 |
| Ramsey/Skowron | 49:51 |
| Blere, Nease | 50:06 |
| Cesar Gomez | 50:37 |
| Drawhorn, Nease | 50:39 |
| Nathan Powell | 52:20 |
| Pursely, Nease | 54:33 |
| Ezzidio | 54:43 |
| Holton, Nease | 58:03 |
| Jones, BCHS | 59:15 |
| D Smith | 60:28 |
| ZaJae | 61:51 |
| Smith, S, O&A | 62:26 |
| Gianakis, Central TMI | 63:52 |
| Wall | 68:57 |
| Nicole Riley | 77:35 |
| Chris Anderson | 79:24 |
| Lecker | 82:50 |
| DeLaHenty | 83:03 |
| Tony Merrell | 87:00 |
| Hackett | 87:24 |
| K. Martinez | 90:00 |
| Geiger | 90:35 |
| Cliff Tyrone | 92:15 |
| Perrelli | 104:37 |
| Warren | 122:12 |
| G. Pyros | NTR |
| Henry Blaue | DNF |
| Hernadez | DNF |
| Shaffer | NTR |
| Abdool | NTR |
| McGinley | NTR |
| West Orange #4 | NTR |
| Name | Time |
| B. Johnson | 47:21 |
| D. Thompson, Nease | 53:10 |
| Girlzgo | 54:00 |
| K. Thompson, Nease | 54:31 |
| Walenty Prytulo | 58:00 |
| Ferrer, BCHS | 62:00 |
| Gutierrez, BHS | 62:42 |
| C Jones | 64:00 |
| Hudson, Central TMI | 65:00 |
| Andy Holman/Todd Taylor | 66:00 |
| Jose Alvinde | 66:00 |
| Cesar Olivera, BHS | 66:00 |
| Hunter, Central TMI | 66:00 |
| Joe Arriza, Central TMI | 67:00 |
| Vargas, BCHS | 69:00 |
| DeGraves, BCHS | 69:00 |
| Chewning, Nease | 69:53 |
| The Dempseys | 72:20 |
| Robert Davis | 74:00 |
| David Mahnken | 75:30 |
| TVHS #1 | 78:00 |
| Gonzalez, BHS | 81:11 |
| Hamilton | 82:40 |
| MacCr | 84:00 |
| Gilbert | 88:00 |
| Dismuke | 90:00 |
| Wood | 90:25 |
| Boone HS #2 | 90:37 |
| Cloakey | 93:20 |
| Keil | 96:00 |
| Mann, BCHS | 98:00 |
| Boone HS #3 | 98:00 |
| Kim Durjan | 99:00 |
| Boone HS #1 | 100:00 |
| John Ide | 101:20 |
| Tobar | 102:00 |
| Akers | 109:35 |
| J. Baez | 112:00 |
| Powell, BCHS | 114:00 |
| Bruskowicz | 114:30 |
| TVHS #2 | 136:00 |
| Chris Roberts | 140:00 |
| Kaler | 144:00 |
| Prendimano, Central TMI | DNF |
| Cobras | DNF |
| McCormick, BCHS | DNF |
| Krisinsha, TVHS | DNF |
| Sheehan, Nease | DNF |
| Kovaly | DNF |
| K Day | NTR |
| Name | Time |
| Inger Vamnes | 61:42 |
| Russ Steinke | 104:00 |
| Team Andy Capp | 105:00 |
| Paris | NTR |
| Name | Time |
| Braaten | 49:00 |
| Barker | 76:00 |
| Sachse, Nease | 76:00 |
| Ray Bruneau | 111:00 |
| Enriquez | 112:00 |
| Roman | 112:30 |
| Yost | 116:00 |
| Michael Whitlock | 131:00 |
| Belcher, Central TMI | 174:00 |
| Grunker, Central TMI | 179:00 |
| John Arriza, Central TMI | 179:00 |
| Ed & Patty Allison | OT |
| The Fluegels | NTR |
| Akers | DNF |
| Poole | DNF |
| Wang, Nease | DNF |
| Tang, Nease | DNF |
| Spahn, Nease | DNF |
| Name | Time |
| Bob Putnam | 66:45 |
| Arild Arsleie | 74:46 |
| Artur Intson | 80:00 |
| Dave Dirito | 85:30 |
| Schultz | 100:00 |
| Mitch Jarvis | 103:00 |
| Derek Bohn | 118:00 |
| Jerry Sirmans | 120:00 |
| Haag | 125:00 |
| Andy Holman/Todd Taylor | 136:00 |
| Wright | 139:00 |
| The Kiwis (Reids) | OT |
| DNF | Did Not Finish |
| DQ | Disqualified (Missed Controls) |
| OT | Over 3 Hour Time Limit |