What a fabulous opening to the 2010 Fall Season!
There were lots of people - I haven't counted them exactly yet but 250-300 or so in all.
There was lots of energy - Both Human and Thermal.
There was an overabundance of Humidity and Heat Index. But Hey: You wanted to live in Florida!
But there was also an abundance of Florida Wildflowers that I hope you noticed, with varieties I mostly recognized but could not name plus a few new ones I did not even recognize. And where they showed up they often showed up by the field-full.
Now, if only I could have finished my course.... The heat got to me and I quit the Blue course after punching at #5; I walked to a nearby shady tree and sat by the trunk for a good 10 minutes before very slowly walking back to Start/Finish. That's the first time in my life I ever retired from a course from simple exhaustion. 'Course, it was the first time in my life I'd attempted an 8.7km Blue course in the heat, at the age of 65. Life lesson here - and no sympathy at all from my wife.
So, hat's off and a profoundly respectful "Congratulations" to Chris Johnson who took the first place honors on that Killer-of-a-Blue Course. In fact, congrats to everyone who finished Blue; or Red, or Green, or Orange, Yellow or White on such a day.
Big Thank You to all the FLO-civilians and all the JROTC leaders who chose to brave the brutal sun and the head-high dog fennel. And by the way what the heck were those 10-foot tall bamboo like things in the north fields that seemed to be "coiled for grabbin' a stranger happenin' by"?
Thanks to all the JROTC cadets who seemed to be having a terrific time - and especially to the first-time units. We hope you had enough fun despite the conditions, that you'll all be back in subsequent months. Remember you want to qualify for the Florida JROTC Championships in May 2011.
Special Thanks to the helpers who volunteered to handle the crowd: Ray Bruneau, Mike Dempsey, Jamie and Dad Sheriff, Russ Steinke, Cameron Ogletree, Jack Cash and a JROTC Mom whose name I neglected to get. Then there are extra special Thank You's that go to Jonathan Linforth for dragging himself out of sickbay to deliver the maps and then drive right home again, plus the 'Jornada del Muerto' (look it up) put in by Control Retriever Jerry Sirmans who after running his own Red course retrieved ALL controls himself. Future Reference Note to Others: Don't let him do that! Volunteer if you can so as to ensure no one has to do any such thing again.
Will Pirnasch's terrific courses were not the slam-dunks some of us are afraid must happen eventually after all the visits to RSRSR we've had. It would never be the course setter's fault, it would simply be a matter of many becoming so familiar with the area that one might race to each control with no navigational attention required. Apparently that hasn't happened, judging by the winning times being either as-planned or a little longish. The winning times on Green, Red & Blue were in the 11 to 12 minutes per KM range, which are pretty respectful paces under the circumstances. And then there are the Orange course results, which prove my previous point: Only about 1/3 of the field even completed the course. One party was actually overtime - on the orange course! - which suggests I think that it was a tough course, made tougher by the weather. Congratulations to Will for the courses and thanks to both him and Greg Owens for placing all controls the day before so we could begin starting people as soon as we were set up.
Hope you had fun! See you next time!
Bob Putnam
Note - Remember that you MUST check in at the finish table; whether you complete the course or not.
You must also make sure that you return by 3pm. If you know that you will not have time to find the last couple of controls - do NOT attempt to find them - return directly to the finish table.
We start retrieving the controls at 3pm so they may no longer be there when you get to the location.
These are safety requirements that are required to avoid unnecessary Search-And-Rescue operations.
| Name | Time |
| Springstead #2 | 19:52 |
| Springstead #6 | 26:40 |
| Cindy Young | 31:41 |
| Springstead #1 | 31:57 |
| THS Watson | 36:55 |
| THS Beckman | 43:02 |
| THS Huff | 48:49 |
| CCHS #2 | 51:51 |
| Springstead #3 | 53:08 |
| CCHS #3 | 54:22 |
| Springstead #4 | 54:41 |
| THS McKenzie | 65:00 |
| BCHS Kilo | 82:49 |
| Springstead #5 | 92:43 |
| BCHS Charlie | 108:26 |
| CCHS #4 | 126:00 |
| BCHS ? | DNF |
| BCHS Juilette | DNF |
| David Russ | DNF |
| Name | Time | |
| Springstead #2 | 42:32 | |
| Joshua Escobar | 42:57 | |
| VHS Benton, J | 51:11 | |
| Dylan/Brandan/Brad | 52:43 | |
| THS Wensel R | 53:28 | |
| John Stabler | 54:42 | |
| F Moore | 55:05 | |
| CRHS #3 | 57:11 | |
| Robinson #1 | 59:00 | |
| THS 1st Sgt | 60:33 | |
| Katy Tusing | 61:47 | |
| Burges/Cardenas/Ferrein | 62:33 | |
| THS Ragone | 67:39 | |
| THS Wensel D | 68:29 | |
| WNHS #6 | 69:05 | |
| WNHS #5 | 69:56 | |
| Deb Vanbenthya | 69:59 | |
| Team 1 Doucet | 73:15 | |
| THS Piazza | 73:26 | |
| LHHS #2 | 77:40 | |
| Robinson #3 | 77:46 | |
| J Izaguirre | 78:59 | |
| CRHS #1 | 79:19 | |
| VHS Torres | 80:11 | |
| Caitlyn Bondank | 80:53 | |
| Robinson #4 | 81:52 | |
| Andrew Russ | 82:18 | |
| Thomas Domit | 84:55 | |
| Vincienzo Triolo | 85:45 | |
| Lauren King | 86:57 | |
| Robinson #2 | 87:13 | |
| missing name | 88:43 | |
| Jim Feudner | 88:49 | |
| Dan Charles | 88:49 | |
| Timothy Birdsey | 88:49 | |
| VHS Castro | 93:26 | |
| VHS #1 | 93:38 | |
| Justin Young | 97:18 | |
| Joshua Beckwith | 99:41 | |
| CRHS #2 | 100:16 | |
| Koreia Thomas | 102:13 | |
| Holley/Fiey | 102:38 | |
| WNHS #3 | 103:38 | |
| Brandon Follet | 104:21 | |
| CCHS #1 | 107:38 | |
| Samurai | 108:07 | |
| LHHS #3 | 110:37 | |
| BSA Troop 114 | 116:40 | |
| Kimberly King | 116:49 | |
| LHHS #1 | 121:12 | |
| WNHS #7 | 124:39 | |
| Evans | 125:37 | |
| WNHS #4 | 126:54 | |
| Boo Boo Kitties | 129:26 | |
| LHHS #4 | 129:52 | |
| Alejandro Tr 114 | 130:20 | |
| Paul Hechenbeger | 140:05 | |
| D Galloway | 144:05 | |
| Greg Cooper | 146:05 | |
| WNHS #5 | 153:39 | |
| BCHS Bravo | DQ | |
| BCHS Hotel | DQ | |
| Joshua Brown | DQ | |
| Julian Burdy | DQ | |
| Brandon Cartright | DNF | |
| Megan Heinson | DNF | |
| Springstead #4 | DNF | |
| VHS Infintes | DNF | |
| Thomas Spiva | NTR |
| Name | Time |
| CRHS #2 | 89:46 |
| Eric & Nancy Camden | 94:04 |
| Joshua Culbreath | 112:41 |
| Charlotte HS | 132:19 |
| Joy Murphy | 134:17 |
| Barbara Ziolkoski | 134:36 |
| WNHS #2 | 135:58 |
| Adrian Gonzales | 137:49 |
| WNHS #1 | 153:19 |
| Bob & Kathy Baldeck | OT |
| BCHS Echo | DNF |
| BCHS India | DNF |
| Cameron Ogletree | DNF |
| CRHS #1 | DNF |
| CRNS #3 | DNF |
| Gabriel Johnson | DNF |
| John Dean | DNF |
| Joshua Ballien | DNF |
| Sierra Taylor | DNF |
| THS King | DNF |
| THS Raines | DNF |
| THS Rogane | DNF |
| Maria Brooks | NTR |
| Name | Time |
| Duane Adams | 63:52 |
| Toby Henson | 65:27 |
| Mike Dempsey | 70:25 |
| THS Wensel, R | 73:15 |
| THS Wensel, D | 79:06 |
| CRHS Busby | 81:53 |
| CRHS Simmons, J | 86:00 |
| CRHS Simmons, B | 87:31 |
| John Griffin | 99:57 |
| Jack Cash | 103:38 |
| Water Trackers | 108:12 |
| 3WGAAM | 118:47 |
| Dennis & Carolyn | 137:00 |
| Team Greenpaw | 139:58 |
| Tim Martino | 150:53 |
| DHHS #4 | 176:30 |
| BCHS Alpha | DNF |
| BCHS Delta | DNF |
| Greg Kalmbach | DNF |
| Name | Time |
| Jerry Sirmans | 82:20 |
| Andy Canelos | 113:00 |
| Yak Attack | 129:22 |
| JAX | 136:44 |
| Posse | 142:20 |
| C & Bill Birchfield | 145:07 |
| DHHS #1 | DQ |
| DHHS #3 | DQ |
| Pangea AR | DQ |
| Patrick Clark | DQ |
| Name | Time |
| Chris Johnson | 97:30 |
| Tim Buchholtz | 116:15 |
| Mark Roberts | 117:32 |
| Ron Eaglin | 121:00 |
| Anna Nummelin | 138:41 |
| Photo Finish | 149:00 |
| Ryan Mason | 158:00 |
| Go Blue | 172:26 |
| Will Minpin | OT |
| Bob Putnam | DNF |
| SuckA | DNF |
| DNF | Did Not Finish |
| DQ | Disqualified (Missed Controls) |
| OT | Over 3 Hour Time Limit |
| NTR | No Time Recorded - Did not check in at Finish |