Florida Orienteering
Ocala National Forest - Woodpecker West
May 4, 2013


Courses: WHITE | YELLOW | ORANGE | GREEN | RED | BLUE | NOTES

First, Congratulations to Jonathan Linforth, Chief Course Designer and Event Coordinator, ably assisted by Ray Bruneau.

Next, Congratulations to the JROTC Contingents from all over the state, who turned out in near-record numbers for this last great event of the Spring Season.

Also: Thanks to whomever it was who put in the good word for the weather, after all the forecasters had insisted we'd be dumped on throughout the day. You magical person, you brought us ideal 75-80F all day long, with a gentle breeze now and then, with barely a sprinkle to speak of.

Fine Day. Fine Weather. Fine Courses. Huge turnout.

And now a reminder to all JROTC Unit Leaders whose cadets turned in something under a 15 minute per kilometer pace on either the Orange Course or the Green Course. Be prepared to correspond with me so that each of those cadets qualifies for the USOF/OUSA Navigation Certificate awards. FLO does the paperwork but we will need prompt feedback on each of those applications, so as to not languish through the summer.

By the time Janet and I arrived most everyone had gone out on their courses, so I had little chance to say hello to more than a few folks. But just as I was ready to suit up Ron Eaglin came in off the 8.9km Blue Course at a little under 120 minutes, making me think "What in Heaven's name sort of killer blue course has Jonathan devised to make Ron take almost 2 hours?" Then he explained: Ron was filming portions of his run and stumbled across (almost literally) a baby fox. So Ron, easily distracted ADD'er that he is, followed and filmed the fox for 15 minutes or more, rather than finish the course. He has video on his web page.

That was all I needed to motivate me to run the 8.9km blue on this day, 4 days before my 68th birthday. Later of course I had to promise my family to become progressively more circumspect in course selection as I get older (or maybe, as soon as I GET older…har har)
Click here to see my Blue course run.

It was a fun course; had me thinking a lot; and Jonathan found a number of unique control locations. I trust all the others on other courses had as much fun. I know the JROTC cadets did.

Thanks to all Helpers in whatever capacity.

Bob Putnam


Related Links:

Photos - Woodpecker West - 4 May 2013

Master Map - Woodpecker West - 4 May 2013


WHITE

Name Time
Rulan 39:32

YELLOW

Name Time
Rulan 75:19
Deb n Paul 96:40
Wonder Women 97:00
Firpi OT
Tordini DNF

ORANGE

Name Time
Canyoneros 69:14
AHS #3 99:10
Stonebraker UHS 133:00
Team Jewzel 144:20
AHS #5 150:07
Team Winning 152:55
AHS #6 170:57
Brown, M 173:04
Tracy/Ben 175:05
Team Manl DNF
AHS #4 OT
AHS #7 OT
AHS #8 OT

GREEN

Name Time
AHS #1 80:10
Mike Dempsey 91:36
Tracy Acuff 107:20
AHS #2 121:12
David Crane 148:12
Thunder HO 150:45
John Griffin DNF
Bill Birchfield DNF
Dixie Hollins#1 DNF
Leigh Thomas DNF
Hawkins/Lunt OT

RED

Name Time
R2 124:55

BLUE

Name Time
Bob Putnam 92:14
Mojitos/Monday 113:16
Canyoneros 115:15
Ron Eaglin 118:12
Primal 113:30
Cowan, T 125:54
Washuto, K OT
Pogorzelski, H OT
Sheriff's Posse OT
Boris/Lammi OT
Newell, K OT


NOTES

DNF   Did Not Finish
DQ Disqualified (Missed Controls)
OT Over 3 Hour Time Limit


Created 07-May-2013