Mine Falls, April 24, 2004
Terri Magnus
Normally, I would've have chosen a date after my spring teaching was
over, but I was asked by the Greater Nashua Healthy Community
Collaborative if I might host a meet in conjunction with Turn Off the
TV Week week, April 17-25. In spite of all the intentions to get the
work done early, I found myself scrambling in the last few days (and
hours) to get everything done. Luckily, the day itself went very
smoothly. The weather was beautiful and all of the participants
seemed to enjoy the event.
The age of the Mine Falls map leads to challenging map reading, but
the trail changes, new construction, and high spring water didn't keep
anyone from completing the course. Anticipating a wide range of
abilities, I decided to offer a short white and a long orange in
addition to the usual W, Y, and O courses. The yellow and orange
courses were redesigned the night before when we discovered that I
have made them a few kilometers too long.
With the Billygoat the next day, few UNO regulars came to this meet.
Pete and Lex Bundschuh ran the orange as a warm up for the next day.
Several participants mentioned that they had been introduced to
orienteering at the Shieling Forest meet earlier this month and were
eager to orienteer again. Others learned about the meet through our
website or Turn Off the TV Week information distributed to Nashua
school children. Garrett Nelson (M-17) discovered the meet as he was
biking through the park with friends and put on an impressive showing.
Thank you to the many people who helped: Amy Guthrie, Bernie Cameron,
and Betsy Korn from GNHCC who handled registrations and helped to plan
and publicize, Christine Bundschuh for working Starts and Finishes,
Pete and Lex Bundschuh who helped with an assortment of jobs that
morning, and of course my family who always come to the rescue when I
volunteer for more than I can do myself.
I learned a number of lessons from this meet:
- You can't prepare months in advance when there's snow on the ground.
- Vegetation and water tables subject to change.
- April is a busy month.
- Visiting relatives and teaching duties kept me busy.
- Don't wait until the night before to measure the course length.
- I was up late cutting off legs on two courses.
- Arrange for UNO equipment well in advance.
- or drive hours collecting what's available.
- Insurance certification should be requested a month in advance.
- then the faxes wouldn't go through but we did get it on time
- String-O shouldn't be hung on a bridge on a windy day.
- it ripples into the air, floats into the trees, complicates the
bike route
- Family and friends are a big help in making the day a success.
SHORT WHITE (1 km)
-----------------
Bernie Cameron/Amy Guthrie 34:30
WHITE (2.4 km)
--------------
Moe Gerow 40:51
Guthrie family 42:08
Hodgkins/Schalk 46:20
William & Katie Griswold 46:37
Joseph Nardone group 51:20
Melissa Crawford 56:55
Pam & Steph Gerow 63:25
John & Delores Lynch 161:00
YELLOW
------
William Richards 44:40
Jacki & Annie Mayall 53:48
Jeff Blais 55:00
David Mayall 56:18
Pierpaolo Polverari/
Jennifer Belair 77:39
Linyar group 78:58
ORANGE (4.2 km)
---------------
Garrett Nelson 31:31
Pete Bundschuh 37:41
Lex Bundschuh 46:44
Pelle Wahlstroh 53:16
Charles Suprin 68:44
Bob Garneau 72:40
Brad Zinnecker 76:20
Phil Conte & Helen Steeves 77:20
Tanya 90:30
Sergei & Katya 95:24
Peter & Heather & Mikhail 107:25
Jennifer Boothby 123:38
Cain family 127:53
M. Commons/C. Caissie 149:00
Troop 407 Milford 155:16
LONG ORANGE (7.2 km)
--------------------
James Bower 135:07
Charles Purwin 140:29
Tom & Sam Bryan 167:06