ONeill Regional Park ARDF Course Sunday, February 12, 2006
ONeill Regional Park is shaped like a V with the left side of the V a hilly and rugged area while the right side of the V is mostly flat. The park extends up about 1.6 km on the right side with a width of about 500 meters, and about 2.2 km on the left side with a width of about 700 meters with a larger "bulge" at the top. A road runs along the very right side of the V and is about 50 meters above the flat portion. The flat portion is challenging because there are a lot of reflections from the hill in the middle of the V.
This course was put on in conjunction with an LAOC Score-O event, and we had eleven competitors including first timers show up. The course was not designed to be easy, but rather practice for those people planning on attending the 2006 US ARDF Championships in North Carolina.
Transmitters #4 and #5 were located near the road on the right side of the V about 50 meters higher than the rest of that area with #5 being the farthest. Almost everyone found these difficult to find because of the reflections. Part of the problem seemed to be that being about 50 meters below the transmitters, the reflections were stronger than the main signal. Jay went to the high ground first, and had little problem finding both transmitters. Several people added to the climb by going up to #5, going back down, and then climbing again to #4 (or vice versa.)
The left side was the most physically challenging but was fairly straightforward with a road running along the inside of the V most of the way up. Transitters #3 and #4 were about 50 - 100 meters from the road, and 2 was the farthest out near the top.
Course Length - 7 km Course Climb - 195 meters
Course length is measured point-to-point and is not necessary a feasible route. The course climb is the total climb along a reasonable route.
ARDF (11) 3 Hour Time Limit 5 Transmitters Place Name Time Found 1 Jay Hennigan 1:38:28 5 2 Bob Cooley 2:11:10 5 3 Scott Moore 2:50:36 3 4 Ken Ericksa, Jim Ford 2:21:58 2 5 Tom Gaccione 2:26:11 1 6 William Smathers 2:58:58 1 7 John Frerichs 1:35:42 0 7 Micheal Helmeste 1:11:04 0 7 Jerrod Bickler 7 Joe L, Tony B, Joe C, 7 Brian Roode