Discussion: I count

at least 2 scalps

Apologies about the reentrant on control 8; a form line reentrant was removed from the map ONLY on the red course for cosmetic reasons during the lead up to printing, apparently without knowledge that it was a control feature. Such errors will not be repeated.

And to think, it was on the map the last time I ran at Rocky Woods. :-)

No harm done, just amusing. I missed it by a little, but my own damn fault.

Cosmetic reasons? That is a new one.

Two scalps? One is Ali, for sure. The other?

General criteria is a member of the men's standing team or the women's WOC team, but that's assuming we're talking about summer O'. If we're talking ski-O, Alex qualifies of course. But while there was still a little snow on the course, I think to qualify there has to be a little ski-O equipment, maybe even just touch-free controls (a wonderful invention, when will it come to summer O?).

And though I was not close to getting his scalp, after just about an hour on the course I was only two and a half minutes behind Ross. Oh, Ross, what were you doing out there?

I suppose the other possibility is Carl Underwood, a very fast young stud, who must have been doing a few extra circles out there too.

Though none of them, like Phil, lost their map out there....

Actually, you ran at Rocky Woods in 1991, on a color map, the one time The Traverse was held somewhere other than the Blue Hills.

I remember doing a BHT not in the BH, but had thought it was Powisset and Hale. I stand corrected. Will have to look for that map.

Powissett and Hale are two names for the same map. The course started on Rocky Woods, then crossed the street at an intersection and continued on Powissett. The extra entertainment that day was when Sharon was handed B&W maps at the start instead of color ones (which she really didn't seem to appreciate).

There was a time, not too long ago, when women who were breaking stereotypes and through glass ceilings, didn't seem to have much of a sense of humor when treated in an inferior manner. It's hard to remember those days...even for me.

This had nothing to do with her being a woman. This had everything to do with her being Sharon. Sharon had a reputation at the time of orienteering more than anybody but never helping out, and the reference was to the fact that the last time she had set courses, it had been on a B&W map. Tim Parson commented later that he was in a quandary, unsure whether to race off with the mass start, or to stay and watch Sharon kill me.

Sharon was a real force of nature. Very competitive, very focused. She has mellowed quite a bit. Playing a joke on her at the start of the Billygoat took a lot of nerve. I remember the usual instruction before the start in those days, after the maps were held out, something like: "no peeking and no holding the map up to the light to try to see through it. This means you, Sharon."

Sharon was actually late arriving at the start area (also typical), and it was a chilly morning. Peter and others were encouraging me to just go ahead and start everybody, since the announced time had already arrived and they were all shivering, which I would have done if I didn't have these special maps waiting for her. I held the start just long enough for her to pull in and get out of the car, made a quick announcement including the bit about Sharon not having helped out in years, handed her the maps, and said "1-2-3-Go!". (The color maps were in the map case, all she had to do was pull out the B&W "cover sheets", and I was trying to tell her that as she chased me around the field, but she was too furious to be listening...)

(After some tug-of-war, she eventually took off with a different, normal map. I think I still have her original maps in a drawer somewhere. A few of the conrtrol circles were off in the legend, because the B&W maps covered less terrain.)

Better map or better legs?

Your time for 6.4 km in 1977 was 86 minutes.
This time for 6.3 miles it was 88 minutes...

my criteria is anyone ranked ahead of me on AP.