Discussion: Schedule and childcare

What time will the Friday race start? Do I need to travel on Thursday?

Will there be childcare options available?

First start on Friday is at 1:30 pm, and last start is likely around 5 pm. Courses close at 6 pm.

It takes a bit more than an hour to drive to the parking area from San Jose airport. Then there is packet pickup, a shuttle to the start, and warm-up - so you will need at least about 2 hours after you leave the airport.

Add 10 to 15 minutes if coming from San Francisco International Airport.

Add 30 minutes if coming from Oakland International Airport.

Based on the above and a quick glance at airline schedules, it is possible to leave New York on Friday morning and make it ok, for $132 one-way.

We are working on child care options for you.

Great info, Gavin; thank you!

I vote for leaving from Seattle, ledusledus. Much more pleasant flight. :-)

Thanks, Gavin! Time to start working logistics...how much school will we miss this time? This school thing is really interfering with the important stuff in life (ie playing in the woods).

Roundtrip SEA-SJC Friday morning/Sunday evening is $109 with Delta right now, which I think is the lowest I've ever seen from Seattle to anywhere in the Bay Area.

Not sure where New York came from

School starts on sixth, no childcare needed for me this time.

For planning flights home on Sunday, it's important to remember that traffic leaving the coast for San Jose and points north can be really heavy. You'll be going on a twisty four-lane highway filled with beach traffic. Expect at least 55 minutes.

Monterey Regional Airport (MRY) may be an option for some people. It's about 1:15 to Big Basin, 55 minutes from Cabrillo College. There are flights from LA, Vegas, Denver, SF, San Diego, and Phoenix. Sorry, no Seattle.

When is the last start on Sunday?

Too early to say, but the plan is to have the Sprint Relay after the individual Sprint competition. There will also be an NRE Trail-O. So the individual sprints should finish early.

Just booked our tickets. We'll have to fly Thursday to arrive in time to participate in the Middle on Friday. Latest flight out of SJC on Sunday we could take and still make it to the east coast (BOS) by around midnight was 2:00PM.

I figure missing 2 days of school is probably enough. Missing the freedom of our gap year adventures!

What about start times on Saturday? I'm not sure I can skip work Fri and am looking into flying early Sat morning, but don't know how early would be early enough...

Saturday start times are 10:00 to 12:30.

AliC are you still in Portland? There's an Alaska Airlines flight leaving PDX at 6:30 am arriving SFO at 8:20 am, which should be fine. United also has one at the same time. On SWA you could go to Oakland and leave at 6 am.

Oh great, glad to hear those would be early enough! Thanks!

Any recommendations on accommodation

We don't have an event hotel yet; I'm not sure what the plans are.
Locals are usually not the right people for hotel recommendations, but I can tell you that you should be looking for locations in Boulder Creek, Ben Lomond, Scotts Valley, or Santa Cruz. Booking sites seem to want to suggest Los Gatos and points north, which are over the hill. I do know that the historic Brookdale Lodge has recently reopened, if you want to splurge a bit. Big Basin has tent cabins if you want to rough it a bit.

It appears big Basin tent cabins are all booked for that weekend -- except for the ones labeled ADA.

Is there any more information available on the timing of Sunday's races? What time is the sprint relay expected to be done?

Thank you!

I can share childcare duties. You know how to get in touch

A couple of slight corrections to Gavin’s statement about Friday start times. Since the course closes at 6pm, the last possible start will be 4pm. Also, we will be assigning start times beginning at first start - 1:30 - with no breaks, so the actual last start will depend on the number of people in your class. And we will be following international rules for late starts - late starters will go through a late start chute and will punch a start unit, while normal starters will not punch a start unit, as they are on the clock. The actual start time of late starters will only be used if it is determined that the late start is due to the fault of the event organizer.

@skogrunner, is there some flexibility to accommodate parents who may need split starts or need to accompany kids to the start? The practices supported by OUSA Rules of Competition A.28.5 and A.28.6 can be very helpful for families, especially those with beginning orienteers.

You can send a personal note to the registrar, either through the registration process, or separately at registrar@baoc.org. Individual family situations will be accommodated where possible.

Already done, in our case. But other parents might want to know.

Thanks.

Hi, I am looking forward to racing in Big Basin! I am curious if there has been any update on child care options, per Gavin's initial response? There will be a number of parents with small kids, and I am sure a number of us would be willing to pay a bit extra to avoid the very long days and logistical nightmares caused by split starts.

Thank you in advance for any options you might be able to provide!

Boris, Gavin is in Europe and at the moment doesn’t have ready access to the internet. I called him to bring your post to his attention. He told me plans are afoot; hopefully he’ll be able to post something soon.

Did anyone ever figure out childcare options? I could potentially help on the Fri/Sat when I'm not racing (I'm coming alone), if someone could in turn watch my three toddlers briefly while I sprint on Sun.

We have identified the location where we want to put our child care center at Sky Meadow. It is up a slight slope on a shady flat area away from the access road. It is also separated from the road by the finish chute. Of course there will not be much traffic on the road because it's really only the bus and a few volunteers, but still, we want the kids away from the road.

The child care area is close to the finish, download, food and results, so it is very convenient. We are bringing some tables and chairs for the kids to sit on and play games. And some paper and crayons for drawing. We are also setting up a stringO nearby.

It would be great if parents could correspond and coordinate with each other to ensure that someone is watching at all times - we don't have a full-time volunteer for that.

The start times are pre-assigned and we are asking (requiring) that folks ensure that they start on time, as is typical at international A meets. There will not be a start punch for competitive starters. Having said that, however, as Meet Director I can make exceptions and I will do so for those folks that help with day care - I will allow them to use the start punch. Of course, it is a good idea to ask the registrar (Gary Kraght, aka "skogrunner") for the start time you prefer so that the need for special starts can be minimized.

At Cabrillo College the amphitheater is a great place for child care. We will do the tables, chairs, crayons, paper and stringO there as well.

As of Monday, there were some mosquitoes - not many. They are rapidly dying out, but in case there are some hardy ones left in two weeks, it's wise to bring some repellent that's safe for your children.

Gavin, this is great, thanks! Having a designated place to gather the rugrats is really helpful.

This is awesome. What a great way to support families (who are likely growing some future orienteers).

For coordination purposes with other parents: Our grandson, Forrest (2) will be at the children site. Leslie Minarik will watch Forrest and we are open to making child arrangements with other parents. Leslie will then run her course late. She will be relieved by George & Sarah, who will have early start times. Let us know if you want to coordinate.

Thanks, George- I am coordinating with others now and I will include you on our email list.