By Kyle Halliday
A hearty herd of 64 goats and kids braved the early morning chill to compete in the 2016 Golden Goat at Sunol. Eventually the frost yielded to the rising sun, with near-perfect running conditions at the start.
François and Nikolay promised "epic" courses, and by all accounts they delivered.
Dennis Wilkinson turned in a phenomenal performance on the Golden Goat course to take the win. He was the only runner of the lead pack to take the left-hand option at the fork, gaining over two minutes on the 8-9-10 legs, and building a lead he would never relinquish. Mark Prior finished a strong second. Matej Šebo arrived in third, immediately followed by first-time orienteers (but obviously accomplished runners) Wayne Staats and Jeremie Dernotte, who proved that following a top navigator is a viable strategy in this unique Goat format, provided one can keep up. Their enthusiasm for the "new dimension" that orienteering adds to trail running reminded me of the first time I ventured off-trail with a map and compass.
On the Golden Kid course, Daniel Šebo emerged from the hills first, dethroning Fillan Swift, winner of the Golden Kid in three of the past four years. Gary Carpenter finished third.
There were multiple bobcat sightings, along with another large cat that was difficult to identify from a grainy smartphone photo.
And although many had already departed by mid-afternoon, Tapio Karras was recognized with the 2016 BAOC Service Award for his many contributions throughout the year, in particular for his efforts in upgrading and maintaining RouteGadget.
As a first-time event director, it was amazing to see the club's team of volunteers in action. Thank you to all who pitched in to make this event happen!
Course Setters: François Léonard, Nikolay Chukanov
Vetters: Fyodor Konkov, Kyle Halliday, Afsheen Mostofi
Setup: Marie-Josée Parayre
Start, Take-down: Fyodor Konkov, Julia Doubson
E-Punch: Jeff Lanam, Mark Blair
Registration: Steve Haas
Website: Chuck Spalding
Advice: Peter Graube, Gavin Wayatt-Mair, Steve Gregg
EBRPD Park Supervisor: Gordon Willey
Note regarding photos: You can click on the event photos to see larger images. There are full-size images in the Photo Gallery. In the Gallery, click on a "thumbnail" to see a larger image, and click on that to see the full-size image.
Golden Kid (8.3 km, 600 m climb, 16 controls)
Pl Name(s) Club Time Behind Time Lost
1 Daniel Šebo BAOC 1:42:37 0:00
2 Fillan Swift BAOC 1:49:15 +6:38 7:21
3 Gary Carpenter BAOC 2:05:59 +23:22 1:58
4 Jeffrey Kabel BAOC 2:14:44 +32:07 6:05
5 Joe Maffei BAOC 2:15:10 +32:33 0:00
6 Marina Keating BAOC 2:15:40 +33:03 3:52
7 Matthias Kohler BAOC 2:23:53 +41:16 1:23
8 Christine Brew BAOC 2:25:17 +42:40 4:54
9 Stephanie Maclean BAOC 2:25:18 +42:41 4:44
10 Justin & Leah Galbraith 3:11:08 +88:31 12:34
11 Evan Custer BAOC 3:24:48 +102:11 0:00
12 Ginny Laforme 3:28:17 +105:40 24:38
13 Sheila Cotter, Christy Slye BAOC 3:31:31 +108:54 6:42
14 Olga Kraght BAOC 3:33:24 +110:47 16:45
15 Scott Sampson BAOC 3:40:41 +118:04 4:59
16 Bart Laenens None 3:41:25 +118:48 15:20
Catherine Kazbour BAOC DNF
Erin Magers GCO DNF
George Minarik BAOC DNF
Johanna Merriss BAOC DNF
Nancy Lindeman BAOC DNF
William Murphy BAOC DNF
Doug & Luca Caviness BAOC DNF
Golden Goat (12.5 km, 1000 m climb, 21 controls)
Pl Name(s) Club Time Behind Time Lost
1 Dennis Wilkinson BAOC 2:09:42 1:16
2 Mark Prior BAOC 2:18:58 +9:16 0:00
3 Matej Šebo BAOC 2:22:53 +13:11 6:00
4 Wayne Staats 2:23:01 +13:19 4:29
5 Jeremie Dernotte 2:23:02 +13:20 3:23
6 Mikkel Conradi BAOC 2:30:59 +21:17 1:18
7 Mats Jansson GCO 2:52:54 +43:12 5:43
8 Charles Triponez 2:53:26 +43:44 20:21
8 Roy Malone GCO 2:53:26 +43:44 20:27
10 Stephen Harrison BAOC 3:00:24 +50:42 14:00
11 Tapio Karras BAOC 3:00:47 +51:05 9:21
12 Steve Gregg BAOC 3:04:13 +54:31 12:35
13 Graham Brew BAOC 3:04:31 +54:49 15:28
14 Lubo Šebo BAOC 3:07:58 +58:16 13:34
15 Lori Huberman BAOC 3:16:11 +66:29 2:21
16 Presto Huberman 3:16:17 +66:35 5:35
17 Kim van Berkel BAOC 3:21:01 +71:19 8:45
18 Eric Robinson BAOC 3:21:03 +71:21 13:03
19 Marie-Josée Parayre BAOC 3:21:39 +71:57 13:46
20 Misha Kreshlavsky BAOC 3:28:28 +78:46 7:39
21 Sam Coradetti 3:37:53 +88:11 18:10
22 Derek Maclean BAOC 3:38:51 +89:09 19:46
23 Kyle Peter 4:06:09 +116:27 35:38
24 Eric Rosenzweig BAOC 4:11:32 +121:50 1:54
25 Luc Poppe BAOC 4:33:14 +143:32 16:35
26 Theo Verhoven BAOC 4:45:18 +155:36 24:41
27 Gavin Wyatt-Mair BAOC 4:47:20 +157:38 19:04
Trevor Clark DNF
Penny DeMoss BAOC DNF
Greg Favor BAOC DNF
Ivan Lopez BAOC DNF
Johanna & Michelle DNF
Kevin Hinkley, Terri Hunt BAOC DNF
Nick Giori BAOC DNF
Steve Haas BAOC DNF
DNF
= Did not finish (one or more controls
missed)
DNS
= Did not start
DSQ
= Disqualified
MSP
= Mispunched (one or more incorrect
controls)
OVT
= Overtime
RouteGadget