By Mike Fleishman, Co-Event Director
This year's Huddart Park event combined trail running with Ski-O conditions during a welcome weather break during one of the coldest, wettest weeks in memory. While setting controls Friday afternoon near the top of the park in heavy hail/snow conditions, a lightening bolt literally blew up a tree about 30 yards from where I was standing. At that point, I had a moment when I actually doubted that the orienteering gods were with us. However, Saturday morning brought reasonably clear weather, and more than 150 orienteers showed up.
As usual, Huddart Park's White and Long White courses provided an excellent opportunity for beginners to come and try the sport. The two courses were a bit longer than usual this year, and provided enough climb to offer a pretty good workout. The short course was run by 16 groups and nearly 50 participants. The winner was Barbara Robben with a time of 29:47. The team of Danielle & Adam Strauss came in second at 32:55. The Long White course was won by Tristan Delforge-Melia in a time of 37:12, followed by Janet Lafleur and Helena Stolfa in 39:56. A number of scout troops ran both courses. Thanks to Eric Bone, Terry Farrah, and Theo Verhoeven, we had plenty of beginner clinics to get the newcomers off to a good start.Â
The balance of the participants ran a Western Massachusetts Rules Score-O. Twenty-two controls were set throughout the park, and runners had the choice of punching six, ten, fifteen, or twenty controls. Because of the restrictions of the park, all controls were on trails. Brian Kirshner, with help from Nancy Lindeman and Jim Fish, did most of the work to design the control layout to afford maximum choice for the participants. Brian had help from his eleven-year-old son Jeremy designing the White course.
Nearly 70 people participated in the Score-O as either individuals or teams. The six-control category was won by Ida Green in a time of 34:24, while second place went to Johanna Merriss who finished in 46:18. Only six groups chose this distance, and a few of them punched eight controls with the idea of going for ten, but realized the extra two controls would have added more than a 25% extra time commitment.Â
Fifteen teams or individuals (with a total of 26 runners) punched ten controls. Chuck Spalding won this category with a time of 62:05. Lauren Knight and Mikkel Conradi were second at 71:22.Â
At the fifteen-control level, Mike Prindiville turned in a time of 94:30, followed by Dan Greene at 118:15. Eight other individuals/teams completed this category, including a few who punched extra controls.
There were eleven individuals and one team of four that actually hit 20 of the 22 controls. The leader was Eric Bone in a time of 106:53. It was reported that Eric spent the first 9 minutes planning his course at the Start. Maybe we could all take a hint from this emphasis on planning. The second place runner in this category was Rex Winterbottom. He had actually lost his card in a fall, but reported his route and details of the course with such precision that we did not have the heart to deny him his rightful place among the finishers. (He also happened to be the winner last year.) Congratulations to all of the runners for a good effort, but particularly the group that managed to hit 20 controls.
Much thanks to the many volunteers, some of whom have been mentioned above. The day began Peter Graube showing up early and asking what he could do to help. He and Jim Fish set up the Start and Finish, along with tents set as a precaution against the weather. Marina Keating, Frank Markowitz, Bob Strauss, and Chuck Spalding worked the Starts, while the Finish and results were manned by Gary Kraght, Bill Strauss, and Dan Greene.  Scott Aster worked on registration with assistance from Gary. We had valuable assistance with control pickup from Eric Bone, Terry Farrah, Alex Saltman, Marina Keating, Jim Fish, and Mutsumi Sugizaki. Steve Haas was a big help in the cleanup process.
Also many thanks to Bob Cooley for making map corrections and printing the maps, as well as Alan Glendenning for assisting with equipment for the event. Priscilla Alvarez, park ranger, provided guidance in setting up for the event. Finally, Nancy Lindeman (Co-Event Director) did her usual thorough job of organizing the event and pitching in with most of the tasks.