By Tac Sugiyama
The hills are alive, maybe too alive, and the weather is warming up, maybe too warm, just in time for our annual pilgrimage to Joseph D. Grant County Park. This year, we are excited to return to the area north of the Mt. Hamilton Road, which has not been used in over a decade, with a completely revised map thanks to the great effort of Misha Kreslavsky.
As some of you may remember, this part of the park is generally steeper than the rest. In order to reduce climb in the courses as much as possible, while avoiding the area reserved for the U.S. Masters Nationals next year, there will be a long walk with a significant climb — about 700 m with 40 m climb to the Start for the White and Yellow courses and to the Finish, followed by another 1600 m with 80 m climb to the Start for the Intermediate (Orange) and Advanced (Silver through Blue) courses. Please allow 10 to 15 minutes to get to the White/Yellow Start, and 40 to 45 minutes to get to the Intermediate/Advanced Start.
We will provide water at the Start and Finish, and halfway to the Advanced Start. Please note that there are no toilets at either Start, but there is one in the parking lot on the way to the Advanced Start.
There is one water control on the Red and Blue courses. The water depot on the way to the Advanced Start is also accessible as a route choice on the Orange, Silver, Brown, and Green courses.
The Silver and Brown courses are printed on a single map, and you may change from Brown to Silver, or vice versa, during the competition. Please make sure to tell the download staff if you change your course.
A special caution to runners on the White and Yellow courses: There is a short, but narrow, passage over a little dam on a lake outlet. Please be careful, and take turns, allowing only one person at a time to cross.
Although it should not come into play if you choose a sensible route, please note that Mt. Hamilton Road on the southern perimeter of the map is strictly out of bounds, except when crossing it on the way to the Start and back from the Finish. Use extreme caution when crossing the road.
It is about a 10-minute walk from the Finish back to the Assembly area for all courses. Please do not forget to download at the Assembly area after walking back from the Finish.
Since the event is one month later than usual, the grass is taller and thicker than usual, but still generally runnable. Unfortunately, poison oak has also grown and spread a bit more. I have tried to avoid the worst patches as much as possible, but please take the usual precautions and follow the recommended aftercare.
Courses
Here are the details of the courses:
Course Length Climb Controls Map Scale Navigation
White 2.0 km 30 m 1.5% 10 1:7,500 Beginner
Yellow 3.1 km 80 m 2.7% 10 1:7,500 Adv. Beginner
Orange 3.1 km 90 m 2.9% 10 1:7,500 Intermediate
Silver 3.1 km 110 m 3.5% 10 1:7,500 Advanced
Brown 3.5 km 130 m 3.7% 12 1:7,500 Advanced
Green 4.7 km 180 m 3.8% 10 1:10,000 Advanced
Red 5.9 km 260 m 4.4% 11 1:10,000 Advanced
Blue 7.6 km 350 m 4.6% 14 1:10,000 Advanced
Notes:
- There is a long walk to the Start (10-15 minutes)
- Maps for the Beginner courses (White and Yellow) are given out at registration, and can be looked at before starting the course.
- Maps for the Intermediate course (Orange) and Advanced courses (Silver through Blue) are provided at the Start, and must not be looked at before starting the course.
- Beginners should be aware that the course lengths shown are the cumulative straight-line distances between controls. The climb numbers represent the amount of ascending that would be done on the "optimum route" (in the Course Setter's opinion), without regard for any descending. Because you won't travel in straight lines, and might not follow the optimum routes, your actual distance and climb will be somewhat more than what is shown above, and will depend on your route choices (and any errors you make).
- Horses always have the right of way. If you encounter a horse, you must stop running and respond to the rider's direction.
Comments About Fences
Runners on the Red and Blue courses will have to cross fences.
Runners on the Orange, Silver, Brown, and Green courses might cross fences, or use the gates, depending on their route choice.
As usual, when crossing fences, roll under — please do not jump or climb over. Fences rebuilt after the fire nicely have no barbs on the lowermost wire.
Runners on the Yellow courses, please use gates to cross the fences that you encounter.
Mapper's Notes
By Misha Kreslavsky
Welcome to beautiful and challenging Joe Grant North, which is recovered after the 2020 fire.
The terrain is hilly, with a mixture of oak savanna and forests. The steepest slopes are difficult to cross in any direction. Poison oak is present mostly as low undergrowth — it is unavoidable on all the courses, except White and Yellow.
Wildlife is abundant: I saw deer, (many) pigs, coyotes, bobcats, cows, rattlesnakes, a variety of birds, and birders.
The map is thoroughly updated with new lidar contours and thorough field-checking. The map follows the ISOM-2017 standard. It is printed at 1:10,000 scale for the Green, Red, and Blue courses, and at 1:7,500 scale for all the other courses. The contour interval is 5 m.
Red and Blue runners, depending on their route choice, might cross an area in the northern part of the map with poorly-mapped vegetation (but the contours are reliable). I apologize for that.
You should be familiar with the following map symbols:
- Green dots (not an ISOM-2017 symbol) denote large bushes or small thickets.
- Green crosses denote standing or partly-standing dead trees. Fallen trees are not shown.
- Light green is easily to moderately runnable.
- Intermediate green, and dense vertical hash lines, are very slow (and may contain taller poison oak).
- Solid (dark) green is uncrossable.
- The "small watercourse" symbol (thin blue line) is used for running streams, dry stream beds, and small crossable gullies.
- Gullies shown with bold brown lines are uncrossable.
- The "small erosion gully" (brown dotted line) symbol is used for artificial channels. They are mostly dry, but might have some water in places.
- Marshes are wet, but runnable.