Fair Hill A-Meet

Event Director Ron Wood

Registrar Frank Pater

Change History

Date Modification

Tuesday, November 8 Revised course details for Saturday
Corrected and clarified start times for Trail-O
Added rules for US Championship eligibility

Sunday, November 6 Final Version of Course Notes posted

Friday, November 4 Revised Course Notes posted

Monday, October 31 Course Notes added
Eric Weyman's My Fair Hill Story added

Thursday, October 27 More Sprint-O Information

Wednesday, October 26 Updated Sprint-O Information

Saturday, October 22 Daycare information added

Wednesday, October 19 Sprint 'O start information

Friday, October 14 Added directions and accommodations

Monday, October 10 Green-X/Y class assignments

Thursday, October 6 Updated map scale info

Monday, October 3 added course info for Classic & Trail-O
added link to flyer

Friday, September 30 Clarified award info
updated schedule info

Wednesday, September 28 Added award info

Wednesday, September 28 Added schedule

Registration Please use the web registration if possible. Registration is not final until payment is received. Otherwise use a standard USOF entry form and mail to registrar.

Registration Deadline Payment and/or waiver must be postmarked by October 29, 2005. After that date, a penalty of $5.00 per event will be assessed.

Courses Offered

Sprint-O Friday, November 11

Classic A-Event Saturday, November 12

Trail-O Saturday, November 12

Long-O USOF Championship Sunday, November 13

Course Notes The final version of the course notes are now posted (Sun Nov 6). Sprint-O, Trail-O, Day 1, Long-O, and common notes for all events are now included.
Eric Weyman's history of the Fair Hill map.

Schedule

Saturday, October 29 Last day to enter without late fee

Saturday, November 5 All registration closes

Friday, November 11 Packet Pick-up 10:00am - 9:00pm, Edward Walls Activity Hall

Friday, November 11 Sprint-O Sprint 'O starts will be interval starts, 30 seconds apart, with the first start at 1:30 PM and the last start at 3 PM. You may select your own start time by signing up for your start time at event packet pick up, or you can just wait for the next open 30-second slot when you arrive at the start.

Saturday, November 12 Packet Pick-up 8:00am - 4:00pm
Edward Walls Activity Hall

Saturday, November 12 Class A-Event 10:00am - 1:00pm

Saturday, November 12 Recreational - White & Yellow only 11:00am - 1:00pm

Saturday, November 12 Trail-O 1:00pm - 3:00pm

Saturday, November 12 Dinner 6:00pm

Sunday, November 13 W, Y, O standard courses
Br, G, R, and B Long ‘O 9:00am - 12:00pm

Sunday, November 13 Recreational - White & Yellow only 10:00am - 12:00pm

Sunday, November 13 Awards Presentation 2:00pm (estimated)

Course Details

Sprint-O (Friday) 2.65km, 80m climb, 14 controls
Starts 1:30pm - 3:00pm.
(Last start 3:00pm, course pickup begins at 3:30pm, terrain closed 4:00pm.)
Sprint 'O starts will be interval starts, 30 seconds apart. You may select your own start time by signing up for your start time at event packet pick up _if you do so before 1:00 pm_, or you can just wait for the next open 30-second slot when you arrive at the start.
Note: The Sprint-O is not an A-Event.
The Sprint orienteering course can be thought of as short Yellow/Orange level course, but with even more controls than usual, and where advanced orienteering skills are needed if you want to take the best routes between controls. This format allows orienteers of a variety of skill levels (Yellow to Blue) to all compete on the same course - easy enough for beginner/intermediates to complete, and yet still challenging for advanced orienteers to do the course without significant mistakes.
The start, finish and parking (final parking details to be determined) will be at the corner of Big Elk Chapel Road and Gallagher Road. The start for the Sprint-O is at the center of this map.
The course consists of semi-open land, trails through green forests, some white forest, and some manmade obstacles.
It is not necessary or faster to go through dark green, and it should be avoided, as the briars can make that rather unpleasant. There were significant changes to manmade objects in the area in the last few months. While we hope to have the map up-to-date, please check at the start for notices of last-minute terrain changes that might not make it onto the map.
The Sprint course uses a small portion of the same map as will be used on the two A-meet days. As such, it may be considered to be a useful "model event", however the Sprint terrain is not meant to be indicative of the entire area, and the character of the Sprint course is not meant to be indicative of the A meet courses.
A small portion of the Sprint course/model goes near a small portion of the Day 1 Red/Blue courses. This is unlikely to result in a significant advantage on Day 1, but, as is usually the case with a model event, if you'd like to get a partial feel for the fields, forests and map of Fair Hill, then this "model"/Sprint course is for you!
The course and terrain close at 4pm sharp. Please make sure you are back to the road/parking area by that time. If you have any concern that you might not finish the course by 4pm, please start early in the start window (e.g. 1:30-2pm.) Additionally, please do NOT venture outside the area covered by the Sprint map - terrain outside the "Sprint" area is closed until it's use in the A-meet.

Classic (Saturday)

Course Length (km) Climb (m) Num Ctrls

White: 2.6 60 10

Yellow 3.1 50 9

Orange 4.1 85 8

Brown 3.8 75 10

Green Y 4.2 85 11

Green X 5.1 90 13

Red 7.9 175 14

Blue 9.9 225 21

Trail-O (Saturday)

Length (km) Climb (m) Num Ctrls

3.8 30 12

Long-O (Sunday)

Course Length (km) Climb (m) Num Ctrls

White: 3.0 70 9

Yellow: 3.9 110 7

Orange: 5.4 185 11

Brown: 5.2 185 11 (Long Course)

Green Y: 7.6 270 11 (Long Course)

Green X: 9.1 305 14 (Long Course)

Red: 14.2 410 21 (Long Course)

Blue: 22.2 645 29 (Long Course)

Green X/Y
Class Assignments

Green-X: M-18, M50+, M55+, M-green

Green-Y: F-20, F35+, F40+, F45+, F50+, M60+, F-green

(These are the USOF Guidelines)

Eligibility for Long-O Championship

You are eligible to be U.S. Long-O Champion if:

You are competing in your "A" class

You are a USOF member in good standing, AND

You meet one of the following citizenship requirements:

Are U.S. citizens and citizens of no other country

Are in a permanent residence status commonly referred to as "green card carriers".

Hold dual (U.S.) citizenship and reside primarily in the United States.

Hold dual (U.S.) citizenship, reside primarily outside the United States, and have not yet and agree not to compete for a championship title in another country during the current calendar year.

Are full-time students in the U.S. holding a current student visa.

Awards

Sprint-O Full set of awards*

Trail-O Three awards - 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd

Classic (Saturday) Full set of awards*

Long-O (Sunday) Full set of awards*

* Full set of awards: awards for every class

Fees

Saturday competitive courses $23 adults
$18 Juniors
(18 and under)

Sunday competitive courses $23 adults
$18 Juniors
(18 and under)

Sprint-O $8.00

Trail-O $8.00

Recreational courses $7.00

USOF discount $3.00 each day on competitive courses (no discount for Recreational courses

T-shirt $13.00, Three color long sleeve

Saturday Night Dinner

Proceeds from Dinner to go to the USA Junior Team Fund

Organized and cooked by Janet Porter

Place: First Presbyterian Church in Newark (on Rt. 273 on the way to Fair Hill) Click here for map

Time: 6:00PM

Cost: Adults: $15.00 (13 years old and up)
Children: $10.00 children ages 5 - 12
Under 5: Free with paying adults

Menu

Boneless chicken breast in gravy

Scallop potatoes

Seasoned rice

Green beans

Fresh garden salad with dressing

Dinner rolls

Coffee, ice tea, Gatorade

Dessert

Vegetarian menu will be available. Please contact Janet Porter for arrangements.

Late Fee $5.00 per event after October 29, 2005. Mailed in entries will use postmark date. Online registration will automatically add in the fee.

Course designers

Classic (Saturday) Ralph Tolbert

Long-O (Sunday) Tom Overbaugh

Sprint-O (Friday) Wyatt Riley

Trail-O (Saturday) Nancy Sharp

Course lengths

Saturday White, Yellow, Orange courses will be close-to-standard courses, possibly on the short side (90 – 100% standard lengths).
Brown, Green, Red, and Blue courses will be intentionally short, classic type courses (~80 - 85% standard lengths)

Sunday White Yellow and Orange Courses will be close-to-standard courses, possibly on the long side (100 – 110% standard lengths)
Brown, Green, Red, and Blue courses will follow USOF standards for Long Distance Championships.

Map Info

Scale White, Yellow, Orange, Brown, and Green courses will use 1: 10,000 maps on both Saturday and Sunday.
Red and Blue courses will use 1:10,000 scale maps for the Classic event on Saturday, but will use 1:15,000 scale maps for the Long-O Championship event on Sunday.

Mappers The map was prepared by Vladimir Zherdev and Alexey Zuev, with follow-up revisions by Eric Weyman.

Size The mapped area is large (25+ km2).

Terrain Fair Hill Natural Resources Management Area is located in the extreme northeast corner of Maryland. The Pennsylvania line is the north boundary of the park, and the Delaware line is just east of the park.
The general topographic structure of Fair Hill is Piedmont ridge and valley. However, it is not as heavily dissected with reentrants as other similar terrains to the south and southwest. The terrain is undulating, with typical local relief of 40 to 80 meter hillsides, with a few flatter sections.
The most notable vegetation type is probably the amount of open fields, at least compared to other eastern O- terrains. The forested sections vary dramatically, including significant sections of impenetrable vegetation as well as large sections of extremely clean, beech dominated forest.
The trail network is very strong, varying from moderate to very dense.
Some rock features exist in the bigger creek valleys, but most of the area is rock free. There is no stony ground affecting runnability.
In general, the Fair Hill terrain is not technically difficult. The control areas will generally utilize the nicest forested sections, but the legs and route choices will probably involve all types of vegetation. Still, the abundance of open areas and trails will provide much easy running.

Directions Fair Hill is located at the intersection of MD routes 213 and 273 in the far northeast corner of Maryland. It should be easy to locate on any state map.
From I-95 Southbound – Take exit #1 at Rte 896 north toward Newark (U. of D.) Follow 896 through Newark 2.5 miles to Main Street. (Rtes 2 and 273) There are two left turn lanes. Stay in the far left lane. After about a block the three routes divide, Rte 2 bears left, Rte 273 bearing to the right, and Rte 896 turning to the right. Follow Rte 273 (middle road) for about 6 miles and watch for O’ signs to Fair Hill parking on left.
From I-95 Northbound – Take exit #100 to Rte 272 north. Go approximately 6 miles to Rte 273. Turn right (east) onto Rte 273 and go approximately 6 miles. Watch for O’ signs to Fair Hill parking on the right shortly after you cross Rte 213. (Note: there is no exit on I-95 at Rte 213.)
Note: There is a $3.00 toll on I-95 at the DE/MD border in both directions. You may want to plan your travel accordingly.
If you are staying in the Elkton area, Rtes 316 (turn left at Rte 273) or 213 (turn right at Rte 273) would be your best choices.
Click here for map

Day Care Childcare will be available both Saturday and Sunday in the Walls Activity Hall. The service is available only while the parents are competing on their courses. Rates: $6.00 for the first child with a maximum total charge of $10.00 for all children in the same family.

Accommodations Group discounts are available at the Newark Howard Johnson's (Rte 896 near I-95) 302-368-8521. 1 King $55, 2 Queen $59, Suites $69. Includes breakfast. Ask for DVOA Discount. Call by Oct. 28th.
Discounts are also available at the Comfort Inn Newark, DE. (Rte 273 at I-95) 302-453-9100. All rooms $63. Includes continental breakfast. Ask for DVOA discount. Call by October 31st.
Motel 6 on Rte 279 at I-95 (Exit 109) in Elkton, MD offers internet rates: $31/night for one adult, $37/night for two; kids under 17 free; 8 miles to event site.
For other accommodations and camping options please go to Phylis Wood's site (Also listed below)

Lodging
Attractions
Photos Phylis Wood has assembled more information about the event. Please check her pages for lodging, area attractions, and photos of the park.