Getting Lost and Found with the Tucson Orienteers

I recently ran a race that had no set distance, no set course and no set starting time, but still was instructed to complete the race as fast as I possibly could.  Oh and along the way I had to find and identify 8 – 12 markers along the course.  Welcome to competitive orienteering.

My friends in the Tucson Orienteering Club recently hosted a “Street O’, an orienteering race designed to introduce the sport to us non-orienteers.  Combining map reading, racing, logistics and planning, Orienteering can be enjoyed at a leisurely pace or as a competitive, fast race.  My friends and I were just about to find out how fast.

The object of the race is to travel to 8 (short course) or 12 (long course) of the 15 pre-determined markers laid out on a map.  Starting from the Palo Verde Park just south of Broadway, we were handed a map at our designated starting time.  The map showed streets, alleys, washes but no street names or other identifications.  Laid out on the map were the 15 markers, with 15 corresponding questions for each. The idea is to get to a marker as quickly as possible, answer the question and move on to the next marker (hopefully in a logical, well-thought out manner. Yeah, right).

The map and route that Tim took
during the orienteering event

The first thing I learned is that running and a reading a map is one of the hardest things to do.  Thank goodness I wasn’t chewing gum.  I quickly identified the first few items and was confident things were going my way until I got stuck.  Marker # 2: “Utility pole # at wash junction?” threw us for a loop (my friend and fellow Soggy Wogger, Steve Outridge was at this marker too).  There were four poles at this junction, but none matched.  Here is where I realized that orienteers are good – they are required to find pinpoint markers with just a map and old fashioned compass.  We literally had to get in the wash to see the pole.  Steve attempted to follow me to the next few markers, but I ditched him through the wash and on to the next marker.

I’ve selected the short course, 8 markers, and quickly get through the next 5 - 6 markers.  I’m on a roll.  Cactus on the wrought iron door?  Saguaro - Check.  Yellow sign on street corner? Speed Humps – check. Each marker, although sometimes small or intricate was easy to locate once you learned to read the map.  I finally come to my last marker – “What are the blue things”? I’m racking my brain looking for something small in the junction of two back alleys.  I run up and down the

The 'blue things'. Duh.

alleys, fearing that time is ticking away, frantically looking for something blue.  Finally it dawns on me that I’m surrounded by ‘blue things’ – about 150 blue recycling bins. Duh.

My map is a crumpled sweaty mess as I’m blazing down a back alley towards the finish. I have no idea where my fellow competitors are, as I’ve only seen two out on the ‘course’.  I cross the line in 29:00 and later map it out to be a little over three miles – 9:40 per mile, with stops, turns, backtracks and a few zigzags.  The top orienteer that day is Mark Everett, he was an overachiever and went to all 15 (of the 12 required for the long course) markers in 33:54, and I figure that to be just under 6:00 per mile pace.  Times like that would place Mark in the upper tier of many of the local road races.  That is fast, people, and not only was he reading a map and answering questions at that pace, he was probably chewing gum too…

Our friend Cristina Luis organized the event.  She recently qualified for the United States National Orienteering team and travels to Hungary in August to take on the best teams in the world.  Read a great article about her here , and support the Orienteering Club here.

Sabino Canyon Splashing

[caption id="attachment_6" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Tim Bentley runs through the water at Sabino Canyon last year."][/caption]

 Updated January 12, 2011: President Obama referenced Christina Taylor Green in his speech this evening in Tucson.  He noted that she had been given this advice as a baby featured in a 9/11 book: 'I hope you jump in rain puddles'.  I wholeheartedly agree. 

July 2009

Runners in Tucson and southern Arizona are blessed with one of the most beautiful areas in the world to run and train.  Sabino Canyon is undoubtedly the tops in the area, if not one of the Top 10 places in the country.  This 7.4 mile, round-trip, paved road meanders its way up rolling hills and across eight bridges affording you great views of Tucson and foothills of the Catalina Mountains.  In the high monsoon season these bridges will be overflowing with water, making for a nice evaporative cooler effect.  

Running through the water on Sabino’s bridges not only cools you down, but it’ll take you back to your childhood when puddle splashing was pure joy.  In high school we used to run the Canyon, literally racing from bridge to bridge, vying to be the 1st in line to splash those behind us. Looking back it was a great fartlek workout, literally ‘speed play’ in Swedish.  Who knew that playing in the water would work wonders come race day?  

 There are many things you can do to ‘play’ and cover a lot of miles while you are running.  When running in a group, run single file with the last person in line moving up to first and taking the lead at their desired pace. Each subsequent runner does the same in 2 – 4 minute intervals. Running by yourself, or with a friend? Count the number of red convertibles that you see, or on a trail run, see if you can spot our desert neighbors such as rabbits, lizards or the elusive roadrunner.  Keep score in a journal or log and before you know it, you’ve run the miles and had a great time along the way. Hopefully a mountain lion doesn't make your scorecard...  

[caption id="attachment_20" align="alignright" width="150" caption="Running Man doesn't know whether to be scared or feed the 'high' mountain lions in Sabino Canyon."][/caption]

Unfortunately, the water wasn’t flowing this past Saturday, so I couldn’t surprise my fellow runners with a splash off.  Although, water must’ve been on the mind of fellow Soggy Wogger, Pete McNellis.  About a mile from the Visitor Center he broke into ‘Beach Baby” by The First Class.  While not quite the speed variation Gösta Holmér intended when he invented Fartlek, Pete’s singing (or lack thereof) provided us with plenty of reasons to pick up the pace and vie to be 1st to the finish.  

 Another way to make the miles go by...  

Looking for different ways to make your running go by easier and mean something at the same time?  How about this group I see in the Canyon almost every time I’m there – Team In Training.  A dedicated group of 25 runners are training to raise money and awareness for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.  Preparing for the October Nike Marathon in San Francisco and the January PF Chang's Marathon in Phoenix, they were doing 8-10 miles in the canyon, meaning that some were running parts of the hilly road twice. Coaches Ashley Fitzharris and Rick Karl have successfully guided many groups to a successful first marathon, oh and they’ll raise about $100,000 along the way. Check them out at their website.

Running's Summer Essentials

The Broadway trailhead leading into the Saguaro National Monument is the gateway to a multitude of beautiful runs. Well-marked horse trails zigzag their way through the desert leading to various destinations around and within the park. Typically we run single file to the paved loop road in the park and then run the back half of the road (with the big hill). We'll then cut back on the Cactus Forest for a nice 10 miler.

One of my running partners, and fellow Soggy Wogger, Steve "Blackett's" Hughes (because he runs Blackett's Ridge in Sabino, sometimes twice a day. For fun.) suggested an out and back on the Cactus Forest. In my mind it was great because we'd get rid of the hill, but still get the benefits of the miles. Boy was I wrong. "The Hill" was still evident, just dispersed throughout the run as smaller, steep inclines. If that wasn't enough, it was going to be 110° by mid-day, meaning about 80° at the start of our run.  I'm not complaining. We all know it's hot in Tucson in the summer and we put up with it because it will be 75° during the winter. So to make summer running enjoyable in the desert, keep in mind a few guidelines:

• Staying hydrated is important. You want to hydrate prior to your run, but it's important that your body is USED to hydrating. We all know the adage of 8 full glasses (8 oz.) of water a day, but it can approach 12-14 glasses depending on your weight and exercise levels. Therefore for runners, be diligent about consistent hydrating throughout the day, every day, and you won't have that ‘sloshing' feeling prior to your run.

• Take water with you on your run. I carried 20 oz. of water for the run through the Cactus Forest. It wasn't enough and I had to bum some off Blacketts. My fellow runners carried 40+ oz. There are many options for carrying water including fuel belts (an elastic waist band with multiple, small, clip-on containers that can hold water or other drinks), water backpacks with a hose mouthpiece and the traditional fanny pack designed for water bottles.

• In addition to water, be sure to hydrate with an electrolyte replacement drink at the end of your run.

• A visor or hat made of a moisture wicking material and can help keep the sun (and sweat) out of your eyes. Most hats and visors are machine washable.

• Many runners like to wear sunglasses to protect their eyes from the sun. An active-wear sunscreen is also recommended - apply before your run and at stops for water during your run.

• Run with a group or partner

• Frequent stops for hydrating are not only recommended, they are essential to evaluate for fatigue, and keeping the group together.

Our run turned out to be a good one, although my knees were actively recruiting my quadriceps to revolt. We had a good mix of runners, conversation and even some random singing of Glen Campbell and Linda Ronstadt songs. Hmmm, maybe we need to be checked for sunstroke?

What are your secrets to training in the summer? Midnight runs? Mt. Lemmon? Let us know.

Why We Run

I recently played golf with my friend Mike, which is ironic, because Mike is the reason I run today and the irony is that golf played a major role.

Mike and I tried out as freshman for the Sabino High School golf team, (ahem), many years ago. We hacked it around, practicing on the links all summer and gave it our best shot on a hot, monsoony Tucson August afternoon. We weren’t really that good, but thought we maybe had a chance. But in our young naiveté, we missed one thing: the Sabino golf team was perennially tops in the state and had future pro Willie Wood leading the charge. Needless to say, we did not make the team. Back then, after school sports substituted for Phys Ed and we were petrified that we would have to take P.E. and shower after 3rd period. So we did what any scared 14-year-old kid would do - signed up for Cross Country, a no cut sport!

Twenty-eight years later I am reminded of this story as I ran at the Tucson City Parks Track & Field Meet at the UA open track meets. Alongside me for the mile race were two recently graduated kids from Sabino, one the state high school champ in the mile and half-mile, and the other a close runner up. After the race they were full of questions. They wanted to know times, records and how fast we were back in the day. My memory was fuzzy and I couldn’t remember much except some ugly uniforms and the golf story.

Mike and I remain friends to this day because of our love of running, respect for our cross country coach Mr. Brooks and the ability to look the other way after the other suffers a bad golf shot. We had some great teams back then, but oddly all Mike and I could remember that day were the great times we had along with our teammates. No times, no course records, just laughing and running. I hope that’s what running is for you, laughing, running and pursuing your dreams. Luckily we were able to realize ours.

I finished a distant third to my much younger Sabino brethren that night (the state champ even lapped me). But, needless to say, I'm on the team.

FYI - Mike was there for another 1st.  The first time I went for a run after chemotherapy treatment for Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma.