Race 12-04 Mission Street Scramble

16.68mi. - 2:56 - 2nd/?
Garmin Tracking here.

We had great weather for the Mission St. Scramble this weekend. It was sunny and the temperature was in the mid 60’s. The event was put on by Get Lost and was the same format as the Los Gatos Street Scramble I did a few weeks earlier – various controls in a generally urban area worth varying number of points in increments of 10 from 10 to 40 and either 90 minutes or 3 hours to get as many points as possible. I was optimistic about doing well because I know the Mission area of SF about as well as any other area I’ve done a street scramble.

I arrived later than I wanted to and one thing I did not anticipate was difficulty finding parking. When I arrived to the park at 25th and Harrison the spots were packed. Fortunately I found a spot 2 blocks away right in front of a meter that I failed to pay. Since I had taken the prior day off of work and since I usually race in the city on Sundays, I must have been thinking the meter didn’t apply. I jogged to the start and registered but had less than 10 minutes to review the map before starting. Of course I spotted Greg Favor and Steve Gregg at the start. Steve informed me right away that he was in the shorter distance this time. Barry Smith was there who was in his 2nd orienteering event ever as was Chikara Omine who was in his 3rd. Chikara also chose the shorter route although I didn’t find this out until after I had finished.

As we started a group of us, including Barry and Chikara took off with a quick pace. The first control was a block from the start. After that most of the group went to the next control pretty quickly but then the group disbanded. Chikara and Barry stil chose the same route as me. As we were leaving the 2nd control at a baseball field BAM!!!!! We were all reading our maps, but I was the one who walked straight into a metal pole. Somehow to point of impact was mid-chest a couple inches to the right of center. It still hurts to breathe deeply 2 days later but I didn’t consider slowing down my pace.

I led Chikara and Barry over Caeser Chavez St. and decisively headed toward a staircase. Barry and Chikara stood together reading their maps until eventually looked at me halfway up already and decided my route wasn’t half bad. The next control wasn’t obvious to any of us but it was clear to me that Chikara and Barry weren’t as familiar as I am with “what to look for” when we got there. I wouldn’t say I am very good at this either, but at this point I’d say I’m not a beginner.

From there I went to a different control as them and ran into a few other teams before running into Barry again a few controls later. I had a conversation with a guy from another team as I overheard him disagree with whether a weathervane looked like a whale or an owl. I viewed it from street level, he viewed from up a hill, he turned back, I didn’t, and I turned out to be right.

Barry and I hit the next couple controls together and then he started to open a lead on me although still sticking to the same plan. We were both going for the high pointers on the perimeter of the course. I chose a slightly different (shorter, up a hill) route as him in one spot but couldn’t head him off. Eventually I lost sight of him and I was on my own.

I ran into the weathervane guys again and they confirmed I was right and that it was a good thing they went back. I continued around the perimeter going through the BART station in the Castro District marking the first time I ever ran up an escalator in a race. My initial plan was to do a spiral clockwise starting north then to the southeastern corner all the way around to the west to the north and cut straight down and a the cluster of controls in the middle until the end making for a short trip back. As I got to the north I revised my plan by continuing the circular path to the east, although not the perimeter as it appeared there were some controls out there waiting to eat up time.

It was going pretty well until a little after 2 hours when I dropped my pen. The ball wouldn’t roll anymore so I started using the pen to poke holes through correct answers rather than circling them. I finished up the Potrero Hill section in the east that I wanted to and headed back to the center where I was hoping to get at least 3 more. It turned out that I didn’t spend too much time looking for them and since the terrain was flat again I moved pretty quickly. I ended up getting 4 in the center which met the optimistic goal I had had since around the 2 hour mark. I finished with several minutes to spare and no real “missed opportunities”.

I finished with 690 which was 2nd overall. First place had 810 and was a 2 person team. I still haven’t figured out if a team is helpful or not. I don’t see any way it could be helpful to a faster runner on the team. Afterwards we went back to Sports Basement where they had refreshments and awards. They gave me what appears to be a double layered mesh type of shirt unlike any I’ve ever owned before. I’m thinking it would be best for an orienteering race in warm weather in an area with thick brush.