REACH Hi-Liters Route

870 points
11 miles
1:50:09
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=1087635

Easily the highest point total and fastest pace of the Street Scrambles I've done (this was my lucky 13th).

I wanted to hit up the park orienteering first, because I knew that the highest density of points was there. I pretty much made a counter-clockwise look around the park. I was the first to punch at 32, and I was the first person on foot to punch 44, 41, and 34. Nikolay, Targo, and Peter all passed me by the time I got to 39. I decided not to approach 58 from the top (which luckily saved me a headache, as it was replaced by the time I did get there). I took the shortcut trail to 38, and I also bushwhacked a bit through the open forest to cut off the corner to 24 (unluckily, I ripped a few holes in my "Street Scramble" shoes). 42, then 23, then a long run to 21, where Eric took my photo punching.

Then the out and back up to 58, and then down to 33 where Eric took my picture again. Then down to 45, where I punched at exactly 29:00 minutes. I switched maps at this point, as I was heading north, and I'd get 22 on the way back in (a nifty trick that gained me some time on Nikolay).

43 was next, arriving shortly after Peter and Nikolay. Peter decided to head up to 54, but I didn't think I could cover that far in 2 hours, so I cut over to 52, which is where Nikolay went. I lost them once they crested the hill. I actually miscounted my streets here, as I cut up too far east. It wasn't too far out of the way, though. I ran into a another team heading the opposite way around 37. I got a bit tripped up by the capitalization used in this clue. I thought that "Western church building" was referring to the name of the church: Western Church. Alas, it wasn't, and since I approached from the east, I didn't realize there was a second building. I may have lost up to a minute here.

Crossed the street and approached 46 from the north. Then I snuck through the back alley of the convenience store and down a long stretch of straight up road running. I passed the 1 hour mark here. When I saw the painted athlete, I thought that it would have been cool to have extra credit points by knowing who the athlete was (Gary Payton!). I navigated to 47 without too much trouble. I noticed the roses before I read the question. I initially misread the question, and I started wondering where the octopusses were!

I crossed at the pedestrian crossing, and then through a neighborhood with a ton of kids playing outside! I got some nice comments here about my socks! I definitely noticed a stark socio-economic contrast between this neighborhood and the one I was running through 40 minutes earlier (and 20 minutes later). Glenn was pushing the stroller the opposite way before I got to 53. I explored an escape route to the north from 53, but there wasn't one (not that I found, anyway), so I backtracked out to Seward Park Avenue. At this point, I was way ahead of schedule, so I decided to head straight at 49, one a initially planned to skip. That hill wasn't near as bad as I thought it was going to be, and here I finally found my octopusses, along with Arianna. Down the hill to 51, where I got a little help from Omar, who enthusiastically told me that I was looking at the wrong gravel bar. Ooh, a manned checkpoint! Sneaky!

Huffed it up back up the hill and around to 36. There were lots of teams heading back in here. Then back down to the park, where I snagged 22 and joined up with REACH buddy Shannon within 50 yards of the finish. I had about 10 minutes to spare. I'm left wondering if I could have made it up to 54 or not when I had the chance.

A really fun course, probably my favorite Street Scramble to date.