REACH Hi-Liters Route
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=1844023
14.8 miles, 750 points
My fourth consecutive U-District Street Scramble, and my fourth consecutive partnership with a rookie. It worked out pretty well this time, and for the first time, I was paired with a stronger runner, so I was pretty worn out by the end, covered nearly 15 miles.
Route planning seemed rather easy with this one (which was good, since I was trying to plan our route, hand out REACH t-shirts, answer questions, stretch, and eat some Clif bars...). Our route had 90% in common with the Whidbey Island Nerds, so that's a good sign that we were on the right track with route planning. The only differences between our route were that a) they planned to get #41 and we did not, and b) they went in reverse. #41 was going to be a "bonus" checkpoint for us at the end if we had time permitting. We didn't. The Nerds scored 790, and we got 750.
Generally speaking, I think the Nerds' route was the most efficient way to get 790, and ours was the most efficient way to get 750.
We didn't have any problems finding anything, but we did lose some time exiting Ravenna Park (and after reading the Nerds' report, entering Interlaken Park).
Went to #13 first, then to #34, where caught up to some teams. Then west to #22, where we encountered more teams. #14 was interesting in that there were church-goers present. I wonder what they thought of all of us running through their parking lot. And then due north to #53.
We decided to swing down to #15 next, and attack from the north. We got lucky here, as we could read the answer from across that wide street, which saved us some time. Then we ducked down into Ravenna Park for #35, and back up for #21. I made a tactical error here. We should have gone back down into the valley and exited due east for #54. But I was afraid that the trail didn't connect to the road and that I'd get pinned in by private property. Instead, we went south and around to #54, adding 0.7 km to what could have been...
Flew down the hill from #54, which was really the only time my ankle gave me any trouble. Backed into #16 from the southeast. Then over to #46, where we got stopped by the light at 45th for what seemed to be forever. We arrived at #46 approximately one hour in.
Over to #32, and we hesitated a bit since we approached from the side opposite from the main entrance. After our bad luck with the street light before, we got really lucky from #32 all the way to across the Montlake Bridge. No stopping! Then up to #31 where we had our one and only encounter with the Nerds.
Then further up to Interlaken Park and the most famous shipping container in Street Scramble history! And then all the way through the park, across two highways to #55, where we found a water fountain and some kids asking their parents "Why are they running through the playground?".
Ran along Eastlake across the University Bridge, and then did the out-and-back to #42, which was the most inefficient stretch of the course, on a points-per-mile basis. Then the B-G ot #11, and then down to #25. Since I had designed the orienteering courses for an event on campus in 2006, I pretty much knew exactly where the campus checkpoints were, and the most efficient ways to get there. Didn't lose much time here, and we saw fellow REACH teams Smelly Pumpkins and Silent Xylophones here.
Had no problems with #12, but we got lucky as it was visible from the north, which is where we were coming from. We saw two teams coming up the alley the opposite way, and they were scanning all over for the sign that they couldn't yet see. Saw REACH Orangeade running opposite us to #33.
Had a bit of trouble crossing 45th with traffic lights on the way to #36. We arriving around the same time as REACH Silent Xylophones. We were both headed to #44 next, so we decided to see which was faster, going north or going south. We went north, and got there a little faster! Then we strolled into the finish 4 minutes early!
REACH had 27 people there, and 16 of us headed down to the Big Time Brewery for some post-race brews and conversation. It seems like several of the teams will be returning for future events!