Discussion: Possum Trot XIII invitation

Possum Trot Orienteering Club invites you to the 13th Annual Possum Trot Weekend, December 12 - 13, 2009:

Saturday, December 12, 2009 - Event hosted by Orienteer Kansas (in Lawrence, KS ?)
Saturday evening, December 12 - Possum Trot O Club Christmas Party
Sunday morning, December 13 - Possum Trot XIII (a 15-km goat event) at Knob Noster State Park, MO

More information to follow. Watch www.ptoc.org

Dick Neuburger
Meet Director
rneuburger@gmail.com

That weekend is going to be busy...with both the Trot and the second O-Marathon in Maryland...

Note that this is a change from the traditional weekend. The event was pushed back one week to avoid conflicting with the LAOC A meet.

There is no conflict. Typical east-coaties who would do the O-Marathon are not tough enough for the Possum Trot and wouldn't be there anyway.

Typical east-coaties who would do the O-Marathon are not tough enough for the Possum Trot and wouldn't be there anyway.

Hey, I've done both. (And it is a real conflict for me this year, as I wanted to do the Trot this year. Oh well). As as aside, I actually wonder how many left-coasties make the Trot?

Seems to me that Texas is on the Atlantic Ocean, not the Pacific.

Randy is tough. This is easy to see from that hat he wears, which shows clear signs of a battle with an attack badger.

Texas is on the Atlantic Ocean only because we permit the ocean to visit us with its tides. And by the way, we call it "The Great Texas Sea" round these parts.

Time for me to go eat a popsicle. We can continue the lessons tomorrow.

Oh hell, there goes my string. Too bad it couldn't have stayed put - I've had the traditional weekend blocked out for a year.

So where were all these comments when I asked for opinions on Sept 3 on USOF_Clubnet? I thought that Clubnet was the primary forum for communicating news between USOF clubs. Not so anymore?

Can you imagine how cold it might be going a week deeper into December? Mercy! The punches will get so brittle with cold they'll snap when the first runner tries to use them.

Might the start be delayed an hour or two later than usual to give the sun a chance to get at least a little higher in the sky (a later start at Knob Noster seems like not a bad thing anyway considering how far it is from KC, not to mention Topeka and even Spokane)?

Or maybe the Possum Trot could be a postal course instead this year, where everyone waits for the coldest day of the year and hopes for really big winds, and then runs a Possum Trottish type course without skipping any controls, and then mails their result to the big possum in the sky.

Dick, I'm sure that the USOF-clubnet is still the primary venue for _club_ communications. However, the Possum Trot is an individual race, and most regular attendees read AP. Maybe you could have posted to both sites?

Speaking for myself, I never read the clubnet.

I had come back to this thread to post exactly what Mary said. I'm sure somebody from SLOC reads clubnet, but that somebody is certainly not me. However, even if I had known about the potential change, I wouldn't expect PTOC to schedule their event around me. It may even be possible that I can make it being that Knob Noster is closer to STL so driving out that morning is feasible. Definitely can't do the weekend, though.

Eric, you WILL be at Sunday's PTrot. Somehow, someway, you will be there.

My guess is that the Farmer's Almanac forecasted 50 degree and sunny weather for the 6th and PTOC couldn't allow that to happen :).
With a more convenient date and location (for me), I might just make my third P Trot.

MNOC members are currently checking Iowa passport and visa regulations to confirm that we will be allowed to travel through on a "non-typical" weekend.

Who am I kidding? I am sure we will have a big group there as usual.

I'm bummed to hear the date change as well. I think Mo, Tom, Pete and I were going to do the Castlewood AR in STL on Saturday and then make the drive to the Possum Trot Saturday night (for Christmas party). Then we'd be in perfect shape to enjoy running through the woods for several hours at the PTrot. The date change definitely nixes those plans (that we made after the last PTrot a year ago)....

I don't think I've ever even heard of USOF_Clubnet before, so maybe I'm not into O as much as I thought.... ;o)

Are there a lot of former PTrot attendees that were planning on skipping the PTrot meet this year to go to the A-meet in California?! I sure would be surprised if anybody from either coast changed the date of an annual event around an A-meet that we would have here in the Midwest. I could be wrong though....

It does seem to me that the crowds would be a bit different. Goofy and long event in the middle of the country vs. two short serious A meet events on the coast.

David Frei keeps saying he's going to do Castlewood and then the Trot, but he's never actually made it. The Castlewood after party is just too good. That's the one piece of good news for me - I'll finally get to attend that renowned event (the party, I've already done the race once before).

Cheers,

For what it's worth, I am not a OSOF-Clubnet reader.

I too would like to join Eric, Justin, perhaps Swampfox and others, who blocked the traditional weekend off in hopes of heading down that weekend -- I'd really love to try to take a stab at both the Castlewood AR and the real attraction of the weekend, the almighty PTrot.

Might the omnipotent Possum In The Sky measure these interests against the interests of California A-meet attendance?

Nothing at all against California, but thinking through the regular possums, is there even one who would be planning to go to California--regardless the December weekend--or who would choose the trek out to the West Coast over Possum Trot? Maybe there is one, or even two, but I can't imagine it's many. Of course, I have a very limited imagination, so it's true that's not saying much.

Just imagine how cold it could be by mid-December! Man! Everyone will have to head over to Cabelas and buy every stitch of clothing that looks even possibly warm.

Does anyone have an old map of the 2009 Possum trot terrain posted on the web?

PT VI was held at Knob Noster. Reports and winner's route are here

Setting travel plans and would appreciate knowing the Sunday PT start time. Richard?? or anyone with prior years' start time info would be sufficient.

The start is usually at 9. I think there was some discussion of having it a little later this year (though I'm not sure), maybe 10.

I should also note that now that we've got official approval from the university, we can announce that the Saturday event will be held on the KU campus in Lawrence (the West Campus area).

Is that the same sprint map from 2-3 years ago?

No, it's a brand new map.

Sweet. If it's anything like the other, should be a lot of fun.