Discussion: Thanks re. NAOC

Thanks to everyone involved. I enjoyed the areas, maps and courses. The bar has been raised a notch or two in a couple of areas.

+2 from us!

My only complaint is that I never heard the arena DJ play Gangnam Style.

Otherwise -- super courses, great volunteers, fun arena setup, and excellent organization. A+!

Agreed, a wonderful event in so many respects, from stuff that we often (but not always) manage to do well, like maps and courses, to stuff we rarely manage to de well, like the arenas, the vibes, and especially in this case, a sense that there really are a bunch of juniors doing our sport. The relay, with all the focus on the young and the talented, with lots of support from the rest of us, was the icing on the cake.

And thanks for being a great event to send a junior to! I didn't attend in person, but watched and listened as much as I could. Thanks for the video and audio feed.

2 thumbs up!!!

Superlatives inadequate! Well done DVOA :-)

Agreed, well done. Thanks to each and every volunteer.

Thank you to everyone! So. Much. FUN!

An example of how great the organization was: they had the idea to set up a large, comfortable junior lounge. Kids got to know each other.

Wonderful in many ways. Even the local wildlife came to play.



Great job!

Awesome weekend all around - thank you to all involved!
(Only sad that I never saw the bear.)

Saw a bear on the way out. Very cool!

This was a truly awesome event. I am so glad that I was able to take part! Huge thanks to DVOA and all who were a part of making this happen, I had a fantastic weekend.

Thanks everyone for contributing to the atmosphere, and to DVOA for orchestrating it! You are all awesome inso many ways!!!

With DVOA in charge, expectations were high...

They were exceeded...

Superb event - well organized, great maps and terrain. The National team relays are a great addition to the NAOC program, it gives the team members a chance to showcase their talents and run under the pressure of a marquee event, as well as being very exciting to watch.
Well done DVOA!

I'll add to the kudos. It was a great event! The courses and maps were awesome, the technology and results were fantastic, the meet director is obviously a genius, and the relay was especially spectacular - clearly there were some masterminds at work!

What a fabulous event! I've been looking forward to this for a long time and was not at all disappointed. Now I'm just sad it's over. :-( I've got the post-NAOC blues.

When DVOA proposed to the OUSA Board to have the NAOC in 2012, they set big goals. Those goals were exceeded. Their flexibility to add relays for the Future Champions Cup added to the work load but added to the excitement for the juniors who are the future of the sport. Great courses, great maps and a wonderful venue! All the volunteers from the ones who initially worked on the proposal in 2010 to the people who parked cars and rolled up cables to the radio controls after the courses were run all added to the event. Thank you DVOA and all the volunteers!

Adding my thanks, everything was wonderful, really loved the courses and enjoyed all the atmosphere created!

Thank you so much to Sandy and her amazing team! I knew this was a Do Not Miss Event and am so glad I came out of "retirement" for it. It was FUN from beginning to end. And every volunteer and the ranger at the campground were still smiling and welcoming and helpful right up to the end, though I know everyone must have been so tired by then. Much appreciated.

If the event could be bottled and broadcast, I think it would be a huge recruiting tool for orienteering. The sprints and the relays especially were thrilling, with the design bringing them through the arena and the announcing and the maps, it was super exciting without seeing them in the woods which was always a difficult issue in promoting the sport! It was running that was free and uninhibited, yet controlled and calculating at the same time. I think runners and others in running sports would get a whole new idea of orienteering if they'd been there yesterday.

And the juniors! What a far cry from the days when any junior just needed to show up to get an award. This was a group of fit, trained, focused athletes handling a great deal of competitive pressure well and it was a joy to see!

Oh, and not sorry I didn't see the bear. I saw a bear cub in a tree some years ago in the Gap and I haven't been back since! The cub was cute, but wondering where mom was as I fled was traumatic! Only NAOC's led by the incredible Sandy Fillebrown could get me back in those woods!

Excellent event, thanks DVOA! Really a joy to run in that terrain on such fantastic maps.

Kudos all around! All the organizers, volunteers and helpers, from start to finish, deserve thanks and praise. This was a great event and very much worth attending. Great fun watching the relays with strong junior teams as well as the awesome seniors!

Fun and well-organized from start to finish, and very exciting during elite races and the team relays! Thanks so much to the many, many volunteers who did this all for us. There's no question that NAOC has become a "don't miss" event for our community.

All around great. Even spectating turned out to be fun, especially with the relay maps. Thanks.

Quite simply *the* best race I've ever been to in North America.

It was amazing. I never once saw anyone on the crew who looked flustered or upset. So many volunteers! Definitely the best organization I've seen in North America.

Thanks DVOA - Friday was Very Good, Saturday was Excellent, and Sunday was, to echo Mike, the best O-race "production" that I have been to in NA. I really didn't want it to end!

Thanks also to all the photographers who've been posting their work. Nice to be able to relive the event with the great photos!

Really just a terrific weekend all way round--congrats DVOA for a superb event!

Absolutely World class event! Starting from courses and maps and finishing with arenas and festivity all days! Many thanks to all volunteers and people who made it such an enjoyable experience!

I was not at NAOC, but one of the things that makes me wish I had been there was the course designs. I love the course designs. Lots of controls, varying leg lengths, including many short legs, and changes of direction (at least on Green through Blue, I haven't looked at other courses). From my perspective, this was much better than typical. Emphasized navigation over running even more than usual. I would like to see more orienteering events with courses designed like this.

This great event also brought out the fellowship of North American Orienteers. There was a real closeness felt here. It was neat to talk to some of the Europeans who also loved the meet.

More photos here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wendles56/sets/721576...

This billboard surprised us as we drove up north on Route 209. Neat idea.

Thanks to the organizers and volunteers for all your work! My family was sad to leave on Sunday afternoon.

When I first heard about the NAOC´s from Clem a couple of years ago and he mentioned some of the high-flying plans I was excited that this challenge was taken. When it is all over I can´t do anything but echo what many others have already said above!

This was a truly amazing weekend with orienteering at it´s best. I´m impressed with the organizing team and all friendly volunteers and as far as I could see everything that mattered was perfect.

Many thanks go to Sandy F, Valerie, Clem, Ed, Eddie, Dasha, Sandy A, Tom, Vadim, Greg, Nevin and last but not least all other meet workers that I can´t name...

A stellar weekend start to finish - three days of high-quality events run butter-smooth. Clearly the work of many hands, and it was all done expertly. Thanks to everyone involved for making such an absurdly fun weekend!

Absolutely great event! There would be few words of praise left that have not been said yet, few great experiences and feelings not yet expressed - I can only second pretty much everything that has already been said about all the positive happenings of this past weekend.

Amazing job DVOA! Good work bridging the gap between the standard North American style A-meet and the European gold standard. Very impressive!

Two years ago at the 2010 NAOC in British Columbia, we were very impressed at the high caliber event. With their great arenas, superb announcing and music for spectators, the great logistics, terrific terrain and fabulous courses and excitement surrounding the BK cup, we came away feeling that Canada really knew how to put on a world class event. The USA would have to step it up a notch--a big notch.

Well, they sure did. Not only did they put on a great event, they put on a great show. There was a feeling of being welcome by the organizers and the employees at PEEC. Everything seemed to have been thought through and handled with aplomb. The terrain was interesting and varied, the rain on Friday did not dampen the spirits of the announcers and the tents were appreciated. The courses were challenging. The arenas played a big role in making me feel like I was at a big party--it was so cool. Then on Sunday, with the excitement of the sprint and the relays, I felt the event reached a peak (pun intended). Seeing our juniors racing with alongside the seniors was a thrill for me and likely a great experience for the kids.

So thank you DVOA for all of your planning and execution. You DID IT!!! I'm proud that you showed that the US could not only step up to the new standard Canada set last time, you could surpass it.

Now, with the suggestions for GPS tracking, etc., and knowing the capabilities of the Ottawa O Club and the Teutch family in particular, I think we'll have something great to look forward to in two years. Can't wait.

We are swept up in the NAOC afterglow,

Yet, something is amiss in the world of O.

Winter approaches. But there is no word

of the Laramie wind. Or of

skogsnymphs or attack badgers. Or of

coeds at the university, or submoron sightings;

Pizza, Stevie Ray Vaughan or guitars.

Texas ridicule and Austin adoration. The

Killer Bee Loop or Happy Jack or the

Lights of Cheyenne. Soon there will be

Snowsnakes, and yet we have no hope

to hear of them. Musings of Francis Marion

or West Point or cowboy sushi. Swampfox's log

Is silent, and We miss it.

hear hear

It is missed in Sweden too (´though I´m still on US soil...)

I'm a bit late to the Thank-You party, but wanted to ensure that I got my more than 2 cents in. Huge thank-you for letting me be part of the weekend as an announcer and a small cog in your very well oiled machine. Special thanks to the usual suspects of Clem, Sandy, Valerie, Hugh and Vadim. As well to the other fellows on the mic, Greg Balter (and Vlad for filling in). Things were so cool and calm behind the scenes, it just put me at ease when I showed up on Thurs night. Thanks to everyone who had nice things to say about the announcing and apologies to everyone who's names I messed up!

The bar has been raised for sure.

One person I don't think received enough credit is the junior who set the Sprint course. That was a very fun course to race!

Sam Reed, DVOA

I agree with Nev. Also Petr H who set the long. (Clem set the middle). one of the inspired moves of the organizers was to trust these relatively "new" course planners - and their dedication and commitment to creating great, fun courses with all the controls in the right place played a huge part in the success. I look forward to running on more of their courses in future.

Also Tom O's oversight including an astonishing planning and execution of a vetting plan ensured all the controls were "there" for the competition. Including getting the Sprint controls put out and checked in the 30 minutes between closing quarantine and the first starter!