Discussion: 2020 OUSA Nationals at Flying Pig

Planning ahead: The 2020 Orienteering USA Nationals (MIddle - Long - Sprint) will be at Orienteering Cincinnati's Flying Pig XXIV on April 3-5. It will be a little while before all the details are up, but all of the events will be close to downtown Cincinnati, within 30 km radius. We're also planning a Sat evening banquet with an exciting speaker, stay tuned for more details.

The Event Information website is now open!

Check out information about the races, banquet, lodging, and exciting social events connected with this year's Flying Pig and 2020 Orienteering USA Nationals.

Online Registration will be opening soon.

Any recommended camping options nearby?

There is camping at Miami Whitewater Forest (Sat site). The campground itself is not embargoed. I think you can camp there year-round, but I'm not sure when the restroom facilities get de-winterized. Good chance that they open by April 1. On the Kentucky side of the river, Big Bone Lick State Park has a campground and also a permanent course map.

Online Registration is now open!

First in: BigWillyStyle!

Who's registered.

Our Saturday dinner speaker will be none other than OCIN member, author, and the first person to walk solo around the world, Steven "Worldwalker" Newman. You will not want to miss this one!

Six days left to register before late fees...

Event Info

March 12 is the last day to make reservations at the Courtyard by Marriott.
March 13 is the last day to make reservations at the Best Western.
March 12 is the last day to guarantee a t-shirt in your size.

OCIN organizers are keeping aware of the COVID 19 situation. At this point, we expect that the events will be able to continue. Northern Kentucky University is among many colleges which will be going to online classes. We expect to still be able to have the sprint race on campus, but have a backup venue in mind. We have already made plans for extra sanitation measures for registration, download, rental SI cards, and snack tables. We are also incorporating best practices from other events.

Thank you for the COVID-19 updates, Mike!

What is the refund policy for registration? What is the late fee (after Mar 12)? (If that is on the website, I missed it.)

We have also decided to extend the deadline to enter without late fee until at least March 20. So if you are still worried about travel and how the COVID 19 situation will evolve, you have a bit longer to register. BUT, if you want an event T-shirt, you need to get that order in by March 12.

I also want to remind everybody that if you have an SI Air+ card, all controls at all races will be enabled for Air+. Using an Air+ card speeds up punching and eliminates the need to physically touch the control. We will have a limited number of Air+ cards available for rent, please indicate if you wish to rent one when you register.

(you can of course still use any older model of SI card, but if you do, you have to insert it in the control as normal).

We will refund fees for any reason up until a week before the event. If the event is cancelled or postponed due to COVID 19, we will refund fees.

What we won't be able to refund:
any preview or training maps which have already been mailed.
t-shirts, once they have been ordered from the shirt printer.

This seems entirely reasonable and well-considered, thank you.

The decision has been made to postpone the Pig and USA Nationals. We will send an email to all entrants announcing the postponement and options for refunds. (Event Reg message center is currently down, otherwise I'd have sent that already). If you are registered, you'll get information about refunds, and we will begin working on plans for a rescheduled date. We have not yet ordered t-shirts or mailed any preview or training maps, so those should be fully refundable.

Seems like a tough but prudent decision, Mike. Thank you for the timely updates.

Tough one but thanks for the notice.

Thanks for the update Mike.

btw, a Facebook post by DCNR (Dept of Conservation and Natural Resources) of Pennsylvania just announced that events, races, etc etc from March 13 to April 30 are cancelled.

Camping in campgrounds is allowed during that time

By the way, I called the Courtyard Marriott to cancel our reservation, and was told it was already canceled. The woman explained that was probably because the orienteering block had been canceled. So that's one less thing you have to take care of yourself!
Found the same to be true of the DVOA Hilton Garden Inn, FWIW.

I would think individuals should still check if they don't want to risk being charged. Mine was at the Best Western and was still active when I logged in to cancel it through the online booking page on Friday.

Both the Best Western and Courtyard indicated that they would cancel the entire block and all reservations. I suggested that they should be sure to send cancellation notices to each individual. Anyway, as Furlong says, I would recommend a quick double check to be sure that it is cancelled and you don't get charged.

I got a notice when I checked to cancel that all was taken care of.