Wine-O 2007

In some years, the GHO Wine-O has taken place shortly after the grape harvest against a backdrop of beautiful autumn leaves. This year it might have been more appropriate to call it the Ice Wine-O due to the early arrival of winter. However, it takes more than a little cold weather to keep orienteers out of the woods! More than 85 enthusiastic racers arrived at Mount Nemo on Sunday morning for a fun and challenging Thomass course set by Mike Waddington, who monitored the race remotely from sunny California. Jean Wessel and Jim & Sue Waddington wrangled the large crowd with considerable finesse and provided hot chocolate and cookies at the finish line.

For the first time in a Thomass, racers started at different locations based on their handicap levels, thanks to assistants with carefully synchronized watches. Everyone ran a prescribed course to the start triangle, then spread out to tackle up to 7 controls in the Thomass Box, depending on their handicap. From there, racers headed up toward the complex northwest section of the Mt. Nemo map, visiting 9 more controls before the finish line. Much of this second part of the race happened within a small area, yet many racers commented that they didn't see other people - or if they did, they were not heading to the same control. Icy trails and 20 cm of snow made for a physically challenging event. Racers had to watch their footing on the rocky ground in addition to paying attention to the subtle contours.

Laszlo Orosz finished 1st in 53:06, followed closely by Matthew Rooke of the Stars. A group of GHO runners came in right behind - Mark Adams, Hans Fransson, Serghei Logvin and Andrei Logvin - with Nick Duca of the Stars chasing them. These first seven runners all finished within 22 seconds of one another. GHO's Barb Campbell was the first female finisher at 1:01:12, and Elena Logvina was 5th Female at 1:04:20. Two races into the season, GHO is off to a great start with Mark Adams leading the Thomass Series, Hans Fransson in 2nd and Andrei Logvin in 3rd. Elisabeta Orosz leads the women's field, with GHO's Barb Campbell and Elena Logvina in 2nd and 3rd respectively.