Mason Neck

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February 21
Sunday

Welcome to Mason Neck - an orienteering venue quite different from most! Unlike typical QOC terrains, Mason Neck has few hills and the map has 5 foot (not 5 meter) contours. The steeper areas are along reentrants leading down to marshes and the tidal water. For the most part, runners will be pleasantly surprised as this park has predominantly open, runnable woods and is generally flat with subtle contour features. There are large areas lacking trails. This can present a real challenge as runners may need to rely on their compass and pace count; for additional tips, make sure to see the course setter notes below.

Event registration will be from 10:45am - 1:15pm. Start your course anytime between 11am - 1:30pm, but be back before the courses close at 3pm. There is an entrance fee for the park ($5 (in state) or $7 (out-of-state) per car).

The courses offered this year at Mason Neck will also be a little different. We will offer White and Yellow courses for our novice/beginner orienteers; the map scale for these two courses will be 1:5000. For our intermediate and advanced orienteers, the map will be on 8.5x14 paper at 1:10,000 scale, and, we are going to do a Score-O but with a twist .. so we are calling it a Twisted-O.

Here's why: It will have 26 controls with most controls being worth 10 points each. Some controls will have different values. Runners will have 75 minutes to find as many of the controls as they can within that time frame. For each minute over 75, you will have 20 points deducted from your total score. For example, if you return with a time of 76:24, your deduction is 40 points. Max score is 276. Tie scores will be broken based on faster times. (No surprises so far.)

Now, here is where the twist comes in:

1. Mandatory Controls: Some of the controls are "mandatory". In other words, these controls must be found otherwise the participant receives a “missed punch” ("MP") for the Twisted-O event. (Don’t worry! None of the “mandatory” controls are located at the other end of the park or above Orange level in difficulty.) These controls will be identified on the map with a different marking (not yet chosen) instead of the usual purple circle and have a value of 1 point each.

2. Bonus Controls: There are also bonus controls that are worth 20 points each, and each of these bonus controls have something in common. However, neither the clue sheet nor the course setter notes will identify these controls or what they have in common. When a runner locates a bonus control while on the course, the control bag will have a special marking on it that identifies it as a bonus control. It will be up to the runner to figure out what these controls have in common and determine whether they want to adjust their strategy to locate other bonus controls. Note to Early runners: don't give away what the bonus controls have in common to later runners!

Park Information:

Mason Neck State Park is also a great place for exploration on the water or by bike (a very smooth and family-friendly bike path runs through much of the park). Of note:

• There's a fine playground quite near our registration area.
• Dogs are welcome in the park, but must be on a leash of length 6 feet or less at all times and "with a human on the other end", as a park ranger said.

Any youth or large groups attending, please contact the Event Director so that we can coordinate pre-registration for your group; the group registration and waiver form is part of the information on our Group Leaders page.

Special Post-Race Meetup Discount Good at Two Adjacent Eateries! zPizza and Quiznos are hosting our Mason Neck event post-race meetup. At either location just show them your map and get 15% off your order. zPizza honors your appetite with food from their delicious artisan menu made from better-for-you ingredients satisfying healthy appetites & healthy lifestyles. Quiznos is the place to go for offering flavorful chef-inspired menu items, including sub sandwiches, grilled flatbreads, soups, salads and wraps. As you leave Mason Neck State Park, both are located less than a mile from the intersection of Route 1 and Gunston Road in the Lorton Station Marketplace. zPizza is at 9451 Lorton Market Street, and Quiznos is at 9433 Lorton Market Street, on Google maps (here) just east of the I-95/Lorton exit 163.