Welcome to QOC’s First Event on a new map in a very new park just opened in Calvert County last spring.

Ward Farm Park is a fun new park with expansion potential and still under development. Only 163 acres are used in these courses, but there are many navigable features and trails. It does not offer as challenging a venue as our advanced orienteers are used to, however, with a little creativity, we hope to offer courses with route choices and a chance for a pretty good run.

This park is mixed use. Soccer and baseball fields with open ground around them covered with 2-3 foot grasses and flowers, some clear woods with deep re-entrants and thick vegetation at forest edges, many good trails, and a network of wide, grass-covered, rolled-flat RUNWAYS that go around the heavily-overgrown farm fields.

The ball fields are open (with reservations) for public use, so we expect them to have use before and during our event. Because we can’t predict whether they’ll be used or not, they are shown as dark green No Entry Authorized areas. The trails around them, of course are fine to use… and if the fields aren’t in use, they are fine to enter.

Check in will open about 9:45am and courses will open at 10:00am.

As always, please be off the course no later than 3 pm and remember to download at our e-punch station even if you did not finish. We want to make sure of everyone’s safety and status.

Free Beginner Instruction will be offered, but please reach out to the Event Director you have a group, so we can plan accordingly. Also, make sure to check out our Your First Event and For Beginners webpages. Beginners are also encouraged to watch relevant videos such as this one created by QOC's instructional guru David Onkst. If they don’t answer any remaining questions you have, just use our Contact Form and ask.

Group Leaders: Please see our For Group Leaders page if you are leading a youth or large group – even though you will be pre-registering online. Please contact the Event Director to make them aware of your plans and numbers.

Dogs are welcome, usual leash laws apply.

Your Map = A Free Cookie! After your run, join other orienteers and volunteers at the Chesapeake Grille & Deli in Dunkirk MD, less than 2 miles from the event (map link). Event volunteers are likely to show up after 4pm, but feel free to show up earlier. Bring your map to get a free cookie with any purchase, courtesy of Alexis, the CG&D manager.

Reminders:

• QOC will continue to use pre-registration as the ONLY method of signing up for our meets. There will be NO day-of, on-site registration. Refunds are paid only in the case of event cancellation.
• Masks are optional at all locations connected with the event. Please continue to minimize clustering at and around the check-in, e-punch, start and finish areas.
• As mentioned above, beginner instruction has resumed to provide an overview of orienteering basics for newcomers to the sport or those who just want a refresher.
• There is no water on the course. Participants are responsible for their own hydration. A very limited supply of bottled water for emergency use will be on hand with the Meet Director; but it is vital to stay well hydrated. Please come prepared!
• There are no snacks offered by QOC.
• For this event (as with most others this season) there will be eight 15-minute check-in windows followed by two 45min windows.