It was a perfect fall day, with temperatures rising well into the 50's, and the woods as open and inviting as Mt. Tom can be. This is the fourth time I've directed the post-Thanksgiving meet at Mt. Tom since taking over from Tony Maniscalco, but it's the first time I went back to Tony's traditional Score-O with 18 controls and Western Mass Rules. With Western Mass Rules, the courses are determined by the number of controls you get. There were four courses: get 8, get 11, get 15, or get 18. There is no bonus for getting extra controls: if you get, say, 12 or 13, you are scored in the get 11 group. The shortest route for getting all 18 today was about 6.3 k. There was also a White course of about 2 k.

The turnout was strong: there were 101 separate starts, and about 130 participants overall. Ross Smith blistered the course, winning by seven minutes in 47:20. Joe Brautigam was second, and first over 40. Ian Smith, who seems to be getting faster at every meet, finished third in 63:21. Carl Underwood was another couple minutes back in fourth, and first junior (as well as first NEOC). Peter Gagarin was another minute back in fifth, and first really old guy. For the women, Sam Saeger was first, and 6th overall, followed closely by Alison Crocker, a new addition to the orienteering community in Western Mass. Pavlina Brautigam was third, and tenth overall. Of special note were the most senior finishers: Mette and Olaf Tabur. They have come to every meet I've put at Mt. Tom. Today they went out together and finished 12th out of 23 finishers in the get 8 category.

I love setting the courses; not so much the meet directing. But I had so much help on race day, that it was a breeze. Peter Gagarin ran the starts with his usual efficiency. Steve Richardson ran registration, not getting flustered at all by the long line that developed. My wife Margi helped with the e-punch rental. Gail Gagarin and Andy McIlvane ran the finish after their runs. A number of people helped pick up controls, including Alison Crocker and Steve Richardson. The Saeger clan delivered the e-punch equipment to me on Thanksgiving day, and Ross averted catastrophe by showing me the trick for putting a new roll of paper in the printer. The e-punch equipment worked flawlessly; there's no going back to pin-punching.

Here are the results. I apologize to those whose names are misspelled or incomplete.