An unexpectedly warm April day brought out nearly 90 orienteers to try their skills on a newly revised map of Needham Town Forest, an old NEOC favorite. Runners chose from a menu of White, Yellow, Orange and Brown courses, with the Brown and Yellow courses attracting the bulk of entrants. Despite a small error in setting the last control on the Brown course, and some thoughts that the White was perhaps too difficult and the Yellow too easy most runners seemed to enjoy themselves despite wet feet and unprovoked attacks by roving bands of bramble bushes. Some runners on the Yellow course got an unexpected side benefit while passing by an elaborate cultural object on the east side of the forest - an actual demonstration of its features. All runners, however, had a chance to explore this interesting forest with its glaciated topography and multitude of rock outcroppings.

I, a novice course setter, teamed up with experienced meet director Jeff Saeger to present the event. Despite torrential rains earlier in the week worthy of Biblical mention that forced the relocation of several controls, and a vicious intestinal virus that brought me to my knees (both figuratively and literally) less than 48 hours before the first runner started, everything was prepared and in place on Saturday, allowing both meet director and course setter to get some much needed rest before the event. As Jeff remarked to me after the event, it was an odd feeling indeed to be home the night before the event and realize that everything was done!

Our thanks to the wonderful people who volunteered large chunks of time and energy to make this meet successful: Judy Karpinski, who manned the registration desk with great cheer and aplomb; Patti Miller, who patiently explained orienteering to several groups of first-timers; Ralph Jones, who quietly and competently started many of the runners during the day; Barry Goldstein, who, among his other duties in managing finishes, found a way to synchronize NEOC's assemblage of timepieces (one of the clocks was keeping Martian Central Time) to make sure he could give finishers an accurate time; Jim Paschetto, who ran the Brown course, took over the finishing duties, and then went out to retrieve controls afterwards ; and Alex Izzo and Adam Rudner, who both picked up controls after finishing their runs late in the day. And a special thanks to Jeff Schapiro, whose casual interest in the idea of having a meet in Needham Town Forest somehow morphed into a full-scale course vetting effort! Finally, as the course setter, I must acknowledge the sage counsel and guidance Jeff Saeger offered me. Without his thoughtful and insightful suggestions I wouldn't have been able to design these courses.

We're glad so many of you were able to attend this event, and hope that everyone enjoyed the courses. See you in the woods!

Steve van Ness