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Meet Director Report Possum Trot VI, December 8, 2002 Knob Noster State Park Possum Trot VI Meet Report The 6th annual 15-km goat style orienteering event in the Kansas City area, Possum Trot VI, took place on Sunday, December 8, 2002, in Knob Noster State Park, Missouri. It was part of the "Possum Trot Weekend" traditionally held the first weekend of December. It also included the Missouri-Kansas Orienteering Championships, hosted by Orienteer Kansas, and the annual Possum Trot Orienteering Club Christmas Party. Possum Trot VI was the best ever! Knob Noster State Park has some of the area's best terrain and it was well mapped by Efim Shtempler, the Ukrainian mapper. The park featured typical Midwestern ridges and reentrants, the water features were mostly dry due to the prolonged drought, and the oak-hickory forest had dropped most of its leaves...the visibility was excellent. The courses were well designed by Mike Shifman, giving the runners many different "drops" for the rules that allowed any 2 controls to be skipped. The weather was a little cool...a foggy 26 degrees when the meet workers arrived, but up to 37 degrees by the end of the day. The highlight for me as meet director was that so many quality orienteers came to the event. Four of the top 14 elite runners based on the 2001 USOF rankings were there; other strong orienteers came from Minnesota, Colorado, and St. Louis. Local orienteers filled the rest of the field of 33 starters. So who won? Mark Everett was ahead at the first split, due to an early control skip. Brian May and Mikell Platt were next, followed closely by David Frei, Michael Eglinski, and Eric Buckley. May, current US Champ, finished the second half of the race 6 minutes faster than Eglinski and Everett, for the win. Everett held on for 2nd and Eglinski was 3rd. Buckley with the 4th fastest time in the second half moved into 4th and Platt finished 5th (He didn't skip any controls and gets 2 Whoppers from course setter Mike Shifman.). Sharon Crawford led the women for her 3rd straight Possum Trot win; she finished 12th overall. Other highlights of the race included a dead possum on the main road and a live possum spotted near control 18. There was a search for an overtime orienteer, and some extra controls, not part of the course, that confused some. They were evidently used by airmen from nearby Whiteman Air Force Base, home of the B2 bomber, for search and rescue practice. I apologize, to the people who stayed at our house, for the cool showers. Did you know that some water heaters are marked "hot" and "very hot"? I only saw "hot" and therefore turned the thermostat cooler. I also hope that the African violet lights didn't turn on automatically in the middle of the night. Thank you to the following for making this event a success: the staff of Knob Noster State Park, including ranger John Snyder and naturalist Theresa; Mike Shifman, course setting; Nancy Neuburger, hospitality and vetting; Kevin Shipley and Sandy McKinley, registration; Nick Hockman, registration and refreshments; Mary Jones and Mark Roodhouse, aid stations; Steve and Mary Brown, results; and Dick Luckerman, road signs. Plan now to join us for the 2003 Possum Trot Weekend, December 6-7, 2003.
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