44th Billygoat Run – May 12, 2024
The 44th Billygoat Run is in the books!
The Up North Orienteers (UNO) had the honor of hosting this annual long distance race which attracts orienteers from around the US, Canada, and, on occasion, the rest of the world. This year’s edition was held at the Gunstock Mountain Resort in Gilford, NH on an almost ideal day for orienteering without overheating and becoming dehydrated: partly to mostly cloudy, temperatures in the mid 50s, and the two very quick showers held off until mid-afternoon.
This year’s Billygoat, as is the UNO way, was a collaborative group effort. And since I am speaking of a collaborative effort, how about I start this meet report with a ‘THANK YOU’ to the volunteers? Although I designed the course, the invaluable vetting team consisted of Jim Arsenault, who also printed the maps, and Paul Regan. They spent A LOT of time in the woods, probably more than they expected, as they also put all the controls on the course when a wicked allergy season curtailed my time outdoors. Thanks, too, go to Lex and Pete Bundschuh. Lex served as the event registrar, Pete – who has been a ‘Head Goat’ in the past himself – was on top of equipment needs, and together they also organized a local meet held at Gunstock in conjunction with the Billygoat Run. Anna Morse designed the artwork for the t-shirts which went to every Billygoat Run finisher who did so in 3 ½ hours or less, as well as for the commemorative poster which was given to those finishing over 3 ½ hours as well as meet volunteers. Anna’s design, which featured mirror images of the Old Man of the Mountain as well as, of course, a goat, was reminiscent of the artwork of the 1960s, especially that found on the classic music posters of the period. Woodstock then, Gunstock now. More thanks go to J-J Cote, a member of the ‘Divinely Appointed Billygoat Steering Committee’, who set up the results computer, and its interface with electronic punching, for this event (as he does for many UNO events). Finally, thanks go to two day-of-the-meet volunteers whose presence filled people-power gaps and allowed the event to run smoothly. They are Peter Goodwin, who has been a ‘Head Goat’ three times himself and who staffed the refreshment station before helping with the t-shirt ceremony, and Judy Karpinski, who helped staff the mass starts before joining Peter in helping give out the shirts.
On to the race report.
The Billygoat course, which started half way up a ski slope which provided a great view of Mount Washington, featured 26 controls and was 10.8 km in length. Despite the length of the course and the climb and rough terrain that can be associated with a ski mountain, a lead pack quickly broke away and raced hard and fast throughout the course. In the end Joe Barrett, representing the Quantico Orienteering Club, broke away to win in a time of just over 81 minutes. Keegan Harkavy of the New England Orienteering Club was second with Thomas Laraia, who came in from Wisconsin for the race, some four minutes behind him in third. The top women’s finisher was Alexandra Jospe with a time of 122:01, good for 13th overall.
As the person with the title of ‘Head Goat’ (is there really a head in a collaboration?) it falls to me to bestow the Club Award with criterion of my choosing. Since the year 2024 is one in which the last of the Baby Boomers turn 60, I thought I would give the Club Award to the club represented by the first baby boomer to finish. At this point we go on a bit of a tangent as we go back in time… In 1992 I was the ‘Head Goat’ for the 14th Billygoat Run held at Ward Pound Ridge Reservation in New York. Seven of the orienteers who completed the most recent 44th Billygoat Run at Gunstock also completed that 14th Billygoat Run 32 years ago. It turns out that the orienteer who was the first among that group to finish in 1992 was also the first Baby Boomer to finish Billygoat 44. That orienteer was also the first competitor to arrive at Gunstock and, upon arrival, helped us set up the event. All of that has led this ‘Head Goat’ to decide this orienteer’s club gets the Club Award. The orienteer is Joe Brautigam, his club is the Western Connecticut Orienteering Club (WCOC), and they are the winner of this year’s club award. They didn’t even need the help of the bribe – great beer brewed in Connecticut and featuring a goat on the packaging – given to the organizers by fellow WCOC member of Will Hawkins. Although that didn’t stop the beer from being thoroughly enjoyed. And remember Anna Morse, the artist whose great design graced the t-shirts and posters? Her dad, who got us in touch with Anna, is Clint Morse of – you guessed it – WCOC. Yes, the universe is saying WCOC gets the 2024 Club Award.
Another distinction handed out at the Billygoat Run is the Jockstuffer Award. It is given to an orienteer, usually new to the sport, who utilizes their athletic ability as well as the fact that the Billygoat implicitly allows following and working together, to garner an impressive placing in the event. This year the distinction is given to Alison ‘Ali’ Bauer. Intrepid Billygoat Run reporter J-J Cote has the details:
Very first time orienteering! Well, that’s happened at the Billygoat before. Ali was a little conspicuous as the only person at the starting line wearing shorts, but that’s also not a first. She came with Kirsten Mayland, who had Billygoat experience, so it was just a matter of following her tour guide, right? Not exactly. Although they did run together for the first half of the course, they caught up with a pack at the tricky 13th control, and then a few controls later, after the aid station, Ali ditched Kirsten and latched onto the fastest member of the group, finishing almost 19 minutes ahead of her friend. True to tradition, she confirmed that she never looked at her map at all.
Thank you to everyone who helped organize the event and to all those who came to Gunstock to orienteer. You made it a memorable day for all of us and we look forward to hosting you again in UNO one day soon. [Hint, hint: UNO’s Camping Weekend is coming up in September and it will include a one-day National Ranking Event in addition to the usual orienteering, fun activities, and socializing.]
– Jon Nash, ‘Head Goat’
Billygoat 10.8k
Name | Class | Club | Time | Skip/Fork | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Joseph Barrett | M | QOC | 81:14 | 6L |
2 | Keegan Harkavy | M | NEOC | 82:22 | 14R |
3 | Thomas Laraia | M | MNOC | 86:47 | 14R |
4 | Anthony Riley | M | DVOA | 87:42 | 14R |
5 | Mori Finlayson-Johnecheck | M | NEOC | 88:14 | 14R |
6 | Greg Ahlswede | M | DVOA | 88:14 | 11L |
7 | William Hawkins | M | WCOC | 109:57 | 13L |
8 | Chris Burnham | M | GMOC | 110:26 | 17R |
9 | Nils Peters | M | NEOC | 111:26 | 6L |
10 | Peter Zakrevski | M | BGR | 115:01 | 17L |
11 | Etienne Jacques | M | Accro O Sport | 116:27 | 11L |
12 | Wyatt Riley | M | DVOA | 118:40 | 17L |
13 | Alexandra Jospe | F | None | 122:01 | 6L |
14 | Ari Ofsevit | M | CSU | 124:40 | 6L |
15 | Ian Finlayson | M | NEOC | 131:38 | 14L |
16 | Jonathan Campbell | M | NEOC | 131:41 | 14L |
17 | Erik Tamre | M | NEOC | 131:41 | 6L |
18 | Annika Strauss | F | NEOC | 132:53 | 16L |
19 | Paige Suhocki | F | DVOA | 132:57 | 16L |
20 | Bridget Hall | F | NEOC | 133:13 | 16L |
21 | Joe Brautigam | M | WCOC | 133:20 | 16L |
22 | Ted Good | M | QOC | 136:43 | 17L |
23 | Terrence Costello | M | NEOC | 136:58 | 16L |
24 | Jimmy Burnham | M | CSU | 137:45 | 16L |
25 | Ernst Linder | M | UNO | 137:48 | 14L |
26 | J-J Cote | M | LROC | 137:48 | 6L |
27 | Andrei Dolgov | M | None | 137:52 | 6L |
28 | Erik Andersson | M | 137:57 | 13L | |
29 | Gregory Balter | M | GrizO | 139:48 | 6L |
30 | Kseniya Popova | F | HVO | 147:22 | 17L |
31 | Vladimir Gusiatnikov | M | OCIN | 151:19 | 2L |
32 | Jeremy Colgan | M | HVO | 152:02 | 16L |
33 | Ava Suhocki | F | DVOA | 154:18 | 17L |
34 | Alison Bauer | F | None | 154:43 | 17L |
35 | Victoria Campbell | F | NEOC | 159:27 | 17L |
36 | Jeffrey Saeger | M | NEOC | 159:37 | 5L |
37 | Oriana Riley | F | DVOA | 160:36 | 17L |
37 | Angelica Riley | F | DVOA | 160:36 | 17L |
39 | Glen Tryson | M | DVOA | 167:00 | 17L |
40 | Whitney Palmer | F | None | 167:12 | 17L |
41 | Kate Blume | F | UNO | 167:27 | 17L |
42 | Magnus Bjorkman | M | NEOC | 170:42 | 5L |
43 | Kirsten Mayland | F | DVOA | 172:59 | 17L |
44 | Min-Jae Kuo | M | NEOC | 173:49 | 16L |
45 | Graham van Bever | M | NEOC | 173:59 | 16L |
46 | Brady Visaggio | M | None | 174:56 | 13L |
47 | Clinton Morse | M | WCOC | 176:41 | 2L |
48 | Christopher Fielding | M | WCOC | 177:19 | 11L |
49 | Kate deBlonk | F | NEOC | 182:28 | 11L |
50 | Peggy Dickison | F | OK | 186:49 | 17R |
51 | Darrell Scott | M | UNO | 188:17 | 17L |
52 | Albina Zakrevski | F | HVO | 192:29 | 16L |
53 | Martin Valiquette | M | Accro O Sport | 192:39 | 16R |
54 | Grace Suhocki | F | DVOA | 200:17 | 17L |
55 | Phil Bricker | M | NEOC | 200:37 | 16R |
56 | Stephen Tarry | M | UNO | 225:41 | 2L |
57 | Dmitry Lavrov | M | DVOA | 227:09 | 16R |
58 | Eric Smith | M | CNYO | 230:04 | 6L |
59 | Artem Lavrov | M | DVOA | 231:16 | 16L |
60 | John Guy | M | HVO | 231:22 | 16R |
61 | Sharon Crawford | F | RMOC | 240:14 | 17L |
62 | Sam Levitin | M | NEOC | 252:23 | 6L |
63 | Patty Carrigan | F | DVOA | 260:51 | 3 |
Dean Sturtevant | M | NEOC | DNF | ||
Isabelle Creusot | F | Accro O Sport | DNF | ||
Linda Gagnon | F | Accro O Sport | DNF | ||
David Webber | M | HVO | DNF | ||
Michael Lyons | M | ROC | DNF | ||
David Onkst | M | QOC | DNF | ||
Ken Walker Sr. | M | CSU | DNF | ||
Birk Breimo | M | NEOC | DNF | ||
Sydney Dixon | F | QOC | DNF |
Kid 5.7k
Name | Class | Club | Time | Skip | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Austin Theobald | M | NEOC | 83:34 | 14 |
2 | Adolph Dubose IV | M | NEOC | 83:52 | 14 |
3 | Adolph Dubose III | M | NEOC | 84:00 | 14 |
4 | John Henkelman | M | UNO | 87:42 | 4 |
5 | Michael Cooper | M | NEOC | 92:22 | 4 |
6 | Viktor Willard | M | NEOC | 99:43 | 7 |
7 | Taylor Scull | M | None | 105:54 | — |
8 | Lauren Ten Cate | F | NEOC | 105:56 | — |
9 | Lucas Goulart | M | NEOC | 107:15 | 7 |
10 | Nancy Duprey | F | UNO | 107:25 | 7 |
11 | Nicole Brooks | F | None | 107:26 | 7 |
12 | Ethan Smith | M | None | 107:27 | 7 |
13 | Nova Johnson | F | NEOC | 107:52 | 7 |
14 | Rose Freedman-Riles | F | NEOC | 107:53 | 7 |
15 | Janet Tryson | F | DVOA | 122:43 | 2 |
16 | Bob Lux | M | UNO | 124:37 | 2 |
17 | Nadezhda Popova | F | HVO | 130:32 | 2 |
18 | Debbie Charalaivan | F | HVO | 153:24 | 2 |
19 | Christine Lyons | F | ROC | 157:35 | 6 |
20 | Patty Lyons | F | BFLO | 157:36 | 6 |
20 | Walter Lyons | M | ROC | 157:36 | 6 |
22 | James Crawford | M | NEOC | 184:19 | 12 |
Judy Dickinson | F | HVO | DNF | ||
Riley Bonanno | M | NEOC | DNF |
White 1.5k, 20m
Name | Class | Club | Time | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Shallmar Bebusk | 56:37 |
Yellow 2.3k, 70m
Name | Class | Club | Time | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Peter Campbell | NEOC | 87:22 | |
Glen Smith | DNF |
Orange 3.9k, 105m
Name | Class | Club | Time | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Judy Karpinski | 123:17 | ||
Yulien Keutsch | DNF | |||
Henry Tomioka | DNF | |||
Carla & Brynn Bates | DNF | |||
Amanuel Mekonnen | DNF | |||
Suhaana Khalifa | DNF |