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:

The Jockstuffer (Brastuffer) report for 2024 is: Alison Bauer.
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’

See runners’ times & tracks on Livelox. (Click “Replay” to choose Billygoat or Kid. For splits, click “Table” at top.)

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
Shallmar Bebusk 56:37

Yellow 2.3k, 70m

Name Class  Club  Time
Peter Campbell NEOC  87:22
Glen Smith DNF

Orange 3.9k, 105m

Name Class  Club  Time
Judy Karpinski 123:17
Yulien Keutsch DNF
Henry Tomioka DNF
Carla & Brynn Bates DNF
Amanuel Mekonnen DNF
Suhaana Khalifa DNF