MNOC 3-Day Event Meet Notes
Como Park Sprint
This Page contains information on meet location, medical facilities, meet director/setter/vetter, map notes, course notes, and area attractions
Como Regional Park Sprint Meet Notes
Location
Como Park, St. Paul MN
1312 Midway Pkwy, St Paul, MN 55103
Date
28 April, 2017
Time
Registration opens at 12 PM, Starts begin at 2 PM. Last start 5 PM. Course closing: 6 PM
Medical Information
Hospital Address: Regions Hospital, 640 Jackson St, St Paul, MN 55101
Hospital Directions: Take Midway Parkway SE to Como Avenue, Turn east on Como Avenue. At the intersection of Como and Lexington, continue straight on Horton Avenue. Turn right on East Como Avenue. After 1.5 miles, turn south on Jackson Avenue. Continue south .5 miles and the hospital will be on the east side of the road.
Ticks and Lyme Disease
Minnesota woods are well documented as supporting ticks that carry Lyme disease. Please read this resource and take precautions before, during and after the event.
On Course Water Provisions
Water will be provided near the start and at the finish/registration area. There will be no water stops on either the short or long course.
Park Fees
none
Required approach direction and Parking Information
Do not follow your GPS or posted park signs as they will likely take you through the embargoed area. Approach should be from the west to avoid going through the event area in the main section of the park. Take Snelling Avenue off I-94 and then Como Avenue East to Hamline, proceed 1 block N and then turn E into the park. Parking is 100m into the park. All Como parking lots are available. Priority to picnic shelter parking followed by Conservatory Parking.
Registration/Check-In Location
Check in and packet pick up at Como West Picnic Grounds Shelter
Meet director
Ian Harding
Setter
Peter Wentzel
Vetter
Ian Harding
Course Design
Erin Schirm
Food/Miscellaneous
Water and lemonade will be available at the finish. Restrooms: porta-potty at finish area and indoor restrooms at the Conservatory 150 m NE
Map Notes
- Terrain and Vegetation: Como Park is fairly flat and has a contains a mosaic of mowed grass areas (with variable amounts of tree cover), interspersed with moderately thick wooded areas and copses. Most wooded areas have light to moderate amounts of buckthorn and are mapped as medium green. There are only a few fully wooded areas with fast run ability, mostly in the south-central portion of the map, west of the Waterpark. Isolated white patches are typically areas of denser pines with open ground underneath. Because of the variability in tree cover, the distinction between open and open/scattered trees is relatively soft and should not be used as a strong navigation feature. Generally, an area is mapped open if there is at least 45’ of full sky visibility during leaf-on season (saplings are ignored), and open/scattered trees otherwise. In addition, there are also some areas of prairie-grass plantings, mapped as open rough, which should be relatively fast in late April.
- Roads: All roads will have moderate traffic at 30mph speed limit. The major north-south road is Lexington Avenue and has faster traffic with sharp curves, thus, it is marked as out-of-bounds on the map. There are two designated crossings; a pedestrian footbridge to the north and a pedestrian underpass to the south.
- Crowds: Como is a popular city park used for a number of different recreational activities. No areas will be closed for the benefit of the O-meet. Areas that see particular crowd traffic are near the Conservatory and Zoo in the northwest part of the map, and near the athletic fields along the southern edge of the map.
Course Notes
Road crossing information: (on course)
-Lexington Ave (N- S) crossing only by pedestrian bridge, pedestrian underpass, or a crosswalk signal at stop lights.
- Como Avenue - crossing only at mandatory crossing point.
Como road crossing will be monitored and we will have a timed crossing with punches at both sides. Time taken for the short road crossing leg will not be included in the overall course time. 45 seconds’ maximum is allowed for this leg. Expectation is that contestants will cross in a safe manner without self-imposed delay and proceed on the course. Contestants “resting” will be noted and may be penalized
Other: this is a busy city park; please respect other park users (runners, walkers, bikers, picnickers etc)
Scale: 1:5000 Contour Interval = 2.5m
Short Course: 3km, 80m, 25c
Long Course: 3.5km, 110m, 27c
Warm up area
Warm up area will be the grass and wooded area to the SW of the registration / finish area on the way to the start.
Start
Start is located approximately 500 m from registration. Starts will be called up 3 mins before start time. Start interval is 1 minute.
Area Visitor information
Interesting locations to visit are: Como Conservatory and Zoo (100 meters away), Science Museum of MN, MN History Center. Notable unique food locations close to the event are the Surly Tap Room and Blue Door. Find more by googling “best things to do in Minneapolis/St. Paul”