Occassional thoughts about orienteering
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| okansas.blogspot.com Occassional thoughts about orienteering |
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Saturday, April 28, 2012 2012 US WOC team ageI took my nearly annual look at the average and median age of the US WOC team.Here are the results: Year Avg Median 2012 30.2 29.5 2011 ??.? ??.? 2010 33.4 31.0 2009 32.4 30.0 2008 31.4 30.5 2007 ??.? ??.? 2006 ??.? ??.? 2005 30.8 28.0 2004 32.4 31.5 A few years ago I looked at the ages for as many of the entrants as I could at a WOC and a European Champs and came up with categories based on ages: Very young = under 21 (3 percent of the field) Young = 21-25 (37 percent of the field) Prime = 26-30 (39 percent of the field) Old = 31-36 (13 percent of the field) Very old = 36 and up (8 percent of the field) As best I can tell, the US team has two young runners and four old/very old runners. Back to okansas.blogspot.com. posted by Michael | 5:50 PM 
Saturday, April 21, 2012 Red tapeI finally read some of the AP thread about advice to Champs organizers. I'm sure people mean well and feel they are helping, but an AP thread is not likely to help organizers any more than the reader comments at the bottom of a news story give you insight into complex issues.People - nearly all of us - have a tendency to perceive something as a problem and then jump to a rule as a solution. "I didn't bring my control description sheet to the start; there should be a rule - or a strong guideline - that organizers must provide description sheets at the start." That's how organizations create "red tape." In the world I work in, there are a lot of ways of to figure out how to have more good things and fewer bad things happen. How OUSA can promote event quality is reasonably straightforward (though it would take some careful analysis of existing structures and some thought). I'd guess that the trickiest thing would be to balance standards with flexibility. As a general observation, people who get involved in developing rules and guidelines often undervalue flexibility and overvalue specific rules. It is easy to create "red tape." It isn't hard, but it is harder, to create "green tape." Back to okansas.blogspot.com. posted by Michael | 8:03 AM
Thursday, April 05, 2012 New training projectI haven't had much motivation to train the last year (or more?). But, I've got a new project that I'm thinking might help. I'm planning to run/walk/bike every street in Lawrence.I was inspired by Matt Green who is on a project to walk all of New York City. My project is much more modest. Lawrence has only about 300 miles of streets. It is also a lot easier to bike than to walk. I'm tracking my progress on a map that I've got at work. So far, most of my project has involved biking slightly different routes to work each day. I know a few other people who have done similar projects. Joe B is apparently running every street in Bethel, CT. Eric B. biked every road in Thompkins County, NY. I'm sure there are plenty of other people who have played similar training games. Back to okansas.blogspot.com. posted by Michael | 8:42 PM
Wednesday, April 04, 2012 Old Census Data
I spent some time today looking at just-released census information from 1940. I found my Dad and his family. In 1940 my Dad was an 8 year-old school boy. His Did was a railroad car foreman (born in English speaking Canada) earning $2,400 a year.
Poking around the archives can be interesting.
The image below is the census page with my Dad, Aunt, and Grandparents.
 Back to okansas.blogspot.com.
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