Beecroft (left) discusses an orienteering course with Quantico Orienteering Club training director Jon Torrance. She will compete in the Orienteering National Championships.

Stafford resident Kris Beecroft negotiates an orienteering course at Hemlock Overlook Regional Park last Saturday.

Recreation

Date published: 11/2/2007

BY KURT NICOLL

A brief hello is an acceptable response when crossing paths with a fellow participant at the U.S. Orienteering Championships.

Asking "Where am I?" is not.

Getting by on mental sharpness and physical fitness are prerequisites for a successful run through Prince William Forest Park. The competition (combining land navigation with a cross country run) begins with a sprint championship today, followed by two rounds of the individual championship tomorrow and Sunday.

A field of roughly 6o0 is expected to participate.

Playing host to either the U.S. or North American championships proves both a blessing and a curse for Kris Beecroft of the Quantico Orienteering Club.

"Because the U.S. champs are there, the whole park has been embargoed for the past 18 months," the Stafford County resident said following a recent practice run at a park in Fairfax County.

"The course is about 5 kilometers and I try to be under 10 minutes per kilometer, but I like to hit them all cleanly. You can be so fast at all of your controls, but if you have to look for [the control point], you can blow so much time.

"The goal is to run cleanly to each control and keep in contact with the map."

While many participants use a narrow focus to reach each destination, Beecroft prefers to take a broader view by noticing the surrounding topography and how it might influence her efforts.

Beecroft has won several national titles--the first as a teenager growing up in northern Virginia--and earned berths on the U.S. orienteering teams that participated in the world competition held in Australia in 1985 and in Norway in 1987.

Beecroft and her mother, Marit Davis, were the first women to join the club and were among the few civilian members in the 1970s. The club now numbers 300 members, most of them civilians.

After twice working as a meet official when Quantico staged an elite competition, Beecroft is anxious at the chance to tackle her own course. She's also looking forward to her first challenge against fellow club member Peggy Dickason (a multiple national champion herself) in the women's masters division.

Although not competing, Jon Torrance has run the three different courses frequently since January as a member of the vetting crew, offering comments, criticism, or possible changes.

Date published: 11/2/2007