Dick N. has put together a good collection of reports from this year's Possum Trot. It is definetly worth taking a look at. I found Mike Carlson's write up interesting.

A few quotes from Mike (of the Minnesota O' Club)...

"The club's motto is, "Everyone wants to be an OK orienteer". The club is fairly small, I believe I heard it has about 35 members. It seems to be run very well with several excellent orienteers"

"Mark Everitt is on the U.S. National Team and has been orienteering around the world. I was able to talk with him at some length about the elite competitors and world competitions. It was really cool to talk with a world-class competitor. One thing I noticed, he ties his shoes the same way I do..."

"The persons who would be considered favorites were largely unknown to me, except for Mark Everitt. The only time I spotted him was his sprint away from the start. I do mean sprint, this guy can flat out fly"

http://home.att.net/~ptoc/ptivhome.htm

-- Micheal (meglin@juno.com), December 23, 2000

Answers

I wonder if Mook indeed ties his shoes the same way as Mike Carlson... or, does he use the official OK (no longer) Secret Swedish knot? I just recently taught this knot to some struggling parents. It comes in quite handy with toddles and preschoolers. I've gotten to where I tie all my shoes using the knot!

-- Fritz (fpmenninger@hotmail.com), December 23, 2000.

Hey, you orienteers from MO and KS are all right! I have enjoyed reading your good natured banter. (hmmm...is that a word?) I really hope to generate some club interaction in Minnesota like you have. Though winter in MN the brain cells work almost as slow as this orienteers time in the Possum Trot, so, interesting comments from our club members may need to wait until about June, when the weather warms up!

Maybe someone can let the secret out about the shoelaces....I seem to always be retying mine. Might even be able to run a little faster if I wasnt tripping all the time.

Thanks to all for a great experience. Mike in Minnesota

-- Mike Carlson (MCarl99@juno.com), January 01, 2001.