Forest Pearson was in control of Wednesday’s Score-O orienteering event in the MacPherson subdivision area.

The veteran orienteer finished with a score of 370 points based on the number of control points he was able to locate on the MacPherson map, combined with his speed that saw him cross the finish line in 58 minutes and 47 seconds.

Lee Hawkins finished second overall with 295 points in a time of 1 hour and 17 seconds, 25 seconds slower than third-place Ross Burnett but with more points based on the controls he reached, despite a 10-point penalty for not finishing within the one hour allotted for the course.

In the regular novice event, Nakodan Greyeyes finished first in a time of 27:24, Elvira Knaack and Maura Glenn were second in 37:48 and Charlene Desjarlais was third with a time of 40:44.

Finn and Georgi Pearson, the only participants in the novice Score-O race, finished in 49:39.

A total of 43 orienteers participated yesterday evening.

As an added twist, orienteer and race organizer Darren Holocombe included a mass start instead of the standard individual starts.

“We did the mass start to get people used to the confusion of having a lot of runners around at the beginning,” he said in an interview this

Holocombe said when Yukon orienteers attend races down south, they’re often faced with mass starts, so it was an opportunity to familiarize themselves with that type of start.

The orienteers were also not allowed to study the MacPherson map before the start, unlike other races when they can plot their route and strategy before hand.

“It was interesting to see how many people took off like a bullet,” Holocombe said. “Actually, it is better to take a minute and say ‘what is the plan.’”

There were 31 electronic control points established for Wednesday’s race. The goal in orienteering is to find as many controls as possible, as quickly as possible. The more difficult it is to locate a control point, the more valuable the control. With yesterday’s one-hour time limit, participants were docked 10 points for every minute or portion of a minute over the one-hour allotted time.

“Experience plays a big role in it,” Holocombe said. “I was wondering if somebody was going to try and get them all.”

He estimates reaching all 31 controls would have meant running a distance of about nine kilometres.

Pearson probably ran around eight kilometres to get to his 23 control points in less than an hour, Holocombe said.

“Which is pretty good when you are moving through the bush.

He pointed out Pearson is fresh from the Canadian Orienteering Championship in Whistler, B.C., along with a number of other Yukoners.

J.F. Roland, Aisha Roland and Simon D’Armours finished first in the Score-O intermediate category in a time of 58:46 with 145 points. Wendy Nixon was second in 56:55 with 110 points and Conly and Wolf Benefeldt were third in 57:24, also with 110 points.

While Burnett finished third overall, he was first in the advanced category, ahead of second-place Sara Nielsen, who clocked in at 1:03:41 with 190 points after a 40-point penalty. Ryan Kelly was third in the advanced, finishing in 59:56 with 170 points

Pearson and Hawkings were one, two in the expert category, ahead of third-place Kerstin Burnett who finished in 1:02:13, with 255 points after the 30-point penalty.

The next orienteering event is scheduled for Aug. 27.