March 2012
RRP $8.50 inc GST
AUS / NZ MTBO Challenge Otago, NZ
SILVA National Orienteering League Event Program 2010
Round
Date
Location Ballarat, Victoria
March 10, 2012
Sprint: Ballarat University Middle Distance: Surface Hill, Smythesdale
March 11, 2012
Long Distance: Chinaman’s Reef, Linton
Round 2
April 6-9, 2012
Australian 3-Days, Stanthorpe, Queensland
Round 2b
April 14-15, 2012
Brisbane, Queensland
Round 3
May 12-13, 2012
WOC trials, Newcastle, NSW
Round 4
August 10-12, 2012
Darwin, Northern Territory
Round 5a
Sept 22-23, 2012
Australian Middle Distance Champs, Tasmania Tasmanian Long Distance Championships
Round 5b
Sept 28-30, 2012
Australian Sprint, Long and Relay Championships, Tasmania
Round 1
All race details can be found at www.orienteering.asn.au www.silva.se
Silva is a FISKARS BRANDS company. australia@fiskarsbrands.com
SILVA congratulates Junior MTBO ace Chris Firman for his excellent results in the recent ANZ Challenge. Chris will receive a Trail Runner headlamp from SILVA.
MARCH 12 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 3
Winning PartnershiP
The Australian Sports Commission proudly supports Orienteering Australia The Australian Sports Commission is the Australian Government agency that develops, manages and invests in sport at all levels in Australia. Orienteering Australia has worked closely with the Australian Sports Commission to develop orienteering from community participation to high-level performance.
AUSTRALIAN SPORTS COMMISSION 4 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 12
Orienteering Australia is one of many national sporting organisations that has formed a winning partnership with the Australian Sports Commission to develop its sport in Australia.
www.ausport.gov.au
w w w. o r i e n t e e r i n g . a s n . a u Orienteering Australia PO Box 284 Mitchell BC 2911 orienteering@netspeed.com.au w: 02 6162 1200 President: Bill Jones oa_president@netspeed.com.au h: 02 6258 6362 Director (High Performance): Grant Bluett oa_highperformance@netspeed.com.au Director (Finance): Blair Trewin oa_finance@netspeed.com.au h: 03 9455 3516 Director (Development): vacant oa_development@netspeed.com.au Director (Technical): Robin Uppill oa_technical@netspeed.com.au h: 08 8278 3017 m: 0419 037 770 Director (Special Projects): Robert Spry rbspry@gmail.com IOF Councillor: Mike Dowling oa_international@netspeed.com.au Executive Officer: John Harding orienteering@netspeed.com.au 02 6162 1200 m: 0427 107 033 Manager (High Performance): Robert Preston oa_headcoach@netspeed.com.au m: 0403 296 516 Badge Applications: John Oliver 68 Amaroo Street, Wagga Wagga, NSW 2650
STATE ASSOCIATIONS Orienteering Queensland Inc: PO Box 114 Spring Hill QLD 4004. Admin Officer: Frances Powell, Ph (07) 3379 8238 admin@oq.asn.au OA NSW: PO Box 3295, North Strathfield NSW 2137. Secretary: Anthony Darr, Ph. (02) 8116 9848 orienteering@sydney.net Orienteering ACT: PO Box 402, Jamison Centre ACT 2614. Office: Ph. (02) 6162 3422 orienteering.act@webone.com.au Victorian OA: PO Box 1010 Templestowe 3106. Secretary: Don Fell, voa@netspace.net.au OA South Aust: State Association House, 105 King William St Kent Town SA 5067. Sec: Ken Thompson 08 8351 4757 secretary@sa.orienteering.asn.au OA Western Australia: PO Box 234 Subiaco WA 6094. Secretary: Carol Brownlie Ph. (08) 9446 3457 carolnken@ozemail.com.au Orienteering Tasmania Inc.: PO Box 339, Sandy Bay, TAS 7005. Secretary: David Marshall, Ph. (03) 6260 4300 secretary@tasorienteering.asn.au Top End Orienteers (Northern Territory): PO Box 39152 Winnellie NT 0821. Secretary: Emily Prichard emily.prichard@nt.gov.au 0407 180 299
NEXT ISSUE DEADLINE
April 13; Time-sensitive - April 20
ISSN 0818-6510 Issue 1/12 (no. 165) MARCH 2012
The national magazine of Orienteering Australia Inc. ABN 77 406 995 497 Published four times a year: First day of March, June, September, December. Print Post Approved PP 236080/00011 Editor: Michael Hubbert, P.O. Box 165, Warrandyte, Victoria 3113 mikehubbert@ozemail.com.au Phone (03) 9844 4878 Magazine Design & Assembly: Peter Cusworth, Ph. 0409 797 023 pcusworth@bigpond.com Magazine Treasurer: Blair Trewin Printer: Ferntree Print Centre, 1238 Burwood Hwy Upper Ferntree Gully. Contribution deadline: April 13; Time-sensitive - April 20. Deadline dates for contributions are the latest we can accept copy. Publication is normally planned for the 1st of March, June, September & December. Copies are dispatched in bulk to State associations in the week prior to that date. Regular Contributors: Competition - Blair Trewin; High Performance - Eric Morris; MTBO - Blake Gordon; Official News - John Harding; Nutrition Gillian Woodward; Training - Steve Bird; Psychology - Lisa Lampe. Contributions are welcome, either directly or via State editorial contacts. Prior consultation is suggested before preparing major contributions. Guidelines for Contributors are available from the editor or from state contacts. State Editorial Contacts Qld. – Liz Bourne 07 4683 6374 (h) batmaps@halenet.com.au NSW – Maggie Jones: onsw.communications@sydney.net 0415 214 503 ACT – Philip Purcell philippurc@hotmail.com Vic. – SA – Erica Diment: diment@adam.com.au ; tel (ah) 8379 2914 WA – Tas. – Subscriptions: State Association members via State Associations. Contact relevant Association Secretary for details. Other subscribers: Write to The Australian Orienteer, PO‑Box 165, Warrandyte, Vic. 3113. Within Australia: $40 pa. Overseas: Asia/Pacific (inc. NZ) $A49, Rest of World $A58 pa. Delivery is airmail, there is no seamail option. Please send payment in Australian dollars by bank draft or international postal order, or pay direct by Visa or Mastercard. Quote full card number and expiry date. Subscription renewals (direct subscriptions only). The number in the top right-hand corner of the address label indicates the final issue in your current subscription. Opinions expressed in The Australian Orienteer are not necessarily those of Orienteering Australia.
CONTENTS OTA G O M T B O C H A L L E N G E . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 M T B O N E W S .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 2 H I G H P E R F O R M A N C E R E P O R T .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 4 INTERVIEW – Robert Merle ..................... 15 T H E O R I E N T E E R I N G P R O J E C T.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 6 A V I E W F R O M T H E 1 9 T H .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 8 ORIENTEERING TRAINING........................ 22 O - R I N G E N 2 0 1 2.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 4 M A P M AT E S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 6 ROUTE CHOICE...................................... 28 I R I S H T O W N S P R I N T .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 0 TOP EVENTS......................................... 32 CORPSE COMES BACK TO LIFE.................. 33 R O W DY F L AT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 4 URBAN-O IN MELBOURNE........................ 38 SPORTident DEVELOPMENT...................... 42 2011 RANKINGS.................................... 45 2 0 1 1 S I LVA M E DA L W I N N E R.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 6
Cover photo: Oscar Phillips (TAS) competing in the Sprint race in the Australia - New Zealand Challenge in New Zealand in January – part of the Otago MTBO Carnival. Photo: Craig Steffens. MARCH MARCH1212THE THEAUSTRALIAN AUSTRALIANORIENTEER ORIENTEER 5
MOUNTAIN BIKE ORIENTEERING
Otago MTBO Carnival Words: Kathy Liley Photos: Ian Dalton, Chris Firman, Ken Dowling, Peta Whitford, Bill Vandendool, Craig Steffens & Carolyn Cusworth
The finish and assembly area for the Long race at Alexandra.
Australia has hosted the ANZ MTBO Challenge several times and there was much interest from local riders when NZ issued an invitation to a Challenge in the South Island in January 2012.
P
lans were afoot for mapping – a new area and some re-maps and the Peninsula and Plains Orienteering Club (PAPO) were set to take on the organisation of the Otago MTBO Carnival. Then disaster struck the PAPO city of Christchurch with the February 2011 earthquake. Could they continue with the carnival? Many club members have suffered serious outcomes from the earthquake and its aftershocks, but with support from key personnel outside the immediate area, a core group agreed to continue. What a great effort! Six events held over eight days, all at different locations: the first two in Christchurch, then 600km relocation to event #3 in Central Otago near Roxburgh, with the remaining events gradually moving 150km north from there. Craig Steffens (Q) volunteered to be the Aussie Team manager and to coordinate accommodation and transport for all who wished to join a group tour and what a great job he did! Of the 51 Australians entered, 33 opted to join the tour group, at least to share transport. With our three 12-seater mini buses, and trailers with bikes attached on top we made a distinctive group, especially when the Aussie flags were flying. (The New Zealanders were quite envious of these transport arrangements and are hoping that Australian rental facilities might be able to match this convenience for their future visits to our shores.) Most of the Aussies flew into Christchurch where two warm-up events had been arranged on the weekend before the Challenge events. Flight times into Christchurch seem to favour very early or very late in the day. We drifted in, occupying the two bunk houses that Craig had booked at the Tourist Park near the airport. The early arrivals were then kept awake late as those on the midnight flights searched for their huts and beds in the wee small hours.
Earthquake Damage Most of us managed to find some hours in those first few days to check out Christchurch – and were saddened to see the devastation of that beautiful city. Adjacent to the still-picturesque Avon River, almost all the central city blocks are fenced off as demolition and building assessment continues. Looking through the windows of a hotel near the edge of the area showed tables in the dining room still set for a meal that will never happen. Cashel Mall, has recently been revitalised with the addition of numerous 6 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 12
One of our three vans and bike trailers parked at Lake Pukaki. Yes that IS the colour of the water.
brightly coloured shipping containers which have been converted into one- and two-storey shops. Buskers and coloured flower gardens bring more vibrancy. Asked how she felt working in a yellow container, the bank teller said “I feel safe here!” Further east in the residential areas towards the coast, the main damage has been to infrastructure: the earthquake broke underground pipes; liquefaction (soil turned to liquid) material filled the pipes then solidified. Remaining residents now get their water supply from above ground PVC pipes, and share portaloos placed at intervals along the roadsides. There are over 1,000 portaloos in these areas. In the suburbs perched on the hills south of the city, much of the damage has been caused by rockfalls and landslips. Three different types of damage - and the aftershocks continue.
Warm Up events near Christchurch McLeans Island, a recreation area and mtb park not far from the airport, was the first venue. This flat area crossed by two levee banks has beautifully formed and bermed mtb tracks in between vehicle tracks surfaced with loose rocks. Route choice was made more complicated by most of the mtb tracks being designated single-direction. It was a fun, fast area with most of us using it to stretch our legs and check out our bikes after reassembly from the travelling bike boxes. Bottle Lake Forest Park, north east of the city, has the ocean and a sand dune border to the east, and a large dump for earthquake residue in the centre of the map. Most of the map was covered in pine forest with formed mtb tracks, some pine forest single-track, some stony vehicle tracks and to the east, some sandy tracks. Again, numerous walking tracks that were out of bounds. It took some careful navigating to be sure to be on the correct/ best/ legal track. We fairly quickly learned that the mtb tracks were faster than the other options.
Wanaka – our home for 6 days
The Team The travelling country nominates the classes to be contested: at least two riders must be available. The usual class team is three riders, with the best two times to count. Times are added to give the class result for the race.
M20: Chris Firman (Q), Karl Withers (Q), Paulo Alvear Fujii (Q) M21: Oscar Phillips (TAS), Alex Randall (VIC), Ricky Thackray (WA) M40: Dion Keech (VIC), Craig Steffens (Q), Damian Welbourne (NSW) M50: Peter Cusworth (VIC), Simon Phillips (TAS), Malcolm Roberts (NSW) M60: Andrew Campbell (Q), David Firman (Q), Peter Hill (VIC) W21: Mary Fien (NSW), Jen Graham-Taylor (WA), Melanie Simpson (NSW) W40: Jean Douglas (ACT), Carolyn Jackson (VIC), Carolyn Matthews (NSW) W50: Heather Leslie (VIC), Helen Edmonds (VIC), Peta Whitford (VIC) (Sprint/Middle), Carolyn Cusworth (VIC) (Long) We had a good spread of riders in the Team with every State except SA represented. (Kay Haarsma (SA) was selected but had to withdraw at the last minute.) A strong contingent from Queensland and also from Newcastle. Many were first-time team members.
Challenge team members prepare to start the Sprint.
Special NZ mtbo mapping features At Bottle Lake we got our first look at one of the features of NZ mtbo maps – the green dashed/dotted line. This is used to indicate a legal route through an otherwise out of bounds (eg forest or semi-open) area, or to indicate the best route across an area mapped as a clearing. There is no indication of the route on the ground (unless previous riders have left their mark). While riding is otherwise nominally restricted to mapped tracks, some other off-track riding is permitted: Forest areas are mapped as light green but treed/bushy areas that are designated OK to ride through, are mapped as white. So it is permitted to ride across white areas, as well as solid yellow cleared areas. Many Aussie riders found it difficult to adjust to the possibility of using white areas as a route choice. Where tracks come very close together, it is common to map the area between as white or yellow to indicate it’s OK to cross between the tracks at this point. This is a good feature which eliminates the risk of riders gaining an advantage if they illegally cross between tracks.
Travel to Wanaka On the Monday of the Challenge week, we sorted ourselves into our bus groups with designated drivers and the trio of buses headed west and south towards the mountains, 450km to Wanaka. Great views in the distance, including Mt Cook looming 600m above the surrounding snow-clad mountains and with its collar of cloud. Our accommodation in Wanaka was right in the centre of town in a near-new and well appointed backpackers hostel. Standard accommodation was in 6-bed dormitory rooms, but some opted for twin/double ensuite rooms. The young inhabitants were a bit bemused by the invasion of older folks in lycra! But we did look good in our new Aussie bike tops and the team sported sleek monogrammed caps.
Sprint Event: Roxburgh This was the first Challenge event for the Carnival. A small pine forest, 1 km x 500m, on an old gold mining area on the bank of the Clutha River. Some detailed contour terrain and small steep
sided hills. For some, the big challenge of the day was not coming to grief on the loose sand on the roller-coaster track from the map collection point to the start triangle! In this and the following Challenge events, the 45 team riders started first, followed by the remaining 100 riders. There were only three courses today so more comparisons among classes were possible. Course 1 (9km) was contested by M Open, W Open, M20 and M40 classes. Fastest ride of the day was New Zealander Chris Forne (M Open) who blitzed the field in 22:29. Second fastest, 3 minutes behind, was Chris Firman (Q M20). Chris says he went out carefully, not wanting to take risks on his first ride but found the extra seconds taken in deciding on his routes for the 12 controls paid off with a clean race. New Zealand could not provide a M20 team, so while the Aussies only had to get two finishers in each M20 race to win the points for this class, our boys acquitted themselves well on each occasion. In the Open Men’s class Alex Randall (V), Ricky Thackray (W) and Oscar Phillips (T) all rode well and within seconds of each other on 27min, but with Forne’s excellent ride, Greig Hamilton (Z) on 31mins gave victory to NZ in this class by under 2 minutes. In the Open Women’s class, Mary Fien (N) improved through the race to finish only 42sec behind top New Zealander Marquita MARCH 12 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 7
OTAGO MTBO CARNIVAL
Long Distance Event: Linger and Die
Gelderman. Melanie Simpson (N) was a further 22sec back for an Aussie class victory by just 43sec. On the same course, M40s Damien Welbourne (N) and Dion Keech (V) could not quite match the top NZ pair of Greg Barbour and Peter Swanson. On Course 2 (7.2 km, 10 controls) Andrew Power (N) in M50 was second behind New Zealand’s David King (27:00), followed by six NZ riders. Peter Cusworth (V) had a steady ride. Malcolm Roberts (N) rode well in the early stages and was coming 3rd after control #9 but lost time on the last control. Both the Australians – along with many other riders as the day unfolded – found the long approach to the Finish from the final control quite confusing (both on the map and on the ground). NZ won M50 by 3 minutes. The Aus W40 team had a good day with Carolyn Jackson (V) having the second fastest time on Course 2, and Carolyn Matthews (N) coming in third in the class leading the Aussies to a 2:29 win. Carolyn Matthews said she thought it would be a bit like Rowdy Flat (Yackandandah – venue for the AUS MTBO Middle Distance Championships in 2011) so went out to navigate very carefully. “It was reasonably flat riding with a complex track network. You needed to know where you were! I didn’t see anyone else on my course so it was easier to concentrate,” she said. On the other hand the AUS W50 team did not have a good day. NZ won in a walkover after Helen Edmonds (V) punched the wrong first control, and Peta Whitford (V) crashed out after the last control. While Peta’s injuries were not as serious as first feared, she did not ride on the following day. Course 3 (4 km, 8 controls) New Zealand had an easy win in M60. Leigh Privett (V) at 4th was the best Australian. He was followed by David Firman (Q) and Peter Hill (V) in 5th and 6th only a second apart. W60 was not a Challenge class this week. Kathy Liley (V) was the only AUS W60 rider. She won the Sprint from Yett Gelderman (NZ). Malcolm Roberts starting the Sprint
Wednesday saw us travelling down the highway again to Alexandra. This main Central Otago town is noted for its town clock – 11 metres tall located high up on the side of a steep ridge overlooking the town. We arrived at the event assembly area on the banks of the Manuherikia River and looked up – there beside the clock was a 4m high orienteering marker. Uh-oh! That looks ominous! As we headed off, most courses were faced with a choice: take the bitumen road up and over this 100 m high ridge or a rocky singletrack around the southern end with a more gentle climb into the dissected rolling hills behind the ridge. (A few chose to take the more direct approach straight up the narrow paths on the face of the ridge!) This first leg on all courses certainly sorted out those who were ‘fit enough’. The map covered open and rocky grazing country criss-crossed with many narrow tracks and a few vehicle tracks. It was a warm sunny day – that became too hot for many. (We had been warned that although the course lengths may seem short, winning times would not be!) The whole map was coloured light yellow (rough open, not legal to ride cross-country) but in the bright sunlight the light yellow shading looked white, causing some confusion – was it OK to ride across there?? Most people did a lot of walking, especially on the rocky uphill pinches. Those with comfortable mtb shoes were grateful. Some others reported blisters or exacerbated old foot/leg injuries. We found that many of the minor tracks were more rocky and it was sometimes better to take wider options with more climb, fitness permitting. In the downhill direction the wider roads gave a bit of fun relief even though they were rocky: it was embedded rock rather than loose rock in the main. At the end of the day, many of us checked out the deep clear pool in the river just nearby. Very refreshing! Course 1 (21.7 km, 800m climb) Open Men: Chris Forne (NZ) had an easy win. His 112min was 21min ahead of second placed Phil Wood (NZ). Alex Randall was a further 1:08 behind with Oscar Phillips (T), a first year M21, only 2:30 further back in 5th. Alex was leading until #5, lost some time through the middle of the course
Tim Jackson comparing his Sprint course with other M20 riders, Kar l Withers and Paulo Alvear Fujii.
8 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 12
Carolyn Matthews off for a good ride at Roxburgh.
but then faded over the last 5 legs through a complex track network near the river. Course 2 (17.2 km, 720m climb) M20: Chris Firman was again fastest on the course in 105min, with Karl Withers (Q) 24min behind and Tim Jackson (V) third. M40 saw NZ win the class, but first home was Damian Welbourne (N) in 110min who came up through the field and took the lead after #11. He was less than a minute clear of Greg Barbour (NZ). Dion Keech was 5th. The Aussie women were victorious in W Open. Melanie Simpson (122min) led from the start to stay 4min ahead of Marquita Gelderman with Mary Fien a further 4mins back. Course 3 (13.3 km, 500m climb) M50 was won by Australia with Malcolm Roberts (N) (99min) just over one minute ahead of Phil White (NZ). Simon Phillips (T) was 4th. Malcolm commented that fitness was not a problem for him – his main issue was route choice. He hadn’t seen the ‘around the hill’ option to #1. W40 was narrowly won by NZ who were only 59sec ahead. Carolyn Jackson (104min) was first, 13min ahead of second placed Christine Browne (NZ). Carolyn Matthews 5th and Jean Douglas 6th.
Middle Distance Event: Sticky-Hikuwai This event was held in the mtb park area east of Wanaka by the Lake Outlet, together with adjacent farmland and a vague flat bush area mapped as white with lots of unmapped minor tracks. Lots of fences to lift the bikes over. A wet day with nonKathy Liley won W60 at all three races. stop rain which made the single tracks very slippery. A better day for the Aussies with team wins in M20, W Open, W40 and M50.
Course 4 (11.4 km, 310m climb) W50 was won by NZ by 13 minutes. Deb Bain (NZ) won in 111min. Heather Leslie (V) came through the field to take third in the latter part of the course. M60 was won by NZ by 37 minutes. Bruce Meder (NZ) won in 82min. David Firman was 4th.
Rest Day Thursday After what was for many a very gruelling day on Wednesday, many opted for a quiet day around Wanaka or sightseeing and shopping in Queenstown. Some took their bikes to Queenstown and checked out the downhill tracks – take the Skyline Gondola with 2 bikes hanging off the outside 500m up to the top of the mountain then your pick of easy, medium or hard routes for a 5km ride back down. Great views and great fun!
Reid Moran keeping an ey e the time durin on g the Long race.
Back in Wanaka, Puzzling World was a hit with many orienteers seen trying to find their way back out of the 3-dimensional maze: for some it took longer to get out than to solve the maze puzzle of reaching all 4 corners in order. Then table puzzles while we had coffee/ lunch. Blake Gordon tackling the trails at Alexandra.
Spectacular start location for the Long race.
MARCH 12 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 9
OTAGO MTBO CARNIVAL
Course 1 (11.4 km) Open Men was again won by Chris Forne but this time only 3:06 ahead of Alex Randall. Oscar Phillips was 5th. Course 2 (7.4 km) M20: Chris Firman (37:20) was again fastest on the course with Tim Jackson 2nd and Paulo Alvear Fujii (Q) 3rd. M40: Jim Cotter (NZ) won in 38:15 with Dion Keech 4th, some 5min off the pace and Craig Steffens 7th. W21: Marquita Gelderman won in 43:20 with Melanie Simpson 2nd, only 21sec behind and Mary Fien 3rd. Course 3 (6.5 km) W40: Christine Browne (NZ) won the class with Carolyn Jackson only 19sec behind. Carolyn Matthews was 6th. M50 was won by David King in 37:37 with Malcolm Roberts second, 6mins off the pace. Peter Cusworth (V) came 5th, but their combined times was sufficient for AUS to win the class challenge. Both Peter and Malcolm came up through the field after careful starts.
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Course 4 (5.6 km) W50: Roz Clayton won the class in 47:26. Heather Leslie (V) was 4th and Helen Edmonds (V) 8th. M60: Joe Sherriff (NZ) won the class in 35:58. Andrew Campbell (Q) was 4th and David Firman 5th. The presentation dinner was held on the Friday night at the historic Cardrona Hotel, just down the hill from the venue for the social relay event the next day. Class winners for each day received a very tasteful glass coaster.
Social Relays: Snow Farm Snow Farm is a cross country ski resort at 1670m Mel Simpson getting above sea level. While the day stayed fine, there ready for a fast was a strong cold wind that threatened to blow riders changeover with her off the mountain on the exposed western tracks. relay partner, Mary Fien. Competitors could choose their relay pair: each rode two legs with most controls located in a tight area of near-parallel, benched, fenced cross-country ski tracks and paved, flat vehicle testing areas. The trick was to be sure to get onto the right track as crossing between tracks was generally prohibited. There were three courses (long, medium, short) and Men, Mixed and Women’s classes so lots of permutations: not easy to keep track of the progressive results. From event reports, it seems that the Aussie placegetters were ML: 2nd Alex Randall/Oscar Phillips just 17secs behind Chris Forne/Phil Wood (NZ); WL: 2nd Mary Fien/Melanie Simpson; XL: 1st Chris Firman/Jen GrahamTaylor and 3rd Carolyn Jackson/Tim Jackson; MM 3rd Andrew Campbell/Tim Hackney; WM 2nd Jean Douglas/Sally Dickson; XM 3rd Carolyn Matthews/Malcolm Roberts; WS 2nd Heather Leslie/Peta Whitford and 3rd Cath Vero/Annie Sanderson.
Après MTBO After the events the three buses headed back to Christchurch with an overnight stop to recuperate and wash/pack bikes at Lake Tekapo. Passenger numbers were depleted however as many dispersed from Wanaka for more sightseeing, some with families in tow. We woke the next morning to find snow down to 1000m on the hills around – very glad that we’d not had snow for the relays! A couple took a further 4 days to get to Dunedin via a ride on the Otago Rail Trail – well worth the trip! 10 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 12
The terraced cross
Snow on the the day after
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PERFORMANCE
LONG DISTANCE – NZ won 5 to 3 M-20 AUS 234:50 NZL no team M-Open NZL 245:09 AUS 284:50 M40 NZL 223:49 AUS 231:23 M50 AUS 211:46 NZL 255:47 M60 NZL 175:25 AUS 212:51 W-Open AUS 253:01 NZL 275:08 W40 NZL 249:02 AUS 250:01 W50 NZL 237:07 AUS 250:41 MIDDLE DISTANCE – tie, 4 each M-20 AUS 88:16 NZL no team M-Open NZL 104:53 AUS 111:34 M40 NZL 83:41 AUS 98:03 M50 AUS 92:20 NZL 103:29 M60 NZL 73:07 AUS 88:58 W-Open AUS 253:01 NZL 275:08 W40 AUS 113:39 NZL 115:36 W50 NZL 98:46 AUS 106:46
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CHALLENGE RESULTS
SPRINT – NZ won 5 to 3 M-20 AUS 58:53 NZL no team M-Open NZL 53:32 AUS 55:18 M40 NZL 55:34 AUS 59:15 M50 NZL 63:15 AUS 66:27 M60 NZL 44:14 AUS 53:31 W-Open AUS 61:56 NZL 62:37 W40 AUS 63:27 NZL 66:02 W50 NZL 79:06 AUS no result
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MARCH 12 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 11 Arial Black 12pt spärrad +900
18/3/10 11:52:32 AM
MOUNTAIN BIKE ORIENTEERING
MTBO NEWS Blake Gordon, OA MTBO convenor
2012 Australian MTBO Series
T
he 2012 Australian Mountain Bike Orienteering schedule will include three rounds (8 events) of the 5th Australian MTBO Elite and Masters Series. Round 1: Victoria Victorian MTBO Championships (*Selection Trials for WMTBOC / JWMTBOC in Hungary) Races 1 & 2 Saturday, April 28 Sprint & Middle Distance – Maryborough Race 3 Sunday, April 29 – Long Distance – Newstead Round 2: Queensland Queensland MTBO Championships Race 4 Saturday, 18 August Middle Distance – Woodford Race 5 Sunday, 19 August Long Distance – Woodford Round 3: New South Wales Australian MTBO Championships Races 6 & 7 Saturday, 27 October Sprint & Middle Distance (WRE) – Taree Race 8 Sunday 28 October Long Distance (WRE) – Taree Classes: The four classes in the 2012 Australian Elite MTBO Series are: M21-E, W21-E, M-20E, W-20E; and the eight classes in the 2012 Australian Masters MTBO Series are: M40-, W40-, M50-, W50-, M60-, W60-, M70+, W70+. Map locations, embargoes and organisers will be announced pending approval of access to the competition areas. Rules: The current OA Protocols, Guidelines and Rules for MTBO will apply, and the existing rules successfully used in the NOL foot-O competition will generally apply in this Australian MTBO Series. (see the OA web site for documents detailing these Guidelines and Rules). Individual Competition: Individual scoring in M/W21-E, M/W-20E, and M/W 40-, 50-, 60-, 70+ will be the same. In each age division, the best five (5) results over the eight events for 2012 will be counted for the individual competition. There is no limit to the number of State competitors who may enter and score points in M21-E, W21-E, M-20E and W-20E or in M/W 40-, 50-, 60-, 70+. Team Competition The State-based teams in the competition are: Canberra Cockatoos, NSW Stingers, Queensland Storm, Southern Arrows, Tasmanian Foresters, Victorian Nuggets and Western Nomads. In 2012, the fifth year of competition, the top two (2) rider’s times from a State in each of the age divisions will be summed in the official ranking. If only one State rider records a time, that State is ranked based on that result alone – below those with two riders. After each event, points from each of the elite/masters divisions will be summed to give the Australian MTBO Series Team Scores. 14 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 12 12
2011 National MTBO Series best 5 from 9 events M21-Elite 1 Ricky Thackray 2 Steven Cusworth 3 Damian Welbourne 4 Greg Barbour 5 Ian Dalton 6 Jamie Goddard
WA 134 VIC 120 NSW 118 NSW 115 WA 112 VIC 81
W21-Elite 1 Melanie Simpson 2 Carolyn Jackson 3 Mary Fien 4 Thorlene Egerton 5 Maria Plyashechko 6 Kate Gavens
NSW 138 VIC 123 NSW 104 VIC 86 VIC 83 VIC 70
M-20 Elite 1 Oscar Phillips TAS 2 Chris Firman QLD 3 Tom Goddard TAS 4 Heath Jamieson VIC 5 Paulo Jun Alvear Fujii QLD 6 Marc Gluskie TAS
144 129 120 88 60 54
W-20 Elite 1 Jasmine Sunley 2 Rebekah Sunley
VIC 117 VIC 57
M401 Craig Steffens 2 Brett Vallance 3 Bruce Paterson 4 Craig Holland 5 Andrew Power 6 Ben Hiley
QLD 133 NSW 114 VIC 112 QLD 107 NSW 101 QLD 94
M501 Robert Prentice 2 Richard Robinson 2 Malcolm Roberts 4 Duncan Sullivan 5 Tim Hatley 6 Peter Cusworth
NSW 135 QLD 120 NSW 120 WA 115 VIC 113 VIC 108
M601 Rick Armstrong 2 Tim Dent 3 Graham Wallis 4 Leigh Privett 5 Bernie Nichols 6 Tim Hackney
VIC 135 VIC 112 VIC 95 VIC 91 QLD 88 NSW 77
M70+ 1 Graham Fowler 2 Graeme Cadman 3 John Sheahan 4 Gordon Howitt
NSW 150 VIC 138 VIC 135 QLD 60
W401 Carolyn Matthews 2 Kay Haarsma 3 Tamsin Barnes 4 Monica Dickson 5 Celia Massie-Berlei 5 Sandra Thomas
NSW 144 SA 139 QLD 132 VIC 85 VIC 54 NSW 54
W501 Heather Leslie 2 Peta Whitford 3 Helen Edmonds 4 Carolyn Cusworth 5 Susie Williams 6 Andrea Harris
VIC VIC VIC VIC QLD QLD
W601 Kathy Liley 2 Dale Ann Gordon 3 Jenny Sheahan 4 Ann Ingwerson 5 Kate Chown 6 Judy Alison
VIC 144 VIC 111 VIC 91 ACT 87 NSW 60 ACT 48
W70+ 1 Joyce Rowlands
VIC
2011 International MTBO Ranking MEN 1 2 3 45 68
Samuli Saarela Erik Skovgaard Knudsen Jiri Hradil Steven Cusworth Alex Randall
WOMEN 1 Ingrid Stengard 2 Rikke Kornvig 3 Michaela Gigon 38 Melanie Simpson 61 Carolyn Jackson 69 Thorlene Egerton 99 Mary Fien
FIN DEN CZE AUS AUS
7751 7692 7565 6462 5730
FIN DEN AUT AUS AUS AUS AUS
7447 7407 7369 6022 3325 2642 1655
134 121 90 84 60 48
150
AUSTRALIAN CHAMPIONSHIPS
AUS Championships 2012 in Tasmania
T
he 2012 Australian Championships week returns to Tasmania over the last week of September, with seven events (including three World Ranking Events) in the northeastern part of the island. Now is the time to plan your week in the island State. With daily crossings to Tasmania from Melbourne on the Spirit of Tasmania ferry and lots of discount airfares, the time has never been better to visit Tasmania and sample world class Orienteering terrain and the variety of sightseeing attractions the island State has to offer. With four of the week’s events within 15 minutes driving of St Helens it is a convenient and attractive place to go Orienteering and enjoy the sights and flavours of the “Sun Coast”. Nearby is the stunning and world renowned Bay of Fires with its superb white sandy beaches and lichen covered granite headlands. In 2009, Lonely Planet described the Bay Of Fires as one the world’s hottest travel destinations for that year, with “white beaches of hour glass-fine sand, Bombay Sapphire sea, an azure sky, and nobody. This is the secret edge of Tasmania, laid out like a pirate’s treasure map of perfect beach after sheltered cove, all fringed with forest.” Further south is the magnificent Freycinet National Park, a true Tassie icon and home to The Hazards and the astoundingly beautiful Wineglass Bay. We will kick off the week with the Australian Middle Distance and Tasmanian Long Distance championships. These events will be on the vast Orienteering area known as “The Golden Fleece” which was the venue for the 1992 World Masters. The complex tin mining terrain for the Middle Distance championships will
challenge your technical abilities with a true championship race and the route choice and granite challenges of the Tasmanian Long Distance race will be a wonderful counterpoint. Midweek will see the Australian Schools Championships and associated public events near the historic tin mining village of Royal George. Here a mix of route choice challenges interspersed with granite and remnant tin mining will greet you. On Friday, venture to the coastal town of Bicheno for the Australian Sprint championships, a new area for Orienteering with a diversity of challenging sprint options coupled with stunning coastal views to distract you! The week reaches a fitting climax back at St Helens for the Australian Long Distance championships, again out on “The Golden Fleece”. Expect the full package here of tin mining, spur gully and granite; a true test of Long Distance orienteering. Finish off the week with the Australian Relays on the Littlechild Creek map, with the complex marsh systems adding to the mix of granite to really test those Relay skills. We so look forward to you coming to enjoy our world class Orienteering of terrific tin mining, rolling spur/gully and granite terrain and to also take some time out to explore our stunning natural environment. Check the website at auschamps2012.com, book your travel now and get to Tassie for the O experience of 2012. It’s too good to miss!!
MARCH 12 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 13
HIGH PERFORMANCE
HP NEWS Kay Haarsma High Performance Manager WOC 2012 news. Unfortunately our National Squad and WOC team coach Rob Lewis has had to step down for family reasons. We thank Rob for his time and effort over the last few years. His efficient organisation and calm manner enabled the teams to be both harmonious and well prepared. (The appointment of a new coach was imminent when this went to press.) 2012 sees a number of our present / past WOC team members being unavailable, so this will hopefully provide an opportunity for some new faces to step up into the team. The IOF Council had proposed significant changes with its “WOC in the Future” program, including eliminating all qualification races except for the Sprint. Due to much disagreement with this by many nations the Council decided not to pursue changes at this time. So it is likely that the current format will remain in place through to 2016. OA High Performance priority this year has been to conduct more training camps, not only to develop navigation skills but also to get our athletes used to living together in a “team” atmosphere. Successful camps have been held in Canberra (juniors) and Beechworth (seniors) in January. Twenty three runners “crossed the ditch” to race in February’s Sprint the Bay event in NZ, with most staying on to attend the six day camp that was led by Jim Russell, Hanny Allston and NZ’s Duncan Morrison. Further foot-O camps are planned for March 8-9 (Ballarat) and August 15-16 (Darwin) in association with NOL events. New MTBO coach, Ian Dalton, will conduct a camp from April 25-27 (Castlemaine). We are striving to utilise as many different coaches as possible for these camps. This shares the workload around, allows coaches to learn from each other, and also exposes our orienteers to a variety of coaching methods. The coaches will get all of their expenses paid, with National Squad members receiving small subsidies to attend where possible. Normally elite juniors will be welcome on “senior camps,” subject to space.
assessed on a case by case basis. Verifying letters from OA are essential. Generally in the past orienteers have found that the best method of having exams changed etc. is to achieve excellent results and make yourself known to your lecturers early on each year. Look for the EAFU Brochure on the ausport web site. In a different scheme a few universities (including Sydney) also give outstanding sportspeople extra consideration (or points) towards course entry, so it’s worthwhile reading tertiary admissions information carefully. The Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) is a government statutory authority that is Australia’s driving force for pure performance in sport. It is the organisation with prime responsibility for implementation of the World AntiDoping Code in Australia. As such Orienteering is subject to both in and out of competition testing within Australia and overseas. Every year on 1st January, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) updates and applies its new Prohibited List that identifies substances and methods prohibited in sport. Getting to know the Prohibited List and its changes is essential. A key change to the 2012 list that will affect Australian athletes is the removal of formoterol from the list when taken by inhalation at therapeutic doses. The 2012 Prohibited List and the summary of modifications are now available on WADA’s website and elite junior and senior orienteers should familiarize themselves with them. An iPhone app of the 2012 Prohibited List is also available on the Apple App Store. For further information about anti-doping in Australia visit the ASADA website or call 13 000 ASADA.
ORIENTEERING – RUNNING BENCHMARKS – 2012 Podium
Elite
State
Young/Vets
Men
A
B
C
3km
8.20
9.15
10.30
12.30
5km
14.40
16.00
17.00
22.00
10km
32.00
33.00
38.00
46.00
21 (HalfM)
70.00
80.00
90.00
105.00
A
B
C
D
Women
D
3km
9.55
11.00
11.45
14.00
The Bushranger’s challenge in NZ will be on June 2-4.
5km
17.15
18.15
20.00
24.00
Christine Brown (TAS) is an IOF event advisor for both the World Cup events in NZ in Jan 2013 and for the World Games in Cali, Colombia, later that year. In conjunction with the World Cup event there will be an event advisor’s clinic for those from this region who would like to get accredited.
10km
37.30
40.00
44.00
50.00
21 (HalfM)
78.00
86.00
100.00
120.00
University and Orienteering. The 2012 World University Orienteering Championships are being held in Alicante, Spain. An Australian team of up to 6 men and 6 women will be named after Easter, with this being a self-funded team. Thirty eight universities belong to the “Elite Athlete Friendly Universities” (EAFU) scheme. This supports elite athletes to achieve academic excellence while also pursuing a sports career. Flexible study options such as reduced study loads; leaves of absences and changes in exam and assignment dates can then be negotiated. Visit the ACE website: ausport.gov.au/ace to see if your university is in the scheme. I have checked with the co-ordinator of this scheme to see where our orienteers stand. The answer was that WOC team members would certainly be eligible, whilst national senior squad and JWOC team members would be 14 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 12
“A” men’s times based on approx. top-30 in Australian Athletics Rankings for 2010-11. “A” women’s times based on top-30 for 3km and then approx. top-20 for other distances, as less depth in women. A = International Podium Aspirants; B = International Team Aspirants, both WOC & JWOC; C = State Junior Squads; D = Emerging Juniors / Older veterans
These benchmarks have been developed as a guide (not a selection tool) to show our orienteers where their physical running speed is at and encourage them to develop their weaker areas. Orienteering is very much an athletic sport based on running, so it’s imperative that we train and race as such to maximise pure running speed and endurance. However bush running is also a specific skill that must be trained. Some runners with slower pure speed manage to compensate extremely well for this by being able to run very strongly through the bush.
INTERVIEW
In the Hotseat
Robert Merl. Photo courtesy Orientierung magazine
with Lachy and Ian.* For our maiden interview, we introduce Robert ‘Robi’ Merl from Austria. Robert had a stellar season in 2011, at age 20, attending both JWOC and WOC, and the Junior European Cup (JEC). At WOC he placed 7th in the Sprint and 25th in the Middle Distance. At JWOC Robert was on the podium for every individual race, including winning one of the 3 gold medals given in the world-first three-way tie for 1st place in the Middle Distance. Lachy: Robi, congratulations on a fantastic 2011. What were your goals for the season?
Ian: Orienteering or not, who is your elite sportsperson man/girl crush?
Robert: The official goal was three Top-10 places at JWOC, but actually I wanted to win.
Robert: Officially my girlfriend [another orienteer], but actually I always thought Lachy was cute...
Lachy: Your first JWOC was in 2010, how did you feel then? Were you nervous for your first time? Did you train differently in 2010 to 2009 when you competed in the European youth championships?
Ian: What is your most embarrassing Orienteering moment?
Robert: At my first JWOC I didn’t feel different compared to any other important race (EYOC, WOC, JWOC) and also my training didn’t change much except for an increase in volume. Lachy: In 2010 you had some great results (8th in the Middle Distance and 17th in the Sprint). How did you change your training for 2011? Robert: I simply wanted to train harder and more, which worked out quite well until February when I got ill and didn’t train for about 4 weeks. I started easy again and in the last four months before JWOC I could train consistently again. Lachy: What do you like to do before your race? Clearly you are a confident athlete. What do you do to relax or focus? Robert: I cannot tell you how I focus, ‘cause I just train to focus (with lots of competitions and trainings) and in the important competition I just do. And to relax I like to lie in my bed (or at the hotel) and watch TV.; Lachy: You have great results in all types of Orienteering (and Relays); do you have a favourite distance? Do you think you will specialise in the future? Robert: Nope, I don’t have a favourite and I don’t want to focus on one, ‘cause I think as an orienteer you should be good in every discipline. Lachy: What sort of training sessions do you find the best? Robert: The trainings I love most are the orienteering trainings in nice forests. Lachy: What sports do you enjoy in the Austrian winter? Robert: Cross country skiing or skiing, but I would also be happy if there was no snow. Lachy: What are your goals for 2012? What plans do you have for WOC in Switzerland? Have you seen the terrain? Robert: Officially my goal is three Top-20 runs at WOC. Yep I saw the terrain and it’s not so different to parts of Austria. Lachy: Do you consider yourself more of a navigator or a fast runner? What do you think wins you races? Robert: I think I am better in navigation and I win races when I really want to win and give all I have. Lachy: Lastly, what is your preferred terrain? Robert: Open forest, few ground vegetation, great visibility. Lachy: Just like Australia! Thanks.
Robert: It was a Relay; I was third runner and we were not so bad in the race (3rd or something), but the spectator control made me so nervous that I couldn’t concentrate anymore. I ran straight to the last control, found out that I was missing still two controls, ran back in the forest, took one of those two, ran back, into the Finish and we got disqualified. I was 11 or 12 years old. Ian: Surely you would have some good stories to tell from numerous afterparties? Robert: Yes, there are some nice stories, I guess they were all quite similar: First we sat together with the team drinking some tea, then also some other teams joined or we joined some other teams and played some games, where you had to drink tea each time you did something wrong. Afterwards we took the bikes or walked to the place where all the other people were and started to dance to the rhythm. Mozart, Beethoven or Vivaldi took us through the evening. Shortly before the end of the party, at about 10:30pm every man had to dance with a woman and they had to gently clean each others’ tongues. This sometimes took until the end at 11pm when we all had to go back to our accommodation and sleep, ‘cause the day after would be a really hard training day. Ian: If you could choose to be an elite in any other sport, what sport would you choose and why? Robert: Trail-O. I could still join the parties and my only training would be catching features. Ian: If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you choose and why? Robert: I thought of going to Australia in our winter and come back in summer, so it would be warm all year long. Ian: Do you prefer beach or mountains? Robert: Mountains and lakes, ‘cause I don’t like to have all the time sand in my running shoes. Ian: Blonde/brunette/redhead? Robert: The outside doesn’t make the difference, it’s the inner part that counts. Ian: Water or sports drink? Robert: Water Ian: If you could save one thing in a house fire, what would you choose and why? Robert: My computer! All those pictures and videos are on it; I can always replace that passport and win another world championship medal! (* Lachlan Dow (BS.A) and Ian Lawford (AO.A)) MARCH 12 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 15
COACHING
The Orienteering Project Hanny Allston
I
n 2011, Robert De Castella established the Indigenous Running Project. The aim was to take four indigenous males on an eight-month training journey to run the New York Marathon. The project wasn’t without its skeptics. As De Castella explained - ‘We had plenty of people telling us we were setting the boys up for failure, that they wouldn’t be able to do the training or a 42-kilometer run. The biggest criticism was that we’d leave the men feeling they had failed.’ Despite many setbacks, all four runners crossed the finish line in New York. So, what does this have to do with the development of Orienteering in Australia? Let us learn from their success. What De Castella, his colleagues and his four running prodigies achieved was outstanding in the face of adversity. Through training, hard
work and self-belief they created the ‘extra above the ordinary’ to become extraordinary. As Australian orienteers, we come from a tiny circle of friends, a cult, no less. Very few people really know what we do out in the forest; it is, after all, behaviour beyond the realms of logic for most everyday Australians. However, despite the lack of understanding about our Orienteering culture and the sceptics who believe it is a sport dominated by Europeans, I believe every single orienteer in our midst has the ability to be extraordinary. It just takes one amazing person like De Castella to: conceptualise a challenge for us to run towards; have that little bit extraselfbelief to share with others; generate a new wave of enthusiastic athletes trying new training principles to change the whole way orienteers think; and generate positive change in our sport for good.
“If you do what you did yesterday you’ll be beaten. If you do today what others are doing you’ll be competitive. To win you must be doing today what others will be doing tomorrow.” – Rob De Castella. Look closely and listen… change is already upon us. In the last twelve months we have seen - our past elites retire as athletes and join the Board of Orienteering Australia (whilst giving birth to a new generation of Australian orienteers perhaps?); big screen and GPS tracking technology; greater ASADA presence and expectations; the rise to stardom of Lizzie Ingham and our NZ counterparts; striving for World Cup events in New Zealand in 2013 … we are changing and all for the better. So what is the next step? I ask this question with 2012 only just upon us, and a golden opportunity to create New Year’s resolutions. I would like to start the trend by suggesting that we strive for new coaching and training philosophies… to raise the bar in Orienteering so high that rather than Australia be ‘downunder’, we sit ‘on-top’ and watch the other countries try to catch back up. This doesn’t necessarily mean we work or train harder, just smarter. As athletes we need common goals. As coaches we need common goals. As technical staff we need common goals. And what better way than focusing on the events that are potentially coming our 16 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 12
way? In 2013, just ten months from now, the World Cup comes to New Zealand. Let’s breach the ditch and focus our efforts on getting a full complement of highly trained, competitive individuals to this event in front of the rest of the world.
A
LF I EL
What is your New Year’s resolution? I encourage you to share your thoughts by writing to the editor or to me personally at hanny@findyourfeet.com.au
S
Watching the new Green Edge Cycling team enter the dining hall recently and chatter in a range of foreign languages over their dinner each night I was reminded by the power of globalisation in sport. Despite being Australian sponsored, the team has recruited athletes from all over the world, including Africa and Russia, to maximise their chances of success in the international road cycling scene. Each athlete is recognized as bringing his own strengths. Each coach is recruited because of the experience they can share. Each staff member contributes skills that bring out the best in the athletes. And yet, we claim them as our very own Australian Team who’s greatest goal is performing at the 2012 Tour de France.
SS
I
Let us unite with our colleagues around Australia and New Zealand and share the goal. Let us plant seeds that will inspire
Hanny Allston, AIS Residences PO BOX 176, Belconnen, ACT 2617. m: 0409 176 967 www.hannyallston.com.au
anta has certainly delivered Newcastle Orienteers a stocking of goodies to remember - in one weekend in May the club will host:
LF I EL
S
S
C
A
D
NOL Round 3 WOC Selection Trial NSW SL Events 3/4/5 12-13 May 2012 Information Coming Soon
CO
Coalfields Classic
LA
I
C
LA
C
C
Remember, it takes just one individual to plant the seed of change, but it takes all of us to work together to believe in the extraordinary. I believe …. do you?
D
CO
Let’s share our secrets with New Zealand and create a ‘downunder-on-top’ team of athlete’s that will frighten the socks off the European countries. Let’s no longer train in isolation but come together, create national coaching programs and benchmarks that will unite our orienteers in this common goal. If we start RIGHT now, with no delay then we can create tailored, individualized yet commonly focused training programs that will become the foundation of our very own Orienteering Project. New Zealand 2013 can become the New York of our Orienteering Project.
our current 10-year olds to remain in the sport with pathways to pull them closer to their goals. Let us all believe that we have the next Cadel Evans in our midst.
SS
• and a World Ranking Long Distance event.
The new Middle Distance map at Pelaw Main is just across the road from where the mass start event at the 2011 Xmas 5-days was conducted, while the WRE Long Distance is on the demanding Kitchener map. With New Zealand declining an offer to host an additional WRE in 2012, OA jumped at the chance to offer it to ONSW for the WOC trial weekend. The Kitchener map has been ratified by the IOF as of suitably high quality for WRE status and so it’s all stations g-O.
What’s more, they’re all National League (NOL) and NSW State League events… and they’re trials for the 2012 World Championships Team to go to Switzerland! Wow – what a weekend. So mark down May 12-13 for two days of awesome orienteering.
“Having a World Ranking Event is a great international selling point for the weekend,” says OA executive officer John Harding. “We would hope this attracts some of the sport’s elites from New Zealand and the northern hemisphere.”
Reflecting the area’s heritage, the organisers have called the event the Coalfields Classic and have devised a logo celebrating that history. “Feedback from elite orienteers who have a lot of experience overseas, tells us that the Newcastle University map is just about the best in the business,” says Coalfields Classic organiser Russell Blatchford. “The combination of an intricate building and track network with pockets of natural bushland make it quite unique for a sprint map.”
So, if you’re looking for experienced course setters, experienced event controllers, a great weekend of quality continental European-style Orienteering competition, and favourable event locations easily accessible by air and road – come to Newcastle from May 12-13 for the Coalfields Classic.
•a Sprint around Newcastle University on arguably the best sprint map in Australia; • s ome sensational Middle Distance running on a new map at Pelaw Main;
Ian Jessup, ONSW Marketing Officer onsw.marketing@sydney.net MARCH 12 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 17
COACHING
A view from the 19th… Russell Blatchford (Newcastle OC)
Playing catch up golf is never any fun! (But you can always rely on that par on the 18th to get you back next week!) As in golf, my intentions in Orienteering leading up to the start triangle are also always great. Research on web site(s) and look through my file of maps for past courses and copies of the map. Read the event information. Arrive at least an hour before starting time, visit the arena and warm up before starting. Again, I want to take control of my destiny and leave nothing to chance. A couple of really interesting things happened at the start of my courses in the wonderful 2011 Oceania Championships Carnival last year, during which I actually managed some very satisfying runs!
…… as an Orienteer, I make a reasonable ‘B’ grade golfer
One of these satisfying runs was in the first event of the Carnival, the Oceania Long Distance Championships on Northern Spurs. I finished 3rd, and to share the podium with Warren Key and Rob Vincent - well that has to be an absolute career highlight. I was, in reality (and despite a great run by my standards), miles behind them, confirming my B grade status when the best come out to play, but what a thrill!
D
id any AO readers follow the Rugby World Cup September/ October 2011? I recall radio news reports describing the semi-final match between Australia and New Zealand as a “ratings bonanza” for Channel 9 - 1.9 million viewers is the number I recall hearing I think. It was a bloody lot of viewers anyway, and I was one of them. By the time you are reading THIS contribution to the magazine that will have been several months ago, so here is a trivia question. What was the first act of play in the semi-final? (cue thinking music) Are you prepared to lock in your response? The Wallabies Quade Cooper sent the kick-off out on the full, and yet more Eden Park hell was unleashed.
I made a great start to my course on this day. My plan was clear in my mind. Good compass work across some bare rock (point A) to my attack point, the cliff and boulder field at the spur south west of the control (point B), then in to the control. Everything looked exactly as expected, I was in control, and I made a very positive start. My opening split was a modest 11th quickest, but that did not matter. I reckon I set up a great result for me on this very first leg, and the techniques used served me really well throughout the course. Competitor
Split time
Split placing
Final result
Got me thinking a lot about the importance of a positive start in a sporting context.
Warren
1:53
2nd
50:19 - 1st
Rob
2:00
4th
54:21 - 2nd
My ‘B’ grade golfing career is plagued by poor starts. My intentions are great. Clean the clubs and check equipment prior to warm up stretches and hitting practice balls down at ‘The Common’. To the club 30 minutes prior to tee off, and spend 10 minutes on the putting green after paying fees. I leave nothing to chance as I want to control my destiny!
Myself
2:23
11th
62:56 - 3rd
But so often I pencil in a 6 for 1 stableford point on the par 4 first. Then to the second, the longest par 4 on the course, the hole rated hardest on the course, with a menacing dam left easily within my driving distance. Over compensate to the right, and thick trees. Recovery shots usually leave 200 odd metres still to go to the green. 6 for 1 point or 7 for a wipe is just way too common, and I am instantly 2 to 4 shots off my handicap, and must now make 2 to 4 pars to get even again, provided I don’t record any more 1 pointers or a wipe! 18 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 12
One of my not so satisfying runs was to come the very next day, in amongst the incredible gold mining complexity of Rowdy Flat. This, ultimately, did not surprise me. I arrived early enough to see Orienteering Legends Jim Russell and Ace Jase McCrae finish their courses, and based upon their course times, I set a goal of 15 min/ km. This might nearly have got me a 3rd place, but this turned out to be incredibly wishful thinking, and I was lucky to break the hour for my 3km course. Yet I made such a positive start - but only from a time point of view. I was actually equal 3rd after control #1, and in front of club mate and eventual winner Rob by 11 seconds - that is a first! However, unlike the previous day, I was not in control of my orienteering process. I left the start triangle with a view
regularity - I regarded this as PROACTIVE map reading once, such as to control #1 at the Oceania Long Distance Champs on Northern Spurs. Navigating to #1 at the Oceania Middle Distance on Rowdy Flat I was engaged in what I regarded as REACTIVE map reading, which frustrates me. When I struggle I frequently reflect after a course that all I was doing was reacting to what I think might be mapped. I am also very naive and green in matters pertaining to Orienteering technique. When I prepared my level 2 presentation a couple of years ago I asked a couple of successful ‘A’ grade Orienteers what strategies work best for them in competition. Julian Dent provided three key points, one of which was VISUALISATION - map to ground and ground to map.
to hitting the track, and I didn’t think of anything else. At the track I ran north and was stunned by how deep the watercourse system looked (point A). I became uncertain as I ran on the south side of this watercourse and then thought to myself “I have lost map contact”. For some silly reason I just ploughed ahead on a compass bearing thinking “what the hell will I do?” when suddenly there were two enormous earth knolls on my right (point B). “Wow, they have to be mapped”. I identified them on the map, and thought “what a great attack point”. I had no trouble getting into the control from there. Competitor
Split Time
Split Placing
Final Result
Rob Vincent
5:17
7th
36:12 - 1st
Hamish Goodwin
5:01
=1st
42:36 - 2nd
Ian Prosser
5:01
=1st
48:00 - 6th
Myself
5:06
=3rd
57:52 - 12th
But unlike the previous day, I did not anticipate in advance that these two knolls would be such a great attack point. The reality is I fluked control #1. And that was the way things were for most of the course. Too much “look at that, that has to be mapped”. I survived until half way to #9 before the inevitable. A very frustrating experience and a great reality check for a B grader!
DO YOU SEE WHAT I SEE? Hunters and Collectors were an immensely successful Australian band. One of their well known songs is ‘Do You See What I See’. For me those six words define the fundamental reason for my frustrating and inconsistent attempts to climb the ranks of the ‘B’ graders in my age class and why I might not ever be an ‘A’ grader in our wonderful sport. My unproven theory is that those in the Orienteering population that achieve ‘A’ grade status have an ability to, well, read the Orienteering map almost in 3D. It leaps out at them. Not a very sophisticated description I know, but that doesn’t happen for me, and that is why I might be destined to a life as a ‘B’ grader. Remember, at the Oceania Long Distance I finished 3rd, had a great run by my standards, but was still 12 and 8 minutes behind Warren and Rob respectively. One of my traits is that when I look at an Orienteering map I see a colourful, flat, but always 2-dimensional representation of competition terrain in front of me. Most of the time I have to double check to see which way the contour lines are bending relative to hill tops to comprehend whether the contour lines are describing a gully or a spur. Sometimes I get lucky because there is a watercourse mapped in the gully. What I have discovered though is that when I am orienteering well I predict what I am going to see in the terrain with greater
Really funny thing is that, just like Aaron Baddeley, the ‘B’ grade golfer in me visualises, in a proactive way, all the time. What shot do I wish to play as part of pre-shot routine, how will the shape or condition of the ground, or the prevailing wind, affect my swing, the behaviour of my golf club and/or of my golf ball? The whole art of preparing for a putt revolves around visualisation. VISUALISATION in Orienteering has become a word I hear all of the time now, and what I regarded as proactive map reading is map to ground VISUALISATION, and what I regarded as reactive map reading is ground to map VISUALISATION. It was comforting to know that Julian does both forms of visualisation during a course, though indicated a preference to operate with map to ground visualisation. He didn’t say what percentage of each he might utilise during a course, (I guess it probably varies significantly from race to race), and whilst not actually stating so, he gave me the impression that map to ground might have, shall we say, a more positive connotation! (My words, not Julian’s though).
THE CHOSEN ONES: Talent Identification - a funky and contemporary concept. Can we predict those who have the potential to reach ‘A’ grade in Orienteering? We often reflect on the physical in our sport, such as a 3km or 5km time trial. At NSW Junior Squad level we utilise the ‘beep test’, but it is more in an effort to motivate a work ethic to attain a pre-determined expectation. Times and results give indicators of oxygen carrying capacity and we can, to some extent, successfully predict those who can hope to perhaps aspire to the level of ‘A’ grade in our sport. But what is truly unique about Orienteering is the cognitive requirement; the need to make sense of that 2-dimensionally presented description of competition terrain that we refer to as the map. How significant is this cognitive ability, and how might we identify those with the cognitive talent required for our sport? MARCH 12 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER
19
COACHING
the World Orienteering Championships? Who? Where? (Cue thinking music). Are you prepared to lock in your response?
Contour Matching Exercise
2001, Tampere in Finland. Grant Bluett, Troy de Haas, Rob Walter and Tom Quayle finished 6th in a time of 2-58:02, 9:09 behind the winning team from Finland. On the basis of that margin behind the winning team, that is probably the most correct response. But, in 1981, in Thun, Switzerland, Maurice Ongania, Steve Key, Terry Farrell and Warren Key also finished in 6th place, though 20:23 behind the gold medal winning Norwegians. That would be the same Grant Bluett (pictured about to win at Wombat Hill 2011: courtesy of Karen Blatchford) who has won a gold medal in Orienteering in the 2001 World Games, won M21E at Easter 2011 and who took on all comers and won the Oceania Sprint Championship late last year. That is also the same Rob Walter who finished 2nd in the Australian Long Distance Championships at Marginata (pictured finishing at Rowdy Flat: courtesy of Karen Blatchford) during the Oceania Carnival.
Laurie and Dr. Spencer Kagan: Kagan Structures for Thinking Skills
This was discussed at Paul Pacque’s level 2 course that became my motivation for magazine contributions. Paul said we already have a cognitive test. These images (Contour Matching Exercise) appear in most reputable Outdoor Education textbooks and books specifically written for Orienteering. How would you go matching the images? An effective cognitive talent identifier for Orienteering? Then I stumbled upon an activity (I’m Puzzled) at a staff meeting presentation expounding the virtues of higher order thinking activities. How would you go with this one? Any relevance to the cognitive demands of visualisation? Might be interesting to try and find the time to utilise something like this one day to test my unfounded speculation on cognitive talent identification! Time for another trivia question, taken from the 2011 Australian Schools Orienteering Championships ‘Scavenger Hunt’. What is the best result ever achieved by an Australian male Relay team at Grant Bluett
20 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 12
Rob Walter
And Warren Key (pictured leaving the final control in the Oceania Sprint Champs at Wombat Hill 2011: courtesy Karen Blatchford), known to run M50 for long distance courses now because he isn’t as young as he used to be! A World Masters Champion, and at the Oceania Sprint Champs won by Grant he finished 10th in M21E, recording a course time quicker than all but two of the M17-20E competitors on the same course in the process! Don’t think for one minute that it is just the men either - take the time to look! Do these sorts of results reflect the significance of the cognitive component of our sport? Grant, Rob and Warren are all still active physically, and in the case of Grant and Rob I know they pursue endurance running challenges as par for the course middle aged madness! (Apologies to Grant / Rob). They are still aerobically strong, and if their bodies are healthy, they have running strength that goes with physical Warren Key
maturity. But I’m not sure to what extent they train specifically for Orienteering any more, and then out they come and perform at remarkable levels in Championship events in Australia attracting the strongest elite fields we have probably seen for a while!
MR UNBEATABLE! I read a fascinating Golf article once in which the author attempted to create the best ever Australian golfer (referred to as Mr Unbeatable). Along the lines of combining Greg Norman’s driving ability with Craig Parry’s wedge play with Peter Thompson’s course management and so on - you get the idea I hope. What would we come up with if we indulged in a similar fantasy to create Australia’s greatest ever Orienteer, our own Mr Unbeatable, and an individual to take on and dominate the world of O? What would be the sub-components of the whole? Physique, VO2 max, anaerobic power, visualisation ability, problem solving skills, mental composure, technical completeness, experience, training ethic, financial/time resources? Would our Aussie Mr Unbeatable have matched it with the great Thierry Gueorgiou at WOC in France last year? Clearly a hell of a lot can go into creating the whole that is an ‘A’ grade Orienteer. For me, that is why legends like Grant, Rob and Warren keep on keeping on, and keep bobbing up in results at the highest levels of competition in our country.
KEEPING THE GLASS HALF FULL! That was the philosophical scaffold upon which NSW Schools Team Coach Nick Dent built the execution of his role during the recent Oceania Championships ‘road trip’. Look for the positives. I’ll attempt a conclusion running with Nick’s theme. No trivia this time, but an interesting and thought provoking fact: In the 2001 WOC in Tampere, Finland, Australia’s own Grant Bluett beat Thierry Gueorgiou of France in the Sprint Final. Grant was 12th in a time of 11:32. Thierry ran a time of 11:33, equal to the time of Carsten Jorgensen (who was also a prominent runner at memorable Rowdy Flat!) Coming across information like that really rams home to me what a fantastic Orienteer Grant was - and he clearly still is.
Thierry Gueorgiou WOC Middle Distance Final 2011: photo Michael Hubbert.
Maybe there is an ‘A’ grade performer, or at least an ‘A’ grade performance in all of us!? Isn’t that what keeps us coming back? Now, would that be visualisation, or is that dreaming? A young Dominic Thornely, NSW Speed Blitz Blues cricketer, once said to me in a PDHPE classroom in Albury “Sir - today’s dreams are tomorrow’s achievements”. So this ‘B’ grader is going to keep on dreaming visualising - at least for a little bit longer yet
That sort of information also reminds us that Thierry has not always been the dominant force in men’s elite Orienteering. He turned himself into that dominant Orienteer, not long after 2001 in fact. Thierry went about creating his own individualised version of Mr Unbeatable (well that is how he seemed at WOC 2011 to me!). This is fantastic news for the next generation of elite Orienteers in Australia! And equally as fantastic news for us ‘B’ / ‘C’ graders aspiring to bridge the gap on our respected ‘A’ grade rivals. For example, my ability to visualise map to terrain might not be great, but it is becoming a feature of my better course results as I learn. And the great news continues. We can all address our shortcomings, but also look to accentuate and capitalise upon the positives we have. Physical training, technical work in terrain, mental processes to enhance relaxation and dealing with pressure, listening to and learning from the best, injury management and nutrition, gaining further experience - the list could certainly go on.
Orienteering Australia – National Training Centre MARCH 12 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 21
TRAINING
Orienteering training
– is it enough for your health?
Steve Bird (BKV) Professor Steve Bird is at RMIT University, Melbourne. Steve worked with the Great Britain National Orienteering Squad for over 10 years and is now assisting the Victorian Junior Squad.
As orienteers we generally consider ourselves to be fairly healthy, especially if we undertake some training during the week. However, this may not be the case. And even if we follow the general health guidelines of: not smoking; moderation with alcohol; eating sensibly; appropriate body weight; sun-smart; etc, etc, it may be that our Orienteering related exercise is not enough to fulfill the required amounts of physical activity for optimal health. Within this article I’ll outline some of the emerging issues that we should be aware of, and the fact that whilst our orienteering can contribute to our overall health; one Orienteering event a week, even if supported by several training sessions may not be enough to maximize our health outcomes. Historical background Beliefs in the importance of exercise extend back into early history: “If we could give every individual the right amount of nourishment and exercise, not too little and not too much, we would have found the safest way to health.” (Hippocrates, 470 – 375 BC) and “Lack of activity destroys the good condition of every human being, while movement and methodical physical exercise save it and preserve it.” (Plato, 427 - 347 BC). Scientific evidence to support these beliefs began to emerge in the 1950’s with the ground-breaking research of Jerry Morris and his colleagues (Morris et al., 1953; Morris and Raffle, 1954; Heady et al., 1961) who demonstrated that bus-conductors who had a physically active working day as they walked up and down, and climbed the stairs of their double-decker buses, had less than half the risk of heart attacks than their sedentary driver colleagues who remained seated throughout their working day. The significance of physical activity at work was further confirmed by Paffenbarger and colleagues (Paffenbarger and Hale, 1975) who studied the health outcomes of dock workers (Longshoremen) whose jobs involved substantial amounts of physical labour with those who had more sedentary roles. However, not everybody has a job that involves physical activity, and in recent decades there has been a significant shift in the nature of work towards many of the occupations in countries such as Australia being largely sedentary (desk-based or similar). Hence most people are unlikely to attain a healthy ‘dose’ of physical activity through their occupation (Church et al., 2011). 22 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 12
This tendency towards inactivity is compounded by reductions in the amount of physical activity involved in domestic chores due to mechanisation (Lanningham-Foster et al., 2003), an increased reliance upon sedentary forms of travel to and from their place of work, and the popularity of sedentary recreational pursuits such as TV and computer based activities. As a consequence, the contribution of recreational sport and the deliberate undertaking of exercise for the specific purpose of improving health and fitness, have become significant elements in the attainment of a healthy lifestyle for many people.
The health benefits of sport The potential benefits of participating in vigorous sport, to offset the ill-effects of a sedentary occupation were suggested by Morris and colleagues in 1978 (Chave et al., 1978) when studying the leisure-time pursuits of civil servants whose occupations were sedentary or involved only very light physical activity, and were reiterated when they (Morris et al., 1990) went on to report the results of a study of over 9,000 male civil servants aged 45-64 years, for an average of 9-years, and concluded that those who participated in vigorous activity such as sport, had a reduced risk of fatal and non-fatal coronary heart disease, which was less than half of those who did not. Similar findings were evident in the famous Harvard Alumni studies (Paffenbarger et al.,1993; Lee et al., 1995; Sesso et al., 2000), in which Alumni were surveyed about their exercise habits in the 1960s and then again in 1977. From these data it confirmed that those who were active at College and who had remained active had the lowest prevalence of heart disease and all-cause mortality. However, it also revealed that those who were active in college but had since become inactive had not retained any cardio-protective/ all-cause mortality risk benefit from their activity in their younger years, indeed their prevalence of heart disease/all-cause mortality was even greater than for those who had never been active. But conversely, and most encouragingly, those who had not been active in college but had since become active had benefited from their increased levels of activity, and displayed a lower prevalence of heart disease/all-cause mortality than those who had never been active or those who had ceased being active. This therefore provided important evidence that becoming active later in life had significant health benefit and initiated a health message that it was never too late to start exercising. A message that has since gained further support from other studies, such as that of Byberg et al. (2009) in which the physical activity habits of 50-yr old men were followed for 35 years, and where it was again found that moving from low to high activity levels reduced all-cause mortality. Another significant feature of the Harvard Alumni data (Paffenbarger et al., 1993; Sesso et al., 2000) was that whilst these physical activity health benefits and trends were evident if activity was measured as total activity (≤ or ≥2000 kcal/wk) regardless of its intensity, the effects were even more pronounced if the data were categorized according to whether or not the men participated in vigorous sport (≥4.5 METS, which is ≥4.5 x the amount of energy used at rest). This therefore suggested a potential impact of exercise intensity upon the magnitude of cardio-protection/all-cause mortality. Hence these epidemiological studies have generated clear indications that exercise has a cardio-protective effect and whilst the majority of early studies focused on men, the studies that have been conducted on women demonstrate that the benefits are applicable to both sexes (Oguma et al. 2002; Sun et al. 2010; Lee et al., 2011). And this convincing evidence has thereby provided the foundations for the inclusion of endurance exercise
Summary • Your Orienteering training and events can help you to attain the recommended 150 minutes of aerobic exercise a week; and • For those who are able – exercise of a vigorous intensity conveys additional health benefits; but • Even if you are attaining the 150 minutes a week – this is not a complete panacea for health, and other physical activity/ inactivity issues need to be considered to optimise your health outcomes. • In particular you should endeavour to include incidental physical activity into your daily life, for example taking the stairs rather than the lift, and for those for whom it is feasible, walking or cycling in preference to sedentary transport. • You should also break up periods of prolonged sitting by getting up and walking around for a few minutes every hour. • And, although not mentioned specifically in this article, its worth remembering that for those in the older age groups, another consideration is to include some strength training several times a week for the maintenance of muscle mass. into current general health recommendations (Blair et al., 2004; Haskell et al., 2007; O’Donovan et al., 2010), which generally advocate exercise of at least 30 minutes on most, and preferably every, day of the week. With such levels of activity being associated with: a reduced risk of heart and cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, hypertension, and some forms of cancer, plus reported benefits to some aspects of mental health.
Is Orienteering a panacea for health? As orienteers, our events and training sessions may amount to an exercise bout of 30 – 60 minutes and convey these health gains as evidenced by the work of (Kujala et al. 1999) who in an 11-year longitudinal study on orienteers aged 37 - 61 yrs revealed that they had 1/7th the risk of myocardial infarction of that of matched sedentary non-smoking controls. But what is now becoming evident from the research is that whilst our 30 – 60 minutes of ‘daily’ exercise contributes to our health, it is not a panacea, and what we do during the other 15 waking hours of our day also has a profound impact on our health. In particular there is emerging evidence of the health risks associated with prolonged sitting (Hamilton et al., 2007). And since many of us spend over 8 hrs a day sitting, we should be aware of the health implications. The extent of the problem is highlighted by the work of Church et al. (2011) and Warren et al. (2010), who state that if you are sedentary (sitting) for more than 23 hours a week you have a 64% greater chance to die from heart disease regardless of how much exercise you complete. However, other research suggests that these ill-effects may be ameliorated if you break up bouts of prolonged sitting as this appears to break the unhealthy molecular signals that may cause metabolic diseases. Evidence for the health benefits of breaking up your sitting time comes from the work of Owen et al., (2008), who showed that “Independent of total sedentary time and moderate to vigorous activity time, breaks in sedentary time were associated with a better: Waist circumference; BMI; Triglycerides and 2hr plasma glucose”. So the take home message is to avoid prolonged sitting, by periodically getting up and walking around at work and at home. Initiatives for reducing the amount of sitting time include: standing for meetings, or even having walking meetings. And other innovations include standing at your desk rather than sitting, and the development of treadmills that are located adjacent to your desk so that you can walk (slowly) whilst working on your computer.
References Blair et al. (2004). The evolution of physical activity recommendations: how much is enough? Am J Clin Nutr; 79(suppl), 913S-920S. Byberg et al. (2009) Total mortality after changes in leisure time physical activity in 50 year old men: 35 year follow-up of population based cohort. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 43, 482-490. Chave et al. (1978). Vigorous exercise in leisure time and death rate: a study of male civil servants. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 32, 239-243. Church et al. (2011). Trends over 5 decades in U.S. occupation-related physical activity and their associations with obesity. PLoS One. 6: e19657. Hamilton et al., (2007) Role of low energy expenditure and sitting in obesity, metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Diabetes, 56, 2655-2667. Haskell et al. (2007). Physical activity and public health: updated recommendation for adults from the American College of Sports Medicine and the American Heart Association. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 39, 1423-1434. Heady et al. (1961). Coronary heart disease in London busmen. A Progress report with particular reference to physique. Brit. J. Prev. Soc. Med, 15, 143-153. Kujala et al. (1999). Heart attacks and lower-limb function in master endurance athletes. Med Sci Sports Exerc, 31, 1041-1046. Lanningham-Foster et al. (2003). Labor saved, calories lost: the energetic impact of domestic labor-saving devices. Obes Res, 11, 1178-1181. Lee et al. (1995). Exercise intensity and longevity in men. The Harvard Alumni study. JAMA, 273, 1179-1184.
Lee et al. (2011). Comparisons of leisure-time physical activity and cardiorespiratory fitness as predictors of all-cause mortality in men and women. Br J Sports Med, 45, 504-510. Morris et al. (1953). Coronary heartdisease and physical activity of work. Lancet, 265, 1053-1057; 1111-1120. Morris, J.N. & Raffle, P.A.B. (1954). Coronary heart disease in transport workers. A progress report. Br J Ind Med, 11, 260–264. O’Donovan et al. (2010). The ABC of physical activity for health: a consensus statement from the British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences. J Sports Sci. 28, 573-591. Owen et al. (2010). Too much sitting: the population health science of sedentary behavior. Exerc Sport Sci Rev, 38, 105-113. Oguma et al. (2002). Physical activity and all cause mortality in women: a review of the evidence. Br J Sports Med, 36, 162-172. Paffenbarger, R.S. & Hale, W.E. (1975). Work activity and coronary heart mortality. N Engl J Med, 292, 545-550. Paffenbarger et al. (1993). The association of changes in physicalactivity level and other lifestyle characteristics with mortality among men. NEJM, 328, 538-545. Sesso et al. (2000). Physical activity and coronary heart disease in men: The Harvard alumni study. Circulation, 102, 975-980. Sun et al. (2010). Physical activity at mid-life in relation to successful survival in women age 70 years and older. Arch Intern Med, 170, 194-201. Warren et al. (2010). Sedentary behaviors increase risk of cardiovascular disease mortality in men. Med Sci Sports Exerc, 42, 879-885.
MARCH 12 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 23
O-RINGEN
O-Ringen Halland 2012 – sand, sea and beech forest!
Halmstad, on the south-west coast of Sweden, could be considered Sweden’s Riviera. Long sandy beaches and lush inland forests make it an ideal place for a vacation and for O-Ringen 2012. The O-Ringen Town will be located a short distance from the city centre, just a quick jog through “Galgberget”, a popular park and recreation area. The Orienteering stages will offer a complete review of typical Halland terrain, with vegetation ranging from very open beech woods to varying ages of pine forest and, on one day a spectacular finish on the edge of the beach.
Terrain Stage 1 will have varying terrain. Mostly good to very good runability and moderate climb, apart from a small number of areas with dense forest and some clearings. The arena is situated beautifully at Simlångsdalen lake system.
Stage 3 will be a short distance from the ocean in beautiful pine forest and open, detailed sand dunes.
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Mostly good visibility and runability, but also a few areas with dense forest.
Free start times for HD35+ in short classes
The last two stages are at Nyårsåsen. A ridge with detailed slopes, lots of paths and varying forest. and an abundance of detail where it is important to keep control of both the map and compass.
Big news this year is that free start times for adult short classes are being introduced from HD35 and up. This is to increase the freedom for all parents who want to run technically harder courses but at the same time be able to take care of their children. The start will work according to the beginners model, ie. max one person per minute can start, but with the difference that the chasing start will still apply for stage 5.
Careful orienteering will be necessary right up to the very last control. Moderate to strong climb.
MTBO in Halland In 2011 MTBO took place during O-Ringen for the first time as a ”come and try it” activity. The aim was to reach 150 participants in order for it to continue. The interest was considerably higher with approx 250
starters per day, so it will definitely continue in 2012. We will continue with a 3-day competition alongside O-Ringen so that it is possible to compete in both competitions. In 2011 this MTB-O participant group was the largest.
Elite Sprint in centre of Halmstad For elite runners in M/W 21 class there will be the City Sprint in the centre of Halmstad, mostly between shopping streets, restaurants, offices and residential buildings. Here runners have to mingle with regular tourists who always find their way to Halmstad during summer. There are smaller parks in the area which may contain some tricky controls.
G
Ö
TE
BO
R
22–27 juli
SAN
JÖN
Etapp 4–5
Simlångsdalen
IS
Wapnö
N
Nyårsåsen
Etapp 1–2
KÖP ING
G
VÄXJÖ
Etapp 3 Ringenäs
Travbana
Camping
Halmstad garnison
Tylösand
Mässa Scen
Camping
Halmstad
Regementsområdet
Camping
MÖ MAL
Thierry will try to win O-Ringen Thierry Gueorgiou has already made his plans. O-Ringen Halland in July, just after WOC, will be equally important for the world’s best man in Orienteering. Why is it important for you to try to win O-Ringen once in your lifetime? ”O-Ringen belongs to those prestigious events which
have a really long history, just like Jukola and Tiomila. For me, winning those races is equally important to winning a gold medal at World Championships. And this is the last major competition I have not won in my career. Therefore, it is one main reason to continue my career - I still have something to hunt! I give myself two years to reach this goal. So, I may be still hunting in 2013 as well!”
Flottiljområdet
You plan to go to O-Ringen 2012, what is it that attracts you? ”In the past years, all my thoughts were directed to WOC 2011 in France. I did not compromise in my preparation and that’s why I skipped O-Ringen lately. Now it is really different, O-Ringen will be equally important as WOC. I already looked at the map samples and heard some comments on the terrain in Halland.
This looks really promising with several types of forest. The ones who will succeed will need the complete orienteering set! The beach around will probably give also a special taste to this competition. So, in sum, the whole package seems just great.” More information can be found at www.oringen.se
SPOT the DIFFERENCE from O-Ringen
MARCH 12 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 25
JUNIOR DEVELOPMENT
Erica Diment, Editor of the South Australian Orienteer, recently interviewed David Poland from Blue Sparks ACT about their Map Mates Series.
Erica: Firstly can you tell me a bit about Map Mates? David: Map Mates is a series of Orienteering events held over a 4 or 5-week period especially designed for Primary School Children. Blue Sparks (the ACT sub- junior group) has always tried to focus on fun, social activities, friendly competition and getting parents involved. We got the idea of Map Mates after reading in The Australian Orienteer of the similar Space Race concept held in Bendigo. Erica: We are thinking in SA about how we can make junior O more interesting and keep kids involved. I’m interested in the Map Mates competition you hold. Can you give us some ideas? David: First it is best to work out your aims and gaols. Once you have identified them then you tailor the activities to suit the goals. It is best to avoid the temptation to embark on great ideas that take lots of energy to implement but do not really support the goals. Once you have the goals written down then work out what you do. Allow about six months lead time. Start small and work up. Erica: Our goal is not numbers. We want a few, say 20, but we want to get them committed, so to do that we want their parents to get interested. We anticipate this will take about five years. David: If the goal is large numbers who attend only once or twice then a major schools competition is good but that should really only be the start of schools development. Erica: How do you score it? David: To be honest I don’t think the detail really matters any way is fine - kids don’t care as long as there is a score system. Don’t waste energy too much on how - just have some sort of scoring. We make it as close as possible so we have bonus points for team uniform, making a cubby house, team spirit, pine cone arrangements, cheering, and so on. This also helps in that the losing teams can get more bonus points and the final score is very close. Kids like excitement not democracy! There was homework each week and kids got points for completing that too. In the last two weeks of the competition we give bonus points if parents form a team and compete as well. You have to get the parents involved if the kids are to remain able to attend. You can make up whatever point system you like really. We modified our rules after the first week! Blue scores were 1st 26 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 12
= 7, 2nd= 7, 3rd = 6, 4th = 6, ….. 7th and after = 4. Green scores were similar - 1st and 2nd = 10, 3rd and 4th = 9 …. Until 11th and 12th = 4. It makes the scores closer that way. Only the best 3 of the 4 weeks counted. Erica: I see there are two to four runners in a team so is the time an average or do they run together? David: Kids of this age, especially novices, always prefer to run together - only the really good ones like running separately. So, yes they have to run together. Erica: How do teams usually form? Is it usually friends, family, school mates??? David: Anyway they like. We discourage the good orienteers from running together as a team. Ideally you start with three keen Orienteering kids, you have a chat with their parents first and see if they can each form a separate team. We ask that they nominate a team leader. That way we tried to liaise and email with one person only but actually it works better, I think, if you send emails to all the team members. They get extra points if they bring novices along. Erica: Have you found this to be successful? David: Yes, in fact I was most surprised to be out cycling in a local park the week before Map Mates started when I bumped into a group of three 10-year old girls and their mother who were training on an old map in preparation for the upcoming Map Mates competition! We first held it in Feb 2011 at the end of the Summer Series. This summer we tried it for the first four weeks of the Summer Series so interested kids have something to continue with. We also tied it in with the Primary School Championships which was held in the fourth week so it acted as a training series for that as well. All in all this format seemed to work well with 24 teams and some 55 kids participating. It is a bit early to be sure but around half continued on to be more or less regular Twilight participants. Erica: Is it run in conjunction with other events (at the same time?) David: Yes, this is important, why waste time on organising yet another event? We have found a short sharp competition is best. For example we use the first four weeks of an existing Series (in our case the Summer evening Wednesday Series). That way we do not need to do the maps or organise the event. There is plenty of work just looking after the kids,
marketing it to schools and scouts - that sort of thing. And of course then there is the coaching, scoring and prizes to organise. We always unashamedly piggyback onto another event. David: No, but we lobbied for there to be a blue (very easy) course every week as well.
are unable but we still get about eight families each year. They all talk about it and enjoy it and even if they do not do much orienteering again they feel connected. But honestly at this age it is not the quality of the technical training (it can’t be if I am the coach !) it is the amount of fun that it is, how much cheering there is, and how much they interact with the other kids.
Erica: Do moderates compete with easy courses or are there two separate competitions?
Erica: How much family involvement do you get and with what sorts of activities?
David: Kids do blue (very easy ) or green (easy ). After a couple of weeks they can shift from blue to green or even, if they are keen, do a blue then a green on the same day for free (only the first race counts for points however). We did not encourage it but some teams started doing orange courses before we could stop them – so we ended up giving them bonus points for keenness!
David: I usually try and grab parents who are there on the day and ask them to help with this or that. We tried bonus points for teams whose parents do a course on the last week and that seemed to work well. To get started you only need two or three active and enthusiastic volunteers – a coach, a secretary (the e-mailer) and a manager (helper).
Erica: We would be grateful for any wisdom you have to share about how to get young people to events and how to keep them coming.
David: Primary school aged 13 years and under, but for Map Mates we concentrate on age 7 - 13. You really need another group for the 5 - 7 year olds as they like very different activities.
Erica: Do you set special courses for it?
David: Start with two or three kids who come already, get their parents on side, get them to agree to bring one kid each, make a competition, get the local shoe shop to donate some cheap prizes. Think of a good name. Get a logo. A banner is great – kids love that too. Shirts work well. Have a series of 4 or 5 events – a one-off event is definitely not enough – preferably at a time of year when there is not as much other sport on. We have found in the ACT that Oct/Nov and Feb/Mar are quieter times in the school sports calendar. I would like to try using the computer more to keep kids interested. I send out an email each week with a simple training tip and question. If they answer it correctly they get an extra point. I have not tried facebook yet. Probably they are too young but hey, maybe that’s an idea. We have a page on the ACT website that helps the parents a lot. Erica: What sort of coaching do you offer for 7-13 year olds and how well attended/successful is it? David: This is best done for 15min only and best done just before the event. For example a briefing at 5pm and the event starts at 5:30pm. We also run a weekend camp which lots of families want to attend but due to time commitments many
Erica: Are there criteria for entry to Blue Sparks?
Erica: At what stage can they get a shirt? David: Anytime. They cost us $49 to order. We sell them for $30 i.e. we subsidise them a lot but we do not sell many but, yes, you could make the shirt a status symbol. Perhaps it should only be available if you attend a certain number of events and then maybe we might sell more! Erica: How and when do they transition to the Junior Squad? David: When they are ready - usually aged 13. We have no particular formalities for this. They just seem to lose interest in the younger kids’ activities and drift to the High School squad. We have never had a formal “Graduation Ceremony” – perhaps we should. We try to get the High School Squad to give 5-minute talks to the younger kids then they have someone to look up to. Always get the older kids to be in uniform when they do this - that helps. Also we get a high school kid to present the prizes. Ideally you would have four groups (ages 5-7; ages 7-12; ages 12-14; ages 14-18), but that would take a lot of resources. The main thing though is just to have a go. MARCH 12 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 27
ROUTE CHOICE
Lost in Paradise The fine art of Noodling your course is alive and well in Queensland. Here, Jim Bowling gives us a blow-by-blow account of his struggle with the landscape at a recent event at Cloudy Creek.
H
ave you ever been in a strange city, beautiful tourist map clasped in your hand, wandering around admiring the landscape, the prominent features, the distinctive buildings, and the routes you are taking to get to them all? Have you ever been on a map with a beautiful long leg in front of you, gentle contours ahead, prominent features along the route, and distinctive attack points just waiting to point you to the control? It’s great to be running in a championship event. It is so wonderful to pick up the map as the fifth beep sounds and you turn it over and see all that clear ground to the first control. A couple of lovely prominent watercourses with junctions to pick off as you go. This is how to commence a championship run! A great map, drawn impeccably by a master mapper, easy to read, lovely 1:10,000 scale, and the features just waiting to be attacked. While you are galloping along this highway you can scan ahead and begin planning your route to the next control; maybe even to the next three controls! Don’t you just love the course setters when they set such a course? They really do make it easy. Yes. There is the shallow gully down the hill. You can see the major watercourse ahead. Oh, brilliant! You just have to hit it right at the junction of that minor stream that bends sharply to the left. You just can’t go wrong! Up the lovely gentle slope keeping the top of the hill to your right. Let’s see, after hitting the first control, sharp right, up over the rise, and down to the watercourse. Looks like a gift!
Mmmh, that large shallow gully feature is a bit further on than you thought. Never mind, the major watercourse with the prominent cliff feature at its head can’t be missed. Control #2 to #3, just straight line it to the watercourse with the jumble of cliffs. Great attack point! Is this map 1:10,000? That watercourse with the cliffs is taking a while to come up. This flat country really makes for good running. Even if I miss the cliffs I’ll just hit the major watercourse and turn left. A gift! Yes, there it is! How good is this map? That watercourse isn’t running in exactly the right direction. Those cliffs aren’t as prominent as they seem on the map. The mapper must be a bit new at the game. Just angle the map a bit. Yep, it fits. #3 to #4 should be a breeze. You will be running over the same country. Just run up that large shallow gully feature you missed the first time. Don’t worry about locating the cliffs; the watercourse you want is just over there. That’s odd, that bend in the watercourse is the one above the control. You must have angled more to the left than you thought. That’s why you missed the cliffs. OK. Turn right and the control is just round the next couple of bends. #4 to #5, just run along the watercourse bank. This has got to be the easiest championship course you’ve been on. Surely that control can’t be much further?
28 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 12
The mapper is a real novice! There are heaps of rocks in this watercourse. This one is a cliff! How could it be missed? That control is further than you thought. Is the map really 1:10,000? Better look more closely. The other controls can wait. This watercourse doesn’t run exactly as it should. Is the compass out? Why are the hills getting steeper? Those contour lines are really gentle. This is a terrible map. You should have checked your compass before the start. Where’s North? There’s the sun. Is it in the right place? The compass seems to be OK. That junction isn’t marked on the map! I’ll bet the mapper just drew it from a 1:50,000 base map. That’s sheer bloody laziness! You know you shouldn’t have worn that new fangled GPS thingy. It’s making your compass go haywire! OK. Nothing is making sense. Climb out of the watercourse and up onto the ridgeline. Why the blazes did you drive for four hours to get to this stupid event? At least you can see from up here. That must be the major watercourse over there. How did you get to here? Maybe you had better run straight out to the track and relocate. This map is a disgrace! How could you possibly run a championship event on it? That looks like the major watercourse junction with the cliffs on it. No, just run to the road and be absolutely sure. This scale has just got to be wrong! It’s taking forever to get to the road. Another set of rocks and cliffs! They just couldn’t have been missed when the map was drawn. No! You couldn’t be down there! That’s nearly 400 metres South! Where’s that bloody track? No! That’s not right! It couldn’t be! ----- IT IS! ---- You’re over 400 metres South of where you thought you were and further back than the start of the course!
SILVA congratulates Jim Bowling for his magnificent account of Noodling his course at a recent Cloudy Creek event. Jim will receive a JET Spectra compass which hopefully will help him navigate his way. Meantime, keep those articles coming Jim.
Out of sheer stubbornness, and not being prepared to DNF, you set off again. 57 minutes and 4 seconds later you have located your first control. There are only 10 more to get! Have you ever been on a map with a beautiful long leg in front of you, gentle contours ahead, prominent features along the route, and distinctive attack points just waiting to point you to the control? I have.
MARCH 12 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 29
COURSE SETTING
Irishtown Sprint Bayside Kangaroos’ O Mayhem 4-event weekend carnival included a true bush Sprint at Irishtown with courses set by Tim Hatley. Competitors bounded through sometimes steep but often open forest and complex gold mining terrain with the pressure always on to maintain speed whilst not losing all-important seconds on navigational errors. The Course A winning margin was just 1sec which demonstrates the importance of maintaining high speed navigation.
T
im Hatley said the major objective in setting the courses was to keep competitors’ running speeds as high as possible by using the more open areas and with climbing on moderate to shallow gradients. Despite that there were some very intricate legs across gold mining gullies and diggings which made for pressure running and navigation with the ever-present fear of losing vital seconds through hesitation and navigation errors. Tension and urgency were there for all competitors. Courses created good spectator interest and perhaps competitor distraction (plus entertainment for the course setter!) with looping sections passing nearby the start area. Varying leg lengths and directions kept competitors ‘on their toes’ and fairly short legs were designed to limit pre-planning time. The 1:5,000 map scale meant every feature loomed into view much more quickly than competitors were accustomed to in a bush event. With 1-minute start intervals there was the possibility of competitors bunching up and hunting in packs so control sites were on more obvious features, or near obvious features, to speed the flow of competitors through the controls and minimise the likelihood of bunching. A final criterion was that the Finish should be as close as possible to the assembly area (west of the road triangle shown on the map). This requirement enabled the creation of a fast and furious downhill run to the Finish, adding to the excitement. There was much animated discussion in the assembly area on navigation and route choices after the event which showed competitors had enjoyed the experience. The course setter wanted to make the event as much fun as possible, and he achieved that in spades. Top places on Course A were: 1
Rob Preston
AUB .
17.59
2
Evan Barr
BG V
18.00
3
David Brownridge
BG V
20.03
4
Todd Neve
MF V
20.16
5
Bruce Arthur
MF-V
20.21
6
Christopher Naunton
BG V
20.24
7
Vanessa Round
TT S
20.55
8
James Robertson
BG V
21.02
9
Blair Trewin
YV V
21.31
10
Jasmine Neve
MF V
24.35
30 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 12
MARCH 12 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 31
TOP EVENTS Oct 19-21
2012 AL I AUSTR
E
Easter 2012 3 Days
IP S NSH IO
3 DAY CHAM ANASTER 2012 P
April 6-9
Granite & G ra pes ST AN D THOR PE QL
2013 2012 Victorian MTBO Champs
April 28-29
Sprint, Middle & Long
vicmtbo.com
May 14-20
June 7-9
June 9-11
June 16-17
July 1-8
July 6-8
July 7-14
July 9-14
July 12-27
July 14-21
July 15-20
July 22-28
July 24-29 Aug 4-11
Aug 10-12
Aug 18-19 Aug 20-25
Sept 22-30
Oct 1-12
AUS 3-Days, Stanthorpe, Queensland www.easter2012.com.au Victorian MTBO Champs, National MTBO Series #1 & Australian Team Selection Trials Newstead & Maryborough, Vic. European Orienteering Champs Falun, Sweden www.eoc2012.se World Trail-O Championships Dundee, Scotland. www.wtoc2012 @britishorienteering.org.uk QB 111 Weekend Armidale, NSW http://ntoc.asn.au Jukola Relays Vantaa, Finland WMOC Bad Harzburg, Germany www.wmoc2012.de ICE-O 2012 Reykjavik, Iceland www.rathlaup.is JWOC Kosice, Slovakia www.jwoc2012.sk Fin 5 Teuva, Finland 2012.fin5.fi Tour de Halland inc O-Ringen 2012 Halmstad, Halland, Sweden, www.oringen.se WOC Lausanne, Switzerland www.woc2012.ch Swiss 5 Days 2012 Lausanne, Switzerland www.woc2012.ch/swiss5days/ CROESO 2012 Aberystwyth, Wales www.croesomultiday.org.uk CROATIAOPEN2012 www.croatiaopen.net Queensland Championships Blackbutt, Qld. www.oq.asn.au/qldchamps Northern Territory Championships & SILVA NOL Round 4, Darwin, NT www.topend.nt.orienteering.asn.au Qld MTBO Champs & National MTBO Series #2, Woodford World MTBO Champs 2012 Junior World MTBO Champs World Masters MTBO Champs Veszprem, Hungary www.mtbo.hu/mtbwoc2012.php AUS Championships 2012, East Coast, Tasmania www.auschamps2012.com Five + Five Days of Sicily Selinunte / Taormina, Italy www.orienteering.it
32 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 12
North American O Champs, Delaware Water Gap, Pennsylvania, USA. www.naoc2012.org Oct 27-28 AUS MTBO Championships National MTBO Series #3 Taree NSW, mountaindevils.com Oct 31Istanbul 5 Days Turkey. Nov 4 www.ist5days.com Nov 10-11 Venice City Race (check dates for Venezia, Italy. Acqua Alta) www.orivenezia.it Dec 27-31 Xmas 5-Days Beechworth, Victoria
2013 Jan 4-13
Oceania Carnival & World Cup Wellington & Hawkes Bay areas North Island, New Zealand www.oceania2013.co.nz Mar 29 AUS 3 Days 2013 Apr 1 Victoria June 29JWOC 2013 July 6 Hradec Králové, Czech Republic www.jwoc2013.cz July 7-14 WOC2013 Vuokkati, Finland www.woc2013.fi July 20-26 O-Ringen 2013 Boden, Lapland, Sweden www.oringen.se 25 July – 2013 World Games 4 August Cali, Colombia worldgames2013.com.co Aug 2-11 WMOC 2013 (part of WMG?) (dates TBC) Torino, Italy (www.torino2013wmg.org/) Aug 26-31 World MTBO Champs Junior World MTBO Champs West-Viru, Estonia Sept 28AUS Championships Carnival Oct 6 ACT Dates TBA AUS MTBO Championships Qld Nov 9-10 Venice City Race 2013 (check dates for Venezia, Italy www.orivenezia.it Acqua Alta)
Dec 27-31
Xmas 5-Days NSW
Advertise your event You can have a 6 x 8 cm event ad for just $50 In colour, if we have room, otherwise black & white Send artwork to The Editor: mikehubbert@ozemail.com.au
COURSE PLANNING
window has columns A to H for imposing the IOF control description).
CORPSE
Comes Back to Life
Eric Andrews – Queensland
d. i n the height and dimensions screen (eg. for including the height of a termite mound, or the dimensions of a piece of bare rock), you can now press “Enter” after typing in the height, or dimension, instead of clicking “Okay” with the mouse. e. w hen the scissors are used to remove the currently selected control, then the previous control will become the new selection. f. i n the “Map Mark Up” options, printing the control descriptions automatically on the map is no longer the default setting. To print the control descriptions on the map, it is necessary to access the window through “Map Mark Up”. g. t he main toolbar at the top of the screen now looks more compatible with recent versions of Windows. h. t he course combinations/models in the “New” menu have been removed. This means that you get to put in the courses that you require. General queries on using Corpse can be directed to me at batmaps.andrews6@gmail.com or (07) 46836374.
T
he Corpse course planning software was designed in the early 2000’s by Rex Saye from the ACT. It was initially designed for events run in the ACT. However, with some further development it became the course planning software of choice in five States and Territories. Like all development of software, user feedback indicated some issues that required further modification to make it more functional. Finally, in 2011 Rex decided to not only fix the few problem areas but he also wanted to modernise the whole manner in which things were done. Unfortunately, his untimely death in August put a stop to that. Enter his son, Robert, home from his PhD studies in America. Robert offered to look at fixing what he could during his recent Christmas break. As a result of his efforts and the co-operation of Jane, his mother, Corpse has been brought back to life with some function changes and improvements in the way actions are implemented. Corpse Version 7 is now available for download FREE from the www.o-ware.com website, as is another of Rex’s programmes – OTrack. You are reminded that you still need to use an eps file as a background map. However, you do not need to purchase anything from OCAD to use this course planning software. Part of the improvements has been to drastically improve the Help file. There is also a Manual, which is the same as the Help file that can be downloaded. Eventually, the Help file will have more pictures to help explain how to carry out different actions.
WHAT’S NEW IN CORPSE
In memory of Rex Saye, the orienteering software which he designed and wrote (OTrack and Corpse version 7 with new features) is now available free of charge at
www.o-ware.com
Orienteering Service of Australia stocks a wide range of SILVA compasses, we offer the convenience of shopping through our website, visit us online at www.osoa.com.au If you’re shopping for yourself, or on behalf of your club, you will enjoy the same reliable and fast service.
OSoA has recently expanded and updated our range of outdoor gear.
In summary, the following changes have been made to fix minor problems:
As well as binoculars and battery chargers, pedometers and map measurers
a. t he course name has been increased from ten characters to 50. So having to abbreviate the names of a course is no longer required.
We now stock multi-tools, pocket knives and distress whistles. Ideal gear for when things go wrong, camping trips, adventure races, rogaining, ....you name it!
b. w hen positioning control descriptions on the map prior to printing, they can now be wrapped around into two columns, which helps to make best use of the available space on the map. c. t here is now a flyout/hint type system to help remind users how to use the buttons for setting the control descriptions (ie. the toolbar at the bottom of the screen in the main Corpse
Visit our website www.osoa.com.au and review our product range today! PH (03) 9017 4835, FX (03) 9388 1916 Email info@osoa.com.au MARCH 12 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 33
MEMORABLE MAPS
ROWDY FLAT Oceania Orienteering Carnival 2011
(Map enlarged to fill page)
That name “Rowdy Flat” is indelibly printed in the memories of all those who took part in the Oceania Middle Distance Championships last year. As promised by the course setter the terrain was “a heavily sluiced gold mining area with a network of minor tracks. The mildly undulating area was generally slow run but very variable across the map. The unrelenting nature of the terrain ensured that competitors were greatly challenged to manage their speed and navigation. The area is more complex than any existing gold mining area known to me”. For those who conquered the terrain, those who didn’t, and those who missed the event, we reproduce the map here for your continued fascination. You will have two opportunities to experience the challenge of Rowdy Flat this year – the Victorian Championships on Sept 15, and the Xmas 5 Days on Dec 30. Don’t miss it !!
34 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 12
LATE NEWS
NZ Sprint the Bay
The UK’s Orienteering Magazine
T
he “Sprint the Bay” series of six Sprint races in three days took place in Hawkes Bay, NZ, last month. Twenty three Aussies competed in fields of 61 elite men and 37 elite women. Rachel Effeney (QLD) was outright winner in the Women’s Elite and Matt Parton took 3rd in the Men’s Elite In a drama packed last stage Rachel started 8secs behind Angela Simpson (NZ) but finished far enough ahead to take overall victory. Then it was found that Angela had mispunched so Lizzie Ingham (NZ), the fastest on stage 6, took 2nd place overall.
Packed with maps, event reports, coaching tips and advice, MTBO, Mountain Marathons/Rogaining, Competitions and much much more. Subscribe online using all major credit cards at www.CompassSport.co.uk 52 pages, full colour, 6 times a year £44 World Subscription
Vol 32
Issue 5
October 2011
£5.00
Var. 05
Rachael Effeney, outright winner of Sprint the Bay.
An outstanding result for Rachel against quality opposition. She won the first four stages and then was 6th and 2nd in the final races. Runner-up Lizzie Ingham placed 11th in the Sprint at WOC 2011. Angela Simpson took 6th in the World Universities Sprint in 2010, 6th in the JWOC 2011 Sprint and won STD last year. Rachel was 35th in the Sprint at her WOC debut last year. MEN: 17.1 km: 1) T Scott (NZ) 1h34:35; 2) T Reynolds (NZ) 1h35:53; 3) M Parton (AUS) 1h36:36.
Orienteering
Magazine
CompassSport Britain’s
National
Vol 32
Issue 4
August 2011
Vol 32
£5.00
Issue 6
December
2011
£5.00
Know Your Course Leader European MTBO Champs Junior European Champs CompassSport Cup Final World Trail-O Champs World Championships Peter Palmer Relays Björkliden Arctic MM London City Race Route Choice #5 Informal Formats World Cup Final Fitness Training Out of Control Tio Mila Story Competitions Reviews Photo-O
This issue......... Know Your Course Leader Saunders Lakeland MM Route Choice #5 Scottish 6 Days Fitness training Swiss O Week World Masters Out of Control Competitions JK Report Harvester Reviews Jukola
www.CompassSport.co.uk
Holiday O Guide
Calendar Know Your Copeland Chase Class Leade r Route Choic Original Moun Fitness Traini e #5 ain Marat ng Out of Control Comp hon A Perfect Run etitions Reviews
.uk www.CompassSport.co
www.Com
passSport
.co.uk
‘A luxury you can afford.’
WOMEN: 14.1 km: 1) R Effeney (AUS) 1h32:56; 2) L Ingham (NZ) 1h34:11; 3) K Morrison (NZ) 1h38:04.
Osaka Women’s Marathon
S
ometime Park & Street orienteer, Lauren Shelley, has finished eighth in the recent Osaka International Women’s Marathon in a time of 2:35:57 beating current Olympic champion Constantina Dita of Romania who ran 2:40:08 for 11th place. Lauren’s time is inside the A Qualifier standard for the 2012 London Olympics.
Orienteering Service of Australia stocks Aires and Vavrys Gaiters Order online through our website at
www.osoa.com.au Aires Pro Gaiters from $59.95
Aires Standard Gaiters from $49.95 Vavrys gaiters from $57.95
Hard wearing and reliable O gear available to you with the convenience of online shopping For all enquiries contact OSoA on (03) 3017 4835 (We love to hear from you) email info@osoa.com.au MARCH 12 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 35
NUTRITION
Tea is Great for Health
Tannins are not always good One of the issues associated with the tannins in green tea is their effect on iron absorption. Tannins combine with iron in the intestinal tract making it less readily absorbed - it’s recommended to drink green tea between meals to avoid interfering with iron absorption. Adding lemon (which contains vitamin C, aiding in iron absorption) to green tea can help offset some of the effects. It is important to note that tannins only reduce the bioavailability of plant sources of iron (non-heme), and have no affect on animal sources (heme).
How to increase your green tea consumption? Firstly, brew your own green tea with high quality leaves and filtered water, read labels with care because tea should contain neither artificial colours nor ingredients. Look for teas that only contain green tea on the ingredients list. • Make a green tea chai by brewing green tea in milk (non dairy works well) and top with a sprinkle of cinnamon, black pepper, ginger and allspice. • Brew one or two teaspoons of loose-leaf green tea in 250ml of cool water for 20 - 30 minutes to develop flavour, and add to stir-fries, marinades, dressings, soups and even sauces.
Green tea, the prized buds and young leaves of an oriental evergreen tree, is made by briefly steaming the leaves, and drying them until they are crisp. The resulting greenish-yellow tea has an earthy, slightly astringent flavour close to the taste of the fresh leaf.
O
ther than white tea, green tea is the least processed and packs a nutritional antioxidant punch. The astringent flavour characteristic of green tea is due to the presence of antioxidant tannins. Tannins can be found in a variety of other plants and help protect plants against predators such as animals and insects; with its characteristically bitter taste. Tannins in tea have an antiinflammatory, antibacterial, antiviral, and antiparasitic effect. Catechins and other flavonoids are categorized as tannins although they do not have true tanning properties. EGCG is the most abundant catechin in tea and is believed to be responsible for most of the health benefits - specifically its ability to ward off mental decline and to lower LDL (the “bad kind”) cholesterol. Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases in part result from the combination of damaging factors including excessive inflammation, increased levels of iron, and increased free radical production. All of which green tea has been demonstrated to protect against. Researchers at Japan’s Tohoku University studied green tea intake and mental sharpness in the elderly, and found that drinking more than two cups a day cut the likelihood of cognitive impairment by 64 per cent! Keep in mind a Japanese cup of green tea is much smaller (about 90ml) than its western counterpart. Another study found that elderly Japanese drinking more than two cups a day had over fifty percent lower risk of age-related declines in memory, orientation, ability to follow commands and attention than those drinking less than three cups a week. For those of us who don’t drink two cups a day, there is still good news - the study found that those drinking 4 - 6 cups of green tea a week had a 38 percent lower risk of brain function decline.
36 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 12
• Brew green tea with fresh ginger and lemon slices. Add one teaspoon (or less) of honey per cup, stir and serve hot or let cool to make iced tea. • Combine cooled green tea half and half with a fruit juice (100% juice).
Black tea is healthy too Not to be outdone by its green cousin, black tea may help lower blood pressure. Research published recently in the Archives of Internal Medicine has shown that drinking three cups of black tea daily over six months can help reduce both systolic and diastolic blood pressure by two or three points compared with a placebo group which drank something with the same flavour and caffeine content as black tea, but containing no tea solids. The study tested a group of male and female subjects aged 35 to 75 who had systolic blood pressure readings in the range 115 to 150.
So, keep drinking that morning cuppa and make it both green and black when you boil the kettle through the day.
O-SPY The Australian Orienteer – first edition THIS magazine which you receive every quarter was first published in August 1973, nearly 40 years ago. It says a lot for the longevity of participants in our sport that the two orienteers featured on the front page – Keith Wade (VIC) and Toy Martin (NSW) – are still active participants with Keith concentrating on MTBO events now.
TOP END Initiative THE Top End Orienteers (TEO) have come up with an inventive way to upskill and motivate club members. They have plenty of keen orienteers but few that have journeyed south / west to experience big multi day events. This thus limits their vision of what is possible, in terms of up and coming juniors and in event organisation.
For almost a year before this first edition was published Orienteering was given national coverage in a small section within the monthly Australasian Athletics published by former Olympic sprinter Mike Agostini. And, of course, there were the various State-based newsletters which had been produced for a few years. Initially the new national magazine had something of a chequered career, being published by a variety of Orienteering groups before becoming the national magazine of the Orienteering Federation of Australia (now Orienteering Australia) in 1979.
The name was drawn out of a hat at the end of year presentation night and the winner was Juli Giffard, who is also TEO’s newsletter editor & catering officer. She’s now enthusiastically booked her flights to go to Easter in Queensland. Well done TEO on an innovative approach. Kay Haarsma
WMOC 2013 update
Encouraged by former SA orienteers, Susanne Casanova and Lachlan Hallett, now Darwin residents, the TEO committee agreed to award a $600 random draw prize to one of the course planners and event organisers for the year. The grant would go towards travel & expenses for attending an interstate multi-day event. This was partly as a carrot, to encourage more people to help with planning/ organising, but they all figured it was a win-win situation.
THE dates August 2 – 11 are now listed on the IOF web site for WMOC 2013 as part of the World Masters Games in Torino, Italy, with the notation “exact dates to be confirmed”. But on the Torino2013 web site (www.torino2013wmg. org/) there is no more information on Orienteering than was reported in the December 2011 edition of this magazine, and the proposed venue is still listed as a city park, Parco della Rimembranza.
Olympic Games FROM the archives …. an editorial from the Victorian Orienteer, June/July 1976:
“Next month the Olympic Games 1976 will be contested in Montreal. The inclusion of Orienteering in the future is a topic under consideration by the International Orienteering Federation. The question of Olympic participation can be divided into two phases. First, to secure formal promotion of Orienteering to an Olympic sport. Second, to have Orienteering included in the official program of the Olympic Games.
The IOF Council has decided to investigate the pro’s and con’s of Olympic acceptance, and recommendations are to be reviewed. The Orienteering Federation of Australia has yet to speak out on the views of Australian orienteers. The opinions of members will guide the OFA in developing a policy on this question.”
Phase One could be helpful to some member countries of the IOF in obtaining government financial support and in enhancing the image of the sport. Phase Two is more debatable. An increasing number of Orienteering nations have expressed objections to participation in the Olympic Games. The reasons are several: financial, concern about the ideological development of the Games, and the fear that a top-class Orienteering competition, in the way we know it, cannot be arranged within the context of the Olympic Games.
Fast Walking is Healthy
Very little appears to have changed in the intervening 36 years.
HERE’S good news for those who power walk in Park & Street events. A study of older men (70yo or over) by Concord Hospital has shown that those who walk at a speed of at least 5km/hr are likely to live longer. The study compared the walking habits with mortality of 1705 men over a 5-year study period. So although most younger people run in Park & Street Orienteering events, the Power Walking category provides healthy exercise for older participants, both men and women. But, of course, we knew that. MARCH 12 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 37
URBAN-O
Urban O
in Melbourne Michael Hubbert
It’s two years since we looked at the progress of Urban Orienteering in and around Melbourne. In that time we’ve covered all the States and Territories so now we come full circle to see what Melburnian Park & Street orienteers and those in nearby population centres get up to throughout the year.
B
ack in AO-March 2010, when we last looked at Melbourne, we reported that in Melbourne suburbs and nearby population centres (Werribee, Geelong, Macedon) seven summer weekday evening series offered 109 events during the daylight saving period. With the introduction of a second Tuesday series of adventure racing in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs that figure has now increased to 130 events spread across eight concurrent series. And the 22 “Coffee-O” training events continue on Saturday mornings though, with the unusually humid days this summer it should be known as “Iced coffee-O”. A Melburnian orienteering fanatic can take part in five events each week throughout summer. Summer events are mainly “scatter-O” courses for runners and “score-O” courses for power walkers or those who just want to trundle around. When daylight saving ends we reported that participants simply put on headlamps and came back for more with 70 suburban night events being held each year. That number across the three concurrent series remains steady as does the 20 “Cake-O” events on Saturday afternoons through autumn, winter and spring. Ten morning training events are held on the Saturdays when there is no “Cake-O” scheduled. Thus there are 100 events on offer in the non-daylight saving period and that same orienteering fanatic can participate in four events on most weeks. Don’t chuckle as you read this – those tragics do exist and their numbers seem to be growing. 38 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 12
All these events, and particularly the night events, are “score-O” to encourage participants to return within a specified time. We don’t want to be out looking for latecomers on a dark, cold and rainy night. And, if participants come back late at “Cake-O” events – well, there’s no cake left. Then there’s the MelBushO series held on Sunday afternoons when there’s no major bush event scheduled and located in small pockets of bush close to Melbourne. This year there’ll be seven events in the series, giving those Park & Street O tragics a chance to try their hand at the bush and to notch up a few more events. Make that 107 urban (or near-urban) events on offer in the non-daylight saving period. In terms of participation – across the four main urban summer series (Mon; Tues; Wed; Thurs.) entry numbers currently total around 400 or more each week. The popularity of the Power Walker category remains high at around 35–40% of all participants (a little more than two years ago) and I’ve noticed that the ‘power talking’ out on the course hasn’t subsided one decibel. The fascinating part is that they talk about anything and everything except about the course they’re on. Finally, a cost estimate I came across recently made me think …….. In 2008 the total direct financial cost of obesity for the Australian community was estimated to be $8.3 billion. Of these costs, the Australian Government bore over one-third (34.3% or $2.8 billion per annum), and State governments 5.1%. Well, in its own small way Park & Street Orienteering is helping rein in these costs by attracting some of these people to get out and exercise. MARCH 12 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 39
URBAN-O WORLD MTBO CHAMPIONSHIPS
SPOT THE DIFFERENCE This is a popular Park & Street area first mapped in 2002. There are 15 differences between these two otherwise identical map sections. CAN YOU FIND ALL 15 ?
40 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 2012
MARCH 2012 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 41
TECHNOLOGY
SPORTident timing system
– The Development
Siegfried Ritter
In 2012 we celebrate the 16th anniversary of the first Orienteering event using SPORTident. Here we continue the story of how the “SI stick” was developed.
B
esides basic SPORTident user features, described in the last issue, there are more elements of success. SPORTident was not the first electronic punching system presented to the Orienteering community and, later, other systems followed. But SPORTident got the momentum of time. In the 1990s users had their own PC at home and it was the time of the introduction of first generation mobile phones. This means users were quite sensitive and ready to check out such electronic gadgets. It is no coincidence that the housing of the SPORTident station BSF8 was designed in relation to the size of a mobile phone. We introduced SPORTident country by country and, of course, successful introduction depends on the economical situation in each country. We had the years of social transformation processes in a bigger number of countries in Central and Eastern Europe. I realised a simple prerequisite for introduction. The BIP per capita should be at least USD 10,000. Let’s use Czech Republic as a sample. The Czech Republic is a country with a well developed Orienteering scene. So we presented SPORTident there in 1997 with absolutely no response. We came back three years later and saturated Orienteering events to nearly 100%. Actually, nothing changed on the SPORTident side but nearly everything in the economical situation of the Czech Republic. SPORTident was introduced in Australia based on the strong relations to UK in the first years of the third millennium. Australia is a bit far away from Germany but I got the chance to visit Australia, to run at some events and to meet organisers in preparation of the 2002 World Masters Orienteering Championships in Australia. At the end of 2011 SPORTident is used in more than 50 countries. All the key orienteering countries have been contacted. So we are depending on the growth of our customer base and there is still growth. We made first time shipments of SPORTident kits to Iceland, Greenland and Indonesia in 2011. There is also a lot of activity in South America’s Orienteering. SPORTident started as a hobby but has been transferred into a full business for the past eight years. SPORTident nowadays is a small sized but stable company. We offer all the basic customer support like phone answering, email messaging, and in addition to our website there is also a facebook account. We are keen to meet our customers as often as possible. This means extensive travelling. Diethard and I visit customers in more than 20 countries every year. SPORTident is also a pretty old styled company. I have been orienteering for my whole life and I am an electronic engineer. 42 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 12
SI 11 is the latest for Orienteering; SIAC-O can be set for Orienteering (punch mode) but can also be switched to proximity punching for events such as MTBO, Ski O and any sport that restricts you from getting close to punch; SIAC-U is a proximity control (no hole) so you must have a SIAC set for proximity. Great for MTBO or Ski O, etc. Some of these are not yet approved for sale but this gives some idea where Sportident advancements are headed.
We like what we do and I am not a friend of any outsourcing. We manage the whole life-cycle of the SPORTident system like system-concept, system-design, hardware- and softwaredevelopment, production, marketing, sales and after-sales activities. SPORTident is a product “Made in Germany”. Of course there are international suppliers and it’s surely not a surprise that a number of customised parts are coming from orienteers running a small sized company too. While the basic SPORTident finger stick seems to be nearly constant in design over the years there is significant technical progress “under the hood”. Memory size differs to meet several customer groups’ requirements. Even more impressive are progresses in punching speed. The Table shows most important features. SPORTident introduces SI-Cards 10 and 11 in 2012. Compared with our first model, the SI-Card 5, these chips are “faster” by more than a factor of 4! Similar progress has been designed in the SPORTident stations. The present stations, series 7/8, feature extremely low power design while always being on. There is no switch and this results in very easy handling. When asked about innovative elements of the SPORTident system - I still believe that the low power concept implemented in BS7/8 resulted in the world’s lowest power RFID reader unit at the time of introduction. SPORTident also was one of the first system solutions able to offer a robust and reliable bi-directional data transfer between RFID-chip and base station without mechanical locking of both system parts. SPORTident very early defined also principles how to design the human interface of our products. A key point is the number of input buttons or switches. Easy user interface means one or two buttons at maximum. Discussing the future of the SPORTident project, first we are committed to our large existing customer base. What we have learned from our customers is that non-compatible system extensions will nearly not be accepted. So next-coming products will extend present possibilities. One of such products is the SI-Card 11. It comes in the standard SPORTident card holder but features extended feedback signals. There is a blinking LED in the
card’s tip flashing for a while after having left a control station. SI-Card 11 is an introduction for 2012.
330 number of punches
In addition we are looking for new applications based on existing system parts. In a lot of developed countries children tend to reduce physical activities.. They are moving less and are becoming fat. SPORTident promotes a special program to stimulate sport lessons at schools. It is based on the school training set and proposes attractive exercises. A video is used to demonstrate the concept (school.sportident. com).
196 165 130 68 39
115
70
SI-Card 5
SI-Card 6
SI-Card 6*
SI-Card 8
SI-Card 9
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The general future of Orienteering and outdoor sport equipment is characterised by implementing more and more personal gadgets. While in the past a simple sports watch, or in Orienteering a SPORTident stick, were enough to manage and enjoy a race nowadays much more equipment is used. There are heart beat recorders, GPS trackers, online data transmission and more will follow. Social web platforms are used to plan and demonstrate workouts, evaluate events and to exchange
www.osoa.com.au
115
SI-Card 10/11 SIAC 2012
experiences with others. Everything makes the sport more exciting – but it costs time too. Evaluating sport simply limits the time to practice. SPORTident’s goal is to strengthen it’s position as a leading provider of core equipment in outdoor sports. We want to deliver sustainable products for the community, easy to use and reliable.
aussieogear.com
By introducing SIAC (SPORTident Active Card) we offer again a system compatible device but with the extension of remote proximity punching. This opens the door to serve not only in Orienteering but in general outdoor adventure sport activities. SIAC was introduced in 2010 and received a number of accolades in applications like Duathlon, Triathlon, Biking (MTB) and trail.
punching time [ms]
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MARCH 12 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 43
ORIENTEERING AUSTRALIA
2011 National Rankings – non-elite Darryl Erbacher – OA Statistician
R
ankings in non-elite classes have been determined based on results in the Australian 3-Days (E1, E2, E3), Australian Championships (AS, AM, AL) and the Oceania Championships (OS, OM, OL). Points are awarded for each event completed on the basis of 100 points for 1st place and lesser points for other competitors. An orienteer’s best three events count towards their rankings. The first ten orienteers ranked in each class are published here. State secretaries have lists of all orienteers ranked between 50 and 100 points inclusive. When more than one orienteer in a class has 100 points, the first ranked orienteer is determined by the average of their three best winning margins. Some points of interest in the 2011 rankings: 1. The winner by the largest margin was Clive Pope (UG.Q), winning by 8.52%.
FOR STOCKISTS CALL 1800 209 999
www.victorinox.com
VICTORINOX AWARD The Victorinox Award goes to Darryl Erbacher for his tireless work as Orienteering Australia Statistician. Darryl will receive a Victorinox Handyman which includes 24 tools and features – retail value $119.
ORI E NTEERING PUB LICATIONS IOF Publications
Australian Publications
International Specifications for‑Orienteering Maps . . . . . . . . . . $11.00 Competition rules for IOF events. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $11.00 Control Descriptions. . . . . . . . . . . . $11.00 Simple Maps for Orienteering . . . . $11.00 Trail Orienteering (BOF book). . . . . $30.00 Trail Orienteering (booklet). . . . . . . . $8.25 Trail O (leaflet) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $0.70
Elementary Orienteering Instructors‑Manual. . . . . . . . . . . . . $13.20 Level 1 Coaching Manual. . . . . . . . $22.00 Level 1 Coaching Syllabus. . . . . . . . $3.90 Level 2 Coaching Syllabus. . . . . . . . $4.40 Level 3 Coaching Syllabus. . . . . . . . $4.40 Among the Best Orienteers (video).$19.75 Sponsorship & Advertising, 1996 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . available from states Club Guide, available on disc.
Prices include GST and postage within Australia for single copies. Prices for bulk orders available on request. Orders should be addressed to Orienteering Australia, PO Box 284 Mitchell BC 2911, with cheques made payable to Orienteering Australia. Email: orienteering@netspeed.com.au 44 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 2012
2. In six classes two orienteers earned maximum points (separated by winning margins): M10 - Noah Poland (BS.A) and Kylian Wymer (BK.V); M16 - Ashley Nankervis (EV.T) and Matt Doyle (EN.Q); M50 - Bernard Walker (WR.T) and Robert Vincent (NC.N); M65 - Ross Barr (GO.N) and Tony Simpkins (LO.W); W50 - Jenny Bourne (AO.A) and Anthea Feaver (LO.W); W75 - Maureen Ogilvie (UR.N) and Sue Mount (AL.T). 3. 28 clubs had members in the first three places of their respective classes: UG.Q (7); AL.T (6); WO.W, GO.N (5); PO.A, EV.T, WR.T, AOA (4); BS.A, BK.V, MF.V, RR.A, LO.W, WH.N (3); EN.Q, BF.N, NC.N, BN.N, OH.S, SH.N, UR.N (2); YV.V, WA.S, KO.W, RR.Q, GS.N, NT.N, TT.S (1). The most successful States were: NSW (20), VIC, TAS, ACT (14). 4. Clive Pope (UG.Q) was ranked first in both M70 and M75. Jenny Bourne was ranked first in W50 and second in W45. 5. Families with two or more members in the first three placings were: Day (Jarrah, Inala, Jemery); Hill (Daniel, Joanna, Barbara); Wymer (Kylian, Isabelle); Hyslop (Thomas, Rebecca); McIntyre (Lachlan, Tim); Doyle (Matt, Steve); Tay (David, Su Yan); Brownlie (Tom, Carol); Lawford/Bourne (Geoff, Jenny); Uppill (Adrian, Robin); Hodsdon (John, Val); Mount (Tony, Sue); Schafer(Neil, Christa); Dowling (Zoe, Anna). 6. The class with the most ranked orienteers was M60 (26).
Letters
The Australian Orienteer welcomes letters. Preference will be given to letters which are concise and which make positive points. The editor reserves the right to edit letters, particularly ones which are longer than 300 words.
No letters received for this issue.
2011 RANKINGS Class M10 1 Aston Key MF.V 1 Noah Poland BS.A 2 Kylian Wymer BK.V 3 Thomas Hyslop PO.A 4 Jensen Key MF.V Class M12 1 Lachlan McIntyre UG.Q 2 Aston Key MF.V 3 Oliver Martin WO.W 4 Duncan Currie GO.N 5 Nicholas Burridge UG.Q 6 Luke West AL.T 7 Max Dalheim MF.V Class M14 1 Jarrah Day AL.T 2 Oliver Mill RR.A 3 Daniel Hill GO.N 4 Stephen Melhuish PO.A 5 Toby Wilson GO.N 6 Oisin Stronach AL.T 7 Aidan Tay UG.Q 8 Ciaran Lane PO.A 9 Scott Charlton NC.N 10 Ewan Barnett BS.A Class M16 1 Ashley Nankervis EV.T 2 Matt Doyle EN.Q 3 David Tay UG.Q 4 Henry McNulty LO.W 5 Max Neumann EN.Q 6 Declan McCauley WO.W 7 Nicholas Collins BK.V 8 Cameron Duncan WA.W 9 Aidan Dawson GO.N Class M35 1 Dion Keech MF.V 2 Ian Dalton WO.W 3 Tom Brownlie WO.W Class M40 1 Paul Liggins MF.V 2 Paul Marsh BF.N 3 Patrick Walsh WO.W 4 Scott Simson NC.N 5 Greg Morcom TT.S 6 Rohan Hyslop PO.A 7 Neil Simson TF.Q 8 Peter Annetts GO.N Class M45 1 Steve Doyle EN.Q 2 Tim McIntyre UG.Q 3 Jemery Day AL.T 4 Martin Wehner WE.A 5 Lance Read UG.Q 6 Andy Simpson BF.N 7 Gary Carroll AL.T 8 Steve Cooper YA.S 9 Mark Nemeth TF.Q 10 Tony Hill GO.N Class M50 1 Bernard Walker WR.T 2 Robert Vincent NC.N 3 Grant McDonald AO.A 4 Russell Blatchford NC.N 5 Duncan Sullivan LO.W 6 Alex Davey WR.N 7 Andrew McComb OH.S 8 Michael Burton BF.N 9 Michael Burt RR.A 10 David McCauley WO.W Class M55 1 Geoff Lawford AO.A 2 Paul Pacque EV.T 3 Eoin Rothery BF.N 4 Roch Prendergast EU.V 5 James Lithgow GO.N 6 T van Geldermalsen YV.V 7 Nick Dent CC.N 8 Richard Robinson SO.Q 9 David Firman EN.Q 10 Bert Elson AL.T
100.00 ASAMAL 100.00 E1E2E3 (0.71) 100.00 ALOSOM (0.42) 84.08 AME1OL 56.62 OLALOS 100.00 99.64 99.28 88.12 81.10 80.94 67.98
E1E2E3 OSOMAL ASOLOS OMOLOS ALOLOS OLALOS ALOSOL
100.00 95.42 90.54 82.60 79.54 72.71 64.15 61.14 59.58 54.35
E1E2E3 AMASE2 E3ALE2 OSALOM OSALOM OSALOM ASAME2 OSALOL OSALOL ALOSOM
100.00 E1E3OS (0.34) 100.00 E2ALOM (0.11) 98.64 ASAME2 92.23 OSALOL 77.56 ALOLOS 76.42 E2AME3 73.59 ASOLAL 59.07 OSE2OL 55.19 OLE3E2 98.28 96.09 88.69
E1ASOM E2E3E1 E3E2E1
100.00 96.06 95.23 94.53 88.65 87.91 65.05 52.81
E1E2E3 AME2E3 AMASE2 OMOSAL OSOMOL AMASE2 OSOMOL OLALOS
100.00 98.10 94.56 92.05 91.15 90.30 87.04 86.04 85.45 85.40
E2E3OS E1AMAL ASE2E3 OMALOL E1ALE3 OMALOS AMASE1 E2E1E3 ALOMOS E2E1E3
100.00 E1E3AS (0.12) 100.00 ALOSOM (0.09) 98.24 E2OSE3 91.47 E2E1AL 85.08 ASE1AM 82.23 E3E1OM 77.50 E3E1E2 77.27 ALOMOL 67.38 E3E1E2 63.34 AME3E1 100.00 99.22 96.17 87.80 86.49 86.15 82.37 75.55 73.99 71.69
E2E3AS OSOLAL E1ASOL OLE3AL OSE3E1 ALOMOS OLALAS E1E3AL OSALOL ASE1AM
Class M60 1 Nigel Davies 2 Gordon Wilson 3 Adrian Uppill 4 Hugh Moore 5 Paul Hoopmann 6 Steve Flick 7 Greg Chatfield 8 Robert Allison 9 Ian Fletcher 10 Robert Preston Class M65 1 Tony Simpkins 2 Ross Barr 3 Alex Tarr 4 Terry Bluett 5 Dick Ogilvie 6 Dave Lotty 7 Michael Howe 8 Jim Merchant 9 Ron Junghans 10 Tim Dent Class M70 1 Clive Pope 2 Frank Tomas 3 John Hodsdon 4 Graham Fowler 5 Basil Baldwin 6 Ted Mulherin 7 John Lyon 8 John Sutton 9 Peter Kreminski 10 Peter Galvin Class M75 1 Clive Pope 2 Barry Hanlon 3 Pauli Piiroinen 4 Don Young Class M80 1 Tony Mount 2 Neil Schafer 3 Gordon Howitt 4 Ray Kelly 5 Kevin Paine Class M85 1 Hermann Wehner Class W10 1 Arabella Phillips 2 Joanna Hill 3 Sophie Jones 4 Alyssia Wymer 5 Zoe Melhuish 6 Ellen Currie Class W12 1 Tara Melhuish 2 Inala Day 3 Rebecca Hyslop Class W14 1 Zoe Dowling 2 Hannah Goddard 3 Winnie Oakhill 4 Georgia Jones 5 Rebecca George 6 Melissa Annetts 7 Sharn Harvey Class W16 1 Anna Dowling 2 Nicola Blatchford 3 Katie Bowen 4 Marie Bak 5 Olivia Sprod 6 Nicola Marshall 7 Sally Young 8 Alison Burrill 9 Kelsey Harvey 10 Rhiana Roberts Class W35 1 Belinda Allison 2 Kim Carroll 3 Ceri Pass 4 Natalie Smith 5 Anna Hyslop 6 Cathy Hogg
EV.T BN.N OH.S RR.A TJ.S BN.N UG.Q RR.A LO.W NC.N
100.00 99.66 99.65 99.50 98.93 96.30 88.50 87.91 87.62 86.49
ASOSOM E2OLAL E3ALE2 E1AMAL OLASE3 E2E1AL ALE2OM AME2E1 AMASE2 ALOLOM
LO.W GO.N YV.V BN.N UR.N UR.N LO.W GO.N GO.N YV.V
100.00 E1E3AM (0.07) 100.00 E2ASOS (0.09) 96.03 OLALAM 92.52 OMALAS 89.42 OMASE1 87.66 E2ASAL 86.87 AME2AS 85.28 E2ASE1 83.92 ASE2E3 80.77 E2OSAL
UG.Q WA.S SH.N NC.N GS.N WH.N TT.S RR.A WA.S BG.V
100.00 98.59 96.89 96.85 95.32 87.84 84.59 80.03 72.70 70.11
ASOSOM AMALAS E1E3E2 E3OMAS E2E1AL OMOSAL E3E1AM E2E1AL OME2OL ALOMOL
UG.Q WH.N BS.A BO.W
100.00 91.48 91.31 58.45
E1E2E3 OSOMAL ALOLOM E2E1E3
AL.T GO.N SO.Q UG.Q BS.A
100.00 96.82 96.08 95.97 85.32
E3ALOS E2ASOS E1AME2 OMALOL OLALOS
WE.A
100.00
E1E2E3
EV.T GO.N UR.N BK.V PO.A GO.N
100.00 98.24 91.10 90.51 83.55 52.46
E1E3AS E2OSAL ALOLOS OMALOL OSALOL OSOLOM
PO.A AL.T PO.A
100.00 ALOSOL (0.24) 100.00 E2E3AS (0.00) 78.99 OMOLOS
WR.T EV.T UG.Q UR.N BF.N GO.N UG.Q
100.00 98.02 97.98 95.13 71.11 61.08 60.72
E1E2E3 OLOMAL ALOMOS ALOLOM OLALOM ALOSOM OMALOL
WR.T NC.N PO.A CC.N TT.S AL.T TT.S BB.Q UG.Q NC.N
99.49 99.12 96.71 95.61 83.80 72.69 69.44 67.52 66.08 51.10
OMOLE2 E1E2E3 E3E2E1 OSOMAL ALOMOL OLOSOM OSALOL ALOSOL ALOLOM OMOLAL
RR.A AL.T KO.W PO.A PO.A PO.A
100.00 98.08 96.57 94.68 93.68 89.90
ALOMOL E3ASAM E1E2E3 AME3E1 E1OSE3 OSOLOM
Class W40 1 Anita Scherrer RR.A 2 Barbara Hill GO.N 3 Isabelle Wymer BK.V 4 Linda Sesta UR.N 5 Jennifer Enderby NC.N 6 Sandra Tarr LO.W 7 Su Yan Tay UG.Q 8 Tamsin Barnes RR.Q Class W45 1 Su Yan Tay UG.Q 2 Jenny Bourne AO.A 3 Sue Hancock WR.T 4 Karen Blatchford NC.N 5 Nicola Dalheim MF.V 6 Wendy Read UG.Q 7 Toni Brown BS.A 8 Gayle Quantock NC.N 9 Kirsten Wehner WE.A 10 Catherine Creely BG.V Class W50 1 Jenny Bourne AO.A 2 Anthea Feaver LO.W 3 Felicity Crosato RR.Q 4 Debbie Davey WR.N 5 Christine Brown EV.T 6 Mary McDonald AO.A 7 Carol Harding BS.A 8 Geraldine Chatfield UG.Q 9 Prue Dobbin BK.V 10 Helen Bailey LO.W Class W55 1 Robin Uppill OH.S 2 Lynn Dabbs WH.N 3 Carol Brownlie WO.W 4 Hilary Wood CC.N 5 Sue Key MF.V 6 Liz Wood AW.V 7 Helen Edmonds NE.V 8 Julia Prudhoe CC.N 9 Liz Bourne BB.Q 10 Jennifer Binns LO.W Class W60 1 Valerie Barker BS.A 2 Val Hodsdon SH.N 3 Judith Hay BN.N 4 Barbara Tassell AL.T 5 Judy Allison RR.A 6 Carol Jacobson GO.N 7 Meredyth Sauer SO.Q 8 Christine Sinickas YV.V 9 Rosemary Kullmann LO.W 10 Libby Meeking YV.V Class W65 1 Jean Baldwin GS.N 2 Jenny Hawkins NT.N 3 Janet Fletcher LO.W 4 Ann Ingwersen PO.A 5 Dale Ann Gordon EU.V 6 Ruth Goddard YV.V 7 Penny Dufty BO.W 8 Judi Herkes BK.V 9 Janet Tarr YV.V 10 Toni Frank BO.W Class W70 1 Christa Schafer GO.N 2 Janet Morris WH.N 3 Helen Alexander BK.V 4 Barbara Pope UG.Q 5 Mary Hawthorne WR.T Class W75 1 Maureen Ogilvie UR.N 2 Sue Mount AL.T 3 Jeffa Lyon TT.S 4 Sue Healy NE.V 5 Joyce Rowlands NE.V
100.00 97.95 96.44 93.80 89.68 89.02 79.98 76.67
E1E3AS E2E3E1 OMALOL OSOLOM ALOSOL AME2E3 OMOSOL E3E2E1
100.00 99.73 92.45 92.14 91.80 89.91 83.82 81.20 71.13 70.69
E1E3AS E2AME1 OSE1OM ALOMAS ALOLOM OMALOL ASOSAL OSALOM ASALOS OSALOM
100.00 ALOMOL (0.22) 100.00 E1ASAM (0.19) 91.05 E2E3AS 88.71 E2ALE3 79.22 E1E2AM 68.79 E3E1E2 67.98 E1E3E2 63.68 E3E1E2 57.80 ASOSE3 57.26 ASE3AM 100.00 97.94 97.88 97.39 95.65 79.01 76.91 75.90 75.10 71.91
E1E2AM OLOSE2 OLOSAM E3ASE1 OSOMAL ALOLOM OLALOM E3OSE2 OSOLAL OSE2E3
100.00 99.30 95.38 95.13 93.45 93.24 91.50 91.04 88.10 87.63
E1E2E3 AMOSOL OME3AL OLASAL E3ASAL OSOLAL OLALE3 ALOLE1 ALOSAM OLE3AL
99.54 99.31 98.86 97.47 93.95 89.40 83.20 76.18 75.99 70.15
E2AME3 ALOME3 ASOLE2 OSE2AS OLE3E2 E3E2E1 E3E2AM E1E3E2 E2E3OL ASE3AM
100.00 94.43 93.01 83.18 80.98
E2E3AS OSOMOL OLE1E2 E1AME2 E1ASE2
100.00 E2AMAL (0.34) 100.00 E1E3OM (0.11) 85.82 OMASAM 83.44 ASOME3 65.47 OMOLAL
MARCH 2012 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 45
ORIENTEERING AUSTRALIA
SILVA Medal 2011 Darryl Erbacher – OA Statistician
T
he SILVA medal for 2011 has been M55 Geoff Lawford AO.A 1 won by Geoff Lawford (M55 - AO.A). 2 W17-20 Belinda Lawford AO.A Geoff also won this award last year and in 2 W45/W50 Jenny Bourne AO.A 1993. He joins Maureen Ogilvie (1990, 2002, 2007) with three wins. However, 2 W55 Robin Uphill OH.S notwithstanding Geoff’s wonderful 5 M70/M75 Clive Pope UG.Q performance, he trails Alex Tarr (1976, 5 W75 Maureen Ogilvie UR.N 1977, 1987, 2008) on 4 wins and the magnificent Ian Hassall (1987, 1989, 1992, 5 M16 Ashley Nankervis EV.T 1993, 1994, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2004, 2005) 5 W50 Anthea Feaver LO.W on 10 wins. The Lawford/Bourne family 9 M50 Bernard Walker WR.T have taken a recent stranglehold on the 9 W45 Su Yan Tay UG.Q SILVA Medal. Jenny won in 2009. This year the family featured prominently: Geoff won, 11 M21 Grant Bluett AO.A and Jenny and Belinda tied for 2nd with 12 M65 Ross Barr GO.N Robin Uppill. Families who have had two members as winners of this award in the past were: Tarr (Alex, Kathryn); Anderson/ Enderby (Frank, Jenny). The Saw family has had three family members win this award (Peter, Andrew, Kathy). This year, the SILVA Medal is based on points for participating and placing in the following events: Australian 3-Days (each day considered as a separate event); Australian Sprint, Middle and Long Distance Championships; and the Oceania Sprint, Middle and Long Distance Championships. Each orienteer who completed six of these events in M/ W16 and above was eligible for the SILVA Medal. The maximum points available was 24.
24 23 23 23 22 22 22 22 21 21 20 20
Geoff Lawford, winner of the 2011 SIlva Medal.
OA Statistician, Darryl Erbacher, interviews Geoff Lawford, 2011 SILVA Medal winner: DARRYL: Congratulations Geoff. GEOFF: Thanks. D: A great performance, Geoff, six wins and two seconds from eight starts, not to mention the distraction of setting for the Oceania Sprint. Last year you said you tried to keep fit and race well. Is it really that simple? G: It is nice to win the SILVA Medal, though of course again I know there are others who would be worthy winners who run down or are unable to attend all races. In principle it is as simple as keeping fit and racing well, but there is more detail. I still train both physically and mentally, for instance with long runs, hill runs, cross training (mostly on a bike), and technical training (on exercises that perhaps one or other family member organises). I enjoy these exercises so they are not difficult or tedious to do. Though of course my speed isn’t what it used to be and I have more aches and pains. Some family members would probably say that my clarity of thought has
deteriorated too and that I never had speed anyway. D: The Lawford/Bourne grip on the Medal is tightening. Jenny in 2009, you in 2010 and this year and Jenny and Belinda came in second. Do the family members feed off each other? G: I’d like to think that we encourage and support all family members regardless of their field of endeavour. Given that I have never headed another family it is hard to judge how different we are and whether we feed off each other. Consciously I don’t think we do, but as a minimum there are logistical advantages when many family members have the same recreation. As a parent of children with potential it is difficult to know when to advise or when to retire and let destiny take its course. I find it exciting that Belinda and Ian are better at some aspects of the sport than I was at their age and I try not to harp on where I think they’re tardy. D: Speaking for a number of we older orienteers, I am amazed at your control of injuries. How do you keep so well?
46 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 2012
G: I have been lucky with injuries - I don’t know why. I have no major and few minor traumas and I hope that is how it stays. I cycle to ease the pounding of running and find bush-running/orienteering seems to ease any injury niggles. I eat reasonably well, don’t drink, don’t smoke, get plenty of sleep, don’t take physical risks (barely alive really). But perhaps ultimately it is just my parents I can thank. D: There were some interesting performances at Yackandandah. Did you have a different range of techniques for your fine win in this event? G: I thought the course setter and mapper were generous with their advice. Like most people I took that advice but I think the difficulty is in the execution. It is hard to slow down, to walk, to stop and to check the map again when the race is on, the clock is ticking and other runners are passing. Maybe I was better disciplined at this than others. Or maybe the complexity of the terrain suited my orienteering strengths. I was happy with the result and know I felt relieved at the end because I
hadn’t been so successful earlier in the week. D: Some readers will wonder how you did so well over a wide variety of terrains. Do all good orienteers cope no matter what they come up against? G: Good orienteers come in many colours. Speed, strength, map-reading, composure under pressure are all important skills. We each have a different skill-mix and races vary in the degree to which each skill is important. So the winner tends to vary a lot. I like to think that all winners are good orienteers, if only for a day. But maybe not all winners are able to succeed equally well in all terrains or races. As I mentioned last year, my strongest skill is my navigation and this tends to lead to consistency regardless of the terrain. D: Thanks for the advice, Geoff, and congratulations again.
NEW IDEAS
The top Orienteers in Australia…. at Oceania 2011 A quick and easy ranking, handicap or performance measuring system that embraces all ages and all hard classes. Peter Hall (WROC, OT)
T
he following table was prepared by using the method or system that is being explored in Tasmania by the author with the objective of introducing a global handicap system (as in golf). Experience to date indicates that apart from the Elites, who already enjoy the use of a complex ranking system, and whose Orienteering performance is less volatile, that it would need a lot of results processing. The Australian golf handicap system is by no means simple and averages results over several previous events. The scheme is managed at Club level, but the results are processed on line by “GOLF Link”… But note well they say “a player’s handicap is intended to show his potential, not his average score”. That is the emphasis is on his performance and reducing his/her handicap. However, on any given day, it is an easy job to determine an orienteer’s performance, let’s call it his/her performance measure (PM) which can then be compared with all other runners on that day, and not just the runners in his/her class. It is based on the runner’s speed, so the underlying assumption is that all classes run on that day experience the same degree of difficulty because of the terrain. Not only do the Elite run on a much longer course, with much longer winning time, they are most likely to run in the more distant, difficult and slower parts of the map. This was well illustrated in the AUS Championships – see below – where the fastest adjusted speeds were about 5 min/km, clearly for once well ahead of the Elites with 6 min/km. The results at Oceania 2011 have been manually processed as an exercise (in handling and merging large spread sheets!) to see what sort of results can be achieved, and to see if those results are of any interest. The results are based on the three major events (Long Distance, Middle Distance and AUS Champs) for all hard navigation classes. The table shows the average PM for the three events and although some runners only ran one or two events they were included at the handicappers discretion, and this is indicated. Note that this study includes the New Zealanders who competed. The system uses the Age-Speed factors (ASF) used by OT to determine its Awards for excellence points in all major events. These represent the decline in running speed of Elite orienteers with age. (See article by the author in the OA Technical Bulletin, No. 1, 2008. Editor Andy Hogg). All running speeds (min/km) are multiplied by the appropriate ASF to give an “age-adjusted speed” (AAS). For the Elites, their ASF is 1.0 and their AAS equals their running speed. The fastest AAS on the day sets the standard for the day, which is always 100%. That speed could be considered to be the course or map speed for the day, and the master maps could well
The Top Orienteers in Australia at Oceania 2011 Carnival Rank 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
Name Greg Barbour NZ Jenny Bourne Dave Middleton NZ Jo Allison Rob Preston Jean Cory-Wright Lizzie INGHAM NZ David Shepherd Lachlan Dow Carsten Jorgensen NZ Simon Uppill Patricia Aspin NZ Vanessa Round Warren Key** Alex Tarr Rob Walter Grace Crane Kathryn Ewels Susanne Casanova Murray Scown Rob Vincent Nick Hann Chris Naunton Aislinn Prendergast Grant Bluett Matthew Crane Paul Pacque Rob Jessop Isabelle Wymer Bryan Keely
PM 91 91 89 89 89 88 88 88 88 87 87 87 86 86 85 85 84 83 82 82 82 82 82 81 81 81 81 81 81 80
Class M45 W50 M65 W21E M21E W 50 W21E M21E M17-20E M21E M21E W60 W21E M50 M65 M21E W21E W21E W21E M21E M50 M21E M21E W21E M21E M21E M55 M40 W40 M21E
Events only 1 only 2, 1 M60
only 2 only 1
only 2 #1, #4 M21E 2 1
2
1
be endorsed with that speed as an aid to future course planners. (And if in a local event there is a small or weak entry in course 1, the map speed could be used as the reference point.) THE RUNNERS’ AAS IS THEN COMPARED WITH THE COURSE or map SPEED TO ESTABLISH HIS/HER PERFORMANCE OR RANKING FOR THE DAY. Example: Runner’s speed = 10min/km times ASF, say 0.80 = AAS of 8min/km. Course speed 5 min/km divided by runner’s AAS 8 min/km = 0.625 (or 63 %) For any orienteers wishing to ‘examine’ their scores, the course speeds used were as follows: Long: 6.6 - an average of 4 classes M50, W50, W60, and M16 (with M21E - 7.1) Middle: 7.5 - set by the juniors, whose results were later deleted. (M21E - 7.7) AUS Champs: 5.0 - average of top speeds W60 (4.6), M70 (4.9), W65 (5.0), M75 (5.2) (M21E - 6.16). The ASF factors can be forwarded on request, or found on the OT website. One of the motives for having a ranking/performance/ handicap system is that it gives the greater bulk of orienteers of all ages, classes, and courses who never get to a podium appearance, a greater interest in their results and opportunity to compare their standing with all their friends and the Elites, and not just the competitors in their class. If OA and the States and the Clubs were to support this system, it might help membership numbers by giving the average competitors an opportunity to win, or at least feature in the top-10 of any designated handicap event. Enquiries welcome, to Peter Hall pghall@iprimus.com.au (Past President WROC, OT; Past Technical Director OT; Event Director Easter 1999). MARCH 2012 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 47
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