The Australian Orienteer - December 2015

DE CE M BER 2 0 15

RRP $8.50 inc GST

2016

Round 1

2

3

4

5

Event

Date

Location

1. Sprint

Sat 12th March

NE Melbourne

2. Sprint (WRE)

Sat 12th March

NE Melbourne

3. Sprint

Sun 13th March

Geelong, VIC

4. Sprint

Sun 13th March

Geelong, VIC

5. Elite Prologue (WRE)

Fri 25th March

University Canberra

6. Easter Day 1 - Middle Distance (WRE)

Sat 26th March

Isaacs Ridge, Canberra

7. Easter Day 2 - Long Distance

Sun 27th March

Primrose Valley, ACT

8. Easter Day 2 - Relay

Mon 28th March

Primrose Valley, ACT

9. Middle Distance

Sat 23rd April

Wilpena Pound, SA

10. Ultra Long Distance (WRE)

Sun 24th April

Wilpena Pound, SA

11. Middle Distance

Sat 28th May

St Helens, Tasmania

12. Long Distance (WRE)

Sun 29th May

St Helens, Tasmania

13. AUS Champs - Sprint (WRE)

Sat 24th Sept

Griffith Uni, Southport, QLD

14. AUS Champs - Relay

Sun 25th Sept

Beaudesert, QLD

15. AUS Champs - Long Distance (WRE)

Sat 1st Oct

Stanthorpe, QLD

16. AUS Champs - Middle Distance (WRE)

Sun 2nd Oct

Stanthorpe, QLD

WRE = World Ranking Event

All race details can be found at www.orienteering.asn.au

ORIENTEERING australia

The President’s Page Blair Trewin

T

he foot orienteering championship season is now done and dusted for 2015. Whilst it’s difficult to compare between different years, I think many would consider this year’s National Championships week to be among the best ever, with a variety of interesting events (and excellent, if sometimes slightly warm, weather), along with innovations in coverage of the event for spectators – both on the scene and remotely – at a level not previously seen in this part of the world. A great deal of credit goes to the Victorian organising team, led by Mark Valentine and Mark Hennessy, for making it all happen.

Also very pleasing was the turnout.

The Australian Long Distance Championships had about 850 competitors, the best we have had except in years when there has been a significant international event in conjunction, and the Middle Distance and Sprint Championships had almost as many – gone are the days when those distances were considered something only the elites concerned themselves with. Only in the Relays did the numbers drop away a bit; as those of you who’ve done the big European relays will know, the 25% or so of individual competitors each year who don’t stay for the relays don’t know what they’re missing out on.

Growing participation is an ongoing theme of ours. It’s now the main outcome that the Australian Sports Commission wants from the money they put into sports (including ours), and it’s also in our own interests – as I’ve said before, apart from being a good thing in its own right, more new participants now means more people who might develop into leading athletes, and more people who will be volunteers in the years down the track. It may not have been immediately obvious to many of you (especially as most of the growth has been in places other than the traditional Sunday bush events), but after many years of near-stable participation, we’ve seen consistent growth at a rate of around 5% per year over the last four years.

There continues to be excellent work done in this area in a variety of places. There are many opportunities and something which I’d particularly like to see happen is work to reinvigorate Orienteering in some major regional centres where there is good access to terrain and a long tradition of the sport, but where the same stalwarts have been keeping things running for 20, 30 or 40 years, and a new generation is needed for us to reach our potential there – the likes of Ballarat, Albury-Wodonga, Wagga Wagga and Armidale.

One especially pleasing aspect of the Australian Championships week was seeing almost all parts of the country having their day in the sun, competitively. After several

near-misses in recent years, the Queensland Cyclones took their first senior National League title.

Tasmania and the ACT fought out the Australian Schools Championships (which, to emphasise that it’s the whole team that counts, was settled by a sprint finish for fifth in the Senior Girls’ Relay). It was also good to see the strongest teams for many years from South Australia and Western Australia, and the emergence of Jo Anna Maynard as a rising star from the latter.

Another major positive was the way the Orienteering community came together for one of its own, Hannah Goddard. The event staged during the Championships raised over $4,000 towards ongoing costs associated with her treatment, and also showed what we can do as a community when the need arises.

I’m sure all of you would join me in wishing Hannah all the best for her journey; JWOC 2016 may be too much to ask, but we’d love to see her back for Finland in 2017.

The end of the season means the Orienteering Australia annual conference, which is our best chance to discuss big issues that Orienteering is dealing with at a National and State level. Continuing to build participation will be a major focus of the 2015 conference, including making sure we have good structures in place to bring as many as possible of the people emerging from Sporting Schools programs into mainstream Orienteering. (I’m realistic enough to know we won’t get a huge percentage out of such programs – no other sport does, and neither does the big and well-organised Swiss schools program – but the difference between getting 2% and getting 10% will be a very significant one for us).

Also on the conference agenda will be matters of governance. I expect the eyes of most readers are glazing over at this point and that not many have ever given any thought to the distinctions between incorporated associations and companies limited by guarantee, or other such matters. Whilst I don’t expect many of you to be too concerned about the legal technicalities, what we’re trying to achieve is a structure which is the best possible one – to allow for efficient decision-making, to provide the platform for people to work as effectively as they can (both volunteers and paid employees) for the benefit of the sport, and to be robust enough to allow issues to be properly resolved when things go wrong (as they sometimes inevitably will) or when people disagree about the best way to move the sport forward (as they sometimes inevitably will). We also want to give much more serious thought about what is done at National, State and Club level – whether things would run better if things currently done at one level were done at another instead, and the current mismatch between the levels at which money is raised and the levels at which it is spent. The discussions at the conference should move us forward in that respect.

I hope all of you have had a year in which you have enjoyed and been satisfied with your orienteering, and look forward to seeing you again in the new year, or possibly before.

DECEMBER 2015 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, supports 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 DECEMBER 2015

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 ACT 2911 President Blair Trewin Director High Performance Lance Read Director Finance Bruce Bowen Director Technical Jenny Casanova Director Special Projects Robert Spry Director Media & Communications Craig Feuerherdt Director International (IOF Council) Mike Dowling Executive Officer John Harding National MTBO Coordinator Kay Haarsma National Head Coach Nick Dent Badge Applications John Oliver

orienteering@netspeed.com.au w: 02 6162 1200 oa_president@netspeed.com.au lancer@hillbrook.qld.edu.au orienteering@netspeed.com.au h: 02 6288 8501 orienteering@netspeed.com.au m: 0427 605 167 rbspry@gmail.com craigfeuerherdt@gmail.com 0438 050 074 oa_international@netspeed.com.au orienteering@netspeed.com.au 02 6162 1200 m: 0427 107 033 kayhaarsma@hotmail.com 08 8337 0522 nickdent7@gmail.com 02 4384 3627 68 Amaroo Street, Wagga Wagga, NSW 2650

STATE ASSOCIATIONS Orienteering Queensland: PO Box 114 Spring Hill QLD 4004. Admin Officer: Tim McIntyre admin@oq.asn.au Orienteering NSW: PO Box 3379 North Strathfield NSW 2137. Admin Officer: John Murray, Ph. (02) 8736 1252 admin@onsw.asn.au Orienteering ACT: PO Box 402 Jamison Centre ACT 2614. Secretary: John Scown, Ph. (02) 6162 3422 orienteering.act@webone.com.au Orienteering Victoria: PO Box 1010 Templestowe VIC 3106. Secretary: Carl Dalheim, voa@netspace.net.au Orienteering SA: State Association House 105 King William St Kent Town SA 5067. Sec: Erica Diment (08) 8379 2914 secretary@sa.orienteering.asn.au Orienteering Western Australia: PO Box 234 Subiaco WA 6094. Secretary: Peter Komyshan o_map@iinet.net.au Orienteering Tasmania: PO Box 339 Sandy Bay TAS 7005. Secretary: Peter Cusick secretary@tasorienteering.asn.au Top End Orienteers (Northern Territory): PO Box 39152 Winnellie NT 0821. Secretary: Susanne Casanova topendorienteersNT@gmail.com

NEXT issue deadline

January 15. Time-sensitive: Jan 22

ISSN 0818-6510 Issue 4/15 (no. 180) DECEMBER 2015

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 pcusworth53@gmail.com Magazine Treasurer: Bruce Bowen Printer: Ferntree Print Centre, 1154 Burwood Hwy Upper Ferntree Gully.

Contribution deadline: January 15; Time-sensitive – January 22.

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 - Lance Read; MTBO - Kay Haarsma; Official News - John Harding; Nutrition - Gillian Woodward; Training - Steve Bird; Coaching – Hanny Allston.

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 – batmaps.liz@gmail.com NSW: Ian Jessup – marketing@onsw.asn.au ACT: John Scown – scown@light.net.au SA: Erica Diment – diment@adam.com.au – tel (ah) 8379 2914 Vic, WA and Tas – vacant 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 T h e P r e s i d e n t ’ s P a g e.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Sp r i n t g o l d a t W o r l d M T B O C h a mp s . . . . . . . 6 T h o u g h t s f r o m M T B O c o a c h.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Run for hannah................................. 10 a u s s c h o o l s c h a mp s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 2 Ic e b u g NOL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 5 AUS C HA M P S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 6 n av i g at i n g to b a l l a r at . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 0 ARDF r e g i o n 3 c h a mp s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 4 A u s u lt r a lo n g . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 8 2 0 1 6 M AS T ERS g a m e s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 0 why do I do it.................................... 32 engaging junior orienteers................ 34 overseas MTBO travel........................ 36 P e r m a n e n t c o u r s e a t m e l r o s e , SA . . . . . . . 3 8 a u s M T B O c h a mp s – a n g l e s e a . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 0 O - s p y .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 4 top events......................................... 47 Cover photo: Angus Robinson, Gold medallist in the M20 Sprint at the World MTBO Championships in Czech Rebublic. Photo courtesy of WMTBOC 2015, Ivo Habán.

DECEMBER 2015 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 5

world mtbo championships

Angus’ Golden Sprint

By Angus Robinson Bayside Kangaroos, VIC

Photos courtesy of WMTBOC 2015, Ivo Habán.

The 2015 World MTBO Championships were held in Liberec, Czech Republic, in August where both Chris Firman and Angus Robinson represented Australia in the Senior and Junior Men’s categories respectively, with Kay Haarsma as coach.

Angus finishing the Long Distance race.

H

aving been tight for time off, Chris and I arrived in Prague only a week before the races were due to commence. We met Kay at the airport and drove the 120km northeast to Liberec and our accommodation. During the training camp we had to adjust to the 35 degree days and hot nights, having come straight out of winter back home, thankfully the forecast for the race week was much cooler.

The competition started with a very hilly and wet Middle Distance race which included a spectator control with map change for the final loop, as well as some very technical navigation and route choice, with the start leading competitors straight to an intersection with seven track exits. Courses had 23 or more controls with many steep and rough descents especially due to the wet conditions. It was very tough riding. I managed 12th place with a small error on the second last control and unfortunately, Chris mispunched late in the course in a complex area south of the Finish arena. We were both hoping for better results on the following day in the Sprint.

Held in the town of Turnov, about 20 minutes drive away, was the Sprint Championship race. It was a perfect 25 degrees making for solid riding conditions. Chris and I had both chosen the last start block to have better riders around us during the race. I was the seventh last starter in my category and, interestingly, the 2nd and 3rd place getters were riders who started only two minutes behind me. The map was a mix of parkland, urban road and thick forest leaving little opportunity to cut between tracks. This required great attention to detail especially due to the crossing of control lines and other controls nearby complicating the map. There were several park areas where grass track junctions had tapes along the ground so riders would not cut corners or risk disqualification by the officials who

6 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER DECEMBER 2015

had cameras stationed throughout the map. We had been warned about many obstacles such as stairs, blind corners, concealed ditches and hard-to-see bollards that littered the course, so we would have to ride carefully.

Chris was very happy with his race and finished in an impressive 23rd place out of over 100 riders, less than two minutes down on the winner, resulting in his best place for the Championships. I had a perfectly clean run minus a few failed rolling control punches and managed to push myself into 1st place, winning by a total of 21 seconds. I couldn’t be happier with my result, having trained all year for the Sprint event and gained experience from previous years at JWOC. I now had the result to show for it. Then on to a well deserved rest day before the Long Distance.

Angus powering through the Sprint

Again the weather was perfect for racing. It was a pity we had roughly 1000m of climb for each of our courses, making for a very tough set of races. I rode relatively cleanly but lost a lot of time on two poor key route choices, placing 25th. Chris had a consistent ride but was unfortunately a bit off the pace, as was I.

We then recovered for the Relay on the following day, entering a WOC team consisting of Chris, Kay and myself in order to make a team of three and gain experience for next year when we will hopefully have more team mates to fill positions.

Chris Firman – 23rd in the Elite Sprint.

DECEMBER 2015 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 7

world mtbo championships

2015 JWMTBOC SPRINT 5.2 km 1.

Angus Robinson

AUS

21:27

2.

3.

Silvan Stettler

SUI

21:48

Oskar Sandberg

SWE

22:00

M20 Sprint 1. Angus Robinson AUS 21.27 2. Silvan Stettler SUI 21.48 + 0.21 3. Oskar Sandberg SWE 22.00 + 0.33

Bábík Scale 1:7500

and exit of the control to save time later when I came at it from further away.

Contours 5m

#5 to #6 and #7: Continuing on from the control I turned back toward where I’d come from and crossed the main road and up the hill to control #6, then straight back to the main road again and on to control #7. #7 to #8: Having used the straight section along the road to plan ahead I went clockwise around the block, running across the park into the control.

My Gold Medal Sprint Race My route is shown in red.

To control #1: In the minute before my start I tried to plan as far ahead as I could, making it past the confusing section around control #4 to limit the time I’d have to waste on it later on. This left me with a relatively easy leg to the first and second controls, only having to worry about crossing the taped grass edges that would result in disqualification. #2 to #3: Since off track riding was not allowed I still felt it would be quicker to run across

the grass carrying my bike the minimum 20cm above the ground. This ended up being the only split that I won for the whole course, so it was a good choice. #3 to #4: I chose the route choice crossing the river at the western of the two bridges as the tracks were better quality and it would mean leg 9-10 would be easier to follow later on in the course, saving more time.

From the bridge I climbed the hill and had a steep dog leg into the control. #4 to #5: I headed past control #10 as it was on my preferred route choice and also allowed me to quickly suss out the entrance

8 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER DECEMBER 2015

#8 to #9: I chose to continue running north to the track the control was on so I could ride straight to it and past toward the next one with minimal turning and decision making required. #9 to #10: After continuing on and up the same hill as before, without turning off this time, I arrived at the 10th control. #10 to #11: Of the two options to go either past #6 and along the mown track or head west and up the hill on a sealed road I chose the latter option to give myself a chance to concentrate on the last section of the course, since it was the least navigationally demanding route and I could push to the max without missing any turns.

#11 to #12: I went south and cut back up and into the control.

Having had a clean run so far I knew I must have been riding a fast time so I was trying really hard to keep focussed and avoid silly mistakes that could ruin it. #12 to #13: I went south to the edge of the map and then down toward the track entrance which was down a decent flight of stairs and on to the control. #13 to #14 and #15: I rode out onto the main road and down toward the track entrance which turned out to be a set of tiered stairs that I made sure to ride up since there was a camera watching me, punching #14 and then on to #15. Again being very careful I didn’t cut the taped grass corners in the park. #15 to #16: With lots of out of bounds areas in the way, I hesitated, checking if there was a way to go direct to #16 but ended up going west to the main road and in. #16 to #17 and Finish: No route choice to the final control.

I just had to make sure I didn’t miss it, then through the Finish chute.

I’m grateful for all the support I have received from my club, Bayside Kangaroos, Orienteering Australia and fellow orienteers over the years. If anyone is interested in taking up this great sport I would be more than willing to help you get started.

World MTBO Champs – thoughts from the Coach Kay Haarsma

W

ith only a team of two this year, it was quality if not quantity with both Chris Firman & Angus Robinson performing well. The trip started nicely with an excellently run training camp by the Czech organizers, with proper courses on offer every day. We stayed in a rural pension during this time so we could self-cater. During WMTBOC we moved into the Liberec sport centre hotel where most teams were staying. The boys both have big appetites so the team budget had to stretch to buying a mini stove and cookpot so they could have pasta for breakfast!

The gold in the JWMTBOC Sprint by Angus was, of course, our highlight. This was his third and final JWMTBOC and it was great to see his progress over those years rewarded. Angus knew he had ridden well and was near the end of the start list. Initially he was announced as 2nd and he was pretty stoked with that but had to remain in quarantine. Chris Firman was still out riding; I was still making my way to the Finish stadium from the Start and Anne Robinson (Mum) was in the stand and had no-one to celebrate with. Shortly after I arrived an official told me that Angus had been elevated to 1st due to a DSQ. I had the fun job of telling Angus that he was now the winner! Chris rode in for a fine 23rd place in the M21 elites and immediately tackled Angus in a sweaty man hug when told the news. The only disappointment was not to have more Aussies there to share in the celebrations.

All four races and even the final post-event party were so well organized that many riders and coaches were heard to say “best ever championships.” The amazing thing I found was that almost all the officials came from the local Liberec Orienteering club, 90% of whose members were solely foot orienteers! They genuinely were happy to be involved and loved how friendly all the competitors were.

On top of this there was daily live TV coverage to a Czech sport station, which is a great promotion for the sport. And the drama that evolved each day could almost have been scripted!

The Middle Distance was first and it was held in quite treacherous muddy conditions with a brutal uphill finish. Popular Italian rider, Luca Dallavalle, had a lead as he hit the last control but a puncture forced him to run up the Finish chute and gold turned into silver by a few seconds. The very next day Luca turned despair into delight when he took gold by 4secs in the M21E Sprint. A similar story occurred with the women. Czech, Martina Tichovska, was the leader and thought of as the winner by the home crowd in the Middle Distance. However, late starter Gaelle

This year’s full Aussie MTBO team.

Hearing the news Angus had won.

Angus in one of the practice events.

Barlet (France) took the victory by 24secs. Again Martina was able to control her disappointment to take a big 55sec victory in the Sprint.

On a very demanding Long Distance course home rider Martina Tichovska and Russian Anton Foliforov both added a second gold medal to their collection from these Championships.

In the final race of the Championships, an experienced Finland team put in a strong performance to take the Women’s Relay crown, whilst in the Men’s race a close finish between the top three teams resulted in a surprise victory for Austria.

No-one outside their team had considered Austria as potential gold medallists, but Kevin Hasselsberger, Bernhard Schachinger and, in particular Andreas Waldmann on the last leg, had other ideas. Waldmann went out 4th and at the end of an exciting last leg he came to the Finish 8secs in front of the Russian star Anton Foliforov.

It was great to see the IOF taking a greater interest in MTBO with Brian Porteous being the first IOF President to attend a WMTBOC. He even went the extra mile to gain a better insight by borrowing a bike and riding two of the spectator races. Similarly, the new IOF CEO, Tom Hollowell, attended the joint World Masters / European Championships carnival, rode some courses and gave a briefing and answered questions.

I was seconded into an expert group to give direction on the IOF MTBO competition program review during these championships. This comprised Sandor Talas (HUN); Michi Gigon (AUT); Augusto Almeida (POR), Jussi Laurila (FIN), Roma Puisiene (LTU) and myself. The main agenda item was to recommend a fifth medal competition, with Mass Start as the preferred format, to the IOF. An interesting write-up by new Great Britain riders at WMTBOC is at http://mulebargirl.blogspot.com/2015/08/worldmountain-bike-orienteering.html?spref=fb

Gold medal, World Champs jersey and Diploma for Angus.

Martina Tichovska (CZE) won 2 Gold, 1 Silver and 1 Bronze.

DECEMBER 2015 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 9

Orienteers are a generous lot The community of Orienteers is spread far and wide around the globe. Wherever you go in this world you will be greeted by orienteering friends, particularly at events. Our sport creates a bond of friendship between us. We remain a community wherever we are, and, when one of our own is in need of assistance, members of the Orienteering Community don’t hesitate in drawing together to lend a hand. None more so than when we learned that Tasmanian Junior and JWOC representative, Hannah Goddard, needed our friendship and support.

TASMANIA SHOWS SUPPORT FOR HANNAH

I

n Tasmania, there has been a tremendous amount of spontaneous support for Hannah and her family, with orienteers from all clubs across Tasmania involved, and everyone looking forward to seeing Hannah back in the bush as soon as possible.

In Launceston, Esk Valley Orienteering Club (EVOC), Hannah’s home club, conducted a special night event called Shine a Light for Hannah. EVOC focussed on attracting a large number of non-orienteers from Hannah’s school and from amongst her nonorienteering friends, as well as the usual club orienteers. It was a night event set on a school and park map and provided nonorienteers with an exciting introduction to Orienteering, as well supporting Hannah and her family. Hannah and her Mum were kept in touch during the event through Facebook, and her Dad, Rob, was present in person. Over $1900 was raised by the event and this included a donation from her school, Scotch Oakburn College, raised at a mini event at the school.

In Hobart, Wellington Ranges Orienteering Club (WROC) showed its support for Hannah, and scheduled a special event on the afternoon prior to the Southern Regional Championships and Badge event, which was attended by a small group of WROC and Australopers members and some non-orienteers. The event raised over $500.

Following this event, a Quiz Night par excellence was conducted at a local school. As well as the excellent Quiz competition, conducted by Quiz Masters, Jon and Cathy McComb, there was a raffle and a silent auction. Included in the auction were items of artwork created by local stalwarts of Tasmanian Orienteering and leading artists, Janet Bush and Barbara Tassell. Also on offer was an award-winning Pennicott Cruise, a Segway Waterfront Tour for 4, and many other items.

Many thanks go to Jane Cusick for organising the evening, to Chris Brown for the questions and to Jon for conducting the quiz and auction. Thanks also to Janet, Barbara, Mike Calder and the many others who made donations in kind or in cash, or who contributed in other ways to this excellent evening. A total of over $3000 was raised but just as important was the universal support for Hannah.

10 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER DECEMBER 2015

Australopers also showed its support for Hannah by donating all the club’s proceeds from the Southern Regional Championships.

Finally, the Board of Orienteering Tasmania launched the fund-raising in Tasmania with a $1000 donation and also donated their share of the event fees for all three Orienteering events that were specially arranged to show our support for Hannah. Together, over $6500 has been raised.

Discussions between the Goddard Family and Orienteering Tasmania resulted in the establishment of a trust fund that will be managed by Orienteering Tasmania on the family’s behalf.

Hannah and her family will be able to draw on the fund, if required, and should surplus funds remain after Hannah’s full recovery, the Goddard family have requested that the surplus be donated to the Peter MacCallum Clinic, where Hannah is currently being treated.

The Orienteering community in Tasmania wishes Hannah a speedy and complete recovery.

Warwick Moore (President, Orienteering Tasmania).

RUN FOR HANNAH

M

t Helen Campus was the venue for the exciting 2015 Schools Sprint Championships on Monday Sept 28th and following that we held the “Run For Hannah” public Sprint race in honour of Hannah Goddard, Tasmanian Junior Elite.

Support for this event was phenomenal with donations from individuals, Orienteering Clubs and businesses in the form of cash and products to raffle and sell. Even more importantly, support was in the form of love and support for a very special individual. To have Hannah at the event, to see her smiling and happy, was just terrific and the Goddard family are forever grateful for this support.

With over 300 race entrants and many enter-on-the-day participants, cash donations, raffle tickets sold and prizes donated, it is with much delight that we can report that together, on this one day, the Australian Orienteering community has raised $4400 to assist Hannah and her family as they work through this challenging time.

Orienteering Tasmania has set up a trust fund into which this money will be deposited and the Goddards can draw on it to help them with the numerous medical accounts they cannot cover. I have also made them promise that at some stage in the next twelve months they will treat themselves and Hannah to something special, whether it be a weekend away or an outing of some sort – but the Orienteering Community would love to know they have helped bring a smile to Hannah’s face and have helped the family personally. Any money remaining will go to the Peter MacCallum Cancer Clinic where Hannah is receiving her treatment.

It is impossible to name major contributors without leaving someone out but I would like to thank Eureka Orienteers and the Australian Carnival Organisers because when this idea was first put to them they were incredibly supportive and have offered tremendous assistance over the past few months. Map printing for the courses was done at the Club’s expense and they worked tirelessly on the day to make it successful.

Many individuals and Orienteering Clubs have made significant cash contributions. Icebug Australia has been very supportive offering a major prize, as was Trimtex, Norway.

Trimtex donated 100 headbands and our only expense was freight and we were able to sell the headbands at the event and look awesome at the same time. Orienteering ACT offered free Easter Carnival Entry as a major prize so I’d encourage everyone to make sure we get along to Easter next year in Canberra.

As well as the success of the fundraising aspect of this event, it was an amazing feeling in the arena following the Sprint, one of camaraderie, happiness and genuine community spirit.

Thank you to the JWOC team and other juniors for their hard work before and during the event.

Thank you EVERYONE for your generosity and for making it such a wonderful day.

Karen Blatchford (JWOC Team Manager) The Goddard Family writes: We would like to sincerely thank the Orienteering Australia community for the amazing support we received at the “Run for Hannah” this week. The fundraising efforts, but most importantly the love, kindness, generosity and friendship that has been extended to our whole family has astounded us. We are very thankful to be part of such a wonderful community and it was fantastic for Han to be able to see so many of her friends doing something she loves in support of her.

Our special thanks goes to the Aussie Juniors, the Eureka Orienteers and, of course, Karen Blatchford for organising the event. Our heartfelt thanks to you all!

Karen gives Hannah a big hug.

DECEMBER 2015 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 11

AUS SCHOOLS CHAMPIONSHIPS

Australian Schools Championships 28-30 September

Photos by Kim Nankervis, Stephen Bird, Tony Hill & Michael Hubbert.

Blair Trewin reports on a highly successful and exciting Schools Championships carnival which kept spectators’ interests high right down to a sprint finish in the last Relay event.

T

asmania took out the Australian Schools Championships by a single point. After three days of spirited competition, it all came down to a sprint finish between Western Australia and the ACT for fifth place in the Senior Girls’ Relay. The ACT needed to win that sprint to match Tasmania’s score, but Bo Davie (possibly slightly nonplussed as to why every Tasmanian present was screaming their heads off on her behalf) was able to hold off Emily Alder, and the Canberrans had to settle for 2nd place this year. With maximum points in the two Junior grades, their time will surely come in the next two or three years.

The competition opened with the inaugural schools Sprint Championship at Federation University. Without much form to go off, no-one was quite sure who might emerge as a junior Sprint specialist. As it turned out, many of the results were a reinforcement of the status of existing stars rather than an affirmation of new ones, but one glorious exception was the emergence of Jo Anna Maynard (WA) as a competitor of genuine national class. She made a very fast start, already being 20secs up by #4, and was never seriously threatened after that as she finished 26secs clear of Danielle Goodall (NZ), and more than a minute ahead of the next best Australian, Winnie Oakhill (QLD).

The question of whether Aston Key could transfer his forest form into Sprints was answered emphatically in the affirmative, over a minute ahead in an 8-minute race, while the other two classes were won by the visitors. Jenna Tidswell led a New Zealand sweep in the Junior Girls, while in the day’s closest race, Tommy Hayes (NZ) edged out Patrick Jaffe (VIC) by three seconds in the Senior Boys.

For the next two days the action moved to the open, and often very fast, gully-spur of Deep Creek. Sprint form translated into forest form, with Monday’s winners backing up with two wins and two close seconds. One of those close seconds was in a Senior Boys race in which the top five were covered by just

12 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER DECEMBER 2015

over a minute and the top eight in two and a half. Tommy Hayes led for much of the course and had got 1:12 clear by #11, but took an unnecessarily wide route choice on the long leg back to the assembly area. That put Simeon Burrill (QLD) in front, and despite losing a bit of time at the last control, he was able to hold on to win by 4secs; Jarrah Day, Ed Cory-Wright and Patrick Jaffe completed the top five.

Tara Melhuish & Patrick Jaffe.

Jo Anna Maynard.

Hannah Goddard celebrates with Tasmanian Team.

Sprint placegetters-Senior Girls.

2015

Champions

State

Tasmania

Senior Girls

Sprint – Jo Anna Maynard (WA) Long – Jo Anna Maynard (WA)

Senior Boys

Sprint – Patrick Jaffe (VIC) Long – Simeon Burrill (QLD)

Junior Girls

Sprint – Meredith Norman (SA) Long – Zoe Melhuish (ACT)

Junior Boys

Sprint – Aston Key (VIC) Long – Aston Key (VIC)

Senior Girls Relay

Queensland

Senior Boys Relay

Queensland

Junior Girls Relay

ACT

Junior Boys Relay

ACT

Winnie Oakhill.

Mason Arthur.

Arabella Phillips.

DECEMBER 2015 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 13

AUS SCHOOLS CHAMPIONSHIPS

Noah Poland.

Jarrah Day.

Meredith Norman & Saxon Charles.

The New Zealanders were not as dominant in the Junior Girls as they had been the previous day, with their three lead runners all losing time in the first five controls (although all still got into the top five). Zoe Melhuish (ACT), one of the youngest competitors in the field, might not have been considered an obvious candidate for the win, but she kept her head whilst not everyone did, and finished 23secs ahead of Jenna Tidswell. Caitlin Young and Ella Cuthbert joined her in giving the ACT three of the top four Australians; the fourth, SA’s Joanna George, might have gone close to winning herself but for time losses in the final loop.

Jo Anna Maynard impressed further by going back-toback. Once again she opened up an early lead and led the pace all the way, with Danielle Goodall losing her chances at #3. For much of the course Tara Melhuish was her closest challenger, but #10 finished off her prospects, and although Winnie Oakhill and Asha Steer (VIC) were able to pull back Jensen Key. Georgia Jones. a little on Maynard in the second half of the course, they could not get closer than a minute. Aston Key also made it two wins from two, although it was his least overwhelming result fastest times, Jenna Tidswell the fastest of all on the last leg. South of the week, winning the first six splits but never blowing the field Australia and the ACT fought out 2nd, with SA narrow leaders away as the gap settled at just under two minutes. A tight battle after two legs, but early time loss from Joanna George saw Zoe for second between Patrick Miller (2nd), Dante Afnan (3rd) and Melhuish come through ahead.

Tristan Miller (4th) was not settled until the final controls.

That left everything down to the Senior Girls, with the ACT As usual, New Zealand went in as favourites in all the Relays. needing to finish within one place of Tasmania to win outright, The one class where they did not deliver was the Senior Boys, or two to tie. They got off to the best possible start when Tara where a poor second leg dropped them to fourth. Queensland Melhuish, in perhaps the day’s best run, opened up a 3-minute used a strategy successfully used by teams in the past, putting their lead on the first leg; the question was how well the other two least experienced runner out first and hoping he could stay in the team members, both of whom had been well down in the lead pack. Joshua Morrison did exactly that, and from there they individual events, could hold on. Lucy Barton had a solid run never looked like losing as Simeon Burrill opened out a 4-minute but was caught by three teams – the two eventual leaders, New lead. Joseph Dickinson (TAS), who took a major step up during Zealand and Queensland (Winnie Oakhill fell just 21secs short the week, and Patrick Jaffe both made some inroads into Riley de of catching Danielle Goodall) – and Tasmania in a comfortable Jong, but not enough to threaten the result; the Tasmanian held 3rd. Emily Alder went out six minutes ahead of New South on in a sprint finish for second which was critical in the context of Wales, eight ahead of Western Australia and ten ahead of Victoria, the final score. needing to hold off all three to give ACT outright honours. NSW Both junior classes ended up with New Zealand 1st and the never looked like challenging, but Asha Steer had gone well ACT 2nd, with one being close and one not. The close one was the through by the spectator control, and it was all down to the Junior Boys, where Calum Sutherland took control on the second WA-ACT battle for 5th. Bo Davie went through the spectator 50 leg after Alastair George had got NSW off to a good start. Patrick metres in front of Alder, and despite some wobbles from both Miller almost ran down the 4-minute gap but fell 12secs short. in the final stages, that was more or less where it finished, giving In the Junior Girls, it was New Zealand all the way with the three Tasmania the Championships Team win by just that single point.

14 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER DECEMBER 2015

ICEBUG NOL

2015 Icebug National Orienteering League Blair Trewin

T

he highlight of the 2015 Icebug National Orienteering League was a first Senior title for the Queensland Cyclones who, after several near-misses in recent years, finally triumphed in the Senior Women’s event this year. As it often does, the season came down to the Australian Relays – after a week of fluctuating fortunes whoever came out on top between the Cyclones and the Victorian Nuggets would take the title. Consistent performances across the three legs were enough, with the break being opened up on the second leg after a close contest on the first. Krystal Neumann, Anna Sheldon and Rachel Effeney provided the core of the winning team, with Heather Muir also providing strong support.

It was another title for the Canberra Cockatoos’ Senior men.

They carried a useful lead into the final week, and whilst the Victorians threatened to challenge at various times – Leon Keely being a useful addition to the ranks – the Cockatoos got themselves into a position where only Relay disaster could stop them. Relay disaster did not happen and they ultimately had a comfortable margin. Matt Crane, Ian Lawford and, before he left for Europe, Lachlan Dow had the most regular presence amongst the scoring runners, but useful contributions came from several others too, including Andrew Barnett, Dave Shepherd, Rob Walter and Tomas Krajca.

Both Junior titles came down to Tasmania-Victoria contests on the season’s final day, and were split one apiece. Matt Doyle and Patrick Jaffe provided the platform for Victoria to take out the Junior Men’s event, while Tasmania’s depth saw them prevail

in the Junior Women’s, with Anna and Zoe Dowling supported by Nicola Marshall and, in the first half of the season, Hannah Goddard.

The Senior Women’s individual competition was the closest in many years. Four entered the final individual race, the Australian Long Distance Championships, with a chance at the title. The win there of Jo Allison, not one of the four, took away the opportunity to score really big points, but Krystal Neumann’s 2nd that day made sure that she kept the small lead she Lanita Steer (Vic) carried into the race. Her Queensland teammate Anna Sheldon was second, just ahead of Victorians Natasha Key and Aislinn Prendergast.

The Senior Men’s competition was a race in three, which became a race in two once Ian Lawford missed most of the final week through a combination of course-setting commitments and the Australian University Games. With international runners dominating the top places in the championship week, there were limited opportunities for the leaders to improve their score, which meant that Matt Crane’s early-season edge over Simon Uppill was enough for him to prevail by four points. Despite a limited presence at the sharp end in the Championships week (through running seniors in Doyle’s case), the dominance of Matt Doyle and Lanita Steer in the first half of the season was more than enough to secure them first place in the Junior individual events.

The Australian WOC JWOC and MTBO teams outfitted by Trimtex

DECEMBER 2015 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 15

AUS CHAMPIONSHIPS

Photos by Kim Nankervis, Stephen Bird, Tony Hill & Michael Hubbert.

The Trewin Report Blair Trewin

AUS Long Distance - Elite winners.

The best-attended Australian Championships week for many years saw international competitors make their presence felt, alongside some turning back of the clock. In addition to the usual strong New Zealand presence, particularly amongst the juniors, British, French, German and Czech orienteers all had their days in the sun.

J

o Allison, retired for several years from international elite competition, was the leading figure of the week in the women’s events, culminating in a huge victory in the AUS Long Distance Championships. Although the field was without three members of this year’s World Championships team (Hanny Allston, Vanessa Round and Laurina Neumann), it was still a very impressive week for her. Will it spark thoughts of a comeback next year?

The men’s events were dominated by internationals, with no Australian making the top-2 all week. Ralph Street, a member of the fourth-placed British World Championships Relay team in August and a top distance runner with Ranelagh Harriers in London, had two near-misses on the opening weekend and then went one better with two wins on the second weekend. Nick Hann (NZ) won both races on the first weekend, whilst Matt Ogden (NZ) and Peter Bray (Great Britain) also had top-2 places.

Six competitors, all male, swept the three national championships. Perhaps the most impressive was Aston Key in M16, who continued a great year by barely being challenged all week. Alex Tarr (M70) was untouchable on his home ground, Hermann Wehner (M90) continued to push the boundaries of what is possible at an advanced age, whilst other 100% records were achieved by Rob Jessop (M45), Greg Barbour (M50) and Warren Key (M55).

Victorian Middle Distance Championships Creswick Diggings, 26 September The week opened on the northwest corner of the old Creswick Diggings map, taking in its most complex sections along with some flatter and greener terrain rarely used in the past.

Jo Allison (ACT) got off to a winning start. Most of the field were scrappy early with Malin Andersson (NSW) leading through the first few controls, but by #8 Allison and Anna Sheldon (QLD) 16 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER DECEMBER 2015

had got a break on the field. There was never a decisive moment but the Canberran gradually edged away to finish just over a minute clear.

Also setting a pattern was an overseas one-two in M21E, although Simon Uppill (SA) (in third, 26secs behind) got closer to winning than any other Australian was to do all week. Former World Junior champion, Matt Ogden, led through the first nine controls before fellow New Zealander Nick Hann took a narrow lead over Ralph Street. They were close the rest of the way, with the Briton leading at the spectator control, but Hann was just a little too fast over the final loop scoring by 23secs.

Matt Doyle (VIC), in his only junior outing for the week, led a close M20 race in which four finished within just over a minute.

He lead much of the way then dropped to 3rd after losing a minute at #13, but was able to recover for a 21sec win over Ed Cory-Wright (NZ). In W20 Anna Dowling (TAS) was in front almost throughout finishing 3mins ahead of Winnie Oakhill (QLD).

Results were closest in M50 which featured the week’s only 1st-place dead heat, between Greg Barbour (NSW) and Mark Nemeth (QLD). Single-digit margins were in M14 (Tristan Miller (ACT) by 4secs over Tom Harding (NZ)) and M65 (Adrian Uppill (SA) by 8secs over Rob Garden (NZ)), while in W50 Su Yan Tay (QLD) led four within 84secs.

Australian Middle Distance Championships – Petticoat Gully, 27 September The action moved a few kilometres south to Petticoat Gully, perhaps surprisingly, having its first championship use other than as a corner of the old Slaty Creek in 1985. (It was originally mapped as a World Cup model area in 1994 and has been extensively used at National League level). The northwest corner has some of the most complex mine workings in Australia – felt by some to be a bit too complex to be legible at 1:10,000 – whilst many other parts of the map had complex detail too.

Nick Hann had his second win in a race with plenty of twists and turns. He was in the lead by #6 after Theo Fleurent (ACT) had set the early pace. By #15, though, Ralph Street had the lead, with two major sectors of the course to go – a sequence of short legs in smaller mining detail, followed by the bigger and more eroded features of the northwest corner. Street cleared the first of these with flying colours and opened up a lead of more than a

Asha Steer (VIC).

Aston Key (VIC).

minute, but blew it all at #22, the last really technical control. He still held onto 2nd, with Matt Crane (ACT) just edging out Simon Uppill for 3rd.

The women’s race saw a new name at the top in Australian orienteering. Liis Johansen is an Estonian WOC runner who has been in Australia for the last couple of years, and had occasionally made her presence felt without ever getting close to winning a significant race. This, though, was her day. There were many twists and turns. Grace Crane (TAS), in her best race since returning to the scene, was in front for much of the way; Natasha Key (VIC) and Malin Andersson were 2nd and 3rd at halfway but both lost significant time in the second half, and Anna Sheldon got to the lead with four controls to go but then lost 30secs at each of the next two. Johansen was 4th at halfway after two small errors early, then made her way through the field but did not hit the front until the second-last, scoring over Crane by just 4secs.

Anna Dowling had her second big win over Winnie Oakhill in a virtual replay of the previous day’s result. It was not as easy as the margin made it look; the lead fluctuated through the first half, and she was still only 9secs in front at #12 before two errors

by Oakhill settled the result. The Queenslander might have lost 2nd too, but both Olivia Sprod and Lanita Steer blew chances of snatching it with misses in the last three controls. Late errors were also important in M20; in this case, three minutes lost at #18 by Tommy Hayes (NZ), who had been in front, were enough to hand the race to his New Zealand teammate Ed Cory-Wright, ahead of Patrick Jaffe (VIC) for whom this started an unwanted sweep of championship 2nd places.

Highly technical terrain and juniors often make for a volatile mix, and those who do it well can sometimes emerge with very big margins. No surprise then that Aston Key was nearly 5mins ahead of the M16 field; more surprising that Katie Cory-Wright was almost as far in front in W16 – a class which was dominated by the Kiwis all week but especially here, with Tara Melhuish (ACT) in 6th the only Australian in the first eight.

Highly technical terrain and masters can sometimes make for a volatile mix too. Here the cream often comes to the top, and there were three huge margins in classes which one might expect to be closer. Biggest was the 12-minute gap achieved by Jenny Hawkins in W70, her second massive win of the weekend – she got #7 well when no-one else did – whilst there were 8-minute margins for Alex Tarr in M70, and Robin Uppill in W60.

Jo Allison (ACT).

Perhaps the most fluctuating race outside the elite classes was in W65, won by 2mins by Patricia Aspin (NZ) over Val Hodsdon (NZ) and Judy Allison (ACT). Both Allison and Hodsdon had their chances but 4-minute mistakes in the second half left them with too much to do. Late mistakes were important in M50 where Mark Nemeth led most of the way but lost 3mins at #12; Greg Barbour needed no second opportunity and pounced for the win.

Close finishes in the older classes were in short supply. The only margin under a minute was in M60, where Chris Norwood led all the way but had only 55secs to spare over David Marshall, with Paul Pacque and James Lithgow also within 2:30. Warren Key was pushed by Ian Prosser and Rob Vincent but still had just under two minutes in hand in M55.

Australian Sprint Championships – St. Patrick’s College, 2 October The area at St. Patrick’s College was very small, perhaps a bit too small (original plans included another school across the road but access issues put paid to that), but provided lots of route choice and confusion from competitors running around all over the place.

Rachel Effeney (QLD) made her first appearance of the week.

With Hanny Allston missing the WOC finalist was clearly the best-credentialed Sprint orienteer, and she lived up to that with a comfortable 31-sec win. Renee Beveridge (NZ) made a slow start and was 35secs down by #5, but a good second half allowed her to overhaul Krystal Neumann (QLD) who lost a costly 12secs late in the course at #18.

The internationals had the best of the men’s race again, with Ralph Street and Matt Ogden more than 30secs ahead of the rest of the field. After two near-misses earlier, this time it was the Briton’s turn. He led almost all the way, and while his lead never got beyond 17secs, he never really looked like losing.

Henry McNulty (WA), still a junior, further enhanced his growing reputation by being the best of the locals in 3rd, just edging out Nick Hann and Matt Crane by one and two seconds respectively.

Tommy Hayes had his most impressive result of an impressive week, putting 44secs between himself and the rest of the field (and beating all but two of the Senior Men on the same course).

Patrick Jaffe recovered from a slow start to take 2nd. A close and sometimes chaotic W20 race saw Olivia Sprod (SA) emerge with the biggest win of her career; she and Tara Melhuish were never DECEMBER 2015 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 17

AUS CHAMPIONSHIPS

Winnie Oakhill (QLD).

Krystal Neumann (QLD).

separated by more than 10secs, with a small time loss by the latter on the fourth-last proving crucial.

Close finishes were not in short supply in other classes. Closest of all was in W14, where Michaela Maynard (WA) reminded everyone that Jo Anna isn’t the only serious talent in the family as she won by the narrowest possible margin; whilst in M45, only 3secs covered the top three, with Rob Jessop ahead of a dead-heat between Ian Harrison and Jock Davis. Like Jessop, Alex Tarr’s clean-sweep week had its greatest test here, but he held on by 7secs in M70 despite John Le Carpentier almost running him down from 41secs behind with four controls to go, and Warren Key had to work for his win too, with M60 WMOC Sprint Champion Geoff Lawford running up and pushing him to within 16secs. Clive Pope scored by 3secs over Trevor Simpson in M75.

Controversy of the day was in W50, won by Su Yan Tay after Paula Shingler, who had the fastest time, failed to register at the map change control. W45, won by Jenni Adams by 8secs over Jenny Enderby, was another class where the fastest competitor (Barbara Hill in this case) mispunched, while mispunching was in epidemic proportions in M16, as Aston Key (winning again by more than a minute) got assistance he didn’t really need when no fewer than eight of his rivals (more than 20% of the field) failed to visit all of the correct controls.

Late time losses were important in a couple of classes. Paul Hoopmann and Tony Simpkins were level with four controls to go but Simpkins faltered to leave the South Australian as the M65 champion, while Kate Fortune emerged as the W70 winner after Jenny Hawkins lost time on the third-last. The W60 race was not so turbulent but provided an unexpected result, as Sprints sometimes do, with Debbie Myers taking her most significant win after edging out Carol Brownlie.

Australian Long Distance Championships – Chapel Flat, 3 October The Long Distance Championships were in terrain largely unexplored for many years (some of it from the southern end of the old Slaty Creek), with enough mining to make for interesting control features over some parts of the course, but also substantial gully-spur areas where route choice came to the fore. Many courses had significant long legs; the elite classes had a very long one, and in some classes it was crucial, on a day when endurance was important.

18 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER DECEMBER 2015

Michaela Maynard (WA).

The long leg was especially crucial in setting up Jo Allison’s massive victory. Her straight route was more than 3-minutes faster than anyone else, and from there the result was a foregone conclusion as long as she didn’t have any major disasters unlikely for a competitor of her experience. Her lead just kept growing, reaching more than 9mins by the Finish line. The long leg was also where Krystal Neumann hit second, as Anna Sheldon and Aislinn Prendergast both lost time by going wide to the north.

Ralph Street got a decisive break on the long leg, never losing the lead after that. Matt Crane pushed him for a while and closed to within just over a minute, but 3mins lost on #15 ended his chances as he dropped to 5th. That left Street with an unbeatable lead – more than 4mins in the end. The places were fought out between Street’s compatriot Peter Bray, steady all week but challenging here for a place for the first time, and the best local Leon Keely, in his most impressive performance yet on his home soil. Both lost time late, with Keely having misses on #24 and #26. Bray almost gave it back at the next control, the second-last, but had enough in hand to take 2nd by a minute.

Winnie Oakhill had a consistent week without quite rising to the heights she did at JWOC, but this was her day, producing a winning margin even bigger than Allison’s. She probably would have won regardless, taking the lead by #4 and holding it the rest of the way, but Anna Dowling was within range until misfortune struck – she was 90secs down at the map change but picked up the wrong map, losing 14mins and any chance of a good placing. The remaining interest was in 2nd place, where a close battle between Lanita Steer and Zoe Dowling was decided in the Victorian’s favour at the third-last. M20 continued a familiar story of the week – Tommy Hayes 1st, Patrick Jaffe 2nd, and the rest somewhere further back. This time, Hayes was chasing Jaffe, and after gaining small increments of time over most of the course, caught him with four controls to go.

In W65, where five finished within just over 2mins, the lead changed at every control from #5 onwards, with Val Hodsdon emerging over Patricia Aspin as the one who happened to be in front when the final siren sounded. In a W14 field full of potential, the order completely reshuffled itself at the third-last control. Abigail George and Michaela Maynard led until that point but both lost time there, leaving Zoe Melhuish to take her second major win of the week by 23secs over the unlucky New

Zoe Dowling (TAS).

Tasmania’s W20 Relay team won valuable NOL points.

Zealander Jessica Sewell, who got her third 2nd placing (to three different opponents).

The closest finish of all was in M65, a New Zealand quinella in which Rob Garden edged out Dave Middleton by 6secs, while other sub-minute margins were in M45 where Rob Jessop prevailed over Eric Morris in a high-standard contest, and M14 where Dante Afnan’s narrow win over Tristan Miller was not settled until the second-last. W50 seemed set to go the same way, with Su Yan Tay getting to the lead at the third-last, but she then lost 3mins at the second-last and Nicola Dalheim emerged with the honours. Another class where fortunes fluctuated was M60.

Port Lincoln’s Tim Ashman, hitherto largely unknown on the national stage, led through the middle of the course but Ted van Geldermalsen was a bit too good in the end and Rod Gray came through for 2nd.

At the other end of the scale were those who dominated. None dominated more than Carol Brownlie, who is no stranger to the front end of W60 but would not often have seen a winning margin as large as 13mins in this company. Perhaps even more impressive was Warren Key putting 9mins between himself and a quality M55 field (Rob Vincent was best of the rest), while Aston Key (6mins in M16) and Alex Tarr (7mins in M70) were as much of a class above the rest as they had been all week. Bruce Arthur dropped back from elites to M40 and was untroubled in an 8-minute win.

Australian Relays - Borhoney Ghurk, 4 October The week finished with a return to an area of old, but not as we know it. Borhoney Ghurk was a fast and open area in its Easter 1992 incarnation, but much of it burned in the early 2000s producing much lower visibility and greater challenge. (The final loop provided a taste of what it used to be like).

In the elite classes there were National League titles to be decided, with Queensland and Victoria fighting for Senior Women’s honours, and the ACT needing only to avoid disaster in the Men’s. Both races had close first legs, with Natasha Key and Krystal Neumann finishing together, and Simon Uppill leading six within 90secs. The second leg was decisive in both. Rachel Effeney broke away from Kathryn Preston at the first control extending her lead to 5mins by the end of the course, and Anna Sheldon extended the lead further on the last leg. For the men, the second leg was also where the field broke apart, with Matt Ogden giving

Nick Hann (NZ).

the New Zealanders a break they held to the end. Three solid legs meant that the ACT were the best of the State teams, with Andy Hogg doing a good job as a stand-in for the injured Matt Crane, while a good last leg from Leon Keely allowed Victoria to recover from a poor start to be best of the rest.

National League honours were also at stake in VictoriaTasmania races in the Junior classes, although the prospect of a good race in M20 was spoilt when Tasmania lost Jarrah Day through illness. But even with the first two Tasmanian runners being those who would have run in a full-strength team, Patrick Jaffe had given Victoria a 7-minute lead after the first leg which Aston Key extended to twelve after two. The Tasmanians dropped out of the places, with New Zealand and Queensland moving through. Like the Senior classes, W20 lasted one leg as a contest through Anna Dowling and Lanita Steer, but the Tasmanians took a big lead on the second leg and that was that.

The one sprint finish of the day – and the only race in which a last-leg deficit was overcome – was M65. South Australia led comfortably after two legs, but a mistake early on the last leg dropped Robert Smith back towards the pack, being pursued by Bob Allison for ACT and Ian Fletcher for Western Australia. By the final section it was Allison and Fletcher in the lead; the Western Australian took the front for the first time going into the final control, and was just able to hold off Allison in the chute to win by 1sec. M16 had the other close margin, with ACT holding on by 15secs over South Australia after Dante Afnan just failed to run down Patrick Miller. Consistency was the key for both teams, with neither having a fastest individual leg runner in a race where seven teams finished within five minutes of the lead.

Other classes which were moderately close were W16, where New Zealand continued their dominance of the class during the week by taking 1st and 2nd, and M35, where what was going to decide the class was whether Jock Davis could beat Dion Keech on the first leg by more than Blair Trewin beat Fedor Iskhakov on the second (he did).

Although it was closer than the OA Shield had been the previous day, and NSW had more wins (adding M45 to their M35, W55 and W65 victories), Victoria scored enough points across the board to take out the overall Teams trophy. Excellent performances by Western Australia in both M12 and W12, on top of their most competitive Schools team for a long time, augurs well for their future prospects.

DECEMBER 2015 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 19

aus championships

Navigating the road to Ballarat 2015 Australian Championships Carnival – a strategic planning success story.

Mark Hennessy reports on the making of the recent Ballarat carnival

Early decisions are crucial

M

ost errors in major projects are errors of omission, not commission, as I have learned through my professional ergonomics work. Questions not raised early enough, decisions left until too late – those are the main sources of problems with any major project. And so it is with a major Orienteering carnival: early decisions are crucial.

With the enthusiastic support of Eureka Orienteers, the Ballarat area was chosen early on for the 2015 Australian Championships Carnival, but where and when to hold the major events. Geoff Lawford and Don Fell spent an unproductive afternoon in Ararat, trying to convince two local Councils to let us run on what Neil Barr described as the best granite terrain in Victoria, near Stawell.

The municipal planning scheme prohibits active sporting events in the area, and Geoff and Don could make no impression at all on the planner, who proved to be as resistant as the very granite around Bunjil’s Cave.

Failure to secure the Stawell area cost us several months in planning. When thinking about where to look for event areas, it became clear that different stakeholders have different expectations and needs from a carnival. While elites and high achievers may love to drive an hour and a half beyond Ballarat to feast on the finest terrain, it was apparent that many recreational orienteers and volunteer organisers lack the appetite for long travel from the event centre to the forest. And besides, what would we do with the mapped area afterwards? Would regular Victorian orienteers travel that far for subsequent events? Would it help us to grow the sport?

For whose benefit are we organising this carnival?

These questions led to a more strategic approach. We asked ourselves why we were actually running the event, whose benefit we were trying to serve, and how could the sport of Orienteering come away stronger as a result of what was clearly going to be a huge investment of volunteer time. It was decided that the carnival 20 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER DECEMBER 2015

should be a springboard for Orienteering generally, particularly in Ballarat, but also if possible in the Geelong area, where a strong Summer Series had developed.

A vision and a set of objectives were adopted by Orienteering Victoria’s Council – its main governing committee – in February 2014.

Vision: To offer an enjoyable and satisfying integrated nine-day carnival which attracts a large number of participants of a wide range of ages and abilities from Victoria and interstate, and sends them home happy and enthused about urban and bush orienteering.

Objectives: • Conduct successful AUS Championships in Sprint, Middle, Long and Relay in accordance with OA rules and requirements.

• Conduct successful AUS Schools Championships in Individual and Relay, and if practicable in Sprint, in accordance with OA and ASSOA rules and requirements.

• Offer a fun social program for Schools team members.

• Maximise overall participation and enjoyment of high standard Orienteering courses and terrain, in both forest and urban environments.

• Provide a program which allows adequate recovery, with the option of rest days especially for junior and elite competitors.

• Work within the available capacity of Orienteering Victoria and of the Carnival, without placing unwanted demands on any individual or club.

• Generate a legacy for Victorian Orienteering in the form of documented expertise, new accessible maps, and financial dividends to clubs and to OV commensurate with the effort expended and the preparedness of participants to pay for the experience.

• Engage urban orienteers, and particularly regular Park & Street orienteers from Melbourne, into the national Orienteering carnival.

This meant good maps close to Ballarat and Melbourne. The debate was hotting up about which events to schedule when.

The upshot was to schedule two Middle Distance races on the first weekend (rather than a Long and a Middle Distance) to allow recovery especially for schools teams, who had to fit in a Sprint race for the first time. The second weekend would include three NOL events in three days: Sprint, Long and Relay. The aim was to offer two really popular weekends, rather than one or, at worst, neither weekend being really appealing to many people.

Afternoon starts on Saturday and Friday assisted interstate travellers. Gradually Public races were attached to each of the three Shools races; throw in a Park & StreetO in the labyrinthine gold mining byways of old Ballarat, and there was a feast of Orienteering with something for everyone to choose from.

The program attracted more competitors than any previous carnival that was not associated with an international event.

The number of competitors exceeded the previous carnival in Victoria (September 2009) and exceeded budget predictions, especially for the first weekend. The total number of individuals participating in at least one championship event was over 950, plus 76 kids who did at least one String course, taking the total number of orienteers over 1,000 for the week. The total number of “participations” was around 5,000.

Technically the events were generally successful. An early decision was to lock in the areas and controllers as early as possible. Expressions of interest were called from course setters, but in the end most were co-opted – generally not from the same day’s organising club - and reported directly to the carnival committee, not to their own club. One aim was to elevate the status of course planners, and improve accountability. Getting the best controllers, course planners and organisers working harmoniously together on the best available terrain, gave us the best chance of high quality orienteering that satisfied elite and non-elite competitors alike.

The Schools social program was fun according to anecdotal and more formal feedback. We hired accommodation that would house all students in one location, with good facilities.

Unfortunately some students caught a cold that spread through the group, causing some to miss events. Sovereign Hill educational visit was a rare experience for the kids, but tiring. For the Schools events we chose fast open forest terrain that would sort out the best orienteers, but was forgiving for less experienced juniors. Kay

Haarsma emailed her Eureka colleagues: “Even from 800 kms away in Adelaide I have been able to get the vibe that the carnival was an outstanding success. Just sorry that my legs don’t like to run these days”.

Craig Feuerherdt arranged an on-line survey which has produced a rich vein of information for planning future carnivals.

Out of the 950 carnival participants, 239 responded to the survey (more than one quarter), 95% of whom rated their enjoyment at 4 or 5 out of 5 on a Likert Scale.

The legacy Throughout the two year planning process the organisers aimed to generate a legacy as planned. Our enduring contribution to the growth of Orienteering in Australia and beyond will include the following: • Guidance document for future carnivals to be produced • Six new or substantially revised maps close to Ballarat, Melbourne and Bendigo • Future access likely for all but one area • Landholder relations generally good • Entry numbers exceeded budget, expenditure optimised, dividends likely for organising clubs • IT innovations by Ian Chennell – transferrable: Website links to Eventor; My Carnival web page • Enthused orienteers across Victoria, Australia, New Zealand • Opportunity to build on television and newspaper publicity in Ballarat • Innovative national carnival format proved popular.

Urban orienteering Urban orienteers from Melbourne were enticed to the carnival

by Park & Street O and two Sprint events. Since Park & Street O is now the main entry point for new orienteers in Victoria, it was good to build another bridge between urban and bush O. It is likely that this low-cost low-organisation form of Orienteering close to home will catch on in Ballarat, and who knows where else.

The best laid plans . . .

The organising team had a lot more good ideas than it had the people power to implement them. No sponsorship was sought for the carnival, and we missed the deadline to apply for a $20,000 Victorian Government Grant for major sporting events in regional areas.

Spectator services (the “Toph Naunton Project”) was not part of our planning until about six months before the carnival, when John Harding, OA Executive Officer drew our attention to the Moira Whiteside bequest. Spectator services were enjoyed, especially the live tracking during the Australian Long Distance championship, and missed when absent. Spectator services need to be planned into the carnival before choosing the competition and assembly areas, and before course planning begins.

Ballarat is home to WIN television which ran at least two news stories on the carnival. We have yet to convert this goodwill into Orienteering participation by the Ballarat community.

We were at the limits of our volunteer capacity. We needed more volunteers, or paid removalists, to bump in and bump out the spectator services gear each day. Mark Valentine, Blake Gordon, Ian

DECEMBER 2015 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 21

aus championships

Chennell and Toph Naunton arrived very early, and were the last to leave the assembly area.

We never quite nailed the seamless transition between carnival team responsibilities and on-the-day organising teams’ responsibilities. The guidance manual might help with that.

Sensing a slight disconnect six months before the carnival, we initiated The Road to Ballarat, a weekly blog in the Victorian E-News, aimed at keeping Ballarat at the front and centre of Victorian orienteers’ consciousness leading up to the carnival.

OV decided to give Bendigo Orienteers a holiday after their great efforts in 2009 and 2013 (Easter), which left a huge gap in our human resources – numbers as well as skills. But you can’t stop Jim Russell from pitching in, and we had good help also from Warwick Williams and Craig Feuerherdt.

There were some glitches and near misses, which won’t all be shared here. We carefully ordered six A3 reams of Pretex a year before the event, only to see an absent minded machine operator print an extra 800 maps for the Victorian Middle Distance Championship, thus wasting a precious ream. The ever reliable Jim salvaged the situation by printing the Relay bibs on the back of the wasted sheets.

A 10-year-old girl was erroneously awarded first place when someone at the Start decided to use a punching start for the M/W10 class, at the same time as someone in the Finish tent de-selected a crucial option in the computer program. This coincidence of events resulted in erroneous times for the first leg and overall, for that class only. We will know better next time.

We ran out of generator power at the Relays and did not have battery backup on-line. This was due to unfamiliarity with the energy demands of the results system and of the organisers over the nine days.

The toilets were unexpectedly delivered a day early for the Relays (due to the AFL Grand Final Eve holiday). We did not have a map or clear signage ready in place, so the toilets ended up 400 metres away, much to the discomfort of at least one Relay competitor whom mother nature called while she was in the changeover chute.

Dr Blake Mystery The Dr Blake branding thrilled fans of the TV show, but mystified and even annoyed some others. It was part of a strategy to attract non-orienteers to Ballarat, so that their orienteering partners could participate. By the time they got to Ballarat, the good doctor had done his work, but the Dr Blake walks and the theme dinner with literary prize and costume prize were enjoyed by those who participated. It was a bit of fun.

The real branding throughout the build up was Ballarat, and that worked really well as a single, tangible, attractive destination.

The course planners, controllers and organising club members can relax knowing their efforts were worthwhile. The key carnival coordinating team members were: Mark Valentine

Debbie Dodd

Barry McCrae

Blake Gordon

Mark Hennessy

Jim Russell

Ian Chennell

Ian Dodd

Belinda Dale

Ron Frederick

Aislinn Prendergast

Jenny Bourne

Ruth Goddard

→→→

Jubilee-Tour 2016

www.tour-o-swiss.ch

0 LIMIT 25 ANTS! PARTICIP

5 ORIENTEERING EVENTS 5 ROUNDTRIP 5 WORLD HERITAGE SITES 5 TOURISTIC HIGHLIGHTS

W ELC O

GR ATIS ! IOR S D JUN KIDS AN TRY FEE S !

— NO EN

22 rz_TOS_2016_inserat_A5_quer.indd THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER1 DECEMBER 2015

Schaffhausen / Rhine Falls → Berne → Thun / Interlaken → Schilthorn / Piz Gloria → Glacier Express → St. Moritz

W IT ZE ME T O S

R L A ND

A N SF E R E A S Y T R O W E E K! S TO S W IS

01.10.15 23:49

aussieogear.com

AUSTRALIAN AgeNT foR

Sportident and trimtex

2016 Australian Orienteering Championships Carnival Gold Coast to Granite Belt South East Queensland

Sportident Comcard Pro & SI11 Now Available

SUPPLIER OF: ORIFIx, VaVRy, SIVEn, VaPRO, MOSCOMPaSS • Pants • Shirts • Socks • Gaiters • Map Boards • Compasses • Spectacles • Flags • Punches

phone: 0243 845 003 mobile: 0415 210 339 email: colin@aussieogear.com

www.aussieogear.com

September 24 to October 2 For more information and updates visit www.auschamps2016.com DECEMBER 2015 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 23

RADI-o

10th ARDF Region 3 Championships Shibakawa Gunma, Japan

A

small Team of Australian RadiO Orienteers travelled to Japan in September for the Region 3 (Asia Pacific) ARDF Championships. “ARDF” stands for Amateur Radio Direction Finding, and the main difference from conventional Orienteering is that there are no control circles on the map and controls must be found by homing in on radio beacons.

Each of the Team members won medals with the most successful being Kristian Ruuska (M21) who came away with two Gold medals and one Bronze. We caught up with Kristian on his return: AO: Kristian, you won two races in M21 and added to your medal collection with one 3rd place. Did you expect to be so successful when you left for Japan?

K: I went over hopeful that I would be successful as I had seen improvement in my performance in events at home.

I don’t think I had expected to do as well as I did, but I am thrilled with both my results and the results of the Australian team.

AO: How did you find the terrain? Steep and thick (we suspect).

K: Yes it was definitely very steep, so decisions on which order to get the radio beacons, and route choice between beacons were very important. Surprisingly the forest was very runnable, there were some areas that were too thick to even think about entering, but they were easy enough to avoid. The organisers did a fantastic job of selecting a very suitable competition area.

AO: Does the Japanese terrain make direction finding more difficult than in Australia?

made direction finding easier even since you could always get to a high point to get good directions, if you were willing to go up that is.

K: I did not have trouble with directions (Jenelle might have disagreed with me on one of the days), perhaps the terrain

AO: At least one of your races was held during a typhoon.

How did that affect you and your radio equipment?

K: I think that by the time the typhoon came through we had all accepted that we were going to get wet. It was very wet (pretty much like standing under the shower) but I think that I had enough occupying my mind that it didn’t bother me much. The equipment was a different story. I think nearly all of the Australian equipment suffered from water ingress (but not too detrimental) and Janelle’s hair dryer, along with Bruce’s and Ewen’s technical knowledge, were invaluable so we could get everything dried out for the next competition. (It was a very good lesson in how to waterproof equipment.)

TEAM AUSTRALIA

Team Australia.

24 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER DECEMBER 2015

Sprint

Classic 1

Classic 2

FoxOring

Kristian Ruuska

M21

7th

1st

3rd

1st

Bruce Paterson

M50

9th

3rd

8th

4th

John Bramham

M60

7th

4th

4th

5th

Ewen Templeton

M60

2nd

6th

5th

2nd

Jenelle Templeton

W60 3rd

dnf

otl

1st

TEAM RESULTS

M60 - 3rd M60 - 2nd

Kristian - Classic Gold medallist.

AO: And how about tatami?

K: For those who don’t know what tatami is, it is the woven straw floor covering that is very common in Japan. The furniture in these areas is often a cushion and a small table.

The simplicity was nice, but I am definitely glad to be back using normal furniture again.

Kristian ready to go.

I must congratulate the organisers on running a very successful event in such difficult conditions. It must have been a real challenge for them to keep the radio beacons operating in such conditions.

AO: Is ARDF more popular in Japan than in Australia?

K: There are definitely a lot more Japanese people who compete in ARDF. I think in Japan, and also in China, they start at an early age and get hooked. There are some schools that promote ARDF. I would love to see more people competing in ARDF across Australia.

AO: Did you like the Japanese food?

K: I was a little bit concerned before I went about some of the things that I imagined I would be eating. I must say that the Japanese food was brilliant. Everything was presented perfectly and the meals were very well balanced. There are definitely foods that I discovered that I will now eat more often back home. (Does anyone know a good yakiniku place in Melbourne?)

Meal time.

AO: Did you do any sightseeing while you were in Japan?

What impressed you most?

K: I was lucky enough to get to see quite a bit of Japan. The standouts would have to be the size of Tokyo (it’s huge!), the fantastic train network (I wish we had bullet trains), but climbing Mt Fuji with Bruce and Jack was most definitely something that I will remember for a long time to come.

AO: Is there anything you would like to add?

K: Just a big thank you to the Japanese organising committee for such a wonderful event, and we also need to mention Greg Williams who came over with us and was on the international jury. I think Greg visited more radio beacons than any of the competitors!

AO: Congratulations on your performances and many thanks for taking the time to chat.

K: Thank you for the interview.

Bruce Paterson in a typhoon.

DECEMBER 2015 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 25

easter 2016

2016 Aus Easter Carnival 25-28 March

Lukas’ Trial Run Orienteering Coach, Lukas Frei, did a trial run on the Primrose map (Day 2) of the M21E course to help with fine tuning. Here are some terrain photos: After the run, Lukas said: “The terrain was fast running, flowing with some very tricky bits and some nice small two-sided cliffs. You have to be very careful not to end up running down a wrong gully because it is sometimes very vague especially the flatter parts of the terrain. At first glance it looks like very easy navigation but as soon you are out there you have to maintain map contact at all times. I didn’t give the vegetation enough attention and that slowed me down quite a lot on some legs. Overall, it was good fun and I thought the terrain was great. To miss out on Easter 2016 would be a big mistake!”

Knoll, 3 metres; flag on east side Eastern shallow gully

The next Easter carnival will be hosted by Orienteering ACT in and around Canberra. Primrose Valley, about 50km south-east of Canberra, will be the venue for Days 2 and 3.

Knoll, 3 metres; flag on east side

26 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER DECEMBER 2015

Australian Three Days Orienteering Carnival 25th - 28th March 2016

Canberra Four days of fantastic orienteering in Canberra Prologue at Uni of Canberra Day 1 at Isaacs Ridge Day 2 & 3 at Yanununbeyan State Conservation Area

A smiling Lukas Frei finishing the M21 E test course Shallow gully

A great mix of sprint, tough and technical granite in mixed pine and native forest, and fast open spur-gully terrain UC & Isaacs Ridge are in Canberra, Yanununbeyan is just 50km from the CBD All maps are new or have been recently re-mapped

Easter2016.orienteering.asn.au

DECEMBER 2015 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 27

2015 AUS ULTRA LONG

Wildfire Sports Australian Ultra-Long & NOL Race 11 Geoff Lawford (Eureka Orienteers)

O

n the second last day of winter 2015 the cream of Australian orienteering ran head-to-head in the third Wildfire Sports Australian Ultra-Long – this year held at Nerrina, Ballarat. It was another cold overcast morning when a 10am mass start sent a wave of elite runners out of the grounds of the Little Bendigo Primary School into the maze of some of Australia’s best mining terrain.

This year the Ultra-Long field - in a race for the major $2500 prize of a return trip to Europe - was boosted for the first time

by Simon Uppill, and also in-form JWOC representative Henry McNulty, who was returning from a year studying in Sweden.

However these two were not going to have it all their own way, as also vying for the prize were fellow WOC representatives Brodie Nankervis, Ian Lawford, Krystal Neumann and Anna Sheldon, and JWOC representatives Patrick Jaffe, Matt Doyle, Jarrah Day, Lanita Steer and Olivia Sprod.

The runners in these four elite classes (Junior and Senior Men and Women) were eligible for the prize, with the overall winner being decided on kilometre rates compared to Nordic elite kilometre rates for their respective classes in Ultra-Long races.

From the start the course divided into three split loops for the elite men and two for the other elites such that few runners had the same control sequence – evident from the variety of exits the runners made from the Start arena. After each main loop the runners returned through the Start arena, grabbed their next map and (mostly) returned into the fray. The courses were both physically and mentally taxing, with long legs with multiple route choices – particularly around areas of dense blackberry - and fine navigation into the controls. Projected winning times were M21E - 2h30m; W21E - 1h50m; M17-20E - 1h50m; and W17-20E - 1h35m.

In the Men’s elite class excitement rose when Ian Lawford returned in the lead for the first map change closely pursued by Kerrin Rattray, Rob Preston and Brodie Nankervis. Forty minutes later Ian Lawford again returned in the lead but Brodie Nankervis had dramatically cut the lead, trailing by barely 100 metres and running strongly. With the same control sequence on the last loop Brodie overtook the tiring Ian six controls from home but then, a quicker route around blackberries saw Ian wrestle back the lead and maintain it to the Finish for back-to-back 2014/2015 Ultra Long wins.

In the Women’s elite class Liis Johanson, an elite Estonian currently living in Melbourne, wasn’t fazed by the unusual terrain, and instead showed class and skill returning to the map change in the lead, with the fit and experienced Aislinn Prendergast half a minute behind, and Krystal Neumann seconds after that. On the final loop Liis tried to defend her lead until Krystal and then later Aislinn, surged to the front on the final legs. It was Aislinn’s inaugural win.

In the Junior elite Men’s class Australia’s best were humbled when 15 year-old Aston Key returned from the first loop in the lead. Concerned that the 15km course would be too long for young Aston, his parents had earlier instructed him to only run two loops of the course. As he headed out on the second loop what he (and his parents) didn’t realise was that there were only

28 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER DECEMBER 2015

two loops and he was doing all 15 km! That proved too big an ask and Henry McNulty soon wrestled the lead from him and extended it for a great win over Patrick Jaffe followed by Aston only five minutes in arrears.

The Junior Women’s elite class was lead from early on by Sonia Hollands from New Zealand. Like Liis Johanson, she showed class and skill in what must be unfamiliar terrain, leading through the first map change, challenged by Lanita Steer, but then holding off for a 4-minute win, with Zoe Dowling third.

Throughout the latter part of the race, standings for the main $2500 prize were broadcast to a TV screen for the benefit of spectators. Henry McNulty soon snatched the lead but could be beaten by the elite men if they completed their last loop as quickly as they had their first two loops. Alas, the course length took its toll and they returned just minutes late and a joyous and worthy Henry McNulty was announced winner.

During prize giving $1500 of additional prizes – including a Garmin GPS and customised “Ultra-Long” racing tops - were on offer from race sponsors Dirty.D (personalised orienteering apparel) and Wildfire Sports (orienteering/sports equipment and accessories). Eureka Orienteers wish to thank Dirty.D and Wildfire Sports for their support and again hope that the Ultra-Long added variety and challenge to the national calendar and helped our elites build towards international standard. And finally an Aussie won!

Elite class placegetters were: M21E Ian Lawford (ACT) 2:36.05 Brodie Nankervis (TAS) 2:37.47 Kerrin Rattray (SA) 2:38.24

M17-20E Henry McNulty (WA) 1:44.00 Patrick Jaffe (VIC) 1:47.44 Aston Key (VIC) 1:49.27

W21E Aislinn Prendergast (VIC) 2:00.55 Krystal Neumann (QLD) 2:01.30 Natasha Key (VIC) 2:04.20

W17-20E Sonia Hollands (NZ) 1:36.45 Lanita Steer (VIC) 1:40.25 Zoe Dowling (TAS) 1:43:43

2015 Handicap Winners.

Wildfire Sports AUS Ultra Long goes to the Flinders Ranges in 2016

T

he 2016 NOL Ultra Long race will be held in the Flinders Ranges of South Australia over the Anzac Day weekend in late April. The event will be part of a three day carnival with the following events: 23rd April Saturday afternoon - NOL and SA Middle Distance Championships – Wilpena Creek/Spurs; 24th April Sunday morning - NOL Ultra Long and SA Long Distance Championships – Prelinna – Mannawarra; 25th April Monday morning - Middle Distance event – Rawnsley Park.

The event areas are about 450km north of Adelaide, allowing driving from Adelaide on Saturday morning in time for the first event.

The Prelinna – Mannawarra map comprises subtle spur/ gully terrain with many small knolls and complex shallow watercourses, and a cover of native pines. These are thicker in places to slightly reduce runnability and visibility. Bushy vegetation on the foot slopes of the range to the northeast of the map also impacts runnability in this part of the map.

However, fast running is expected so long courses are required to achieve the defined Ultra Long winning times. The Australian Long Distance Championships on this map in 2002 saw running rates of 5 mins/km and 6 mins/km for the men’s and women’s elite respectively.

The events are all close to Wilpena Pound and other scenic locations of the central Flinders Ranges. So consider adding a couple of extra days to your visit to climb Rawnsley Bluff at the south end of the Pound, or St Mary Peak, the highest point of the Pound. Alternatively visit the rugged gorges to the north of Wilpena – e.g. Parachilna, Brachina and Bunyeroo Gorges, or the historic copper mining town of Blinman.

More information on the events and the entry process will be available early in 2016 on the Orienteering SA web site at www.sa.orienteering.asn.au or contact Robin Uppill at aruppill@chariot.net.au

DECEMBER 2015 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 29

2016 MASTERS GAMES

Alice Springs Masters Games 8-15 October 2016 Kay Haarsma

O

rienteering will be part of these Games for the very first time in 2016! Top End Orienteers are conducting these events to further promote Orienteering in the region. They are hoping to attract a mixture of regular orienteers, locals and visiting participants from other sports. Course setter will be Kay Haarsma for all events and Alice resident orienteer, Michelle Chamalaun, is assisting.

Alice Springs Masters Games, started in 1986, is held every two years. Over 3,000 fit active Australians and overseas visitors take part in over 30 sports. Alice Springs boasts excellent sporting facilities. With venues as varied as the foothills of the stunning West McDonnell Ranges to the new state-of-the-art Aquatic Centre, every sport offers something unique!

Why travel to Alice Springs?

•T he actual orienteering areas are excellent. Ask Paul Dowling (WA) who has been there mapping; Toni Brown (ACT) who has run O sessions there; Andrew Slattery (SA) also mapped most areas; and Carolyn Jackson (VIC) and any of the other mountain bike riders who competed there in the 2014 Nationals.

•O pportunities to compete also in other events. In cycling, the local mountain bike club is putting on four races 30 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER DECEMBER 2015

including a 25km night race; there are four road cycling races and several track races; and both triathlon and duathlon events for solo and teams. In running there is the masters mile; crosscountry, road races and the normal range of track & field events. All of the above events have 5-year age classes. So you can come and do more than Orienteering.

•O pening & Closing ceremonies and other social functions will be outback oriented and unique.

•H uge possibilities for exploring the surrounding countryside. Walk sections of the famous Larapinta Trail; ride the 20km bitumen trail through the bush to Simpson Gap; explore Glen Helen Gorge and more.

•A lice Springs is a small town. You can fly in and then catch a free shuttle bus to your accommodation. All events are within walking distance, so you wouldn’t even need to hire a car unless you want to go touring.

Events: Foot O Sunday 9th (8:30am): Telegraph Station - bush 60min Score event.

Really detailed rock terrain but with nice runnability in between outcrops. The complex nature of this terrain is the reason for having the event as a Score event – it will challenge experienced orienteers who seek to visit many controls but equally enable newcomers to have a go and still experience success. Actually starts from the old Telegraph Station itself beside the Todd River with onsite café.

Wed 12th (7:30am+): Sadadeen Campus - normal Sprint line course with 20min winning times.

This is an area worthy of a NOL Sprint. Includes a University campus and two schools plus a flat bush area in between, and even a small vineyard.

MTBO Monday 10th (4:30pm): Telegraph Station - 90min score event.

This will be an updated map from the 2014 Australian MTBO Long Distance Championships. Start will also be at the old Telegraph Station, several kilometres north of the city centre.

Accommodation Options include everything from backpacker hostels to international hotels, all within minutes of the town centre, as well as the many caravan parks. Lasseters Hotel Casino is a supporter of the Games and a favourite for visitors. The Chifley Resort is also quite central. There are many options, but book early as the Games attract many regular attendees.

Contact Tourism Central Australia on 1800 645 199 or visit www.centralaustraliantourism.com.au

Plan your holiday

How to register? These are now open.

Be inspired by the energy, colours and natural beauty of the red centre. Take a balloon flight over The Alice, enjoy a camel ride in the outback, check out the beauty of the West McDonnell ranges and Kings Canyon, or make the spiritual journey to Uluru and see it in all its grandeur.

Visit www.alicespringsmastersgames.com.au and sign up.

What now?

Getting To Alice Springs

Start planning your holiday and Games experience. Keep in touch via: www.alicespringsmastersgames.com.au twitter.com/friendly_games facebook.com/alicespringsmastersgames phone: 1800 658 951

Age classes: 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80+ for both Foot & MTBO events.

Flights: There are affordable direct daily flights with Qantas and Virgin (three times a week) from most capital cities.

Bus: Daily services available and this is a scenic relaxing way to visit the Red Centre.

Drive or Train: If you are adventurous and want to experience Central Australia, consider driving or travelling on The Ghan. You can drive via the accessible sealed road from both the north and south on the Stuart Highway or travel on The Ghan, one of Australia’s most exciting and breathtaking train trips.

DECEMBER 2015 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 31

Why do I do it?

John Brammall

I

t is fitting that I am writing this article during Mental Health Week (the first week of October) with its focus on mental and emotional well-being. For nearly three years I have been on a slow recovery path having incurred a fairly serious brain injury while orienteering…

In 2002, as the then OA President, I represented Australia at the IOF Conference in Leibnitz, Austria. The focus of that conference was very much on the image of Orienteering and how to better promote the sport. Two important decisions came out of that conference: the Leibnitz Convention – a document that outlines the essentials to bear in mind when organising major (IOF) Orienteering events, and the adoption of Sprint Orienteering as a new format into the sport.

The general aims of the Leibnitz Convention are: • to organise attractive and exciting Orienteering events which are of high quality for competitors, officials, media, spectators, sponsors, and external partners; and • to make IOF events attractive for TV and Internet.

The Convention remains an important appendix to the IOF and Australian Competition Rules.

The adoption of Sprint Orienteering was an important one that related closely with the Leibnitz Convention, and also because it was a proposal brought to the IOF by representatives of the elite orienteers who had witnessed the success and high profile public image of this format as organised by Park World Tour – a privately run organisation which invited selected elite athletes to compete in Sprint format events.

But two warnings were signalled with regard to the adoption of Sprint and the possible risks it could involve. First, in a demonstration event put on by Park World Tour as part of the Conference, there was Cassie Trewin’s severe spinal injury. In

32 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER DECEMBER 2015

John Brammall in 2015

order to give the event a good TV spectacle, the athletes were asked to jump down a high-walled embankment and were promised jumping mats to break their fall. The mats provided were totally inadequate and consequently Cassie suffered her major injury. It was a warning that there must be limits in what can be asked of athletes for the sake of enhancing the public image of such events.

The second and related warning was expressed by a speaker at the conference who talked of the possibility of ‘new’ injuries where Sprint events are held in public spaces with harder surfaces and sharper corners in general contrast with forest orienteering (which is still potentially hazardous).

Little did I know that almost a decade later, this warning would become a reality for me!

It was February 2013. I had been immersed in our enticing sport for over 25 years. For me the challenge had never diminished: being in terrain I’d possibly never visited before, with a detailed Orienteering map I’d never seen before, to follow (as accurately and quickly as I could) a course set on that map - and competing among a network of friends that is such a unique aspect of our sport.

In January I had made the Australian Team for the first time – after 25 years! I was in the Men’s 70-74 team, and had competed against New Zealand in the Oceania Championships. Back in Tasmania I was enjoying a midweek club event around the University campus in Launceston (from which I had retired as an academic some 15 years before). I knew I was navigating well. I felt I was running well (for a 70 year old).

And then everything went blank.

An hour or so of my life is lost in that blankness. My next memory was being wheeled into Emergency. I had tripped when crossing a roadway and my head met the pavement. Apart from the facial decorations I was suffering a bleed in the brain.

Subsequently I was told I was lucky that I was as fit as I was and that I’d be OK. But I didn’t know then that even two and a half years later I would still be recovering.

I suffer headaches; I can’t concentrate as well as I used; can’t skip between tasks and back again; when there is too much going on around me my brain decides to tune out and the world around me becomes ‘unreal’. And my emotions are flat – they can go down, but the “ups” are infrequent – but excitement and elation are still for me rather remote experiences. These are all typical responses to be expected from the injury that I sustained.

My brain has, and hopefully will continue, to re-route (in true Orienteering form) various tasks and processes – but it sets its own time scale for that, and maybe increasing age isn’t all that helpful in the process.

The sport that I loved and that almost killed me (the enigma being my fitness from Orienteering probably saved me) will always be my “life” sport. But the excited anticipation before an event has been replaced by anxiety to the point where I have to dare myself to compete. At times my brain seems to say “enough” – not a great feeling when you are in the middle of an Orienteering event where one minute I have known precisely where I was and the next I find myself staring at a strange map and standing in strange terrain. Overall, though, I still perform quite well at State and National levels, but even knowing when I have done well is somewhat dampened by an emotional flatness.

But what has been one of the hardest things has been a loneliness in recovery. What you feel or don’t feel is so internal and so difficult to explain - even to close family and friends so difficult for others to understand. In some ways I wish I’d done something like break a leg. It would have been in plaster, I might have limped for weeks and months. Others would have recognised my trauma. But once the bruised and stitched face had recovered, my trauma was hidden. It still is. I realise I can’t function as I used to. But then my therapist gently reminds me that I am certainly functioning better today than that time after everything went blank.

As athletes we tend to focus on our physical fitness. Most of us suffer from injuries of one sort or another – cuts and abrasions, torn muscles and ligaments, maybe the occasional broken bone.

We regard Orienteering as both a physical and a mental sport.

Much of our skills training is on the mental side. Our sport does have risks. Hopefully brain injuries such as mine are rare – but they are real and the recovery is potentially slow.

I know that one day the anxiety and apprehension I experience will diminish and the anticipation, excitement and satisfaction will return. I’m sure. Orienteering is for so many of us a way of life in which we enjoy a great network of friendships and rivalries.

I know just how important the support from that network has been in my recovery. That’s why I do it.

Postscript I commenced orienteering in 1986. Up until the above incident I had completed every course I had ever entered – never a dnf! That’s a record I’m proud of. Now I know the reality is that I did not complete my course on February 13, 2013 – but because the event did not require pre-entry, my record of attendance depended on my download at the completion of my course.

With no evidence of my participation, there is no evidence of my failing to complete the course. Does this mean my dnf record remains intact?

Vale – John Bourne

A

ustralian orienteering has lost one of its oldest members with the passing of Queensland’s John Bourne in early September, aged 92.

Despite being in good health, he sadly succumbed to a flu epidemic that swept through his aged care facility where he was living in Stanthorpe.

John first got involved in Orienteering in 1975 while living in Brisbane.

He became a member of the Toohey Forest Club and actively participated in many local, State and national events. He also travelled overseas on six occasions to compete at a variety of international competitions including World Masters, Scottish 6 Days and O Ringen events.

In 1984, on his retirement from his job as a design engineer with the Queensland Electricity Commission, he and wife Joan, moved to a small rural property outside Stanthorpe. Here they became very heavily involved with the local Bullecourt Boulder Bounders Orienteering Club, an active association that continued until 2005 when he finally retired from Orienteering at the age of 82.

During his long orienteering career, John became a mapper, course setter, controller and event organiser. He was controller of the Australian 3 Days held at Cherrabah, outside Warwick, in 1987 and heavily involved with the running of the Australian Championships Carnival in 1991 and the Asia Pacific Orienteering Championships held on the Southern Downs in 2000. John also brought his meticulous engineering skills to many aspects of Orienteering, designing trailers, results hanging systems and his famous, open air toilets.

As a competitor, he achieved many successes in his age group throughout the years, winning his age class at the 1980 Asia Pacific Championships, the Australian Championships in 1997 and 1998 and the Easter 3 Days from 1993 to 1996 and again in 2004, plus many placings over the years in both State and National championships.

John and Joan’s children all took up Orienteering, with Jane, Liz and Jenny still current, active participants. In a memorable event, 17 members of the extended Bourne family, covering three generations of orienteers, competed at the Australian 3 Days held at Orange in 1996 – truly a great example of the “family” sport.

John was made a life member of Orienteering Queensland in 2000 in recognition of his many contributions to Orienteering, spanning decades of involvement. His legacy to the sport in Queensland will live on for many years to come.

John Bourne at AUS Championships in 2001 DECEMBER 2015 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 33

JUNIOR DEVELOPMENT

Engaging Junior Orienteers Think Multiple Attack Points Toni Brown

Photos by Kim Nankervis, Tate Needham & Michael Hubbert

W

hat is it about the nation’s capital that helps breed success in the field of Junior Orienteering?

A bunch of enthusiastic, outdoors, fun loving families willing to work together to give each other and lots of newcomers an entrée into the sport of Orienteering - with no stone unturned.

Listening, learning and trying new things has been at the heart of it.

One activity alone might be sufficient to attract a newcomer, but it is a multi-pronged approach that is needed to retain them. In the ACT we have methodically utilised the “Multiple Attack Points” approach. Here we list of a few of them:

A Family Pathways Strategy First, in 2012 we laid out a simple three-page strategy with some basic goals and targets. Then we started with what we had and slowly built on it.

Blue Sparks – started informally in May 2007 by volunteers, this has now been delivered to many children.

Goal – Make it fun while young. Parents as partners - they too need to be coached in map reading How? Games, opportunistic sessions, training camp, links into other junior activities.

Finally, we now have more under-14s attending public events than over-60’s.

Map Mates – getting more junior bang out of public events.

Map Mates can be referred to as the O-starter pack. It’s done with friends, at public events where there’s lots of experience around. A dedicated convenor remains the contact point from the initial point of enquiry right through to the completion of the series.

The model has progressed more recently to include a free Season Pass and a discount on E-stick purchase and a free entry to attend a Major NOL Event. This encourages transition into clubs and mainstream programs.

Blood or Glory – a “private” community rogaine, by the kids for the kids (of Malawi). This activity is outside of OACT scope but has helped create and cement relationships amongst the Juniors. Past Kings and Queens of the Mountain include Olle Poland, Stephen Melhuish, Kieran Lane, and Ella Cuthbert.

Pan Pacific Challenge – a competition for under-14 years embedded within the Australian Championships - something for the kids while not imposing any additional demands on organisers at the Australian Championships. (see The Australian Orienteer March 2014, pp 28-29 and March 2015, pp 36-37).

34 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER DECEMBER 2015

Florienteering – using a major tourist flower event (Floriade) to showcase Orienteering to Juniors, their families and the broader community.

Focus on Girls - a girl’s only training squad for 10-years and up – meets for a series of training sessions 3 or 4 times a year – timing corresponds to periods when newcomers are most prevalent (beginning of public programs and in lead up to key events). This acts as a stepping stone into the regular weekly school training squad.

SC-ORE Inter-School Orienteering – learning from abroad – taking a team relay competition to primary kids modelled on Sweden’s Skol Sprinten (see www.byorienteering.se).

SC-ORE is based on the Sprint Relay format of the World Orienteering Championships – but conducted in the safety of school grounds and urban parklands, a formula that works exceptionally well for novice orienteers as their entrée to a minor competition. Thursday mornings before school, 8am to 9am, has worked well.

Junior Mappers – a Sporting Schools opportunity.

Since the commencement of the Sporting Schools program (July 2015) at least five schools have been mapped by ACT Juniors freeing up professional mappers to tackle more technical bush maps.

It is hoped that, as a result of the development of more school maps, more schools will become engaged in SC-ORE and the extended junior activities.

International Scholar This successful programme started with the aim of teaching parents how to map read. A child is more likely to stay orienteering if their parent can also orienteer. Now in its third year it has expanded from this original concept to facilitate the teaching of all members.

Lessons to learn from the Family Development Pathway Multiple attack points? - Yes! But also consistency and connections – cross promotion in all activities targeting the similar cohort. We no longer rely simply on the traditional menu of a once a year Primary School Championships and a weekly squad for committed children. By using different attack points (parents, school, away from school, mixed gender, single gender, new comps, embedded comps, weekend camps , 4-week Series, 16-week Series) and with goodwill support from the OACT Board we are on our way to ensuring the long term survival of this sport in Canberra.

O-Pri-Sch-Champs2013-Beccy Nesser & Zoe Melhuish.

2015 Schools Relay-Tristan & Patrick Miller.

Caitlin Young.

FOG-Sabina Engelhard & Mia Bragaard.

SC-ORE 2015-Canberra Cockatoos with winners Kyan, Gabe, Freya and Eliza.

SC-ORE-2015-Stephanie Hudson, Natalie Miller.

2015 Schools Relay-Zoe Melhuish.

SC-ORE-2015-Zoe Lang & Ella Schwarz.

FOG-Toni Brown instructs girls.

ACT Blue Sparks flag.

DECEMBER 2015 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 35

MOUNTAIN BIKE ORIENTEERING

Overseas trips for MTB Orienteering Kay Haarsma

A

s MTBO continues to expand in Europe there are now many opportunities to plan an overseas MTBO adventure.

The Danish coaches annually organize an early training camp that anyone can attend – the 2016 Danish Training Camp is on 20-24 April at Åhus, Denmark. The Swedish O-Ringen MTBO program continues to expand – next year there will be three events on July 25 - 27 and with training possibilities beforehand. The competitions are in the Salem region, specifically Rorbacksnas, and promises some of the best trails that Sweden has to offer. “The trails lead both along gravel roads and more technical sections with pebbles on the hills and duckboards over marshes and ponds.” (see oringen.se).

to count in more races and gain a suitable score making it more truly a World Series. All Series events listed below have two races (M & L) that count, except the finale at the World Masters Championships in late September 2016, which includes all three races - Sprint, Middle & Long Distance. The best 7 of 15 races count.

This year Carolyn Jackson; Kathy Liley and Kiwis Chris, Yett and Marquita Gelderman; plus Rob Garden and myself attended the most famous MTBO event, the Czech 5 Days MTBO held at Pilsen. There were 850 participants! It was like MTBO heaven. Most people stayed at the official event site on a lakeside, either camping, in caravans, campervans or in the basic huts.

• 19-21 August – Czech Republic;

Given that most days had temperatures in the 30s the lake was well utilised. The actual events were all within rideable distance, so it was fun leisurely riding to the starts and back chatting to new friends along the way. Sometimes it might be a family group of Mum, Dad and two or three children or next time it might be a group of elites. All super friendly. The event centre had social activities every night as well. The Starts were all well spread out and it was only in the Sprint that the race area felt crowded. This is certainly an event to add to your bucket list. Plan ahead, as it only happens every second year.

Another Czech event that attracts almost a thousand people is Bike Adventure. This is a 2-day Cyclogaine event where you compete in pairs, with about five hours navigating each day.

If you are looking to compete overseas don’t be afraid to contact organizers for help in putting you in touch with others who may be able to help with travel, accommodation or even bike hire. Also, talk to some of the Australian riders who have competed overseas for advice.

World Masters Mtbo Series 2016

T

he 2nd World Masters Series actually started with two races of the 2015 Australian Championships in November counting. This will allow southern hemisphere competitors 36 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER DECEMBER 2015

The Australian races will be followed in 2016 by: • 23-25 March – Turkey (Cappadocia); • 20-24 April – Sweden; • 14-16 May – France; • 24-30 July – Portugal; • 30 Sept - 2 Oct – Lithuania (World Masters Champs).

Congratulations to Kay Haarsma who was the inaugural winner of W60 in the 2015 Masters MTBO World Series.

Carolyn Jackson, who competed successfully in W50 at the World Masters chose to ride elites at the Czech 5 Days, thus she didn’t have enough races to place in the Series.

Mtbo National Squad Applications

A

pplications are being sought for riders interested in being part of our national Junior and Senior Squads.

To nominate riders must be keen to pursue JWMTBOC / WMTBOC selection in the coming years. This doesn’t necessarily mean in 2016, as sometimes work or study has to take precedence. Even young juniors who may be some years off JWMTBOC are welcome to nominate, so we can keep you in the loop of coaching and training opportunities.

Send details to kayhaarsma@hotmail.com Name; birth date; email; phone; trying for team in 2016 – yes/no.

Mtbo – Australian Coach Position

A

pplications are being sought for the Australian MTBO Coach position for 2016-17. Ideally this will be for two years, with the main role being to accompany teams to the World Championships. If necessary an appointment for only one year will be considered. In 2016 the Championships are in Portugal 24 - 30 July. Further information: OA website and kayhaarsma@hotmail.com / 0403 565 534.

THULE sponsor AUS MTBO Champs Damien and Jenny Enderby

T

HULE generously provided sponsorship support for the 2015 Australian MTBO Championships. With their great range of bike racks they are an ideal partner with MTBO. However, THULE have a wide range of products which are appropriate to all orienteers. Everything from child carriers, bike seats, travel luggage, camera bags and a great range of bike panniers. All of their items can be viewed at www.thule. com.au where you will find further information including pricing and local dealers.

Newcastle orienteers Damien and Jenny Enderby, who are THULE ambassadors and athletes, describe some of their favourite products from the THULE range: “We do a lot of travelling around the country competing in a range of sports including Orienteering, Mountain Bike Racing, Adventure Racing and everything in between. Competing in such a range of sports means the need to safely transport equipment including bikes, kayaks, surf-ski’s and occasionally snow skis and camping gear. Fortunately for us, THULE just happen to make the best equipment carrying solutions around, and we’ve listed below some of our favourite products that make travelling with our gear easier and safer (search “Thule Test Program” on YouTube to see how safe).

The THULE G6 bike carrier – makes carrying up to 4 bikes so easy. It tilts to allow easy access to your car’s boot and it’s nice and low to load bikes (great for shorter people) and they can take up to 4 bikes. It also has all lights incorporated in the rack and a space to easily mount a number plate, avoiding any nasty fines.

Thule SlideBar – these roof racks are designed to slide 600 millimetres either side of the vehicle when loading allowing easy access to load bikes, kayaks, etc. and enables easy access to your roof box. This also makes it easier for shorter people to load items onto the roof racks.

Thule Crossover Luggage range – these items are simply fantastic. Made with a water-resistant fabric and pockets for everything, there is a bag for every trip. They also come with a 25 year warranty. The best thing about these bags is after many miles travelled around the country they still look brand new, very durable.

Thule Professional awning – this item has saved the family on many occasions, especially at races. Simply wind it out and fold down the legs to provide great shelter from the elements. When you’re done simply fold up the legs and wind it back in.

It was tremendous to see THULE supporting MTBO in 2015 and beyond. So when you next need any high quality items consider the THULE product range – you won’t be disappointed.”

DECEMBER 2015 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 37

MOUNTAIN BIKE ORIENTEERING

Permanent Courses in Melrose, South Australia Kay Haarsma

T

here are now two mapped areas and 38 permanent markers at Melrose, three hours north of Adelaide, on the way to the Flinders Ranges.

“Melrose Showgrounds” is a large area on a slight slope, situated 2 km north of the town centre. It is mapped at 1:5,000, with 18 control points and 4 set courses varying between 1.3 1.7kms in length, with some interesting checkpoints - one on a “hilton” tree; another on a tree full of shoes; and even one in a shearing shed.

The “Melrose Ups & Downs” map starts in the main street and takes in most of the farmland west of town where the famous Melrose mountain bike tracks are situated. At 1:7,500 and with 10 metre contours this area will test out your legs and your navigation but also gives great views. There are 6 courses and 20 controls here, from 1.2 - 5 km in length. Features on this map include Wilbur’s memorial; a concrete pipe which riders go over and through; and several deep mineshafts. These maps are largely designed as MTBO maps but courses are equally suitable for riders or those on foot.

38 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER DECEMBER 2015

Andrew & Rose Campbell who helped to put controls in place

Maps are available online at http://www.sa.orienteering.asn. au/DIYOrienteering/ or if you are passing through ask the bike shop or showgrounds caretaker for one. Kay Haarsma has been the coordinator of this project and planned the courses, while Ken Thompson has done the follow-up cartography from Andrew Slattery’s original maps. Rose and Andrew Campbell (orienteers from Cairns) were in the area and assisted with installing the

markers which were successfully christened the following day by Year 11 Walford College students.

Melrose is a lovely town to visit, with two pubs and a variety of accommodation options from motel units in a back street, farm stays, caravan park with cabins and a backpacker place that can be booked for groups. The “Over the Edge” bike shop is very upmarket with high end bikes for hire, much clothing and the best coffee and hot chocolate in town. “The Vault” next door also offers coffee and food, as does the general store and petrol station.

For those into mountain biking there are also other trails just 5 km south of town at Bartagunyah; the famous fat tyre festival is held there on the June long weekend and they run a 6/18 hour event in early September.

Mappin g & Course Settin g Soft ware

OCAD 12 Orienteering is here!

Order from ocad.com.au/shop Australia & NZ OCAD reseller

Walford Outdoor Education students were first to use the courses

PO Box 625 Daylesford VIC 3460

Ph. 03 5348 3792

info@ocad.com.au

DECEMBER 2015 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 39

2015 australian mtbo championships

MTBO on the Surf Coast

Carolyn Jackson reports on the Australian MTBO Championships held on 6-8 November on Victoria’s Surf Coast.

Photos: Mike Spain & Kay Haarsma.

Above: Murray Withers (Qld) after visiting one of the lookout controls at Anglesea.

Right: Leigh Privett (Vic) at the same control.

A

s a Victorian who has been doing Mtbo since its inception in Australia, it was a very exciting prospect to be heading off to not one, but 3 completely new Mtbo areas for the Australian Mtbo championship carnival. The events were also the annual Australian/NZ Challenge, World Ranking events in Elite, the final round in the National series, and to cap off all that a round of the newly formed World Masters MTBO Series.

The brainchild of Heather Leslie and John Gavens who live in Torquay, the lure of the picturesque Surf Coast and great areas saw competitors coming from all over Australia, a large contingent from NZ and even some internationals. Almost 200 competitors made for the largest Australian Mtbo championships yet.

There was a Sprint Distance race right in Torquay, a Middle Distance based in an established mountain biking destination in Anglesea with lots of single track, and a previously hidden gem for the Long Distance near the township of Bambra.

As an added extra, particularly for visitors to Victoria, Nillumbik Emus put on a warm-up event at the You Yangs which had about 100 entrants.

Surprisingly for November, the day dawned quite cold and windy for the Sprint race. Nonetheless few starts could boast such beautiful views overlooking the Torquay foreshore. A narrow area of foreshore trails followed by a loop up a bushy creek reserve and finishing in a bush park, saw some very tight racing.

Chris Firman (Qld) and Marquita Gelderman (NZ) took out the Elite races and Australia had many victories to take a healthy lead in the Aus/NZ challenge.

The weather improved somewhat for the move to the Eumeralla scout camp just outside of Anglesea for the Middle Distance. With the complex network of single track, great route choice, many linking clearings, obstacles and great views this area was incredibly challenging. It was often difficult to even find tiny little tracks, and you also needed to keep focussed and not be distracted by some stunning control locations. One had views way down the coast, but you could also see where you needed to go, seemingly straight down below you with a very big height difference! And yes, it did prove to be a fantastic descent! Many of the tracks were quite technical too, which made map reading difficult.

40 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER DECEMBER 2015

Julie Sunley (ACT) getting passed by M21 winner Chris Firman (Qld) during the Sprint race.

Ed Steenbergen during the Sprint along the picturesque Torquay foreshore.

Michael Wood (NZ) and Bill Vandendool (Vic) during the Middle Distance race.

Scenery from the old coal mine during the Long Distance race.

Rob Davis (Vic) ponders which track to take at Eumeralla.

World Junior Sprint MTBO Champion Angus Robinson (Vic) won all three M20 events over the weekend.

New Zealand’s Marquita Gelderman won the trifecta of events in W21.

Australia had a 14 to 10 points victory in the Aus/NZ MTBO Challenge over the weekend. Some of the Australian team members proudly show the Challenge banner.

Steve Cusworth (Vic) was making a return to Mtbo, and after warming up in the Sprint he turned the tables on Chris and took out a great victory. Marquita continued her winning ways with a great ride to again beat Carolyn Jackson with Marina Iskhakova (NSW) third.

The Aussies again gained more wins on NZ to move further ahead in the challenge. Also Victoria was steadily gaining points towards an overall victory in the National league.

Sunday saw us move inland to a mystery area called Paddy’s Swamp. The start looked innocuous enough, but very soon you were bouncing your way along tracks that were seemingly continuous moguls. Fun at first, they soon became rather draining and later in the course downright exhausting!

All courses headed quickly into an amazing old coal mine that had been turned into lakes, with a complex network of tracks around them. Clever course setting saw us criss-crossing back and forward around the lakes, with heaps of route choice. This really was a fun new area, although the later hills were tough.

Then finally we were sent into a complex little network of tracks near the finish. Perfect for a Long Distance race, Paddy’s Swamp capped off a really unique and fantastic carnival.

Steve Cusworth proved his ‘comeback’ was complete by taking out another win, and again Marquita proved she is in a class of her own.

Australia won the ANZ challenge, the National series winners were announced and Victoria won the shield.

The core team of Peter and Carolyn Cusworth; John Gavens and Heather Leslie and mapper Jon Sutcliffe deserve a huge thanks for doing Victoria proud and putting on a truly world class weekend. They were ably backed by Yarra Valley club who ran the Sprint, and a large contingent of helpers from Bayside Kangaroos.

Full results, splits, photos and video available on www.ausmtbochamps.com DECEMBER 2015 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 41

Tom Lothian (Vic) at Eumeralla.

Steve Cusworth (Vic) had a successful return to MTBO winning the two World Ranking Events.

Scott Gavens (Vic) cranking it out at Eumeralla.

42 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER DECEMBER 2015

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 were received for this edition of the magazine, so here’s one from the Editor:

Dear readers, The magazine always welcomes your letters on any aspect of our sport. They provide us with feedback on the magazine content and on wider aspects of Orienteering. So, please send us some letters – regularly.

The Editor

Aussie travel shirt.

Order now !

The Aussie supporters / travel shirt has been a great success with people wearing it at events overseas and at home, creating a Team appearance while marching at international events. These Trimtex shirts are light, comfortable and long wearing, with a unisex and a ladies shirt, a vest and a jacket available for order.

This year we are also offering the Trimtex TX trainer pants in navy which will create a casual uniform.

Orders must be placed by January 15th for distribution at Easter. You will need to go up a size so try on a Trimtex shirt before ordering.

Enquiries about prices and sizes can be sent to colinp53@yahoo.com.au

The UK’s Orienteering Magazine 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

Victorinox award

52 pages, full colour, 6 times a year £44 World Subscription

This issue’s Victorinox Award goes to Angus Robinson for his article describing his Junior World Mountain Bike Orienteering Championship win. Angus will receive a Victorinox Handyman which includes 24 tools and features – retail value $119.

Var. 05

Britain’s

National

Orienteering

CompassSport Vol 35

Magazine

Issue 1 February 2014

£5.00

Var. 05 Var. 05

Orienteering

Magazine

CompassSport Britain’s

National

Vol 35

Issue 2 April 2014

Britain’s

CompassSport

£5.00

National

Orienteering

Vol 34

MOC RC#5 Trail O Test Israeli Open Competitions Product Reviews Deeside Night Cup British Night Champs Informal Event Formats Know Your Class Leader Concentration Training CLOK Acorn Event Training Formats

Magazine

Issue 4 August 2013

£5.00

RC#5 Big 5 O Map Scales Women in O Fitness for O Hypothermia Competitions Product Reviews Newsletter Awards Ten Years of MOC Stockholm Indoor Cup Informal Event Formats Know Your Class Leader Mountain Marathon Calendar

www.CompassSport.co.uk

.uk www.CompassSport.co

www.Com

JWOC Reviews WOC2013 Euro MTBO Fitness for O Competition s Out of Contr ol Route Choic e Training Form 5 ats Scottish 6 Day Report Know Your Class Lead er Mountain Mara thon Review ...and lots more .

passSport

.co.uk

‘A luxury you can afford.’

DECEMBER 2015 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 43

F

ive additional sports, including Skateboarding and Surfing, have been recommended by the Tokyo Olympics organizing committee for inclusion at the 2020 Summer Games.

Baseball/Softball, Karate and Climbing were also recommended under a proposal that would see a total of 18 new medal events, nine each for men and women, contested by an additional 474 athletes at the Games.

o-spy Magazine reprints (You may know that the printer re-printed and despatched the 2014 September edition in error. Thus State Associations had large numbers of free, but old, magazines to use for promotion).

F

rom Orienteering WA: “I have handed out nearly half of the Sept 2014 issue to libraries & orienteers who intend making use of them with their school groups etc.

“Spot the Difference” is a favourite section of the magazine.

Jenny Komyshan (OWA)

Hermann Wehner

H

ermann is a member of Weston Emus club in ACT. At 92 years of age he regularly beats orienteers many years his junior. At the recent 2015 AUS Championships events Hermann certainly dominated his M90 class. And on the day of the World Series Street-O Challenge, Hermann not only took part in the event but warmed up by jogging the 6km around Lake Wendouree in the morning.

Five additional Olympic Sports

Hermann Wehner at 2015 AUS Sprint.

SPORTident tip

D

id you know? If you program your BSF7 or BSF8 as a control number greater that 255 you may get errors when SI-5 are used?

Smelly running shoes ?!

A

very useful tip from Orienteering WA E-News:

With all the running associated with orienteering its no wonder that your trainers have gotten a little whiffy! With summer (and therefore even more sweat) on the horizon, this helpful hint is all about keeping that stench away!

To get the smells out of running shoes just scatter a teaspoonful of bi-carbonate of soda inside each shoe. Give it a shake and leave overnight or about eight hours. Next morning shake out the residue and Hey Presto! the smell will have gone.

If you want to avoid loose powder in your shoes, then put the baking soda in the middle of a paper towel, gather the corners into the centre, secure with an elastic band and pop it inside the shoe overnight. Bicarbonate absorbs moisture as well as smells!

44 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER DECEMBER 2015

“This package of events represents both traditional and emerging youth-focused events, all of which are popular both in Japan and internationally,” the organizing committee said in a statement. Under new rules, Olympic host cities can hand-pick sports they want included at the Olympic Games.

The final decision will be made at an IOC session next August 2016.

O SPEAK

M

any sports have their idiosyncratic terms and sayings – no more so than Cricket with its field placings such as forward short leg, silly mid-on and backward point, or bowling terms like reverse swing, yorker, wrong’un, doosra and googly; (not to mention a chinaman or a french cut).

Basketball has its mystery terms too, like slam dunk and ally-oop, and AFL has the specky. But Cricket, Basketball and similar sports are well known and it doesn’t take too long for people to recognise and, perhaps, understand terms such as these.

On the other hand, Orienteering is such a well kept secret that its idiosyncratic terms and acronyms are unlikely to be understood by the wider world and, perhaps, not even by all those who orienteer. Take the term “mispunch” – if every orienteer really understood its meaning we surely wouldn’t have so many “mp” notations regularly appearing in Results.

So, here are a few more which you may, or may not, have met before: SI-stick – the thing you put on your finger when you take part in events using the SPORTident timing system. Here and in other parts of the world it is variously known as an E-stick, SI-card, SI-control card, dibber, finger stick, e-punch.

Splits – the times participants take to travel between successive controls.

Foot O – Orienteering in which participants either run or walk (or both). the Long – a Long Distance Orienteering event, formerly known as the Classic distance.

OA – Orienteering Australia, the federation of all Australian State and Territory Associations and is the governing body of the sport in Australia.

AO – (often confused by many with the term OA), is The Australian Orienteer (this magazine).

OWLS – Orienteering With Lights Series, conducted in and around Canberra in the evenings when it’s dark.

SENiLe – South East Night League, conducted mainly in Surrey, UK. NOL – National Orienteering League, the premier interstate competition of Australia’s elite orienteers, both Seniors (M/ W21E) and Juniors (M/W20E).

M/W21E – the senior Elite classes for Men and Women respectively.

WOC, JWOC, WMOC, WMTBOC, JWMTBOC – a jumble of letters (you might say), but respectively World, Junior World, World Masters, World Mountain Bike & Junior World Mountain Bike Orienteering Championships – these are currently held annually (and mostly independently of each other) and are allocated through a bidding process managed by the IOF. IOF – International Orienteering Federation. The IOF is the international governing body for the sport of Orienteering.

The IOF governs four Orienteering disciplines: Foot Orienteering, Mountain Bike Orienteering, Ski Orienteering and Trail Orienteering.

Contours – we all know what contours are ….. or do we?

Swedish mappers use the word “Ekvidistans”, so early mappers here wanted to call a contour “equidistance” which, of course, they’re not. Local mappers had forgotten about Pythagoras. Fortunately, we now use the word “contours”.

That’s enough for this edition of the magazine, but there are so many more acronyms and idiosyncratic terms in our sport that we will be continuing this in future editions. Meantime, please send any you can think of to the Editor.

WORLD SERIES STREET O

Course setter Vic Sedunary had included a larger 1:2,500 scale section of the campus on the back of the map but it was in black & white, not the glorious technicolour version shown here. The many stairs and pathways were difficult to navigate at speed and the immediate attraction of the high score for #20 confused some. Perhaps a better route choice would have been #1 first, then #20, #2, #4 and #3. Intricate map reading was good preparation for the Sprint Championships at St Patrick’s College the next day.

Outside the campus the course was strictly Park & Street O style with the main challenges being to get through the peak hour traffic on Grant St and to make the Finish within the Score event time limit.

P

ark & Street orienteering descended on Ballarat as a demonstration event during the recent AUS Championships carnival. Close to 200 entered the World Series Street O Challenge with a significant number of “enter-on-the-day” participants.

Being a mass start Score event participants headed off in all sorts of directions with many making a bee-line for the high scoring #20 in the old School of Mines campus nearby. It was accessible via a pedestrian bridge over busy Grant St making it even more appealing. But participants were then immediately faced with the complexity of the old campus and there was much confusion with people running, walking and standing still everywhere. The clear advice from Peter Yeates at Registration to “DON’T PANIC” took on new meaning here.

Don’t panic.......

Think DECEMBER 2015 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 45

AUS Schools Championships

2015 Qld Schools Team

I

n the September 2015 magazine the Queensland Schools Team depicted was incorrect. To honour and acknowledge those who competed as members of the 2015 Queensland Schools Team we show them here and congratulate them on their performances in the 2015 Australian Schools Orienteering Championships.

Senior Boys Relay winners – Riley DeJong, Joshua Morrison & Simeon Burrill

Junior Boys Jayden Harvey Daniel Murray Saxon Charles Jaiden Fidge Cameron Morrison

Jayden Harvey

Daniel Murray

Saxon Charles

Jaiden Fidge

Lauren Murray

Laurel Gannon

Junior Girls Nina Gannon Lucy Hill Lauren Murray Laurel Gannon

Lucy Hill

Nina Gannon

Senior Boys Simeon Burrill Riley DeJong Joshua Morrison Jack Hill

Simeon Burrill

Riley DeJong

Joshua Morrison

Jack Hill

Senior Girls Caroline Pigerre Zazi Brennan Gaby Withers Winnie Oakhill

Caroline Pigerre 46 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER DECEMBER 2015

Zazi Brennan

Gabrielle Withers

Winnie Oakhill

Top events 2017

2015 Dec 27-31

Dec 29Jan 3

April 14-17

Xmas 5 Days Armidale, NSW http://onsw.asn.au/xmas2015 Big Five-O 2016, Kaapsehoop, South Africa. www.bigfive-o.co.za

April 22-29

May (dates tba)

2016 Jan 15-17

Jan 23-26

March 12-14 (six events) March 25-28

April 24

May 14-15

June 18-19

July 9-15

July 9-16

July 16-23

July 23-29

July 24-30

New Zealand MTBO Champs Taranaki, NZ http://mtbo2015nz.weebly.com/ Sprint Canberra (5 events) Canberra, ACT office@act.orienteering.asn.au Melbourne Sprint Weekend Melbourne & Geelong, Victoria www.parkstreeto.com.au/msw2016/ Aus 3-Days Carnival, Easter, ACT AUS Ultra Long Distance Championship Wilpena Pound, South Australia 10Mila Falun-Borlänge, Dalarna, Sweden www.10mila.se Jukola Relay 2016 Lappeenranta, Finland www.jukola.com/2016/ JWOC 2016 Engadin, Switzerland www.jwoc2016.ch/ 5th Tour O Swiss Switzerland www.tour-o-swiss.ch Swiss O Week 2016 Engadin, Switzerland

June 10-12 June 17-18

July 1-7

July 9-16 July 9-16 July 22-28

July 30Aug 5 July 25-27

Pretex shipment has arrived!

The choice of Champs for maps & bibs

Order map paper, map printing and event bibs for Xmas and 2016

July 24-30

MTBO

MTBO c h a m p i o nsh ips

20 12

Ta r e e , NSW

O-Ringen 2017 Arvika, Värmland, Sweden. www.oringen.se Scottish 6 Days Deeside, Scotland The World Games Wroclaw, Poland

August 19-27 WMTBOC & JWMTBOC 2017 Vilnius, Lithuania Sept 232017 AUS Championships Carnival Oct 1 Hill End, Bathurst, NSW www.onsw.asn.au/auschamps2017 Dec 27 - 31 Xmas 5 Days, NSW www.onsw.asn.au/xmas-5days-2017

O-Ringen 2016 Sälen, Dalarna, Sweden. www.oringen.se WMTBOC, JWMTBOC 2016 Aveiro-Coimbra, Portugal

CROESO 6 Days, South Wales, UK www.croesomultiday.org.uk August 6-13 WMOC 2016 Tallinn, Estonia www.wmoc2016.ee Aug 20-28 WOC 2016 Strömstad – Tanum, Sweden www.woc2016.se/en/ Taree NSW aus tr alian Sept 242016 AUS Championships Carnival Oct 2 Gold Coast to Granite Belt SE Qld www.auschamps2016.com c h a m p i o n shWMMTBOC ips Sep 292 0 12 2016, a u s t r al i a n MTBO T a r ee N S W Oct 2 Kaunas, Lithuania us tr al i a n Octa8-15 Alice Springs Masters Games aus tr alian Mc hT B O Alice Springs, NT M T BO am p i o nsh ips c h a m p i o n sh i p s Ta r e e NSW 20 12 alicespringsmastersgames.com.au 2 0 12 Tar ee, NSW a u s t r a l i an Oct a14-16 AUS MTBO Championships us tr al i a n Sth West WA Mc hT B O MT BO a m p i o nsh ips c h a m p i o n sh ips www.ausmtbochamps.com 20 12 Ta r e e , NSW 2 0 12 Tar ee, NSW Dec 27-31 Xmas 5 Days, Newcastle area NSW a u s t r a l i an www.onsw.asn.au/xmas-5-days-2016

Oceania Carnival near Auckland, New Zealand WMOC 2017 near Auckland, New Zealand worldmastersgames2017.co.nz 10Mila Göteborg, Sweden www.10mila.se AUS 3 Days & QBIII, NSW Jukola Relay 2017 Joensuu, Finland www.jukola.com/2017 WOC 2017 Otepää, Estonia www.orienteerumine.ee/woc2017/ JWOC 2017 Tampere, Finland FIN5 2017 Tampere, Finland

Ken Dowling

Jim Russell

ocad.com.au

0 3 5 3 4 8 3 79 2

DECEMBER 2015 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 47

60°19’10”N 12°2’29”E

CREATE YOUR OWN COURSE NEW

RACE COMPASS SERIES

Improved design and quality - Better grip - More transparency

Stockists: Scientific Instrument & Optical Sales sales@sios.net.au Ph (07) 3356 0233 Orienteering Service of Australia info@osoa.com.au PH (03) 9714 8540 Wildfire Sports Brenton@wildfiresports.com.au PH 1300 573 247 XHE Sports stores.ebay.com.au/XHE-SPORTS

www.silva.se For more information contact Fiskars Australia Fiskars Brands (Australia) Pty Ltd. 39-41 Fennell St Port Melbourne VIC 3207 Tel +61 3 8645 2400 Fax +61 3 9646 1722 email: australia@fiskars.com