The Australian Orienteer – June 2020

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ORIENTEERING AUSTRALIA

The President’s Page BLAIR TREWIN

T

his is a period quite unlike anything we’ve experienced in Orienteering in Australia (or worldwide), with no events and no immediate indication of when we’ll have events (although as I write, there are some encouraging signs that we might not be too far away from being able to stage local events, at least). No doubt many of you have feet as itchy as mine are, and felt it strange to be spending an Easter at home (the first since 1983 in my case). While Australia has been fortunate to escape the full scale of the problems which have occurred elsewhere, it’s still a very challenging time for many people, and I’m sure that all of you are doing the best you can to manage the situation. (From my perspective, a sunny day at Kooyoora wasn’t a bad way to sign off before an extended break).

Our sport is in a better position than many are to handle what is happening. Both Orienteering Australia and all of the State Associations have enough reserves to deal with an extended shutdown, and we don’t have a lot of the fixed costs that some sports have (like buildings to pay back loans on). Obviously it’s not ideal to have an unscheduled break but I have every reason to be confident that all the organisations in our sport in Australia will still be standing when this is over; there are a lot of other sports that will not be able to say the same.

Without an Easter to take part in, there was a lot of creativity when it came to alternative Easter activities (if you haven’t checked out the results of the Strava art challenge on the OA Facebook page you really should). (Also see page 6 in this magazine.) Finding ways to

keep our membership engaged through this period is an important priority for us, as is making good use of permanent courses (physical or virtual) if we go through a period when individual activities are possible but organised events are not. (Interest in permanent courses has gone through the roof in Norway, and not just from regular orienteers). It may well be that the newfound interest that a lot of Australians have found in going outdoors (if Melbourne is any indication, the nation’s parks and bike paths have never had so much use) is something we can take advantage of once activities become possible again.

Without an Easter event for it to happen at, the Orienteering Australia AGM took place online. (The observant amongst you may have noticed that, despite what was said last time, I’m still here – in the current circumstances I’m staying on until things return to something closer to normal, hopefully by the end of the year).

Whilst the legal formalities were dealt with, the most significant announcements were those of our annual awards. It was particularly pleasing to be able to recognise outstanding contribution over a long period at a local level (and in Mountain Bike Orienteering, which often gets forgotten, as well) with the awarding of the SILVA Medal for Services to Orienteering to Greg Bacon of Newcastle. Local stalwarts who do volunteer work, often for decades, are the lifeblood of our sport and without them very little would happen.

I look forward to seeing many of you in the bush again in the future, hopefully the not too distant future.

Proudly supported by WILDFIRE SPORTS

JUNE 2020 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 3

Australian WOC, JWOC and MTBO teams are outfitted by

4 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER JUNE 2020

w w w. o r i e n t e e r i n g . a s n . a u Orienteering Australia PO Box 3379, North Strathfield, NSW 2137 eo@orienteering.asn.au President Blair Trewin president@orienteering.asn.au Director High Performance Stephen Craig stephen@orienteering.asn.au Director Finance Bruce Bowen finance@orienteering.asn.au Director Technical Jenny Casanova technical@orienteering.asn.au Director Media & Communications vacant Director International (IOF Council) Mike Dowling international@orienteering.asn.au Director Bill Jones directorbill@orienteering.asn.au Director Prue Dobbin secretary@orienteering.asn.au Executive Officer Paul Prudhoe eo@orienteering.asn.au National MTBO Coordinator Kay Haarsma mtbo@orienteering.asn.au OA Head Coach Jim Russell headcoach@orienteering.asn.au High Performance Administrator Ian Prosser hpadmin@orienteering.asn.au Manager Coach Development vacant National Sporting Schools Coordinator Jim Mackay sportingschools@orienteering.asn.au Coach & Controller Accreditation Jim Mackay accreditation@orienteering.asn.au Badge Applications John Oliver 68 Amaroo Street, Wagga Wagga, NSW 2650

0418 287 694 0413 849 309 02 6288 8501 0427 605 167

0418 287 694 08 8337 0522 0411 125 178 0439 668 151 0407 467 345 0407 467 345

STATE ASSOCIATIONS Orienteering Queensland: PO Box 114 Spring Hill QLD 4004. Secretary: David Firman secretary@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: Phil Walker, Ph. (02) 6162 3422 office@act.orienteering.asn.au Orienteering Victoria: PO Box 1010 Templestowe VIC 3106. Secretary: Aislinn Prendergast, secretary@vicorienteering.asn.au Orienteering SA: 1 Windsor Rd, Glenside SA 5065. Sec: Erica Diment 0408 852 313 secretary@sa.orienteering.asn.au Orienteering Western Australia: PO Box 234 Subiaco WA 6904. Secretary: Eleanor Sansom, oawa.secretary@gmail.com Orienteering Tasmania: Secretary: Bernard Walker secretary@tasorienteering.asn.au Top End Orienteers (Northern Territory): PO Box 39152 Winnellie NT 0821. Secretary: Susanne Casanova topendorienteersNT@gmail.com

NEXT ISSUE DEADLINE

July 10. Time-sensitive: July 17

ISSN 0818-6510 Issue 2/20 (no. 198) JUNE 2020

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, (100023602 for NSW).

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, 1154 Burwood Hwy Upper Ferntree Gully.

Contribution deadline: July 10; Time-sensitive – July 17.

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; MTBO – Kay Haarsma; Official News – Paul Prudhoe.

Contributions welcome, either directly or via State editorial contacts.

Prior consultation is suggested before preparing major contributions.

Guidelines 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 – ericadiment@adam.com.au – tel: 0408 852 313 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

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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 COVID WOE(VID)...................................... 6 1 9 2 0 O LY M P I C S W E N T A H E A D . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 I O F FA I R P L AY S U R V E Y . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 F O R B I D D E N O R I E N T E E R I N G M A P F E AT U R E S.. . . 1 4 SIX RACES, THREE DAYS........................... 17 BUILDING QUEENSLAND JUNIORS ............... 20 S I M O N E N I G G L I I N T E R V I E W.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 2 THE ACT SPRINT SERIES........................... 24 I M P R O V E Y O U R O R I E N T E E R I N G – PA R T 4 . . . . . . . 3 0 O R I E N T E E R I N G I N A U S T R A L I A & F I N L A N D .. . . . . 3 4 “J E F F ” C O M I C . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 5 AT H L E T E O F T H E Y E A R.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 6 S I A C Q U E S T I O N S A N S W E R E D .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 7 ORIENTEERING FOR TWO........................... 38 S P O T T H E D I F F E R E N C E .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 0 STOCKHOLM INDOOR CUP.......................... 41 MTBO IN FINLAND................................... 44 O - S P Y.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 8 TOP EVENTS........................................... 51 Cover photo: Arabella Phillips (TAS) at 2020 MSW (photo Margi Freemantle).

JUNE 2020 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 5

PANDEMIC

COVID Woe(vid) Coronavirus puts stopper on events MICHAEL HUBBERT

F

rom cancelled national carnivals like the Easter 3-Days and the New Zealand Championships, to State Championships and local Park & Street events, Australian States closing their borders, the Tokyo Olympics postponed until next year, Wimbledon cancelled, and the Australian Sports Museum closing its doors to visitors on March 17th and not re-opening yet. Schools closed in some States and sports carnivals cancelled with students resorting to on-line sports games. Some beaches, playgrounds & skateparks closed; department stores, fashion stores, restaurants, coffee shops, food courts, gyms, libraries all closed their doors.

The situation was similar right around the world with entire countries in lock down, both Germany and the UK banning groups of more than two people (quickly followed by Australia), French gendarmes patrolling beaches and handing out on-the-spot fines, the US deploying the National Guard to hot spots. Major Orienteering events in the northern summer like WOC, JWOC, O-Ringen and many others were also cancelled or postponed leaving tens of thousands of orienteers with little to do apart from staying healthy.

By late March the US had recorded the greatest number of people infected by the virus, surpassing Italy, Spain, UK and China, and in early April the greatest number of deaths, more than a quarter of the global toll. Yet while most of the world acknowledged that the source of the virus was probably a wild animal market in Wuhan, China, we heard an extraordinary claim by China that it was brought to Wuhan

by US military personnel probably competing at the CISM Military Games last October. (Sour grapes or loss of face, perhaps, following the disqualification of the entire Chinese military Orienteering squad for extensive and blatant cheating at those Games ????) And, by early April the city of Shenzhen became the first in China to ban human consumption of wild dogs and cats.

At home a number of entrepreneurial types created a flood of training maps and courses that appeared on our screens for “armchair” orienteering and solo outdoor participation when possible. With the Easter 3 Days postponed for a year, Brodie Nankervis and Jim Russell instead organised a weekend of equivalent running challenges. Over Easter, participants took part in a beep test, the legendary ‘Mona Fartlek’ session and a hill climb challenge but the highlight was on Sunday where the runners were asked to make ‘strava art’ on their long run (see Orienteering Australia Facebook page).

Speaking recently on ABC Offsiders program, Paul Kennedy emphasised the importance of keeping club members (particularly juniors) engaged and interested during the shut down otherwise they could well just drift away.

And we learned two new medical phrases – “social distancing” and “flatten the curve”.

In the face of all this we looked for some good news. Countries with the most severe “lock down” restrictions reported air and water quality were much improved in major coastal cities, with Italy reporting that dolphins were returning to many harbours around the country; residents of some cities in the north of India said they could see the snow-capped Himalayas for the first time; and in the UK, WW11 veteran Captain Tom Moore raised 30 million pounds for their National Health Service by pushing his walker around his garden 100 times. His effort was recognised by a promotion to Colonel, a freight train named after him and a RAF fly past on his 100th birthday.

Congratulations Colonel Tom.

Colonel Tom Moore.

Strava art – I love AUS.

6 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER JUNE 2020

The IOF is posting a regular update on the website on the status of major events. Here some information at press time: • The World Orienteering Championships scheduled to be held in Denmark July 7-11, have been cancelled. Sprint WOC 2022 will now be held in Denmark and Sprint WOC 2024 in Edinburgh, Scotland..

• The Junior World Orienteering Championships due to be held in Turkey June 28 – July 3, have been postponed until around October 2020.

• The Asian Orienteering Championships in Korea have been postponed from May 1-5 to August 21-25, 2020 • The World Masters Orienteering Championships 2020, planned to be held August 7-15 in Slovakia, have been cancelled.

Strava art – Australia.

How is SARS CoV-2 (COVID-19) spread?

(CSIRO)

A virus is an infectious agent, much smaller than a bacterium. It cannot grow or reproduce by itself outside of a living cell. Because viruses rely on a host’s cells to survive and reproduce, they don’t store and capture energy themselves. This inability to survive outside of a host means they’re generally regarded as non-living.

SARS-CoV-2 is the virus that causes COVID-19. It has been generally accepted that it is spread primarily from person to person.

This is done between people who are in close contact, usually closer than 1.5m apart. But the virus cannot infect you through your skin.

It’s spread through respiratory droplets when an infected person sneezes or coughs. These drops can be inhaled into the lungs or enter the body through openings like your eyes, nose or mouth. This is when the virus enters your body, attacks healthy cells and spreads.

SARS CoV-2 can also be transmitted by touching a contaminated surface and then touching your face, mouth or rubbing your eyes – which is why it is so important to wash your hands regularly.

Why? - SARS CoV-2 is unusual from other coronavirinae in that it has an outer fatty membrane to protect the capsid and virion.

Soap is great at breaking down that fatty membrane, the same way detergent does with grease. Once that fatty membrane is

• The World MTB Orienteering Championships scheduled to be held in the Czech Republic had previously been cancelled.

However, the organisers of the European MTB Orienteering Championships currently scheduled for October 2-7 in Loulé, Portugal have agreed to upgrade the event to World Championships level. The event will also include the Junior World MTB Orienteering Championships.

destroyed, it kills the virion. Regular cleaning of surfaces at home is important. Cleaning with mild soap and water may be entirely adequate assuming there’s no reason to think your home is highly contaminated. The coronavirus is an ‘enveloped’ virus which makes it fairly weak when it comes to cleaning. Soap breaks down the virus envelope, making it inactive.

What is the risk of getting COVID-19 infection through food?

The best advice is to wash your hands with soap when preparing fruit and vegetables and to rinse fresh produce with water just before you eat it. There is no current evidence you become infected by eating the coronavirus. It’s a respiratory virus transmitted mainly via nose and eyes, not a gastrointestinal virus. The acid in our stomach is expected to inactivate the virus.

Coronavirus Quips • It’s like trying to plug a leaking dam wall in the middle of an earthquake.

• The toothpaste is out of the tube and we can’t put it back.

• The ambulance is at the bottom of the cliff.

• When in Rome – STAY THERE !

• The World isn’t out of the woods.

• Me get coronavirus? NEVER – I’ve got 90 rolls of toilet paper.

JUNE 2020 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 7

OLYMPICS

Despite the epidemic; the 1920 Olympics went ahead

BY TRACK STATS EDITOR, BOB PHILLIPS

I

t’s a macabre coincidence that the lead-up to the Olympic Games of 100 years ago was fraught with a universal calamity all too similar to that which we are now facing in 2020. Already by January of 1919 there had been 400,000 deaths reported in the USA alone from the “Spanish Influenza” epidemic which was ravaging the World, but there was no question of that country – the most successful at the Games since their revival in 1896 – withdrawing from the next celebration planned for 1920. Far from it.

In March 1919 the Central News Agency in New York reported the definitive decision of the US sports administrators: “In reply to a query from the Swedish Athletic Association, prominent officials here at the Amateur Athletic Union declared ‘America stands ready to send a representative athletic team to the next Olympic Games, regardless of the time or place which may be designated’ ”.

The members of the French Olympic Committee – whose opinion counted for much as founders of the modern Olympic movement – were more circumspect, but their hesitation had nothing to do with health matters. They declared, “The Olympic Games should not be held before 1921 as there would not be sufficient time for the Allied countries which have supported, and are still supporting, the burdens of the war to prepare adequately for a meeting in 1920”.

Those burdens of war had, of course, been horrendous. There had been an estimated 8.6 million military fatalities – 1.3 million of them in France and over 900,000 throughout the British Empire – and yet the toll from influenza between 1918 and 1920 would be far greater.

Though there was not even public radio in those days there was still widespread newspaper reporting of the epidemic but no screaming headlines of doom-laden predictions. The Minister of Health in Great Britain, for instance, announced in July 1919 that in the six months to 31 March there had been 136,000 deaths from influenza in England and Wales, but this caused no barrage of demands from Members of Parliament for immediate Government action. To provide some sort of perspective, in his same address to the House of Commons the Minister reported that there had been 488,000 visits to venereal disease treatment centres the previous year. The MPs moved on, undisturbed, to other business.

The Opening Ceremony of the 1920 Antwerp Olympics.

8 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER JUNE 2020

No thought was apparently given to the idea of suspending major international sporting events attracting thousands of spectators.

Already in 1919, in the euphoria of peace at last, there had been an Inter-Allied Games held from 22 June to 6 July at the Stade Pershing, in Paris, specially built for the occasion by the US Army, in which 1500 athletes from 18 nations took part. Then, when the protracted Olympic Games of 1920 opened in Antwerp as per schedule on 20 April, lasting until 12 September; there were actually more competitors than there had been in the Stockholm Olympics of 1912 (2607 as against 2547) and one more country (29).

Why was there such indifference at these mass gatherings to the health implications? Well, that’s a question which needs more expertise to answer fully than that of a mere athletics writer with an interest in history, but perhaps a salient factor is that the populace of a century ago lived with the impact of infectious diseases every day of their lives to a far greater extent than we do today, and though there were strong views expressed on the wisdom of taking part in an Olympic Games these were for other reasons entirely.

In Britain a campaign to boycott the Games on the grounds that they were getting too seriously competitive was led by no less a person than Sir Theodore Cook, who had helped organise the 1908 London Games and had written the Official Report and become an International Olympic Committee member! For those reasons, his views were naturally given due attention but were out-weighed most notably by the counter-arguments of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes and an avid athletics enthusiast. Then Sir Theodore rather undermined his stance by entering the literature section of the Olympic Arts competitions in Antwerp and taking 2nd place! (from Ranelagh Harriers, UK)

Frank Beaurepaire (above) and Lily Beaurepaire at 1920 Antwerp Olympics.

FAIR PLAY

Fair Play survey MICHAEL HUBBERT

I

n the wake of a few extraordinary results reported from the CISM Military Games and the IOF World Cup Final, both held in China last year, the International Orienteering Federation (IOF) created an on-line survey to gauge the concerns of orienteers worldwide to possible abuse of Fair Play principles in Orienteering and to gain a better understanding of the current Fair Play landscape within our sport. A summary of the survey can be found at: https:// orienteering.sport/fair-play-surveyresults-available-for-download/ Information was received by the IOF from 1786 respondents from 54 countries, including 52 from Australia and 26 from New Zealand. Most responses came from Czech Republic (275) followed by Sweden (155) and Finland (132). Interestingly, by far the largest group of responses (44%) came from people aged 45+.

Anti-doping questions were out of the scope of the survey as these are

managed through other bodies, and anyway it would seem that there is little or no concern amongst orienteers about the possibility of doping violations within our sport. (I can think of only one case of a proven doping violation in Orienteering – a Russian Ski-O competitor was banned for four years in 2017 (see The Australian Orienteer – September 2017, page 42).

However, respondents do seem to have concerns about unfair tactics employed by some orienteers in major events.

From harassment in the terrain at multiage-class events such as WMOC and O-Ringen where some competitors demand to be shown where they are and will snatch at your map if you don’t, to running over “DO NOT CROSS” areas and even trying to start one minute early in Sprint events, the range of transgressions seems to be wide and innovative even though the number of incidents may be relatively small.

In the IOF Summary report 87 of the 1786 responses are included.

From reading through all of those 87 responses it seems clear that most orienteers understand the principles of fair play and do their best to apply them when competing. Most orienteers participate with absolute integrity and honesty. Many respondents also make the important point that it’s impossible for event organisers to place marshals at all the places around courses where transgressions might occur, unlike sports like Track & Field, Swimming, etc, that take place in confined arenas, so fair play in Orienteering relies heavily on the integrity and honesty of competitors.

However, it is also clear that a significant, but small, number either don’t understand fair play principles or just intentionally ignore them. For example, it must be obvious that trying to see a copy of the map and course before one starts is clearly cheating,

JUNE 2020 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 9

FAIR PLAY

yet some apparently do it. Practising on the map and course beforehand is even worse. Crossing out-of-bounds areas clearly shown as such on the map is also unforgivable. Yet it happens in both major and minor events. (Just prior to all events being halted last March I saw a pair of orienteers cut across a resident’s front garden in a minor Park & Street event. I doubt the resident was too happy about that.)

From the responses to this IOF survey it seems clear that transgressions of fair play do happen around the world, so it’s incumbent on the IOF to quickly develop clear fair play education programs and to ensure that all member federations take them seriously and use them to properly inform their member orienteers.

Age

All respondents

# of respondents per age group

5% >18

Some of the most interesting responses are shown here:

What is the core of orienteering fair play?

• Respecting the rules concerning forbidden areas, both before and during competition. Respecting the nature of the terrain as well as the challenge of unknown courses.

• Helping people in danger.

• It’s based on personal fair play understanding. If it’s not present, there is no fair play. Our sport is too sensitive and hard to control and there is a lot of room for cheating.

10 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER JUNE 2020

16% 44%

25-35

All respondents

35-45

45+

Roles

# of respondents per role

95% Athletes

30% Coaches

12%

National OF Reps.

5%

International OF Reps.

*Participants could select multiple options.

How inclusive do you feel orienteering is as a sport?

All

Elite Neutral

Not very inclusive

• Reading IOF Competition Rules, the description is complete for me.

The essential takeaway is that the competitor is allowed to attain good result in competition only through athletic performance and navigation.

• Same possibilities for everyone to understand the map at racing speed without the map drawing and course setting raising doubts that cannot be eliminated while slowing down. Not trying to get unfair advantage (map, terrain, course)

15%

18-25

Role

In late March the IOF announced that it is working on an educational platform with a curriculum that tackles fair play questions and situations that may arise before, during or after a competition and that this survey has given a good understanding of where the focus of the education efforts should lie.

Demographics of respondents to the IOF Survey

20%

4.8

Very inclusive

4.9

/6

Average All Respondents

/6

Average Elite Athletes

How good would you say athletes are in following the fair play rules?

All

Elite Neutral

Not good

4.5

/6

Average All Respondents

Very good

4.6

/6

Average Elite Athletes

Do you feel like you have a clear understanding of what fair play within orienteering means?

• An understanding of the rules but also a realisation that in our sport it is impossible to police many of the rules, and we therefore need to have an understanding of the ethics of orienteering.

All repondants

67%

• For organizers: ensuring level ground for all participants and avoiding misleading information including maps.

Yes

33%

• For participants: not sharing information until competition ends, don’t offend. Stop to help in critical situations.

No

# of respondents

Have you ever observed anyone in your immediate surrounding that has acted in a way that you think is against orienteering fair play?

All repondants

67%

• I think key to fair play, at least at our club is our attitude to the sport.

We teach kids our sport is about friendship. Friendship with each other and friendship with nature. You can’t cheat in sport where everyone support each other.

How can we improve the understanding for Fair Play?

Yes

• Set clear and understandable rules about what is allowed and what is not. In the case of breaching those rules, impose strict sanctions to warn others.

33% No

# of respondents

Have you ever observed anyone in your immediate surrounding that has acted in a way that you think is against orienteering fair play?

Elite Athletes

• Clear rules about what is OK and not. I can see that there are different views of what is OK or not at the international competitions; shouting routes at arena passages, crossing unclear forbidden areas, for example.

• Finding mottos that explain fair play and use them everywhere.

72% Yes

Fair Play observations: What have you observed?

28%

• Not all people know the rules of Sprint and quite often they run where they shouldn’t. Sometimes they don’t know they get advantages by breaking the rules.

No

# of respondents

• Training within embargoed area or just being there; spectators helping runners on course. Watching other competitor’s maps before running.

How frequent would you say that you observe abuse of fair play?

All

Elite Neutral

Extremely rare

1.9

/6

Average All Respondents

Every competition

2.1

/6

Average Elite Athletes

• Following a better athlete, without performing any navigation. Large Scandinavian relays do seem to have a different code of ethics on this, but at other individual events this seems more egregious.

• People trying to get access to map/ course; going into embargoed area, or passing information to runners in a quarantine.

• Trying to start one minute before the start list time.

JUNE 2020 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 11

FAIR PLAY

• Displayed the race map for team members; told about the course on an old map; tried to start earlier than his own start time; used the mobile in the toilet at quarantine; ran in out-ofbounds area .…..

IOF Ethics Panel imposes sanctions

• Climbing fences, jumping over walls, destroying vegetation forbidden to pass, entering embargoed areas with old maps …....

During the investigation both CISM and the IOF suggested that the Chinese athletes, and to a lesser extent team officials, may have been “acting under orders” and were placed under unfair pressure to comply with these orders or risk potentially significant personal disadvantage. This point of mitigation was recognised by the Panel. They also suggested, and the Panel accepted, that the behaviour of many of the Chinese officials and the timing of their various interventions during the Jury proceedings placed unfair, intimidating and undue pressure on the officials and organisers of the event.

• Some people have admitted even in TV interview that they have asked somebody to show their position and still succeeded in the competition.

This is an example showing that there are certain things that many people think is OK to do, even if those things are forbidden in the rules. It may be unawareness of the rules, but also disrespect towards written rules compared to what is the “common practice” if there are no sanctions.

Following some extraordinary actions by the Chinese team and officials at the 2019 CISM Military Games middle distance event, the IOF Ethics Panel investigated the circumstances of the transgressions and has imposed sanctions on those involved.

The Panel found that the Chinese athletes were guilty of cheating and clearly contravening the IOF Rules of Competition. In so doing they were in breach of Articles 5.2-Fair Play and Article 5.4-Integrity. However, the Panel was mindful of the suggestion that they were acting “under orders” and this was a strong point of mitigation. The Panel imposed the sanction of banning all eleven of the Chinese athletes who competed in the Middle Distance race from IOF activities for a period of two years, to commence from the date of the competition.

• Race controllers who have said more than the information provided publicly.

In Sprint, way too many times runners passing through forbidden objects.

The Panel also found that the accredited officials of the Chinese Team Management were certainly party to a series of activities that influenced and caused their athletes to cheat. The Panel imposed a ban on their involvement in any IOF activity for four years, to commence from the date of the competition.

• Crossing of out of bounds / not permitted to cross features (especially in Sprint/Urban orienteering); fraudulent declaration to obtain Para class eligibility for Trail-O. Communication devices in quarantine.

And the Panel concluded that the various actions of the representatives of the Chinese delegation who were party to the various meetings and conversations during the Jury deliberations were in breach of Article 5.1-Equality (Harassment), Article 5.2 Fair Play and Article 5.4-Integrity. The Panel imposed a ban on their involvement in any IOF activity for four years, to commence from the date of the competition.

• Young athletes in regional competitions hiding controls after their passage.

To read the full report go to: https://orienteering.sport/ethics-panel-decisionspublished-from-china-events/

• Coaches going into the competition area cheering and giving information to their athletes.

What area of our sport do you think is the most sensitive to unfair behaviour?

• Recent allegations of athletes having access to maps and courses before the competition. Obviously that is a significant concern but until recent CISM and World Cup in China no one would have listed that as a concern.

Don’t make the mistake of just focusing on that issue and ignoring other issues. The Rules once said something like ‘runners shall navigate independently’ which clearly meant following was forbidden. Now there is absolutely no mention of following in the Fair Play section!

• Well, the Chinese team at Military Champs pulled some extreme cases.

Unfair knowledge of the terrain or courses seems bad. There was a loss of trust in the fairness of the organization, and then future results are more suspicious, and that is a sad position to be in.

12 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER JUNE 2020

• Difficult to tell between drugs and unfairly getting information about the course beforehand - I think both are more rife then people realise.

(Although the top guys at WOC I don’t think are on drugs!)

• Benefits that can be obtained through advancing technology. Some examples ... using mobile phones to pass on information about a competition; televising a race that gives out information to advantage competitors who haven’t yet started.

• Spreading orienteering to new countries where they focus mostly on results.

• Athletes not understanding what is unfair.

• People will lose their trust of fair play in the sport.

• After recent events, it seems that there’s a risk that some of the athletes might get hold of the competition map before a race and study the course. Also better knowledge of a certain terrain might set people on different level. Or help from

organizers / someone else during competition.

• Of course things seen and suspected in China are exceptional and shouldn’t be made possible. Generally, I think we can count the fairness of the athletes if the rules are clear enough and respected by the community.

I think the most risk comes from the system level, if the success is seen as a national pride thing in some federation, similarly as doping systems work in other sports.

Perceived impact of Fair Play scenarios Any further comments?

• Cutting in MTBO ..… Having a mechanical aid hidden inside the bike.

• Use of drones over embargoes? Mainly applies to Sprint.

• Marshals showing athletes where to turn or run. TV cameras placed on routes and visible for riders or runners. Lack of pre-starters to ride over high grass or make a ski track faster.

Lack of marking tape in competition area to prevent athletes from minor offences or to save them from poor map readability. Unfair course planning, when it is impossible to read small map signs that show a dead end. Insufficient traffic control, when athletes get stuck in public traffic on course.

• Coaches or team mates (not running that day) entering to the Finish arena before the athletes (running that day) are in the quarantine; presentation at the arena of athletes before the race.

How severely do the following impact fair play within orienteering?

All repondants

Passing forbidden & gain time Access to courses ahead of competition Sharing competition map with team Sharing a competition map online Communication device in quarantine A spectator on course with instructions Sharing comp info with team Passing forbidden & no time gain Actively co-operating with other athlete Sharing tips from team/coverage at co..

Following other athletes Walk through embargo (no training) Hindering other athletes Training in comp area before embargo Visit competition area before embargo Fitness accessory w/distance, direction Access to old maps of area Running within visual distance of another Setting your own courses ahead of time Drawing your own map from available...

Been actively training in similar terrain

JUNE 2020 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 13

MAPS

Forbidden orienteering map features ADRIAN AND ROBIN UPPILL.

boundary” symbol. If this symbol is on a mapped feature e.g., a fence, then the fence should be visible through the purple line. Alternatively continuous olive green sections may be located on each side of the feature.

For the more technical minded and mappers: The map symbols are defined in the two mapping specifications for foot orienteering, (ISOM 2017 – 2 and ISSprOM – 2019). These are available at: orienteering.sport/ iof/mapping/ Many Sprint maps are still mapped according to the previous standard - ISSOM 2007. The actual symbols are almost all the same for the previous and the new standard, however their symbol number and actual description in the new specification may have changed.

The symbols which are forbidden to competitors are actually defined in the Orienteering Australian Foot Orienteering Rules.

Currently these refer to ISSOM 2007, but should be updated early in 2020 to refer to the new specification – see orienteering.asn.au/wpcontent/uploads/2015/09/ OAFootCompetitionRules2019-170919.pdf

I

t is essential that competitors know which map features they are not allowed to cross. These are shown with a combination of map symbols and purple course planning symbols. The forbidden features are to both support competitor safety and the needs of the landowners.

In forest maps, the only map symbol that represents a forbidden feature is the olive green. This may have a thin black border line for clarity. Where paths or roads cross the area they should have a white area adjacent to the path to make the route clear to competitors.

On Sprint maps a number of features are forbidden as shown in the attached diagram. Vegetation areas that are forbidden to cross may be shown in dark green, or sometimes the olive green for manicured or landscaped garden beds. The symbols that are forbidden are generally the thickest black lines for linear features, or have a thick black boundary e.g. un-crossable water.

The purple areas defining forbidden areas are generally used for more temporary areas not to be entered e.g. construction or high public use areas such as cafes. On forest maps some features may be considered dangerous for competitors or are to be out of bounds e.g. steep cliffs, areas of dangerous pits.

These can be marked out of bounds with the purple course planning symbols. And if necessary marked on the ground with taping.

Additionally some other course marking symbols are used: • Mandatory marked routes; • Crossing points, these are often across out of bounds areas; • Forbidden routes – the purple “X”. Recent changes mean such routes can be crossed but not used.

If major roads and other line features are not to be crossed at all, then these may be marked with purple “out of bounds 14 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER JUNE 2020

NEW SPRINT SYMBOLS

The new Sprint mapping specification (ISSprOM 2019) has some new symbols. One is a brown cross-hatched area to show multi-levels – i.e. you can pass at both the top and bottom level. These are illustrated in the accompanying images and the map snippets. The current canopy symbol is shown for reference – this can be passed at one level only – under the canopy. Other new and changed symbols are: • Paved area with scattered trees; • Permitted access on a track through Olive Green Forbidden area – the track should have a white border; • A boundary between different paved areas where this assists navigation e.g. different types of paving or a high and low traffic area (darker brown and lighter brown); • Impassable vegetation is now the third darkest green, the 4th green has been removed; • Passable wall is now only a black line with black dots (previous commonly used option of a light grey wall symbol has been removed), a passable retaining wall has half dots;

Illustration 2 is also a 2-level car park, again the top level has a thick black border to indicate that you cannot cross the boundary. The exception is on the south side where the top level is also accessed from an open car park at the same level – position 2B in the photograph and map. The lower level is

• Prominent trees and bushes – now have a white dot in the centre; these and the green cross have a white border.

Below are three photo/map examples of the multi-level symbol.

Illustration 1 is a straightforward example of a 2-level car park, with the level accessed only by stairs and ramps. The thick black line border is a feature of the upper level and indicates that you cannot go across the edges of the top level.

Position 1A illustrates the roadway entrance to the lower level, and 1B shows the roadway ramp to the top level. The upper level can also be accessed by stairs and a foot ramp.

JUNE 2020 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 15

MAPS

two parts – one under the covered area and a more western part that is ground level only - look past the stairs at point 2D in the photo and the map. These stairs also provide access to the top level. Other photos also show the road access to the lower level (2C) and the lower covered car park (2B).

NEW MAP SYMBOLS There are some new ISSprOM 2019 map symbols that you should be aware of.

Major changes • Impassable vegetation is forbidden to cross.

Previous ISSOM 2007 impassable vegetation symbol using green 100% and black 50% has been removed.

• Paved area with little (Brown 30%) and heavy traffic (Brown 50%) • New symbol for paved area in multilevel structures (Brown and white stripes) • New symbols for passable walls, fountains and trees; and in addition, the large distinctive tree symbol has a white background.

Temporary uncrossable barriers Some races will make use of the temporary out-ofbounds boundary symbol to show temporary uncrossable barriers that have been created for the event.

In the terrain these temporary barriers will be marked with OOB tape.

Illustration 3 is of a high bridge with access at each end (e.g.

3B), but a sealed path under the middle part of the bridge (3A).

16 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER JUNE 2020

GREAT LEGS

Six Races, Three Days ROSS BARR

Aston and Fredo at the Finish. Evalin Brautigam photo.

W

hen the publicity flyer for the 2020 Melbourne Sprint Weekend shows Martin Dent in full flight, both feet off the ground, you jump up and yell “where do I sign”!!

Such is the draw to this building Sprint O institution and its 3rd season offering. You just had to be there, and as the growing numbers (over 300 competitors average across the first four events, mid two’s the last day) attested, many heeded the call, especially a full bag of our elite’s – racing for NOL points and overseas selection glory. The seniors were also there in their baggy shorts and volleys, with some exhilarating competition in the older classes a feature – perhaps none more fiercely contested than M70 (where Barr managed the series win, but Erbacher the most splits wins – funny that).

Coming off the brilliant, and warm, return of ‘Sprint the Bay’ from the Morrison family in New Zealand, returning O sprinters (including our MSW maestros Ted and Margi) had already been salivating at another dose in Melbourne – lured by the flyer and reports of new venues – and plonked down the coins. Six races, three days. This Trans-Tasman format has developed into an Orienteering ‘must do’.

In an overview sense MSW was an exceptional three days of competition, with venue and course planner (and planning) variety that included an interesting ‘bush Sprint’ area amongst the other campus maps (both large and small). The first four events were NOL scoring ones, with the last two offering unique knockout races for the remaining elites – with perhaps the final race on the last day being one of the most exciting Sprint O races your correspondent has ever seen.

some of the longest legs of the weekend. Several worthy of closer scrutiny (see later).

A fast start to the weekend, many in early discombobulation (myself ).

Frédéric, Tommy and Aston shaping up.

Race 2 in the afternoon was at the large and complex campus at Deakin University in Burwood. ‘The Hat’ the planner. This map was the first one to use the new ISSOM symbol for showing two running levels, and deployed here to devastating effect. The start was from an underground carpark, and runners (bursting forth into the light) hardly had time to think before being confronted by the bridge and its attendant double level. Classic material, and course setting intensity across the rest that never let up (stunning in its detail, including magenta pathway blocks), and that hardly saw a leg over a minute long. Unless you were caught on the bridge that is.

Race 3 was on the new Alex Tarr open air map of Granite Hills Park in South Morang. How different was this!! All rough open yellow and white, with old quarry working contour complexity allowing pivot thinking early on in Ted van Geldermalsen’s excellent courses. The racing began at the top (great views and assembly position), sped down into the butterfly, and thereafter worked up a bit of reputational damage. Runners began in pairs with variety in their

I thought looking closely at a couple of ‘great’ legs would be of interest, but quickly, a look at the programme.

Race 1 was at Overnewton College in Keilor, Bruce Arthur in charge. The map was almost in two halves, with the assembly/ finish amongst the ‘rough open’ rabbit hole lower half, and the Start a teasing entry to a great group of campus buildings, including a central pentagon that spun a few heads. Getting from the initial built intensity through the dividing un-crossable fences to the rabbits saw

Matthew Layton (VIC).

JUNE 2020 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 17

COACHING

looping before the cross hillside and more standard bush O led to the full spectator heave and puff back up to the top Finish. There was nowhere to hide!

Race 4 ended day two at another large university campus. This one La Trobe in Bundoora. In contrast to the hilly morning, La Trobe was dead flat, with the built form older and much more regular than at Melbourne Deakin. It looked like a flog, and you neededSprint to speed to complete Ian Dodd’s well shaped attractions on the podium. Lots of left or right Weekend building decisions and fantastic art installations to contemplate as you 2020 cruised by. Leg one on Course 5 had the triangle touching the first circle, and a competitor time span of 18sec to nearly three minutes!

What a start!

2

Race 5 was out west at Victoria University, St Albans, a venue familiar from MSW #2. Again dead flat, but with several new buildings and the anticipation of courses by Frédéric Tranchard, something perhaps to savour. Those that remember the prior iteration, will recall the great southern building group and their almost enclosed gardens and dry water courses, and the complex Sprint O encountered there. Sadly, there didn’t appear much action in that ‘courtyard’ this time, with much O skirting rather than O flirting.

More straightforward than expected, with Course 4 being perhaps the weakest of them. Grumbling M60’s hoped that Penola would atone.

DEAKIN UNIVERSITY

3

Part 1

Race 6 completed the weekend out at Penola College, Broadmeadows. A small two section map, with parts 1 & 2 presented side by side (left first). Arriving here one’s hopes sagged a bit. An open field, no real spectating opportunities and a spread out assembly that was the antithesis of the atmosphere at most of the other events. Even the coffee cart seemed lonely. However, what runners found as they began, and as they raced into the small and complex catholic college buildings, pathways and gardens (and statues), was hey, ”they’ve saved the best till last”. Truly Penola was a cracker. The hexagonal central garden pathways with OOB hedges were well exploited by our elite course planner Brodie Nankervis, with many Lots of impassable barriers and lots of being caught wentchoices. over a This minute oncould any leg Course 1 in the olive 18 jaws.

– 19If youpossible decision decide the race though. here you’d make a blunder.

Many did.

Length:

Mixed Sprint Relay: Andrew Kerr (M20E - ACT) & Brodie Nankervis (M21E - TAS).

The right hand routes are too long, and

should be discounted.

But the best aspect of Penola was the Semi Final and then the Final Difficulty: The three choices to the left are similar, of the Choice: elite knockout challenge. After racesthe had completed, butall theother one through start triangle is Route the shortest. you weresplit invited spectate anywhere on the campus, with many Predicted time:to1:40 for 455m

Predicted race time: 10:13 for 2668m

MSW-1-Overnewton-Course-1-Bruce Arthur Analysis #18 - #19”

MSW 2 Deakin University C3-1

18 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER JUNE 2020

0

40

80

120m

Sprint Weekend 2020

6

A

kervis

R3

COLLEGE A classic cross map leg that looks to offer three options; very wide left, middle fence gap/left and very wide right. You’d be forgiven for pausing to take it all in. I recall seeing Aston Key running across the top of the car park and then down to the rabbits – thinking, cripes, where’s he going. Obviously the left option now I look, but his leg time (1:58) was well behind the ultimate winner Frédéric (1:37) – who presumably took one of the other two routes. One of the weekend’s best legs. Shown here is Bruce Arthur’s analysis which suggests the most direct route, but was it the quickest?

Part 2

Also from Day1, but this time at Deakin Univ, we have a shorter leg, but also a great puzzler. The best of the double height running bridge (referred to earlier) legs was from Course 3, where the #3 - #4 leg generated pause and (maybe) panic. You had been intense going #1 - #2 - #3 and were then faced with a complex building dodge in exiting #3 to what seemed a straightforward drop west to #4 – a canopy, but one on another level you began to slowly comprehend. If the accelerator had been pushed too hard before you saw the danger you were in trouble, with many tales of whoa here. You needed early wide left or wide right commitment to shine – and the right option was where you encountered the bridge. Ahhh.

Henry du Toit won the leg in 1:17, the ultimate course winner (Cathy McComb at 1:49) losing half a minute in ‘The Hat’s’ cunning trap.

Many were well over two minutes.

What makes this such a great leg is the complex building and canopy material immediately south after leaving #3 that helps mask (but leads to) the narrow step pathway between the OOB hatching in the wide left option. Possibly the fastest route, and maybe Henry here? Great Sprint O.

MSW 60Penola College A. 40 KO F M80

120m

gathering around the hex. When the finalists began (what turned out Scaleleg), 1:3000 to be a long cross campus the speed with which they flew up the hex was completely A screamer.

Contourenthralling.

Interval 2m They then appeared, reappeared, disappeared, and appeared again – with split options being taken as the crowd yelled encouragement. And in the final warp speed run-in Aston and Frédéric coming from different directions and almost colliding in the chute with Aston pretty happy to just edge the French champion (though Fredo was n/c).

And finally, from the last at Penola College, I love the #4 - #5 - #6 legs in the Knockout Men’s Final (Part 1) that were set across the hexagonal gardens, OOB hedges and adjacent pathways. Note for this course Brodie had placed several barriers across many of the pathways which had been open in the Semi. I’m sure in the intensity and jostling of the Final race beginning (and what a race beginning it was) these were not initially apparent - until runners got to #4 and suddenly saw the magenta blocks. Weaving through them, and then around another below #5 saw the pack split east or west to get to #6 - spectators enjoying the surging intensity as runners raced on to the Part 2 map and its hex garden and building re-engagement, before the explosive final finishing leg. Great planning, a sensational finale, and what a way to finish MSW. Six races, three days. Melbourne Sprint Weekend, take a bow!

Fantastic. Amazing. Sensational. A great final race, a great final venue – the size reminding those from MSW #1 of that small college in Geelong (Kardinia) from that series. You don’t need to be big to work a screamer in Sprint O. Map quality was excellent. All A4 (Sprint the Bay were all A5 !) at 1:3000 and very easy to read. Some flips, some adjacent, everything about the weekend was above and beyond. How sad that this was almost the last orienteering we will do in 2020, but what a way to soldier off into the lockdown. The maps are providing many hours (tragic I know) of viewing and reviewing.

To round off, how about a couple of the best legs from the weekend to give you some of the flavour.

From Day 1 at Overnewton, Course 1 (elite M) had a long leg that crossed the dividing fence slash referred to earlier. The leg (#18 - #19) was preceded by a series of intense and short legs that allowed no planning time. Then this!!

Ross Barr.

Bruce Arthur (VIC).

JUNE 2020 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 19

DEVELOPMENT

Building Queensland Juniors MARION BURRILL

Q

ueensland Junior orienteers are on the move. The last few years have seen a pooling of resourceful people to produce the newly formed QLD Junior Development Committee. Since its formation, we’ve seen more structure in the way we not only introduce juniors to Orienteering but in their continued skill development to produce confident, competitive orienteers at all levels.

In the space of a few short years from 2014 to 2018, Orienteering Queensland lost three of its most influential encouragers in Fiona Calabro, Eric Andrews and Rob Simson. Fiona and Rob particularly were highly involved in Junior Development in QLD, Rob with the Mini Cyclones and Fiona with the QLD Schools team and beyond. Eric was best known for his mapping and high-level technical skills but being in the same Orienteering club, he played a major role in all five of our children’s Orienteering lives and others too with his wise and helpful input, often in a one-on-one basis.

It’s no use having a vast wealth of Orienteering knowledge and enthusiasm to offer if it can’t be passed on in an organised and effective manner, but these three had that in spades. From 2005 to 2010 , Queensland won the Australian Schools Orienteering Championships every year but one and were also in the top-3 States for the next seven years, surely a testament to their skills and hard work.

20 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER JUNE 2020

Many of us in the QLD Junior Development Committee are either students or still working in our professions so we do not have an endless amount of time to organise Orienteering events, which we all know, can be quite time consuming. As with most successful committees, we all have multiple roles but the fact that we have a keen group to prevent us from missing deadlines or to help us when our workload gets too heavy, encourages us all to keep pushing forwards so that our juniors have regular training and coaching sessions which not only improves their skills but also the social aspect of junior Orienteering.

A highlight for me last year was the end of year QLD “Jukola” Relay held at Wivenhoe on the last day of November which was a twilight/night event open to our QLD Schools Team and up-and-coming juniors and their coaches and families. It was hot and dry but good running and lots of fun, after which we were all ready for a swim, a shower, food and a good lie down so that we could come back and do it all again except that 2020 is proving to be a very difficult year!

Photo credits: Neil Gannon, Ken Laws, Glyn Reinbott, Liz Ferguson, Tom de Jongh.

Simeon Burrill with a young junior (2016).

Eric Andrews with a very young Simeon, Grace and Ruth Burrill.

Grace and Ruth had just won their first Rogaine at the 2005 Australian Championships at Cherrabah, south of Warwick. Eric was very proud of them.

This pair are both mothers now.”

Wivenhoe Dam night event 2019.

Matilda Rogers and Cate Nemeth - 2018.

Thomas Caristo working on a map of Braeside, part of a Contour Quiz.

2019 JWOC Sprint - Caroline Pigerre.

Julia Gannon punching.

Blake Reinbott.

Marion Burrill coaching youngsters.

JUNE 2020 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 21

INTERVIEW

Simone Niggli (Switzerland) Tash Key interviews Simone Niggli, one of the most successful orienteers ever.

S

imone is truly an inspiring athlete of recent times. I personally have always looked up to her along with a lot of others, with her consistently amazing performances, humble and friendly demeanour she dominated women’s Orienteering for well over 10 years. Even though she has now retired from the Swiss team she can still be a formidable competitor in elite races, such as winning Oringen 2018 as a 40 year old!

Simone kindly answered some questions for us: When and how did you start orienteering?

I grew up in a “classic” Orienteering family which means that I followed my parents since I was little. At the age of 10 years I ran for the first time alone, I remember this forest and course quite well as I had to ask many people where I was (or if I was right :-) What was it like back then? Did you go to events with your family? Were you in a club?

The whole family was in the club OLV Hindelbank and almost every Sunday we travelled to a competition in Switzerland.

During summer holidays we used to participate at a 5-days competition in France/Sweden/Norway and this was most about holidays, getting to know new places and people.

Is it true that all Swiss events have to be accessible by train?

Yes, that’s a “rule” for the Swiss events. If it’s not possible by train or by local bus, the organisers have to offer an opportunity (special bus transport) in order that all the people can reach the event without their own car.

When did you start to get serious as an athlete??

I think it started when I was selected to the Swiss junior squad.

First I was in a regional squad (age 14-17) and then I entered the Swiss junior squad and events got more serious and I got the opportunity to run international events wearing the Swiss suit. At that age I began training with a more serious plan and wanted to achieve international goals.

Did you have a rival or a favourite competitor that you were always close to?

First there were different “rivals” in Switzerland. When I entered the senior class the big star was Hanne Staff from Norway. I remember that I was very proud when I ran faster than her for the first time.

Did you have an orienteering idol?? Or an idol from another sport? Or even an actor/singer.

I remember that I was impressed by some alpine skiers (Erika Hess, Maria Walliser and Franz Heinzer from Switzerland) and later on by Marie-Luce Romanens who became the first individual Swiss World Orienteering champion.

What else did you do when you were younger - other sports or hobbies?

I had a lot of sporting hobbies like athletics (running, jumping, throwing …..), swimming, cross-country skiing. For about 22 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER JUNE 2020

WOC 2012-Simone Niggli wins Sprint.

10 years I played quite intensively volleyball in a team.

Furthermore I played the clarinet for about 8 years.

Did you always win the running races at school? Was running your strength or navigating early on?

I was good at the longer distances but not the best on the sprints (60/80m). But I think I had quite early a good endurance.

I learned navigating with my parents and with the club. I was good at my age class but I can still remember A LOT of mistakes I was doing :-) What years did you attend WOC? JWOC 1996-1998; WOC 1999 and all the following years until 2013 with exceptions of 2008 and 2011.

How many medals? WOC and WC? WOC medals: 23 gold, 2 silver, 6 bronze. 9 times winner of the overall World Cup and about 68 WC victories (which I found on WorldofO).

Can you tell us a favourite memory from a race?

There are sooo many nice memories, it’s very hard to pick one. Of course the last WOC in Finland (2013) was very special and emotional with the kids being around and gold medals in all the individual races. But I also remember very well the first gold medal in Finland 2001.…. And of course there are a lot of beautiful memories of Relays with the team mates (national Team and Scandinavian clubs).

Would you say your orienteering style is more ‘straight’ or the ‘route choice around’?

In continental terrains I was more often running around than were the Scandinavian runners. But this is perhaps because of my experience with these greens terrains :-) I was also trusting my running capacity and therefore sure not losing much by running the “safer” way around. In Scandinavia it’s of course more straight ..... All in all I always try to take the fastest route!

Niggli family.

Simone with (her) train.

Are you still involved with the Swiss team, or coaching anyone personally?

I was working as an assistant coach the last three years in the Swiss team. Now I’m personal coach of two elite runners and two junior runners. If it’s going as planned I will work in Hallsberg, Sweden at the Orienteering gymnasium for one year.

What is something you’d like to have done better as a younger athlete, looking back now that you are older??

There is nothing I would change a lot. I was doing sports in many different ways, not only running, and that was for sure a good way to keep the balance for many years.

As we have regular international events (WC and/or WOC), Orienteering is always “something” in Switzerland. But of course sports like football, skiing or tennis are more popular than Orienteering. But the kids learn Orienteering in school which I like of course.

You and your husband Matthias are organisers of Orienteering events, which ones?

Matthias is the event director of the Swiss World Cup and for 2021 I am the technical director. We are also deeply involved in WOC 2023 but it’s not yet clear in which role.

Do your kids like orienteering? Or would they rather sit in the car on their devices like our kids used to do....??

At the moment they really like Orienteering and being with the club. Of course that might change ... :-) What is the event or place you love to go to for an Orienteering family holiday.

Sweden! But I guess we should also try Australia once …...

World Cup Final in Baden, Switzerland (photo-Skogssport).

What do you do to keep yourself in such good shape now? Any secrets you can share with us who are no longer juniors???

I just love to move and to run orienteering. I try to “train” something every day but it’s no longer well planned and not intensive intervals any more. I don’t run every day anymore but I also love cycling. But of course I can still use my experience technically.

One of my own finer Orienteering memories is that I won the long split in the 2003 WOC Sprint at Rapperswil, the only split I have ever beaten you on ……. and I am still living on that :-) I remember this leg very well (you ran along the lake and I run over the hill :-))) You were BEST there, cool!

As something that all of us around the world are dealing with at the moment, how is the coronavirus pandemic effecting you and your family, your event, and your community?

We have a lot of restrictions (home office, home schooling, not more than 5 people, no contact to over-65s, no events, no restaurants ...) but at least we can still be outside and enjoy nature. As it looks right now, the schools will be open soon. Of course it’s very sad for our World Cup event which would have been in May, and many other Orienteering events, but now we have to be patient for a while. We are very glad that we are all healthy in our family.

QUICK QUESTIONS: Favourite map? Maps around Örnsköldsvik, Sweden.

Favourite training session? Long run in the mountains.

What is your favourite type of terrain?

Sprint race or forest race? Forest race.

Scandinavian terrain but also Swiss alpine terrain.

Favourite music/band? Rea Garvey.

Is it true that you had your face painted on a train??

What was this for? That must have been pretty cool.

Favourite naughty snack food? Dark Ragusa.

Yes, that’s true. It was quite cool to see my face running around in Switzerland (but it was only on a regional train).

Anything else that you are currently doing that is a little different? I’m working in a coffee shop and do LIKE good coffee :-)

Is there any advice you can give to our junior orienteers in just one sentence??

Dog or cat? Cat.

Do it with passion and joy!

JUNE 2020 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 23

SPRINT

The ACT Sprint Series A modern approach to running an event series TATE NEEDHAM, PHOTOS: TOM DE JONGH AND BOB MOUATT

The ACT Sprint Series, a new event series in Canberra for 2020, was a chance for Orienteering ACT to modernise its approach to running an event series. We embraced all the new technology we could get our hands on, minimised the number of volunteers required by reducing the events to their very essence, and experimented to see what works, what doesn’t, and what people actually want. http://act.orienteering.asn.au/event-series/sprint-series/

This is the ACT Sprint Series: Full SI-Air Every event was full SI-Air. Everyone loved this. Many people upgraded their SI sticks to SIAC. Around 80% of participants had SIAC sticks by the final events. We were able to purchase a new set of SI units thanks to a AUS Sport participation grant.

Pre-entry Only The vast majority of our other events are enter-on-the-day with no pre-entry possible - this results in line ups at registration and lots of volunteers required to process everyone’s entries.

For the Sprint Series people could enter by purchasing a Season Pass (all events, 50% discount), or by entering individual events, but it must be done via Eventor. Entry cut-off was 9pm the night before. Feedback was positive and very few issues.

No Rego on the day Because the events were pre-entry, there was no need for registration cards, taking money, or someone entering people for EOD on the computer. When you arrive on the day, you go directly to the Start. When you punch the START unit it radios to the computer to enter you into the event (primarily for safety reasons - we need to know who has started and not back yet).

The feedback for this “innovation” was amazing. The most common comment was “why aren’t we doing this at all our events?”.

24 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER JUNE 2020

Live Results When people finish and download, their result was published to the internet. You did not receive a splits print-out and an iPad sat on a desk for people to look up their time if they didn’t have their phone handy. The iPad proved popular, especially with kids. Not having a splits printer meant less things to set up, and less things to go wrong.

Official results were published to Eventor at the conclusion of the event via 2 clicks in MeOS.

Event Window Most events in Canberra span two or three hours, not including set-up and pack-down. This was a chance to shake things up, so the start window was set to strictly 9:00am to 9:30am on Sunday morning, and course closure 10am. There were occasionally people who came in after 10am, but at every event we had completed pack-up, including collecting controls, by 10:30am. The short event window worked much better than expected. Most people had started by 9:15am and there was plenty of socialising before and after (pre Covid-19...).

Starts We used queuing starts. Simple & easy. Some people left a gap to the person in front, others didn’t.

One Sprint Course Another shake up was that there was only a single course on offer. This made it much easier for the course planner, less

maps to print, and generally easier to manage. Obviously this would not apply for bush events, but the single Sprint course was well received and suitable for all participants.

Small Control Flags To make the Sprint events a little more challenging as well as making it easier for putting out and collecting controls, we used the smaller training flags. These measure 15cm x 15cm instead of the standard 30cm x 30cm. Another bonus is that they don’t require careful packing up - they can be just shoved in a bag and don’t tangle like the larger controls. We also didn’t use a backup manual punch.

High Quality Sprint Events One aim of this Series was to have high quality courses. The course planners were given free rein, we used many new and interesting maps, and we had plenty of map flips, map exchanges and even changes of scale.

There were two events in particular that are worth mentioning: Haig Park: included two artificial mazes, one very large and one small (with an enlarged version of the maze on the back of the map).

Aranda Primary/Preschool: Map 1 was 1:2000, Map 2 was 1:500, and then Map 3 was 1:2000.

Mira Walter (aged 10) leading her mother Allison Jones into the Finish.

Eas

t Ba sin Mapped by Noah Poland in Copyright Orienteering ACT 2020

17

15 19

18

16 20

Kingston Sprint

10 211

23 212

3.7 km

11 212

24 213

50 m

12 213

25 226

13 214

26 227

1 202

14 215

27 228

2 201

15 204

28 229

3 205

16 216

29 230

4 206

17 217

30 231

5 207

18 218

31 220

6 208

19 219

32 225

7 209

20 222

8 210

21 223

9 208

22 224

13 Jerr

12/24 22

Kingston Harbour

10

31

25

7

26 8

29 4

Foreshore

27

28 3

5

Race 1

32

30

6/9 60 m

C re ek

11/23

Kingston

ACT Sprint Series

abo mbe rra

21

Temporary Out Of Bounds Permanently Out Of Bounds The Course

14

scale: 1:4000

1

Detail Not Mapped DO NOT ENTER

2

contour interval: 2m Detail Not Mapped DO NOT ENTER

JUNE 2020 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 25

SPRINT

26 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER JUNE 2020

Haig Park

0

100

200

300m

ACT Sprint Series #4 Head to Head Maze-O Madness

A

3

10

2 201

13/16

2/6/9

7

3 204 4 205 5 206 6 201

8

1

27

15/18

4 5

11/28 17

15 m

1 207

12 14

2.0 km 40 m

7 202 8 203 9 201 10 219 11 208

22

26

24

12 220

25 21 23

Legend

20

15 213

Pine Tree

16 211

Needleleaf Tree

17 214

Small Tree

18 213 19 218 20 209

Man Made Object

Map updated Jan 2020 by Ella Cuthbert and David Stocks. Copywright Orienteering ACT act.orienteering.asn.au

The Sprint Series is funded by a particpation grant from Australian Sports Commission

0.6

21 216

Light Pole

A

14 212

Eucalyptus/Deciduous Tree

Bushes

19

13 211

22 210

Rubbish Bin

23 215

Contour/Form Line Path / Indistinct Track Powerline

24 221 25 222 26 223

Low Fence Taped Boundary - Uncrossable

27 217 28 208

Uncrossable Boundary

30 m

ACT Sprint Series

scale: 1:3000

Race 4

contour interval: 1m

MeOS

Equipment

Orienteering ACT has only run a handful of events using MeOS in the past. This was our chance to try MeOS for an event series. The software was ideal and we had very few issues. As people finished they “self downloaded” - rather than having someone man the computer, the computer was set to face the person as they downloaded so they could see their results appear on the screen. If there were any issues, then someone nearby could help sort it out.

In order to make the event easier to run, the full equipment list included only a small table, small shelter, signage, some bunting and pig-tails, the computer and wifi dongle, and a tub for the maps.

Set up took about 15 mins.

Signage Having some signage was key to reducing volunteers. A sign held the loose control descriptions as well as pertinent notes for the day (eg.

“Course includes a map flip” or “Only use the marked crossing points”).

Another sign reminded everyone of the Sprint rules, and a third sign reminded people to download when they finished.

Maps With only a single course, and pre-entry, we only needed to print the actual number of maps required so there was very little wastage. The maps were in a tub just beyond the Start punch - blind starts certainly add to the challenge!

JUNE 2020 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 27

SPRINT

%6%2(% 47 1%4 1ET %&

OQ

Head-to-head racing The course planners for the Haig Park event spiced things up by introducing Head-to-Head racing. They used both a phi-loop and a butterfly loop. The head-to-head racing 1ET and was then used by a few course was very %VERHE well received planners events. For those people who 1ET for subsequent OQ didn’t want to race someone, they could take either Map A

or Map B.

1ET %&

participation for nine events being 738. The last event was

cancelled due to Covid-19.

It wasn’t all roses. We had some issues too:

• Lots of people on the courses at once, especially at the first few events where people started early;

• It was easy to follow other people at some events so many people were on a single course at the

because same time. The Head-to-Head format vastly improved

this to make itQa non-issue; • Some people forgot to download. This was solved by using bunting from the Finish unit to the computer so

people didn’t forget;

• People used different SI sticks to the ones they registered with. This meant some computer admin work; • The computer crashed once or twice. We think it’s related to uploading all the splits to the live results, as when the splits weren’t uploaded we never had this issue; • Some people entered into the wrong classes. For the next event Series we will make the class names more explicit, eg. Mens Open instead of MO. 28 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER JUNE 2020

OQ

Participation

with total We had an average of 80 people at each event,

%VERHE 47 1ET

Summary The new ACT Sprint Series was a huge success. We succeeded in our goals to minimise volunteer effort as well as delivering high quality (and fun) Sprint events. Feedback was overwhelmingly positive and people are already asking when the new Series will be. We learnt a lot and are hoping to incorporate many of the efficiencies and lessons at the other events that Orienteering ACT run.

%6%2(% 47 1%4 1ET %&

OQ

%VERHE 1ET 1ET

OQ

Q

JUNE 2020 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 29

COACHING

How to improve your orienteering – PART 4

Using Visualisation and Imagery to prevent errors and deal with ‘what ifs’ Stephen Bird (VIC).

STEPHEN BIRD

Introduction

I

n the previous article I introduced the practice of visualisation and imagery, with the idea that you can use these practises to prepare yourself for a forthcoming event, as it would familiarise you with the likely terrain and navigational strategies that you’d need to use in the event. In this article we will return to the list of factors that you identified (from a couple of articles back) as needing to focus on to improve your orienteering. These being particular strengths that you need to incorporate whenever possible and weaknesses that you need to eliminate.

The intention here, is that having developed your imagery skills you can now use them to image scenarios that include the issues that you need to work on, and when doing so, image yourself making the correct decisions and navigating well. For example, if one of your issues is being distracted by other orienteers, then in this practice you can image yourself running to a control (as outlined in the previous article), and within this imagery include other orienteers. Importantly in this imaged scenario you ignore the other orienteers, continue to navigate confidently and stick to your plan. If you practice this in your ‘armchair orienteering’, it will become easier to do it when you encounter a similar scenario in a real event. An outline for this practice is shown in Box 1.

BOX 1 – Imagery Activity of Orienteering well • Go back to your list of things to work on and select one of them.

• Complete your centring routine to clear your mind of distractions and get you into the right frame of mind.

• Pick a control leg on your map.

• Study the map for 30 seconds and work out your route, including the key features that you’ll use in your navigation (for example running along the bottom of the gully until you see the large rock on the left and then take your bearing from there, …. and so on to the control).

• Now close your eyes and image yourself running that control leg. Try to take the same amount of time to image running the leg as you would when running it in an event.

At some stage in the leg include the thing that you want to work on, and image yourself doing the right thing and continuing to navigate well.

• Repeat this for at least three control legs.

30 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER JUNE 2020

BOX 2 – A note on being distracted by other orienteers A very good orienteer once said to me “If there’s a group of orienteers looking for a control in a small area: it isn’t there – as one of them would have found it.” The implication being that they’re all in the wrong place, and by being there they’ve reinforced each others’ misconception that the control is around here somewhere - and they’ll find it if only I keep looking.

The lesson here is, don’t be distracted by others and stay focused on your orienteering.

What ifs?

The aforementioned imagery activity can also be used for dealing with ‘What ifs?’ A ‘What if ?’ situation is a potentially distracting scenario that could affect your focus of attention, navigation, motivation or concentration. In the imagery exercise you mentally rehearse how you would cope with this ‘What if ?’ and respond positively to the challenge.

JUNE 2020 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 31

COACHING

BOX 3 – An orienteering ‘What if?’ example One female world champion woke up on the morning of the Final to discover it was raining. Her reaction was not ‘Oh no it’s raining’, but a positive reaction of ‘Great, it’s raining which means I’ve already beaten the half of the field that doesn’t like orienteering in the rain’.

Other possible examples would be: 1. You discover a rival is starting 3 minutes behind you.

2. It starts to rain as you are waiting in the assembly area.

3. There are ten minutes to go before the start. Everything up to this point has gone wrong and your mental focus is not right. You are uptight, your mind is wandering and you are cursing your luck. What mental approach will you adopt in the next ten minutes?

4. Y ou had a bad run yesterday and need to pull up 6 minutes on your rivals?

5. You have a 30 second lead in a chasing start?

6. Y ou arrive in the Start area and the terrain around you is not what you had been expecting.

7. Y ou are travelling to a competition and your car is held up in a traffic jam.

At best, you will only make the Start with seconds to spare. What mental approach will help you cope with this situation?

8. Y ou’re running the last leg of a Relay, and a pack has formed. How are you going to stay focused on your navigation and route choice?

9. Y ou’ve unexpectedly caught up with a rival in a Sprint event. What’s your strategy?

10. Y ou arrive at a drinks station and there’s no water left.

BOX 4 – Possible ways of dealing with the ‘What if?’ situations, identified earlier in this section, are set out below: Example 1 - You must concentrate on your own performance and ignore all the other competitors. Run your race and make sure you have your own performance goals clearly identified. You can only influence how well you compete. Thinking about your rivals will distract you but will have no effect upon them and their performance. Image yourself coping with the pressure and not being distracted by the knowledge of their presence.

Example 2 - You may start to think that the rain will not help your performance. Stay positive in your thoughts and image yourself running to the first control perfectly.

Example 3 - In this case, you need to use a quick method of relaxation to reduce tension and get your thinking back into focus in order that you can orienteer in ‘Your Zone’. Image yourself doing this successfully and getting into the right frame of mind.

Example 4 - If you are not careful you will start to become over-anxious in a desperate need to run well. Concentrate on the present. What happened yesterday is in the past and there is nothing you can do about it. Concentrate fully on today’s run. Image yourself remaining focused, concentrating on your own run and not succumbing to the pressure of the situation.

Example 5 - It is sometimes difficult to be in the lead at this stage. Your thoughts may turn to winning the week-end competition. This will not help you focus on what you have to do today and will distract you from your navigation. You might also become over-anxious at the prospect of your rivals chasing after you and catching you. Stay in the present and focus on the ‘Here and Now’. Concentrate on your goals, ignore the other competitors and try not to let them distract you. Image yourself remaining focused, concentrating on your own run and not succumbing to the pressure of the situation.

32 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER JUNE 2020

Example 6 - Focus on what you can control which is your reaction to the circumstances. Stay relaxed and remind yourself of the positive aspects of your pre-performance plan.

Image yourself positively adjusting to the new circumstances and mentally rehearsing your navigation to a control in this kind of terrain.

Example 7 - These are circumstances which are outside your control. Stay relaxed and use your mental imagery skills to imaging yourself warming-up and link this with your pre-performance plan. Imagine running parts of the course accurately and speedily.

Example 8 - Image yourself ignoring the others, stay focused on your navigation and route choices, and checking your control codes.

Example 9 - Image yourself continuing to orienteer your way. Remember you’re ahead and just have to keep orienteering the way you have been.

Example 10 - Stay focused on your orienteering.

Make up your own ‘What if?’ scenarios of both positive and negative situations which might affect your level of focus and motivation. These will be different for everyone. To practice them think of 20 different situations and write down each one on a card. At random, pick a card and mentally rehearse the approach you will adopt.

This exercise can be done at any time of the day when you have ten minutes free time. Change the cards at regular intervals. You could also ask an orienteering friend to add two or three cards without you seeing them and this will mean that the scenario will be totally unexpected when you pick one of their cards.

When you find you are able to cope with unexpected situations and react to them in a positive way, you will know you are improving.

Charles Sturt University

Oceania Orienteering Carnival 2019 Oceania Sprint Championship scale 1:4000 contour interval 2m

BOX 5 – What ifs? Consider the different possibilities One Olympic Champion 400m hurdler describes how, when preparing for the Olympic Final, he imaged running the Final in every lane, and how he would deal with different scenarios such as someone running the first 200m really fast, and how he would respond, which was to continue to run his own race. That way he rehearsed exactly what he would do whatever occurred in the event. He won gold and broke the world record.

So, a shorter article this time as we tie up and link together a few of the topics and skills we’ve covered previously. In future articles I’ll consider topics such as ‘Concentration’, ‘Stress and Anxiety’ and ‘Pre-competition routines’.

JUNE 2020 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 33

LEHTONEN FAMILY

Some observations about Orienteering in Australia and Finland

BY MIIA LEHTONEN

Iida Lehtonen.

O

rienteering is very different in Finland, I thought today, when losing visibility on course due to a sudden snowstorm. There are no events in Finland due to the COVID-19 situation at the moment, but luckily there are many courses you can do on your own. The knowledge that you can at least get out and into the forest helps us with all the isolation and physical distancing.

The weather can be quite extreme sometimes and we are probably more used to coping with cold and rain in Finland (even in the summertime). It is not usual that events or training sessions are cancelled due to the weather. Otherwise, we would not have too many events! We were not expecting the weather to be a problem in Australia when we first came there two years ago, but little did we know!

Extreme weather was just different - and actually more difficult to cope with at times. But a real orienteer does not mind the weather, right? But what we experienced was that sometimes weather can be dangerous and it might be wiser to reschedule your practice.

You can more easily overcome the cold and wet weather with the

Lilja at 2020 MSW Granite Hills.

34 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER JUNE 2020

right clothing, but what can you do in the extreme heat or severe thunderstorm? And the scale of the problems these can create was new to us. It was quite frightening and sad to see what forest fires can do, but it was also intriguing to see how fast the forest had started to recover, for example, on the Hill Top map at Bargo State Conservation Area a few weeks ago.

Orienteering is very different in Australia, I thought two years ago, after my first event down under at Mitchell Park, Cattai. I got quite lost (and the rest of the family too), before I realised that the blue lines in the map actually did not mean water. Maybe there was some ancient water from some hundred years ago, I’m not sure.

Vegetation boundaries were also tricky. I tried to locate myself with those, but that runnable white open forest and some areas of green all looked the same in my eyes. It was only after I was stuck in the green that I realised I had found it. I was starting to worry that it would be a difficult two years of orienteering in Australia ahead of me. Furthermore, I was already afraid that Australia is full of poisonous snakes and spiders. Luckily, I did not find any, and I just got distracted by some shy wallabies this time.

Lilja orienteering in the snow in Finland.

Iida with arctic cloudberries in Finland.

Juha Lehtonen.

AUS Sprint - Iida Lehtonen (NSW).

There are different types of orienteers overall, and in our family.

Some love especially the speed and challenge of the competitions.

Some like a little slower pace, navigation and making observations.

Some are just gradually starting to get more interest in this sport.

For all of us, being able to be part of the Sydney, NSW, and whole Australian Orienteering community has been an amazing experience.

From the start we all felt very welcomed and the atmosphere in the events was always open and supportive, whether it was a local or bigger national event. And it was not just Orienteering events, but also other common activities we got a chance to participate in, like Christmas Day on the beach or Anzac Day biscuit competitions among others. We are grateful to all our new friends for these experiences. It really made it special for us. I think, this is something we could learn to do more in Finland too.

Orienteering was also a great way to see different areas of Australia, which we would not have discovered otherwise. We would not have found that traffic jam of cows on the way to Wyangala Dam. On the way we stopped in at an old-fashioned ice-cream parlour and decided to try the biggest ice-cream portion Mt. Panorama. That name and portion I will never forget! It was an adventure, with some unexpected experiences.

We had a chance to do Orienteering in almost all the States (NSW, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and Northern Territory) and even to try Ski Orienteering, which was pretty cool. We did not know that it is possible do it in Australia!

There were also unexpectedly many new places in and around our home city Sydney to explore. Surprisingly hilly city by the way! My legs were hurting several days after each SOS event. Finland is flatter and I was definitively forced to do more hills in Sydney, which was actually not a bad thing.

We also enjoyed a good amount of quality Sprint Orienteering, which is something we don’t have so much in Finland. We were hoping to see many of you for Orienteering in Tasmania this October, but if it will not be possible this time then definitely sometime later.

Middle child Lilja noted: the vegetation difference in Australia and Finland is quite big, because when you go orienteering in Finland, usually your shoes are soaking wet. But when you orienteer in the forests of Australia, everything seem quite dry. Also, the forests in Finland are very green but usually very wet and bushy.

(Iida, the oldest child, competed two years for NSW in the Australian Schools Championships.)

JUNE 2020 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 35

Athlete of the Year Aston Key has been named as Orienteering Australia’s Athlete of the Year for 2019

I

n July, he became the second Australian to win a gold medal at JWOC when he won the Sprint event in Denmark. He followed this up with a bronze medal in the Long Distance, and a 5th in the Middle Distance. Whilst his JWOC results were the highlight of his year, he also had numerous significant achievements in 2019 at senior level, including becoming the Oceania Middle Distance champion in October, and later that month placing 21st in the World Cup Final in China, the

best Australian World Cup result since 2015. This followed his senior World Championship debut in 2018.

It remains to be seen whether Aston gets the opportunity to defend his title later in 2020, with the future of this year’s international events program still under a cloud, but his results have already stamped him as an exceptional talent with an exciting future.

For more on OA Awards go to: https:// orienteering.asn.au/index.php/news/

Millennium Club Legends The 20 year journey of ten Melbourne Street Orienteers (2000-2020) RAY HOWE

T

he Millennium Club acknowledges participation in (Bayside Kangaroos) a regular walker in the PW Course has Melbourne Park & Street Orienteering since January 1st, notionally completed 13,320 km in 1762 events and is in 2000. Badges are presented to orienteers who reach the Wangaratta, Victoria heading towards Melbourne to complete milestones of 500 and 750 events. Orienteers who complete a circuit of mainland Australia in the 20 year period.

1000 events are presented with a “1000” badge, a special The journeys of eight other Melbourne Park & Street keyring, a framed certificate of the achievement and are orienteers are listed in Table 2. These are remarkable identified as Legend members of The Millennium Club. distances and represent a dedicated regular commitment to Currently six of these Legend members have reached the Melbourne Park & Street Orienteering over 20 years.

2000 event milestone and have been accorded the upgraded membership of Vintage Legend of The Millennium Club.

Table 1 – Notional Distances (km) An additional milestone of 1500 events is recognised by placing the member on the “StreetO World Tour”. A nominal distance is calculated representing how far the Legend has travelled during their events. This is used to position them on a journey covering a clockwise circuit of Australia, clockwise circuits of the South and North Islands of New Zealand and participation in 30 significant urban Orienteering events around the world.

The notional distance travelled is the aggregate of the orienteers’ yearly distance covered since January 1st, 2000 according to their typical chosen course and their most consistent finishing position. The notional distances are shown in Table 1.

As at April, 2020, nineteen orienteers are still active on tour and one orienteer has retired. Vic Sedunary (Bayside Kangaroos), a regular A Course runner over the 20 year period, is leading the tour having notionally completed 18,070 km in 1907 events. Vic has completed a circuit of Australia and the south island of New Zealand and is 65 km from Auckland in order to complete a circuit of the north island. Len Budge 36 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER JUNE 2020

A++ 10.0 B++ 8.0 A+ 9.5 B+ 7.5 A 9.0 B 7.0

C++ 6.0 C+ 5.5 C 5.0

D++ 4.0 D+ 3.5 D 3.0

PW++++ 7.5 PW+++ 6.5 PW++ 5.5

PW+ 4.5 PW 3.5

Table 2 – Notional Distance in Melb Street Orienteering (2000-2020) Name

20 yr Profile

Events

Km

Approaching City/Town

Vic Sedunary

Runner

1907

18,070

=>Auckland(NI-NZ)

Mark Besley

Runner

1920

16,639

=>Pokeno(NI-NZ)

Geoff Hudson

Runner

2069

16,639

=>Pokeno(NI-NZ)

Noel McVey

Runner/Walker

2134

15,512

=>Christchurch(SI-NZ)

Lauris Stirling

Runner/Walker

1940

14,471

=>Queenstown(SI-NZ)

Mike Hubbert

Runner/Walker

2309

14,212

=>Dunedin(SI-NZ)

Len Budge

Walker

1762

13,320

=>Wangaratta(Vic-AU)

Ian Stirling

Runner/Walker

2017

13,194

=>Holbrooke(NSW-AU)

Debbie Dodd

Runner/Walker

2163

12,303

=>Newcastle(NSW-AU)

Peter Yeates

Runner/Walker

2102

12,291

=>Newcastle(NSW-AU)

SPORTident News SIAC questions answered

By Colin Price (aussieogear) Australian distributor of SPORTident equipment • How long does the battery last?

• How can I tell if the battery is getting flat?

• What is the Battery Test unit for?

• Do I need to touch the control as I pass?

• What happens when the SIAC is flat?

T

hese are all questions I have been asked so I hope this helps you understand how to best enjoy your SIAC without boring you with Tech stuff.

The Melbourne Sprint Weekend held earlier this year was great (thank you) and pointed out to me some things we need to look at (both competitor and organiser); thus this email.

How long does the battery last in a SIAC? I can’t say precisely but with average use about 4 years? It is up to each competitor to monitor this. It does depend upon how many events you do in contactless mode. Changing to your old SI stick for Non Contactless events is just a pain for organisers and I have no evidence you will save your battery. Batteries have a shelf life and apparently Lithium batteries perform better if used regularly! A new SIAC will have 2.98v and will drop to 2.89, then 2.80, 2.71 with low voltage warning at 2.44v.

My current SIAC is 4 years old and is 2.80 or 2.89 depending on the test unit. (SI config or a BSF8 Battery test unit).

How can I tell if the SIAC battery is getting flat?

Each competitor has to monitor their own SIAC for battery voltage therefore the event organisers MUST supply the tools to do this at every SIAC enabled event. This is called a “Battery Test” unit which you saw at most of the MSW events.

Competitors should check the battery level before they “CLEAR and CHECK”. You should see “OK” in the LCD display and hear a beep. If flat you will see ”Fail” and get NO beep. If the battery is at 2.44v you get a warning plus a different beep / squeal which I have never heard.

What is the Battery Test unit for?

The Battery test unit is supplied so that you can check your SIAC is working (you will hear the BSF8 beep). If it has low voltage it will beep/ squeal differently. But the SIAC can still die out on the course (after which you need to punch each control). So it is IMPORTANT that you check the LCD display on top of the “Battery Test” BSF8 unit to see what voltage you have. It will also tell you OK or not. I would only worry when the voltage drops below 2.80v after which I expect the voltage may drop at a faster rate (normal for lithium batteries).

What happens if the event doesn’t have a Battery Test unit? A question for OA and organisers as there will be a time when an Elite (or any orienteer) is disadvantaged by a failing SIAC.

Do I need to touch the control as I pass?

I noticed at the MSW a lot of thumping of controls as orienteers passed (with their SIAC). You can pass the control within 30 cm to register you have been there. Hitting the control is

not necessary as you get an audio and visual indicator that you have attended the control. By hitting each unit it may be possible to damage the SIAC by dislodging the components.

You need to become more comfortable with close passing and you will also save time! Please also run past the Finish control when it is set as contactless as your time registers after you have moved out of the unit’s field.

What happens when the SIAC is flat?

A flat SIAC needs to go back to SPORTident Germany for a replacement battery so you need to talk with the person you bought the SIAC from. Replacement is not a quick process but I have several options available for my customers. Alternatively you use your old SI Stick for a while. You can continue using your current SIAC but you will have to punch.

How do I know if my SIAC is turned on?

Once you have “CHECKED” and turned on your SIAC you will see a faint green flash about every 20 seconds. If this is flashing when you get home you haven’t finished and it will probably go flat unless you can find a SIAC OFF / Finish control.

Events are different!

It is important for competitors to read the event organizers’ notes as there are several setup options. Your SIAC can be turned on by a “SIAC ON” unit or a “CHECK” unit. The Finish can be a “Punch” or a “Contactless” finish. You may even see a “SIAC OFF” unit if the “Finish” control is not programmed to turn OFF the SIAC.

Punching “Contactless” distances The BSF7/8 units are set for 30 cm (12 inch) contactless punching and can be passed at up to 40 km/h (in my dreams!).

Several people can be at the control at one time so you can wave over a short person’s head but you do need to check your SIAC has registered as it will flash and beep. Interestingly, I saw on the SPORTident website that it takes 60ms direct punching and 50ms contactless punching!

The distances for contactless have been set by IOF and while they can be set to slightly longer the MTBO and general orienteering has a 30 cm length rule.

The above are just my observations and more details are available on the SPORTident website (Sportident.com) or you can email Aussieogear.com and I will try to answer your questions. Not too technical please!

I hope this information answers most of your questions.

All the best from Colin Price (aussieogear) - Australian distributor of SPORTident equipment.

JUNE 2020 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 37

12

15

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MAPPING

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Orienteering 10 for two

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Then a club mate told me about the Open Orienteering Map website (which I’d seen and used before but forgotten about).

It’s the brainchild of Ollie O’Brien in the UK and his website at http://oomap.co.uk will generate an instant Street O map, in three different styles. I gave it a shot and, amazingly, had a map within minutes. I added a simple Score course using the on-screen tools and tried out the printed map the next day.

It provided a clear map to use, and, most importantly, was created in minutes. And all in glorious colour!

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7

DENNIS MEWS (BK-V)

I

live on the Melbourne northern fringe, some way from the regular Park & Street orienteering venues, and decided late last year to create my own local maps to help me keep active throughout the winter months. At that time, I had no idea of the calamity which would overtake us all and condemn orienteers to a winter of local activity in our own suburb, if we’re lucky.

I also looked at other course drawing software and found Purple Pen (Windows only - at http://purplepen.golde. org) which was intuitive to use and gave some interesting options. To add some competition, I planned a knock-out Sprint course, just for my wife and I. We had maps of a similar line course and ran together for part of the course, then split up for minor variations, then came together again.

Success! It was great fun, the map gave us everything we needed with route choices to make on the way, and I had produced it in a matter of minutes.

My first mapping attempts were not promising. I spent a few days wrestling with the opaque complexities of OCAD with slow progress. Then I tried Open Orienteering Mapper, with the same result. I concluded that they were both very hefty sledgehammers to crack my fairly simple street orienteering Map data (c) OpenStreetMap, available under the Open Database Licence. nut. style=oterrain_global|paper=0.29700000000000004,0.21000000000000002|scale=10000|centre=-4522043,16155506|title=OpenOrienteeringMap|club=|id=5e87cd131fafa|start=-4521372,16155475|crosses=|cps=|controls=1,45,-4521410,16155952,2,45,-4521468,16156344,3,45,-4521678,16156177,4,45,-4522208,16156602,5,45,-4522126,16156288,6,45,-4522431,16156278,7,45,-4522467,16155431,8,45,-4522159,16155626,9,45,-4522147,16155337,10,45,-4522200,16154642,11,45,-4521896,16154888,12,45,-4521813,16154485,13,45,-4521617,16155352,14,45,-4521667,16155600,15,45,-4521806,16155423

OOM created by Oliver O'Brien. Make your own: http://oomap.co.uk/

I hoped that Google Maps might solve my problem, but it was of no help. My outer fringe suburb is still depicted as open fields - and we’ve lived here for three years!

Next, I examined the VicEmergency app, which alerts us to impending bushfires and other disasters (although not viruses). The mapping is very detailed and up-to-date, so I did a screen-grab (with an iPhone, just press the Home and Top buttons simultaneously) and printed out an instant map

500m

1 13

14

2 3

15

11 10

M

I next prepared an Orienteering map of an adjacent part of our suburb. That should provide us with plenty of running/ navigating options to occupy us over the winter! If you need a street Orienteering map for personal use where you live, scale 1:10000 this might work for you too.

OPENORIENTEERINGMAP

12

4

of my area. I planned a simple line course, starting from my front door and off I went. This was a good map, although not the clearest in use.

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8 7

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00000002|scale=10000|centre=-4522043,16155506|title=OpenOrienteeringMap|club=|id=5e87cd131fafa|start=-4521372,16155475|crosses=|cps=|controls=1,45,-4521410,16155952,2,45,-4521468,16156344,3,45,-4521678,16156177,4,45,-4522208,16156602,5,45,-4522126,16156288,6,45,-4522431,16156278,7,45,-4522467,16155431,8,45,-4522159,16155626,9,45,-4522147,16155337,10,45,-4522200,16154642,11,45,-4521896,16154888,12,45,-4521813,16154485,13,45,-4521617,16155352,14,45,-4521667,16155600,15,45,-4521806,16155423

data (c) OpenStreetMap, available under the Open Database Licence.

38 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER JUNE 2020

M created by Oliver O'Brien. Make your own: http://oomap.co.uk/

Map ID: 5e87

OPENORIENTEERINGMAP

scale 1:10000

500m

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4

Map ID: 5e87cd131fafa

3

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style=oterrain_global|paper=0.21000000000000002,0.29700000000000004|scale=10000|centre=-4524661,16154192|title=OpenOrienteeringMap|club=|id=5e852af50d093|start=|crosses=|cps=|controls=

Map data (c) OpenStreetMap, available under the Open Database Licence.

OOM created by Oliver O'Brien. Make your own: http://oomap.co.uk/ 7cd131fafa

JUNE 2020 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 39

Map ID: 5e852af50d093

SPOT the DIFFERENCE

For all those who can’t wait to get out into the forest terrain here’s a very complex spur/gully map with gold mining features to test whether your map reading skills are still working. MAP 1 is essentially a portion of the original map.

MAP 2 contains 25 changes. CAN YOU FIND ALL 25 ???

Good luck.

40 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER JUNE 2020

2020 Stockholm Indoor Cup (reprinted from CompassSport, February 2020, with kind permission)

Yes – this guy is in the middle of his race – trying to solve the puzzle...

BY SUE CRICKMORE (SO-UK)

E

ver since the first Stockholm Indoor Cup back in 2013 I have wanted to have a go at this competition; having always loved both maps and puzzles I had been intrigued by the complex maps and really wanted to try my hand at a format where my lack of speed would not be such a handicap to my orienteering brain.

Unfortunately fitting in a weekend in Sweden in February just didn’t work for me, but when I knew I would not be teaching on Fridays this year one of my first thoughts was that I would be able to run the Stockholm Indoor Cup. My long term W55 rival in SO, Jane Lambert, had attended in 2019 and was very keen to do it again and so when the entries opened, we entered and booked our weekend.

We flew in Friday morning and the afternoon was spent exploring Stockholm old town and working out the transport route to get us to the two events.

The Saturday event was in Viktor Rydbergs Samskola in Djursholm, north-east of the centre and a short train ride away on the Roslagsbana. Courses weren’t too long but did involve metal spiral fire escapes and cramped basement corridors filled with pipes and stores.

Rousing music was occasionally encountered to motivate you and I was very pleased to finish 8/164 in the ‘Aunts’ class in a time of just over 30 minutes.

Sunday was very different, a big university building, Södertörns Högskola, Huddinge, a stone’s throw from this year’s 25manna Relay forest at Visätra, in southern Stockholm. It boasted 10 levels and different blocks radiating from a single arc – as you can see! More space, more stairs and more challenge than Saturday, but less music and atmosphere. It was billed as the largest building ever used for a SIC race.

It started innocuously enough (once I found the Start triangle) with controls #1 to #5 found in just over 2mins, then the difficulty really ramped up. It was particularly difficult to follow from floor to floor going from one side of the map to the other whilst also trying to keep track of which staircases linked and whether they were going up or down. And then you would meet a piece of tape just where you didn’t want it …...

I think these are the routes I took on a couple of legs, but it gets very difficult to remember where you actually went!

Leg #5 – #6, I thought I had a plan for this, but hadn’t spotted all the restrictions so: P3-P4,T4-T5, H5-H6, B6-B8, (making note that floor 8 had useful connections between the main staircases) C8-C5, S5-S4 (oh bother, hadn’t spotted that tape) K4-K2, C2-C6 and control #6.

A much better route would have been G3-G2, (wiggle through the rooms to get down the corridor) M2-M3, O3-O4 control #6, but I just didn’t see that possibility.

Leg #6 - #7, we were pre-warned that this was the tricky one and would be specially timed for an extra fastest leg prize. C4-C5, K5-K4 (stand still for 2mins to try and work out what I thought I was doing; give up and decide I just need to move somewhere) S4-S5, C5-C8, B8-B6 control #7.

That doesn’t look too bad, but I spent a lot of time trying to see how I could get there and being fairly paralysed by the various options.

If you looked around you could see many people stood still or even sitting in the chairs trying to work out what to do. It is particularly tricky to get your head round the arrows on the stairs and to work out whether you can go up or down when there are tapes.

After that it began to flow rather better and I found some good routes and was linking the staircases better. The planner then threw in the ultimate sadistic leg #13 - #14. Yes, that is from floor 1 to floor 10 and that even had to include an extra floor up and down in the middle. Even the leg between #14 and #15 on floor 10 involved down four and up four floors. I put my next move down to oxygen debt at this point, as I planned a perfect route from floor 8 to #17, but failed to notice the existence of #16. Aaaaahh.

During the course I think I went up 33 floors and down 35

Jane and I fitted in the two races with a couple of walks around Stockholm and a trip to the very impressive Vasa boat museum.

Unfortunately, we didn’t have time for the Abba museum as well so that will have to wait for next year.

SIC is always the first weekend in February. Entries can sell out very quickly, especially for certain hours of the 4.5hr start blocks. Starting late normally means fewer bodies in the terrain.

One of several spiral staircases – indoors and out – on Day 1 in Djursholm.

Photo: Nick Barrable.

JUNE 2020 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 41

42 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER JUNE 2020

JUNE 2020 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 43

MTBO

Thoughts about MTBO in Finland Venue for 2020 World Masters & 2021 WMTBOC

BY INGRID STENGÅRD.

Ingrid Stengård is a Finnish mountain bike orienteering competitor. She won two individual bronze medals at the 2006 World MTB Orienteering Championships, and has since won 7 gold medals with the Finnish relay team and 7 other individual and relay medals. She is currently ranked 9th in the world.

See Map 2, where the fast track (marked in RED) goes over a hill with many big bare rock areas (note contour interval 2.5m). On the hillside south of the track there are quite a few small paths just starting from “nowhere” or at the edge of the bare rock. Probably most, if not all, of these start at the big track but they can just not be seen well enough on the bare rock to be mapped. Finding these paths from above will require good foot-o skills reading everything available like features, track bends and so on. The course setter for this race has been smart and not placed any controls in this area which makes the race fairer. Photo 2 shows a typical area of bare rock. Can you see the path? It is not always obvious.

Map 2

F

inland offers a wide range of different terrains for MTBO. For example the relatively hilly terrains used in WMTBOC in Joensuu 2006 have very little in common with the almost flat terrains around Kuortane where WMTBOC 2021 will be held. If the World Masters can be held as planned around Lahti this year those terrains are a mixture of flat and hills.

To keep this article short I will focus on the terrain types near Kuortane. In addition my main focus will be on short cutting and some specific terrain features like bare rocks.

The Western parts of Finland, especially the area called Osthrobothnia, where WMTBOC 2021 will be held represents the almost totally flat part of Finland. Photo 1 is typical of the area showing big flat fields with some houses and villages.

Between the fields there are also forested areas, which often are “the foot-orienteers nightmare” - no features, dense vegetation covering a wet marshy ground with some small boulders hidden here and there and a lot of undergrowth.

Near villages people have used these areas to walk their dogs and for other recreation and created quite a few more or less distinct paths. Usually the paths have a lot of roots and small rocks and are quite technical to ride a bike.

Main Orienteering map colours are green and blue but between the wet areas there are also some 5-30m high “hills” or areas with dryer land. On top of the “hills” there is often areas with bare rock, shown with the grey area symbol 212.

These areas can be nice to bike on, but very slippery if wet, since they often are covered in a thin layer of moss. Usually the bare rock areas are broken up with small steps, cracks, small boulders, etc, so it is very hard to tell from the map what the rideability really is. It is also very difficult to see where the paths are on the bare rock which makes MTBO map drawing a challenge.

Photo 1 – typ ical flat terrain around Kuortane.

44 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER JUNE 2020

Photo 2 – typical area of bare rock.

In Finland MTBO it is almost always allowed to ride or run anywhere in the terrain except for settlements (olive green symbol 527), out-of-bounds areas (symbol 709) and forbidden routes (symbol 711). Depending on the course setter the fastest route may or may not include short cutting. There have been races where good short cuts, even running through dense forest carrying the bike have been the key to success, but also the reason for big disasters. A good rule of thumb is “if in doubt leave it out”. With some exceptions the time you gain by short cutting is not as big as you think. Most short cuts are very short distances (10-50m) crossing between parallel paths, cutting some corners or similar places.

Compared to racing with no short cutting you need to read more details of the forest and try to build up a general picture about the area and where it could be rideable or fast to run with the bike. Bringing a compass is essential for successful

short cutting. Almost always short cutting is a bit of a gamble.

For example what is shown as forest, symbol 405, can be OK to ride or very slow to even run due to undergrowth.

So far there aren’t any good MTBO mapping standards to show the rideability of all off track. When planning to short cut on a leg it is an advantage if there is a back up route, i.e. if the planned place for the short cut looks terrible it is possible to still do an OK route choice by following the track/ path around instead. For example on Map 1 the GREEN route, last bit to control #9. If the small path from the dirt road (fast track) is hard to find or terrain looks just terrible, it won’t be a huge loss of time to just continue on the dirt road and use the RED route into the control.

Sometimes that is not the case and you will need to commit to the short cut early: for example a trail end to cut across to another trail. This is more risky since there is no good back up if the planned short cut looks bad. On Map 3 the RED Map 1

route from control #2 - #3 is an example of this. Once you have committed to go “straight” and cut as the RED route shows near #3 it will be a long way to go around to the south. The good thing on this route is that the short cut is very short. Also, if it looks bad where the RED route goes out on the semi-open area it is possible to follow the medium fast path a bit to the south and cut through the ordinary “white” forest.

The good thing with short cutting in areas with a dense path network and many indistinct paths is that you don’t need to worry about if you really are on the right path or not as long as you are going the right way and can cross over at any time if you find out that you are not exactly where you wanted to be.

The Finnish championships Middle Distance 2019 was held just next to the embargoed area for WMTOC in Seinäjoki. I will highlight some points about MTBO in that part of Finland by using parts of the race course as an example. See Map 1 – this terrain is quite typical for Osthrobothnia.

Most paths are small, super slow, and sometimes hard to find and in addition to these there are a few fast tracks, usually dirt roads for forestry. Making good route choices isn’t always easy and sometimes almost like gambling, but there are also easy route choices that may require good focus to carry out. Looking at Map 1 leg #4 - #5 doesn’t offer much challenge in finding the best route choice since there is more or less just one. The most important thing to do on this leg is actually not to find #5, but to use the dirt road ride to plan for following legs in more technical terrain. When the power line crosses the dirt road it is time to find the dotted path that leads into #5 and also back out again. The dotted paths will be too technical to even try to read the map so all map reading needs to be done on the main tracks.

Map 3

JUNE 2020 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 45

MTBO

Also leg #5 - #6 doesn’t really offer more than one reasonable route choice. The dotted path to the SE through wetlands, across ditches and so on is way too slow so the remaining option is to return back to the dirt road and follow it down to the tarmac racing field. The main challenge on this leg is to find the best way out of the racing field. There is a ditch to cross to get to the dotted path. Not shown on the map but there was also quite thick under vegetation and some bushes which made it harder for the first starters and easy for later starters to find the path. This is very common when it comes to short cutting that later riders will benefit a lot from previous ones making the route. But it can also be a hazard if the first riders have made a short cut in a slightly wrong place, possibly even met an obstacle having to come back to make a new route a bit later. In this case it is likely the false short cut quickly becomes a big “path” as it comes first.

Next on the course there is a very interesting leg #6 - #7.

There is no obvious or straight forward route. The last bit into the control is more or less a forced short cut, but which way to take to get that far? From the previous leg we know that crossing the ditch between the forest and the race track was slow and wet. Going back that way is clearly the safest choice (marked as GREEN on the map) and we can do a good estimation on how long that is going to take. But it is more than double the distance compared to continuing straight north on the slow paths and doing a risky short cut. Comparing distances we are up on the bare rock hill in the same distance, and probably time, as going back to the race track. If the dotted path is reasonable, which it could be up the little hill it should be possible to ride at least half the speed as on the dirt road. Then the main gamble is the 40-70m short cut. If we are lucky we may be able to find even a rideable route, if the reason for the use of foot-o symbol 407, slow running, is that there have been forestry trucks messing up the soil, some of their tyre prints could be rideable. All is gambling and combining experience with what the map shows.

There is one dotted path almost going through the area to short cut. If we are lucky that vaguely goes through, but if we don’t happen to find it that doesn’t matter as long as we can get across to the dirt road on the western side of where the power line is crossing the road. This highlights another important thing for short cutting, familiar from foot-o, aiming off. When cutting across to a path we need to be sure we know on which side of the intended place we come out so that we can go in the right direction. A classic mistake is trying to go straight towards a small object and then not knowing on which side of it we are. In the race the last bit to short cut in to the control from the dirt road was easy to find thanks to the power line pylon and for later riders a big path had developed. On this leg the short route marked with red on the map was actually the fastest, because it was rideable and easy to find, but it was a risky choice.

On short legs like #7 - #8 it is easy to take the first route choice that one happens to see, especially if that leg hasn’t been planned in advance, i.e. before control #6 when riding on dirt 46 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER JUNE 2020

roads. Leg #7 - #8 was clearly fastest to ride the GREEN way.

In other words back to the dirt road and the dashed path up towards the control. At first sight the RED option, straight, doesn’t look any worse and is much shorter. But despite the terrain being generally flat that tricky path is going some 5 metres up and down and up again and the small climbs are too steep to ride for most people. So the lesson here is that even with very small climbs it is worth checking the contours.

Leg #8 - #9 is also interesting.

The shortest way, following the dotted path north and then west from the control is more or less out of discussion.

Ditches, wetland and semi-open areas indicating recent forest work is not appealing. So the beginning will just be to find a fast way south to the dirt road. As long as the direction is good it is not so important to worry about which path we are on or outside. Sometimes on bare rocks the path is hard to see as mentioned before and a good route choice is to ride where others have ridden if that is visible. Then the question is how to approach #9. The GREEN line shows the way that should be fastest. A lot of dirt road and then a short and relatively straight forward short cut into the control.

However, it turned out that the dashed path from the dirt road towards the control was hard or impossible to find and it wasn’t possible to ride in the forest at all. Instead the dotted path (the RED route) which could even have been marked as short dashed, was the fastest way. But as mentioned before, starting on the GREEN and then continuing on to the RED because the small dashed path was hard to find, was an acceptable route. Just needs a quick decision.

Leg #9 - #10 gives two main options.

Either short cut to dirt road and going around everything on fast dirt roads or riding small paths through the unknown with ditches, wetland and many junctions.

Because of the slow short cut to the dirt road and that some of the small dotted paths in the forest were quite good the difference wasn’t as big as it could have been, but in addition to being marginally faster the road option gave a chance to rest a bit from technical riding and focus on planning routes forward.

In the examples above I have highlighted some aspects regarding route choices, short cutting and carrying out planned routes. To see more examples it is worth visiting the web site to WMMTBOC 2020 in Finland, https:// www.2020mtbo.fi/maps/ Look at the maps and go to the route gadget links to learn more about route choices in that area. The terrain around Lahti is hillier than in Osthrobothnia, but also many paths are faster and in the same areas there is pine forest where off track riding can be good. Searching route gadget there are also maps from Ostrhrobothnia.

To summarise: most of the MTBO in Finland follows the same principles as anywhere else in the world. That is, the map shows what kind of tracks and paths are available for route choice.

Based on your knowledge about your riding speed on the different kinds of paths and track you make an estimation of what should be fastest.

Mostly in Finland the classification of tracks and paths are quite close to recommendations, i.e. if it is marked slow (dotted) it really is slow unlike some other countries where slow sometimes means “not as fast as the other”. Also, you can short cut which adds some route choices.

Like anything else you will need practice and experience on this to make good decisions.

The best training is to have the chance to come to a training camp in Finland, but if that is not possible, studying maps and route choices from previous races is a good start.

Ingrid’s background

I

ngrid has competed at every MTBO World Championships, a feat only a few have achieved.

She has been in the Finnish national elite MTBO team since it started in 2002 and is aiming to stay in it as long as possible, despite now being 44 and able to ride Masters. Her first World Championship medals came in 2006 and after that it has been 7 golds (all in Relay with the Finnish team) and 7 other medals (Individual and Relay), the last so far in 2019. She is always near the pointy end of results, even when competing in 2018 less than two months after giving birth to her daughter.

Known for always smiling!

“I started orienteering in 1986 because I liked sports, maps and to be out in the forests. A local Orienteering club member visited my (primary) school and made the sport sound very attractive so I joined the beginner’s class and fell in love with the sport. In 1991 I went to a sports college and had to decide to focus on only SkiO, but we did some MTBO in summer for practice. I did my first MTBO race in 1993 but prioritised Ski-O until 2000.

After going to the inaugural WMTBOC in 2002 and placing 13th I was happy to stop but the 2004 Worlds in Australia made it possible to go to one of my dream countries and the exciting animals such as kangaroos, koalas, etc. Of course, it is almost impossible to be full time athlete in MTBO so I worked a lot in winters as a

ski-instructor and as little as possible as a mountain guide during the summer. Now, 15 years after that decision I’m still hooked and just can’t stop. Every race is like a new adventure, a new challenge which you can prepare a lot for but you will never know exactly what is coming up until you have crossed the Finish line.”

JUNE 2020 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 47

Melbourne Park & Street Championships

R

emember the times before socialdistancing came to plague us, mass starts were just about preventing your map from blowing away?

O-SPY

This was the scene at the mass start of the 2020 Melbourne Park & Street Championships – keeping a firm foot on your map.

Taking out the bin? – Dress to impress

J

oin the global trend for dressing up to put your bin out! Peter Yeates (DR-V) got into the spirit donning his best O gear in order to be seen in public from a safe distance. Anyone ready to outdo Pete?

“I’ve got a bike and two legs in pretty good form, so riding 10km a day is no big deal,” Martinelli said. “I wanted to help the people who always support me during the season. It’s time to give back to them. I go to the pharmacy and when I arrive outside I put on gloves and a mask,” he said. “If I go for three or four people, there’s less risk of contagion.”

With a population of 1,500, everyone in Lodetto knows who Martinelli is. Or rather, they know Martinelli’s father, Giuseppe, who is team director of the Astana cycling team. Giuseppe said he had nothing to do with his son’s initiative besides offering fatherly advice: “I just said, ‘Be careful. Be safe.

Don’t touch anyone. Use a mask and gloves when you enter the pharmacy.’”

1. Last minute instructions

Davide Martinelli outside pharmacy.

2. Maps down

Sponsorship etiquette

Q

uestion: Why do you need to be holding a drink bottle as you cross the line in a WOC Sprint race?

Peter Yeates – doing it with style.

Answer: Because it’s one of your sponsors. (The Swiss do this so well.)

Veterans at Melbourne’s BikeO 75 Series

P

roving that there’s life after Foot-O, several veteran orienteers of many years took to their bikes for the BikeO 75 series of events last summer. Two well-known names from yesteryear were Peta Whitford and Keith Wade, both former Foot-O champions with many titles to their credit.

Peta Whitford & Keith Wade discuss routes 48 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER JUNE 2020

3. And they’re off

Italian Tour de France cyclist helps elderly

P

rofessional cyclist Davide Martinelli is using his bike to help deliver medicine to elderly residents and others in need during the coronavirus pandemic. The service is of great use in Lodetto, Martinelli’s hometown in the hard-hit Lombardy region of northern Italy. The village has neither a pharmacy nor a supermarket. Martinelli makes a daily trip to nearby Rovato to pick up supplies.

WOC 2012 - Simone Niggli wins Sprint.

Vale Claire Wehner

O

n 8th April, Australian orienteering lost one of the most active event administrators of its early years with the passing of Claire Wehner. Members of the Australian Orienteering community extend their sympathy to Hermann, Martin and Kirsten.

The Wehner family started orienteering in mid-1972, just over a year after the sport became established in Canberra. They were one of several families within the Mount Stromlo Observatory community, which was a focal point of Orienteering activity during its formative years in Canberra.

Initially, just Hermann and Martin took part on a regular basis, although Claire often came with them to events. She was never a competitive orienteer, and her name appeared in the results list only when she accompanied her young daughter, Kirsten, on a novice course.

Claire, however, always enjoyed being part of the Orienteering scene and often stepped in to lend a hand with the event organisation when the organiser was overloaded. She was a very competent organiser and administrator, and contributed significantly to most of the national events held in Canberra during the 1970s and 1980s. This began with organising billets for interstate orienteers attending the 1974 Australian Championships at Murrays Corner.

She and Hermann organised and set courses for the Australian Club Relay Championships in 1976. She was the Event Secretary for the 1977 Australian Championships at Orroral Crossing and, with Hermann, shared the Event Secretary role for the Australian ThreeDays in 1978 and 1983, the Australian Championships Carnival in 1987 and the ACT Championships in 1985, 1990 and 1994.

Claire & Martin – May 1975.

On the local scene, she and Hermann conducted the first ACT Schools Championships in 1979, and organised and set courses for that event every year from then until 1989. She joined the ACTOA Committee as Newsletter Editor in 1975. Hermann gave her much support in that role and they officially became joint editors from 1992 to 1996, when Hermann became the sole Editor.

All of Claire’s contributions were acknowledged initially, along with those of Hermann, when they were each awarded Life Membership of the ACTOA in 1986. The joint contribution of Claire and Hermann was recognised further with the naming of the trophy for the ACT Orienteer of the Year competition, the Wehner Cup. In 1995, Claire and Hermann were named joint recipients of the Mike Cassells Award for Services to Orienteering in the ACT.

Many longstanding orienteers who travelled to Canberra to compete in national events during the early decades of Australian orienteering will appreciate Claire’s role in the success of those events.

David Hogg

Hermann Wehner (M95) at 2019 Oceania Carnival.

JUNE 2020 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 49

MAPPING & COURSE SETTING SOFTWARE In 1st quarter 2020, OCAD’s continual improvement program rolled out NEW: ISOM 2017 to ISSprOM 2019 crt, Geospatial PDF, Layout for Starter and CS, Default co-ordinate system.

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Marion will receive a Victorinox Handyman which includes 24 tools and features – retail value $139.

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 52 pages, full colour, 6 times a year £50 World Subscription Var. 05

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Issue 5 October 2019

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Var. 05

Var. 05

Orienteering

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Britain’s

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CompassSport Britain’s

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Vol 40

Issue 4 August 2019

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Issue 6 Decem ber

RC#5 Fixtures Competitions Know Your Class Leader World Masters Championships Cyprus Orienteering Festival British Sprints and Middles EYOC European University Championships JIRCs Junior World Championships PhotoO Newcomers to O ....and loads more.....

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RC#5 JK2015 Fixtures Silvanus Saunders MM Competitions Swiss O Week Scottish 6 Days Training Format Informal Format GB Elites Abroad Product Reviews Yvette Baker Trophy Know Your Class Leader ...and loads more....

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JEC RC#5 Fixtures Silvanus 52 nd OMM WOC2019 CSCup Final Competitions WOC Analys Product Reviewis s World of O Cartoon World Master s World Champ MTBO s Holiday O GuideMTBO Ex GBR Elites 2020 Abroad Know Your Class Leade r

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Top Events 2021

2020 Postponed (dates tba)

JWOC 2020 Gebze, Kocaeli, Turkey jwoc2020.org/

January 9-17

June 28July 3 (tba) July 5-10 (tba)

Kainuu Orienteering Week Suomussalmi, Finland Fin 5 Kuusamo, Finland www.ruka.fi/en/fin5

April 2-5 Easter May 13-16

CANCELLED

Sprint WOC 2020 Denmark (near Velje, Jutland) woc2020.dk

Postponed to 2021 Postponed to 2021

O-Ringen Uppsala, Sweden

June 10-18

California O Festival San Francisco & Lake Tahoe www.cal-o-fest.com

June 19-20

May 22-29

CANCELLED

WMOC 2020 Košice, Slovakia www.wmoc2020.sk August 8-9 QLD Long Distance Championships, Stanthorpe eventor.orienteering.asn. au/Events/Show/9390 August 21-25 Asian Orienteering Championships Korea Sept 9-13 World Masters MTBO Champs & European MTBO Champs Lahti - Heinola, Finland Sept 18-20 2020 Australian MTBO Champs Kuri Kuri, NSW, ausmtbochamps.com CANCELLED 2020 AUS Championships Launceston & St Helens,Tasmania www.aoc2020.tasorienteering.asn.au CANCELLED 2020 AUS Schools Championships St Helens,Tasmania

July 5-9

July 18-24 July 11-18 Aug 28-29

Dates tba

2021 Australian MTBO Champs Brisbane, QLD ausmtbochamps.com AUS Championships, AUS Schools Championships & Turbo Chook 3 Days Launceston & St Helens,Tasmania www.aoc2020.tasorienteering.asn.au

2022 Easter June 26July 3 Dates tba

CANCELLED

2020 Turbo Chook 3 Days St Helens,Tasmania

Oct 2-8

WMTBOC & JWMTBOC 2020 Loulé, Portugal

Oct 10-17

Alice Springs Masters Games

July 7-17

late November Dec 27-31

MELBOURNE City Race 2020 www.melbournecityrace.com.au Xmas 5 Days NSW www.onsw.asn.au/

July 19-27

Advertise your event

OCEANIA NZ 2021 Canterbury region, New Zealand oceaniao.nz/ AUS 3 Days, Orange, NSW WMMTBOC Slovenia WMOC & World Masters Games Orienteering near Kobe, Kansai Prefecture, Japan www.wmg2021.jp/en/ WMTBOC & JWMTBOC Kuortane, Finland www.wmtboc2021.com 2021 Jukola Relays Mynämäki, SW Finland Forest WOC 2021 Mladá Boleslav, Czech Republic O-Ringen Uppsala, Sweden JWOC 2021 Aguiar da Beira, Portugal

Sept

AUS 3 Days, Queensland WMOC 2022 Vieste (Gargano, Puglia) Italy Sprint WOC 2022 Denmark (near Velje, Jutland) woc2022.dk 2022 World Games Birmingham, Alabama, USA www.theworldgames2021.com/ JWOC 2022 Romania WMTBOC & JWMTBOC Sweden AUS Championships Victoria

2023 Easter

AUS 3 Days Carnival, ACT

You can have a 6 x 9 cm colour event ad for just $50 Send artwork to The Editor: mikehubbert@ozemail.com.au JUNE 2020 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 51

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