North to the home of Captain Thunderbolt.

Captain Thunderbolt was a well known bushranger in the Uralla area back in the days and you will find his grave in Uralla. His notoriety spread far and wide and he was perhaps one of the few who escaped  imprisonment from Cockatoo Island.

And so it was that a neat dozen Uringans took on the 1200 km round trip. Like Captain Thunderbolt the dozen returned to home with  quite a share of awards from the NSW Middle and Long Distance Championships run on the map “Glenburnie” just south of Uralla.

Glen Burnie was first used in 1998 for a rogaine and was then used in 2024 for the Australian Championships Carnival. We are extremely fortunate to have access to this terrain as it is mind-blowingly spectacular and difficult- a real, test of navigation and stamina.

After running 5 major events on the map not every corner of the 20+ square km map has been used!

Whilst rainfall in the last month of so meant for a very wet Sydney, it was not the rain that had a devastating impact on "Glenburnie" and surrounds. It was the 45 cms of snow that blanketed the map  Whilst beautiful, it had a devastating impact of Aussie trees which are not used to snow. The sound of cracking limbs was to be heard throughout.

Look closely at the ground beneath the trees. All you can see  was once attached above.

NSW Middle Distance Championships.

The arena was approx. 2/3rds of the way up the map and most courses spent much of their time on the eastern ridge west of the open paddocks. The weather was fine with sunshine which was warming, although it was somewhere near 15-16 degrees.

The upshot of the snow was that there was a great deal more timber on the ground than ever before. Combined with the complex rock it made for very physical and difficult navigation. Fortunately, the course setters reduced course lengths- much appreciated by all.

 Medal Count:

 1^st- Jane W Open B, Gayle W55AS, Michael M60 A.

 2^nd - Ori M45AS, Ant M50A, Linda W55A.

 3^rd – Ron M55AS

Ant, M50A was just 43 seconds adrift from the podium in his class.

W55A course

W21A Course

M14A Course

Jane 1st

Ron 3rd

Gayle 1st

Linda 1st 

Ant  2nd

Ori 2nd 

NSW Long Distance Championships

The start for today was north of the arena and like Saturday courses were “hard”.  Many, when looking at the courses wonder what differentiates between Middle and Long Distance. Generally speaking, the long courses have fewer controls, longer legs with route choice. Middle courses have more controls with direction changes and route choice.

Once again, the combination of fallen timber and very complex rock made for a real challenge in the bush.

Medal Count:

1^st – Serena W21AS.

2^nd – Jane W Open B, Ori M45AS.

3^rd - Gayle W55AS, Shane M55A

W Open B

M55A

Gayle - 3rd

Shane 3rd 

Ori 2nd

Serena 1st

There were some consistencies in the results. Alon, M14A was 5^th both days. This is excellent as Alon has just stepped up to M14A in recent times. Perhaps all that MTBO navigation is helping. Jonathan Nolan M20A was 4^th both days, Jono is running up an age class. Worthwhile noting that all Uringans finished in the top 10 in both days.

Got a moment:

The following is the M21A course on Sunday. With just over 9.3kms and 440 metres of climb the winner, Julian Dent won in 67minutes. It is really worthwhile to have a look at the tracking of Julian and other M21A competitors on Livelox: 

Compare the route choices- this is what the sport of Orienteering is all about.

Sunshine on the Southern Highlands

 

Uringa cleans up on the Southern Highlands

After a week or two of looking at the weather forecast it was great to see that the Chief Meteorologist’s predictions for the weekend were totally accurate. Not a drop of rain, the occasional burst of sunshine and some friendly clouds.

Mind you the terrain was rather wet and there were a few whines from those who navigated the course with only marginal degree of shoe wetness to have to clomp through mud and water at the finish control.

The finish

Mud and water- a natural attraction for the sisters

Usually a dry area now a lake.

Saturday Middle Distance Schools Champs plus State League 12 – Tallowa.

Despite the warning of potholed approaches to the event arena, the road in to the event, whilst having the odd pothole was in remarkably good condition. Mind you Wingello has not had anywhere near the amount of rain as the coast.

Uringa had 14 starters and of the 14 exactly half finished on the podium. In the school’s classes Maggie Mackay- W17+A, Jonathan Nolan M17+A and Alon Gudes M14B were “chicken dinner” winners in their respective classes. In 2^nd position we had a gaggle of Uringans- Linda Sesta W55A, Michael Warlters M60A,  Ant Nolan M50A and Ori Gudes M45AS.  The remaining 7 were spread between 4^th and 9^th.  This was an exceptional performance by the Uringans.

Alon collecting his Tallowa spoils

Maggie on the run

Happy mob of W17+A (w18A) winners are grinners

Tallowa - Jane's course

Tallowa - Jonathan's Course

Tallowa - Michael's Course

Off to accommodation to refuel and rest up for Sunday..

2025 NSW State League #13 Chevalier College - NSW Schools Sprint

Sunday dawned with a golden orb in the sky. Wow, having not seen much of it in Sydney recently it was time to just stand and allow the sunshine to restore warmth and of course the essential vitamin.

Sunday at Chevalier had competitors belting around the grounds and buildings of Chevalier College Burradoo ( near Bowral).  There were 18 Uringans Starting and dare I say it; Saturday result was great, Sunday was absolutely brilliant. 11 Podiums with an amazing 5 first places.

Jonathan Nolan was on top of the podium when the medals were handed out, first in M17+A.  Maggie and Alon were both close second place getters in W17+A and M14B respectively.  

Also in 1^st place although  perhaps a few years out of school, we had Istvan Grubits M45AS, Catherine Bilmon W40A, Jane Boland W Open B and Charlotte Bilmon in M/W10N. Helen Murphy (Nan and Mum) to the Bilmon clan was not left out with a fine 2^nd in W75A.  Ori Gudes backed up for 3^rd in M45AS along with Ant Nolan M50A and Shane Doyle also in 3^rd M55A.

Must mention some performances. Jen Grubits missed a 3^rd place in W Open B by a gnats whisker and in M13-14A. The gap between 1^st to 3^rd was a mere 12 seconds.. Harrison and Mitchell Grubits were placed 5^th and 7^th with a little over a minute covering 1^st to 7^th. Talk about a competitive class.

Jono cleans up in M17+A Sprint

Getting ready for the Australian School's Champs

Alon on the Podium

Hard 4 Course 

Jane's Moderate course

Alon's Course

Charlotte's Course

Dave Lotty was responsible for the courses at Chevalier assisted by David Green IKO as controller. Matt Peters helped with putting out the controls on Saturday morning. There was a super willing team helping set up and run the event. Special thank you to Rod and Paul who came on Sunday to help and not run! All up there were 228 runners and the start team handled the 9 or so starters every minute with ease.

Before we knew it the last starters were back and the medals and certificates presented to the Schools Champions. Controls collected and cars packed and away we went as the clock ticked over 12 noon!  Amazing.

Gayle, Start OIC - made sure no one crossed the line

What is Next

Entries have closed for the NSW Champs at Uralla on 13/14 of September. There are 12 Uringans all hoping to grab a podium on a brilliant map call “Glenburnie”

Glenburnie course form 2024

Entries are still open until  31^st August for the Australian Championship Carnival in Queensland.

The carnival runs from the  27/09 – 05/10 and includes Championship disciplines; Sprint, Middle and Long as well as a Relay.

 Toss in Australian Schools Events: Sprint Long and Relay plus a 4-event series called “Run the River” (run in conjunction with the schools’ events.) These events run from Tuesday - Thursday.  The NSW School’s Team is yet to be announced but would expect, depending on availability, Maggie and Jono to be select

River and Bay Orienteering Season (RBOS) kicks off kicks off on the 19^th October. 6 events  with the final event on November 20^th. ( There is no event on November 2nd due to a 6 hour Socialgaine  Event at Engadine.)

Naturally do not forget the Uringa Christmas Party with the President Cup run. Set by Matt Peters this is always great fun as there are many  "check points" with rather cryptic questions for you to answer on the run. The answers are always hotly disputed during the evening. There is always just one correct answer- whatever Matt says!

Uringa Christmas Party Invite

North to Newcastle for a double header

 

It was in the deep dark distant days of the School Certificate that the standard question was “Compare and contrast the dairy industry of the Taranaki region with that in your state”.

Welcome to State Leagues 10 and 11- “Compare and contrast the spur gully of Olney Forest, Saturday, with the sand dunes of Salt Ash Sunday” Spur Gully has a certain predictability with water courses providing the gullies and the spurs appearing either side of the water courses- all leading downhill!

Salt Ash sandhills are an enigma we seldom get to run on such maps. The Stockton Dunes came to life for orienteers way back in an Aussie Champs somewhere around 1983. The sand dunes are a mix of high points, hills and depressions all carpeted with bracken fern which tends to reduce your ability to see the small features. Plus, there are no water courses to create the predictable gully spur systems. Sometime after the Aussie champs the area was burnt out and the bracken fern was just beginning to regrow. Suddenly the map was so much easier to read. When looking at the courses for Salt Ash take note of the contour lines especially those with an eyelash- depression.

For those who ran in Olney Forest in May, water and leaches dominated the memory banks. Toss in a few big hills. This version of Olney was a lot drier, less hilly and what, no leaches! It was advised, where possible to stay away from the green around creeks- here “lawyer vines” are awaiting to take hold and they are seriously difficult to escape once they get hold- reverse gear only!

The fields in all classes were down on the usual as many orienteers have headed to Europe for WOC, JWOC, EYOC, O-Ringen and a plethora of multi day events in many countries. Shane and serena are at O-Ringen whilst Jana, Linda and Aldo are off catching up with friends and relatives in Czechia, Switzerland and Italy.

Our own Maggie was at European Youth Orienteering Championships held in Brno Czechia. This was her very first experience in Europe. As the name suggests it is a Championship attracting 16/18 year old orienteers from across Europe plus a team representing Australia. Each of the age classes have around 140 runners so the competition is fierce. Australia had quite a large representation this year.

Magge was placed 70^th in W18 Sprint – Aussie Elye dent (ACT) came 4^th wow what and effort. The long event was super hard lots of climb and lots of distance. Maggie finished 90^th in W18. The relays were much more enjoyable and Maggie’s team finished in 20^th place – an excellent effort.

Brutal climb on the long courses- hot weather!

Olney Forest- no leeches!

As mentioned earlier the entry numbers were way down and only 5 Uringans faced the starters gun.

And believe it or not all 5 stood on the podium at the end of the day. Jono Nolan 2^nd M20A, Ant Nolan 2^nd M50A and Ron Pallas 2^nd M65AS were our top performers. Down just one step on the podium was Jane Boland 3^rd W open B and Gayle Shepherd 3^rd in W55AS.

As mentioned earlier the terrain was quite friendly and you could avoid the thicker green. The weather was also very friendly and the arena was bathed in sunshine. It was a then a case of head home to prepare one's head for the challenges of Salt Ash- part of the Stockton Dunes.

Gayle's Course

Jono and Ant's course

Salt Ash - mind over contours

Mapper Rob Vincent gave some wise advice use the big high features to navigate by. Wise words!

Our famous five were joined with the timely arrival of  Ori and Alon. With the start at the bottom of a deep depression the only way was up and for many straight into the contour puzzles

Once more on the podium was Jono and Ant and Ron, all repeating their Saturday placing. They were joined by  Gayle who stepped up to finish 2^nd in her class. Jane and Ori, M45As, both recorded 4^th places and Alon finished 5^th in M14A.

Once again, the weather was superb and the arena warm and wind free. A perfect day amongst the dunes.

Jono's course

Alon's Course

Ori's Course

What is next- here are the big events coming up!

The NSW Schools Championship on the Southern Highlands - 23/24 August- - including  State Leagues 12/13

All students must enter through School Students entry not via Eventor

All non school students  via SL 12 and SL 13

Uringa will be handling SL 13- so be prepared when the call goes out for volunteers.

NSW Championships in Uralla (Armidale) -13/14 September

Information Bulletin 1

On a personal note, I am so looking forward to these events. Having been on the map, Glenburnie,  a number of times preparing for the 2024 Aust Champs it will be a real challenge to compete on what is a premier granite map.

Australian Championship Carnival 27^th September – 5^th October Brisbane – Ipswich regions.

Carnival web site         Carnival 1st Bulletin: