A small but hardy crew of Uringans made the trip north to Newcastle for the 2011 Xmas 5 days. 5 days, 5 events in a variety of terrains. Sounds good.
The courses, set by Junior orienteers supported by senior mentors, were well received. I can vouch for that as when you sit in the finish tent you get all sorts of comments and for these 5 days there was a steady stream of positive comments.
Our accommodation - Bonnay!
This year the 5 days featured a different style of event each day.
Day 1 saw a long sprint at the Ourimbah Campus of Newcastle University. Unfortunately it was a little wet underfoot and all had tp cross a rather broad marsh - wet and muddy feet was the order of the day. However it caould have been worse as two weeks ago all the low lying areas were under 30 - 40 cms of water.
Linda Sesta had a win in Womens B and fortunately for me Aldo cam with her and he helped me sort out the myriad enter on days. Jared McKenna scored a very solid 3rd on the Enter on day easy course. Dave Lotty was next in line with 7th in MD and Dick scored a 16th place in the same class. Gayle Shepherd led home Maureen Ogilvie in Womens D with 18th and 20th places respectively.
Day 2 and into the bush we go with a Middle distance course at Sothams Road. Jared improved his placing with a 1st in EOD easy. Dave was ever consistent with 7th in MD along with Dick who stepped
up two places to 14th. Gayle and Maureen also headed up the leader board with 10th and 13th respectively.
Day 3 and it was a traditional Long Distance Event near Abernathy. Times were as expected longer than previously. Dave had his best day so far with a 3rd in MD whilst Dick continued the climb up the leader board with a fine 12th placing. Gayle had not one of her best runs with Maureen heading her home in 13th and gayle in 17th.
Day 4 saw the mob assemble on Jacobs Oval at Pelaw Main. This was the day that caused me the most concern as it was "MASS START" day. The thought of all 270 runners in the bush within 20 minutes had visions of a long long queue at the download. Alas it was not to be as everyone finished in a civilised fashion and the longest the queue got was about a dozen.
It was interesting to watch the mass starts 5 in all and there is a very interesting photo of Dave face planting just after starting- reading the map and not seeing a nasty dip in the ground! Despite the fall Dave continued to score well with a 4th placing and Dick did things by 2 again with another jump of two placings to move to 10th on the day. Maureen continued to head Gayle into the finished with a fine 11th placing with Gayle next in in 12th.
Here we go "Loopy d Loo" was the theme for the 5th and final day staged in the hills behind Glendale High School.. Competitors in each class started in pairs with each one doing loops in a different order. Perhaps the highlight of the day was Nicola Blatchford heading home mum Karen in a fierce sprint down the finish shute. This was Dave's worse result with a 20th and Dick once again in powers of 2 was two in front in 18th. Gayle came in in 12th with Maureen in 15th.
And so it was that the crowd eagerly awaited the results as in the 5 days you drop your worse run. Dave was a very healthy 4th place in MD with Dick 13th overall. Maureen managed to head Gayle in WD with a fine 15th placing with Gayle ( 16th) by 0.56% in the overall score.
Superbly organised by Nick Dent the 2011 event was a great success.
2012 5 days will be in northern Victoria. Beechworth Bakery here we come!
