Thursday, February 27, 2014

The Hills are Alive with........

They say Double Bay – Double Pay. What goes up (it hurts 1) goes down (it hurts 2)

Well it certainly was for the 144 orienteers who took part in Sydney Summer series #22 on Wednesday evening. The “Cooper Park” map takes in the shores of Sydney Harbour to the lofty heights of Edgecliff, albeit with a lot of contours and flights of stairs in between.

the map- the puzzle- the pain
For the competitors the first battle was trying to find a flow around the map to maximise points. The controls around and in Cooper Park itself were easy pickings (yes there were stairs involved). 240 points by my reckoning could be harvested here  but there was pain.

Anyway looking at the results usual podium placer Andrew Hill picked up 570 points but lost 40 in time penalties.  Ian (I’m getting the lot) McKenzie indeed picked up all 30 controls but was just a little overtime.

Scott and Dianna Bennett who have recently joined Uringa were there for their second attempt at Summer Series Orienteering. They did rather well but then their fitness levels have been honed on the Adventure racing circuit and no doubt their fine point navigation will improve with more racing under their collective belts.

A word here for the course planner Dave Lotty. Working on a brand new map he certainly set a course which had everyone scratching their heads. Mind you if you hang around the finish area long enough you would have gleaned many a clue as to how best to solve the Cooper park puzzle.

O-touch entry system was used for the first time at a summer series event. Each competitor inserts their Estick into a unit and up pops their name- choose your class and click on entry and away you go. This was very much a trial and in the next season the club will invest in two tablets to run this as a true touch screen experience which will make it faster. (no white cards to play with!!!)

Name
Class
Gross
Score
Time
Penalties
Nett
Score
Place
in class
Brian Cleland                  
IM
330
42:57
 
330
3
Mary Jane Mahony               
LW
280
43:07
 
280
2
Ian McKenzie   
WaM
600
109:04
-650
0
3
Finn Mackay       
JM
250
31:45
 
250
4
Jim Mackay                     
VM
370
44:27
 
370
16
Margaret Jones                 
VW
390
46:48
-20
370
1
Penny Field
SVW
240
39:21
 
240
6
Scott& Dianna Bennett
Groups
350
45:48
-10
340
1
Lisa Lampe
VW
350
45:48
-10
340
5
Linda Sesta
VW
360
37:52
 
360
2
Sophie Jones
SJW
130
25:29
 
130
3
Helen Murphy
SVW
240
37:04
 
240
5
Adrienne Kirby
SVW
290
44:22
 
290
4
Catherine Murphy
OW
460
43:59
 
460
2
Matt Peters
VM
430
44:51
 
430
5
Ian Jones
VM
440
49:18
-50
390
12
Georgia Jones
JW
360
39:06
 
360
1
Ondrej Pavlu
OM
520
45:47
-10
510
3

 That brings the Sydney Summer Series events to a close – well as far as Uringa’s commitment goes. There are still a number of events through March run by other Sydney clubs.

Oh I forgot to mention the storm. Yes it was a hot and steamy day and the black clouds had gathered in an ominous formation to the south. The event set up was completed under a hot sun and the rain that had been threatening all day was still doing that, threatening. Early runners had a dry run, well sweat excluded. Whereas those who ran around 6pm copped a drenching. Mangled maps was the order of the day. It is surprising how many people do not bring a map bag. A few smirks were seen on faces as those who arrive at 4.30 and run at 6.15 having spent a long time studying the map returned to the finish looking rather wet! (revenge is sweet.)

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