It was fun until the rain came- and then it got better

My desire to venture out of the "Shire" to attend the Stinger's Sprint at Middle Head was well, besides exercise, a chance to visit somewhere that has been on my list for a while.

The 50 minute drive across the bridge ( Tom Uglys that is) was well and truly worth it. The harbour views from the assembly were beautiful despite the grey day.

As we lined up to start we were told that there were two inserts on the map at 1:2000 to assist.
Well when I set off I did not see the insert for the first 4 controls and my eyes struggled to make head nor tail of the detail. Mind you once focussed it was okay.

Controls 1-4 done and off into the course the next few controls 5-12 were reasonably straight forward although the little track heading to 11 was just that little and like many I reached 11 via 12.
Then the challenge of 13-19 was on. The catacombs of tunnels made it very interesting and great fun. By now a little rain was falling and one enjoyed the chance to spend a few seconds out of the rain. These are all gun pits- circular concrete walls with a central concrete base for the guns that protected the harbour. (reading this area without the insert was a real trial- ask Gayle)

Out of the guns emplacements and into the various buildings. Control 23 was a hoot as it was on the veranda of the building but the pathway leading to it was obscured by overhanging palm fronds. The little pathway leading from 24 to 25 was another pathway that made you work to see it.

Great runs by Georgia and Helen saw them in 1st place. Ian and Maggie were just off the pace in 2nd with Sophie and Catherine grabbing 3rd place along with Dave and Lisa.

Now the rain was really heavy and despite two weathermen Blair and Terry there was no truth to the forecast that it would stop soon. Felt sorry for Terry who had to make a dash with computer gear to a veranda that offered some protection from the rain.

Event done and so it was back over the bridge- read the traffic congested Sydney Harbour Bridge. (Curse the car that caught fire in the Domain Tunnel)

Plac	Name	Class	Time	Diff
1	Georgia Jones	Junior Women	18:10
1	Helen Murphy	Legends Women	32:55
2	Ian Jones	Veteran Men	18:08	+0:05
2	Margaret Jones	Veteran Women	27:34	+3:20
3	Sophie Jones	Junior Women	28:36	+10:26
3	Catherine Murphy	Open Women	17:56	+1:22
3	Lisa Lampe	Super Veteran Women	28:30	+1:41
3	Dave Lotty	Immortals Men	33:41	+6:48
4	Serena Doyle	Junior Women	32:38	+14:28
4	Ian Bilmon	Masters Men	26:16	+9:24
5	Maree Doyle	Junior Women	33:16	+15:06
6	Zara Doyle	Junior Women	34:04	+15:54
6	Matt Westwood	Open Men	19:48	+3:47
6	Alice Westwood	Open Women	20:54	+4:20
8	Jakob Doyle	Junior Men	34:31	+19:23
9	Ron Pallas	Super Veteran Men	33:24	+11:33
14	Shane Doyle	Veteran Men	31:24	+13:21
	Gayle Shepherd	Super Veteran Women	mispunched

The next sprint event is being run by Uringa at Callan Park on Sunday 22nd.