Sunday, July 7, 2024

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There is also a warm up race on Saturday for those not wishing to get on their bike.

Wednesday, June 12, 2024

The 2024 KB3 was run on a mix of new and old maps. Day 1 - Rylstone Common was first used in Easter 2014 prepared for the Family Relays and Elite Sprint. Day 2- Dungeree State Forest was first used in 1990 Day 1 of the Easter 3 days. Day 3 Minora Rocks was the newest being used for the NSW Championships last year.

For me it was a real buzz to be back on both Rylstone Common and Dungeree State Forest as they were part of events that I had played a significant part in organising and this was the first time I actually got to run on the maps.

Day 1- Rylstone Common.

This pocket-sized area was quite a challenge as the vegetation had grown somewhat since 2014. Control sites varied from rock to wreckage, ant mounds and gullies.

Linda Sesta W55A had a great run to finish first - the harbinger of a magnificent carnival. Alon Gudes and Dave Lotty were second in M12A and Open Easy respectively. Ron Pallas picked up a third in M55AS.

4th Place; Ant Nolan M50A, Maggie Mackay W20A, Elodie Warlters M/W10N

5^th Place; Gayle Shepherd W55AS

6^th Place: Jane Boland W Open B. Paul Coleman M Open B – I think this was Paul’s first bush event and certainly first big carnival

8^th Place; Michael Warlters M55A

9^th Place; Ori Gudes M45AS

11^th Place Ian McKenzie M55A

Alex Davey leading Linda Sesta towards the finish

Linda's W55A Course

Alon's M12A Course

Alon in full flight

Day 2 Dungeree State Forest

You could count the number of rock features on one hand so the majority of controls were on ant mounds (ant mounds were very small with the control stands often taller were taller!) and gullies. It is an open area however the mapping of the vegetation was way out of date and caused one or two sessions of technical language when trying to locate the control. The courses featured some long legs which were great fun.

Linda Sesta was again home first in W55A along with Dave Lotty in Open Easy. Ant Nolan, M50A, Gayle Shepherd W55AS picked up 2^nd places. Jonathan Nolan, M18A recovered from a day 1 mp to finish 3^rd in a very competitive class. Not to be outdone by Jono, mum Jane Boland was 3^rd in W Open B

4th Place; Alon Gudes M12A, Ron Pallas M65AS, Maggie Mackay W20A

5^th Place; Ori Gudes M45AS, Paul Coleman M Open B, Elodie Warlters M/W10N

7^th Place; Michael Warlters M55A, Hayley Coleman W Open B – Hayley’s first bush event.

9^th Place; Ian McKenzie M55A

Jono heading to the finish

Gayle reliving her run her run

Gayle's W55AS course

Ant's M50A Course

After today's event there was time for some sight seeing. Ganguddy ( Dunns Swamp) was a popular venue. The area was mapped for Day 2 Easter 1990 and is a mass of amazing pagodas.

Aldo enjoying the view.

Linda and Aldo amongst the Pagodas

Vista is amazing. Good place to swim too!

Sunday night at the Globe Hotel.

The Social secretary organised club dinner at the Globe Hotel Rylstone and it was well attended by a crowd of Uringans and a few hangers on. Perhaps the highlight of the night was Sherry receiving for Presidents Cup after a fine win at the Uringa Xmas party. It was good for a catch up. Food was pretty good too!

Sherry receiving her President's Cup

Kent, Sherry and Benjamin at the Globe

Ian McKenzie catching up with long out of the game but returning - Glenn Flack

Day 3 Minora Rocks

Having run on this map September last year we had a pretty good idea of what was to come. The walk to the start was very much like something out of “Picnic at Hanging Rock” as we ascended up through large rocks. There was a distinct benefit in starting up amongst the clouds as it greatly reduced the climb.

Besides the huge rocks there was all so much dead timber on the ground which made progress slow and I think most competitors ended up either face planting or shoulder rolling or simply ending up on one’s bottom. The courses really tested your fine navigation.

Linda again topped the class in W55A. Ori Gudes M45AS was a “man on a mission” finishing 2^nd . Also in second was Jane Boland in W Open B. Jonathan Nolan M18A was 3^rd in his class. Ron Pallas in M55AS scored another 3^rd along with Dave Lotty in Open Easy. Also in 3rd was Ant Nolan M50A. It was great to see Benjamin Mo competing in the bush in Men Junior B where he finished 3^rd- Great work Benjamin.

4th Place; Elodie Warlters M/W10N, Maggie Mackay W20A,

5^th Place; Alon Gudes M12A, Paul Coleman M Open B

6^th Place: Jim Mackay M60A

7^th Place; Michael Warlters M55A

8^th Place; Michael Warlters M55A

12^th Place Ian McKenzie M55A

On the way up, up, up to the start

Ori flying towards the finish

Maggie heading home.

Ori's course M45AS

Jane's W Open B course. There were some very challenging legs on this course.

The Podium

Fortunately, the weather was quite pleasant as the presentation of badges were made to place getters for the three days. (I must say the weather was very kind to us for the entire weekend.)

Linda was a run-away winner in W55A having cleaned up every day. Alon came in second in M12A, Joined by Jane in W Open B and Dave in Open Easy. Great to see Maggie placing 3^rd in W20A. Maggie is running up a division to gain more experience and competition. Also 3^rd was Elodie Warlters in M/W10N. A great effort Elodie. Ant Nolan M50A had quite a battle in M50A but came home a very happy 3rd

4^th Place; Paul Coleman

6^th Place; Ori Gudes M45AS, Michael Warlters M55A

8^th Place; Ian McKenzie M55A

Alon in 2nd Place

Ant celebrating 3rd place

It was indeed a great weekend away. Excellent competition, great comradery within the orienteering community. Garingal did a great job presenting 3 events in 3 days. They were rather let down by the interface between their event software and eventor with results hard to find. A lot of head scratching and gnashing of teeth coming from the tent.

Results can be found:

https://results.ostralia.cc/events/KB3-Consolidated-10June2024/index.html

We are headed to the Rylstone- Kandos area again on the 7^th and 8^th of September as we are combining with Bennelong to run the New South Wales Middle and Long Distance Championships.

Ant Nolan is the course setter for the Long Distance Championship.

Book your accommodation early.

Thanks to Garingal and Tony Hill for the great photos

Sunday, May 5, 2024

Metro League #2 at St.Peter’s Park - no rain!

Uringa offered the first event of the 2024 Metro League season as #1 by Illawarra-Kareelah was postponed due to flooding (now scheduled for August 4 at Appin). Uringans and others turned up to help out at the event.

St.Peter’s Park in the inner west may seem a very urban venue for a Metro event; course setter Matt Peters excelled in using the topography (over the top or around the hills?), the bush (watch out for those tree roots across the path), the wetlands (including stepping stones) and the intricate path network. A map flip was included for the harder courses.

Challenges included route choice, reading map detail and, of course, controls from different courses nea-rish to one another – checking the control number highly recommended.

The MetrO League is an annual inter-club competition for greater Sydney metropolitan clubs. The series is run from April through until September.

Entrants run individually but earn points for their team based on their relative time. Here is how it works: teams of five compete against each other. The fastest score of the ten runners earns 10 points and the slowest gets one point. The team with the most points wins the match.

A full team is an advantage – less experienced orienteers should not be deterred from making their contribution! New team members are always welcome and you don't need to attend every Metro League event - just the ones that suit you. This is a great opportunity for newcomers and beginners to experience orienteering in the bush.

Eventor makes it easy for pre-entry and Division selection. Uringa’s club captain Shane Doyle does the heavy lifting of finalising teams on the day.

Courses in Division 1-3 are of Hard standard [see side one of map for Division 2 below], Division 4 is Hard/Moderate standard, Division 5 is Moderate standard, and Division 6 is a mix of Easy/Moderate standard [see map for Division 6 below]; a variety of distances is offered. The winning time is set for 30-45 minutes depending on division, and most people are finished within an hour.

The variety of distances and difficulty mean that young, adult, fit and less fit can all find a course that's right for them.

More info on MetrO League at https://onsw.asn.au/events/metro-league

Photos by Mary Jane Mahony and Matt Peters.

Monday, April 15, 2024

State League 4 with some Forest Highlands Series tossed in

The Southern Highlands played host to an unusual weekend with a State league on Sunday and a SHOO Highlands Forest Series (HFS) on Saturday. The planned State League for Saturday failed to eventuate so SHOO stepped up with their first HFS event of the season.

Anyone who travels the Hume Highway south would know the Sutton Forest Service Centre well just a smidge further south is Penrose State Forest. rest area which was the assembly for the HFS. Penrose SF is an extremely large area and is always the sight of logging and then planting. It is also home to some great rock features as you head down into the creeks.

It was only a small mob from Uringa present on a very comfortable sunny afternoon. The courses were well set by Angus Shedden and patches of bracken fern hid the lay of the land and the odd fallen branch from view.

Dave Lotty was the only Uringan to feature on the podium 3rd in Men Easy. However the fast improving Laurence Bruggerman was 4th in Women Moderate. Also 4th was Maggie McKay in Women Long Hard class. Linda Sesta was a minute of two behind Maggie in 5th. Ant Nolan was 8th on Men Long Hard and so to was Gayle Shepherd in Women Short Hard. On the same course Melanie Christie was 11th. Similarly placed was Jonathan Nolan on Men Long Hard. Jim Mackay was 13th on the Long Hard course.

After an excellent afternoon's orienteering a few gathered at the Goulburn Workers Club for a beverage or two and an excellent dinner.

The morning saw similar weather greet the orienteers as they headed to Snows Hill which is south east from Tarago. The heavy rain that drenched NSW a few weeks back made its presence felt with a car bogged to the axles when it strayed a few centimetres from the straight and narrow. Orienteers are a resourceful lot with a two rope and some "serious grunt" courtesy of a 4WD extricating the car and the orienteers from their predicament.

Snows Hill has very very few tracks and the area we were in had none. This makes setting courses for our Easy very easy hard. However Hamish Mackie, course setter from Big Foot, had provided streamers and signs - "You are going the right way YAY" or "No don't go this way" and pivotal moments on their courses- well done. I wish I had had a few of those.

Linda Sesta, W55A and Ron Pallas M65AS were 1st home and very gruntled in their classes. In 3rd in Women Open B was Laurence Bruggerman. This was a fantastic effort. Laurence commented that she had Jane Boland's advice echoing in her head the whole way around. Jane was heard to say she wished she also had listened to her own advice coming in 6th in Women Open B. Jonathan Nolan was 3rd in M18A. Michael Warlters was 4th home in M55A. Jim Mackay had a great run to finish and excellent 5th in M60A. Ant Nolan had a quotable Barry Crocker (shocker) as he made a dogs breakfast. Dave Lotty was a mp on M65AS.

Check out Grace Crane's run in W21A. It is worth viewing as she navigated around and through the green which was tough going both from a physical and visibility point of view.

https://www.livelox.com/Viewer/2024-NSW-State-League-4-Snow-Hills-ACT-Classic-Series-ACT-L/W21A?classId=737690&tab=player.

The two events on the weekend were part of the selection trials for the NSW Schools Team for the Australian Schools Championship to be held in Armidale this year. Jono and Maggie certainly didn't do their chances for selection any harm.

Spare a thought for Ant and Jane plus Ori who are coaches for the Junior training Camp at Belanglo for the week. Organised by Helen O'Callaghan it looks like everyone has a very full week of training ahead. Check out the timetable:

https://eventor.orienteering.asn.au/Documents/Event/18325/1/Camp-Timetable-including-Roster

The next month or so is very quiet with Uringa running a Metro League event at Sydney Park, Alexandria on May 5th. This unfortunately clashes with events at Broulee on the South Coast. Later in may there is a weekend or orienteering at Wee Jasper - east of Gundagai and west of Canberra on the 18th and 19th. This is a great area and is well worth the longish drive in although you can camp in a beautiful camp ground.

Dinner at Goulburn Workers

Gayle arriving at the control (behind the tree with Stephanie

Jim

Jono

Maggie

Map - Wee Jasper Karst Limestone super fast

Keep in mind the 2024 Australian Championships being held in the Armidale / Uralla area late September, early October- a total of 7 events over a 9 day period.

Wednesday, April 3, 2024

2024 Australian 3 Days Murray Bridge SA

2024 Australian 3 Days – South Australia.

Unbeknown to competitors when entering the 2024 3 days, it proved to be hot! Yes, the competition was hot but so to the weather. Fortunately, the Murray River was close by and many an orienteer cooled down in the waters of Australia’s longest river.

The prologue sprint was run in the grounds of a nearby high school.

You can check out the run by winner Nea Shingler https://www.livelox.com/Viewer/Australian-3-Days-2024-NOL-Prologue-Public-Sprint/W20E?classId=717028&tab=player

It looks extremely complicated but remember it has a map flip part the way through the course which allows setters to send runners back into the complex building area.

Uringa had 2 runners competing in the NOL (National Orienteering Series) for elites. Serena Doyle in W21E and Maggie Mackay stepping up into W20E for the first time. Serena unfortunately had a missed punch in her race whilst Maggie finished 23^rd in W20E.

Also running in the public races was Jim Mackay on Course 2- 32^nd and Michael Warlters 51^st on Course 1.

The carnival then moved east to be based around Murray Bridge- the riverland area. Whilst there is irrigation cropping going on all over the place the competition aras had one thing in common dry and dusty.

Day 1 Pymton

When you look at the map it is dominated by orange and yes the courses spent a lot of time in the green and white areas. The green was mainly some super spiky plant that’s only purpose in life was to scratch the exposed surfaces of orienteers resulting in bloodied arms, legs and maps! And yes it was hot, way over 30 for those who started after midday.

That said it was an enjoyable course

Result wise

Jan Sargood W70A 4^th

Sarah Garnet W65A 6^th

Michael Warlters M55A 11^th

Jim Mackay M60A 12^th

Shane Doyle M55A 13^th

Rick Steele M70A mp

Ron Pallas M65AS mp ( punch first at drinks control then punch)

Serena Doyle W21E 21^st

Maggie Mackay W20E 14^th

Former Uringans

Thea Richardson W21S 5^th

Charlie Richardson M35A 3^rd

Margaret Wilmott W65A 10^th

Nick Wilmott M70A 9^th

Day 2 Ngaralta Country.

Another map dominated by orange open. The courses today was not much more than moderate- it was difficult to make them hard due to the nature of the map. On my course as I left 2 I looked towards 3 and could see the rock I was running to and could see competitors ducking in behind it to punch. But it is what it is. Today was extremely hot heading into the high 30s and the temperature was compounded by the setting style for the day which was LONG..

Jan Sargood W70A 10^th

Sarah Garnet W65A dnf

Michael Warlters M55A 9^th

Jim Mackay M60A 18^th

Shane Doyle M55A 7^th

Rick Steele M70A 16^th

Ron Pallas M65AS dq

Serena Doyle W21E 19th

Maggie Mackay W20E 15^th

Former Uringans

Thea Richardson W21S 3rd

Charlie Richardson M35A mp

Margaret Wilmott W65A 11th

Nick Wilmott M70A 14^th

A word on my dq- I went through the panel that had this strange green colour not used on bush maps which apparently was supposed to be Olive Green which is used on sprint maps for out of bounds. I realised half way across that it was meant to be OOB. On a bush map the nearest green 410.00 is “difficult to run” on a sprint map 411.000 is uncrossable. Oh well my mistake and I dq myself – a number of people who did the same but didn’t dq..

Day 3 Narrinyeri Hills

Fortunately, the sun was dialed down by almost 10 degrees but the dustbowl remained. Today’s map had lots more green on it along with spotty yellow. However the area around 5,6,7, on my course was ultra green with vegetation touching making visibility and progress difficult.

This was the bush that populated the area around 5,6,7 - note there is little space between bushes

Jan Sargood W70A 9th

Sarah Garnet W65A mp

Michael Warlters M55A 6^th best run of the carnival

Jim Mackay M60A 8^th best run of the carnival

Shane Doyle M55A dns

Rick Steele M70A 21st

Ron Pallas M65AS mp

Serena Doyle W21E dnf – blistered feet after her marathon effort on Day 2

Maggie Mackay W20E 13^th best run of the carnival

Former Uringans

Thea Richardson W21S 4^th

Charlie Richardson M35A 3^rd

Margaret Wilmott W65A 12^th

Nick Wilmott M70A 25^th

Maggie in a race to the finish

Nick

Serena

Shane

The Wash Up

At the presentation awards were presented for overall position after 3 days. A number of Uringans unfortunately didn’t feature due to mp etc. However,

Jan Sargood W70A was 4^th

Michael Warlters M55A 7^th

Jim Mackay M60A 9^th

Maggie Mackay W20E 13^th

Margaret Wilmott W65A 11^th

Nick Wilmott M70A 14^th

Thea Richardson W21 Sport 3^rd

I must congratulate Maggie on her efforts in W20E- this is a huge step up in distance and competition than her courses from the previous year. She did very well in this her first competition in W20E.

Questions were asked of the organisers as to why the first start times were 10am and it was so $^%^&&*&% hot.

There is a simple explanation. The sun was rising at around 7.30 so all the set including turning on units and setting up computers etc. had to be done in a very narrow time band. This is what happens when Easter is early and daylight saving is still in play.

I know what it is like to organise and run a carnival- little sleep and long hours in the bush. OSA did a fantastic job.

Easter 2025 is in Victoria and the Aussie Champs in Queensland

Wednesday, March 20, 2024

NSW Seniors Festival 2024: Orienteering in Camperdown

Uringa Orienteers joined forces with Garingal Orienteers and the Inner West Council to offer an introductory orienteering experience as part of the 2024 NSW Seniors Festival.

Uringa has been holding a ‘Get to know orienteering’ event for the NSW Seniors Festival in cooperation with the Inner West Council since 2020 (Callan Park), showcasing orienteering on Inner West maps at Mort Bay, Balmain (2021), Callan Park (2022), Balmain again (2023), and this year Camperdown-Newtown.

The event was initiated after an approach by the Inner West Council's inaugural Sporting Partnerships Coordinator Carla Stacey. This year's event was supported by her recent successor at the Council, Daniel Denford.

Zoe Melling did the hard work in coordinating with the Council and Garingal Orienteers to ensure the event was appropriately staffed and organised. Volunteer coaches from Big Foot and Illawarra-Kareelah also contributed.