WMOC- LONG FINAL

The advertised temperature was tipped to be 35 degrees and it was pretty darn close to it although there was a cooling breese today. Where as on previous days no escape from the sun, today we were fortunate to grab - that is the ANZAC alliance- some shade which stayed with us most of the day. When it disappeared we ended up in the bush.

Uringans once again did battle in their respective finals. Readers of the previous posting will remember my moaning about the green, well today we had the sort of forest that was promised. Reasonably open fast and fun. The sink holes were huge and it was always interesting as to how you approached the area. The holes were not symmetrical and it was always easier to go in on the slightly less sloping side.

The weather played a part in performances as the heat was debilitating. Needless to say the A Final winners absolutely flew and Km rates were very very fast. Thankfully at the end of the race the local fire brigade had a hose set up which sprayed you with a drenching of cold water. This drenching certainly reduced your core temperature in a hurry.

The beer tent was doing a roaring trade and whist there was no pig on a spit, as there was the previous event, the food was varied. Mind you the gelato ice creams were melting faster than could be served

Results

M50 B Final - Nick Wilmott 64th

M55 D Final - Ron Pallas 19th

M60D Final - Ian McKenzie 22nd

M65C Final - Dick Ogilvie 41st

W50C Final - Margaret Wilmott mp

W55C Final - Gayle Shepherd 15th

The highlight of the week was the fantastic 2nd place and silver medal for South Australia's Susanne Cassanova. It was a delight to see her perform so sonsistently over the week. Sister Jenny also did well with a top ten performance, Both girls were running in W35. Somewhat coincidently it was Susanne's birthday.

After each run you were given a brand new map, not printed on tear proof paper. There were the tragics who were going through collected maps later in the day looking for their map.

Perhaps the only aspect that one could criticise organisers was in the organisation of busses. The concept of forming an organised queue seems to be totally lost on organisers and many orienteers. They seem to feel that people who were there early are meant to be swamped by late comers. It is amazing what can be done to block a bus doorway to ensure easy access for early arrivals.....

Mind you no aussie reported having their map snatched this year so maybe things are changing!

Next year will see WMOC in the Harst Mountains in Germany. Tempting but I want a guarantee of cooler temperature.

For Nick and Marg it is off home via Hong Kong, Dick is off to Oringen and Gayle and I are heading for Croatia to take in the beaches and beer halls and have a good time.