Swamped Again - A Picture Show

Pretty hard to keep an umbrella up, a camera dry . . .

SWAMPED AGAIN

The report on the previous Uringa event at Snails Bay talked about being "swamped" with entries well the Uringa event at Sydney Park had us once more swamped again. Alas not with entries although 47 on this day was pretty darn good.
It was the weather that caused problems. Linda, Dave and Aldo braved the rain to put out the controls and one look at them upon their return proved that the courses was rather wet. Puddles here there and everywhere with very sloshy grass slopes made for interesting running. Mind you the park was looking rather dry and brown in the weeks leading up to the event.
The big issue with this event was how do you keep computers and paper work dry. Well an ingenious solution of sorts was found by utilising a bbq shelter (unfortunately the roof was not weather tight but that was a minor issue). The newly created tarpaulin fortification proved adequate and reduced the amount of gear that will need to be dried in the coming days. The raised floor was a god send as there was about 300mm of water lying below it.
The course set so well by Linda proved to be well received by the runners who braved the conditions.
Andrew Brown from Big Foot was first past the post in a sizzling 13.18 some 40 seconds clear of Greg Barbour and Andy Hill.
Matt Peters was the first Uringan home in 15th place and Maggie Jones was only a tick or two behind in 18th. Eric Charpentier finished in 24th and Mary Jane, wearing her best Crocs wet weather orienteering shoes finished in 41st with Maureen Ogilvie a fine 45th.
Well we are hoping we have now shaken the "Kev Curby" wet event curse as we head towards Lisa's sprint event back at Birchgrove on 4th March.
PS I do hope that some pictures follow as Linda's cute gum boots are a sight to see.

Snails Bay

It was January 2012 when Uringa was swamped when running a Summer Series event at Birchgrove. Some 270+ runners descended on us and we struggled to keep up all night. As a matter of fact the final event tidy up was completed some time later.
Organiser Matt had Uringa finely tuned ready for the crowds and did they come. Not quite reaching the 270+ of 2012 but 257 is awfully close. The registration team coped brilliantly when we ran out of rego cards late in the evening.
Congratulations Matt a job well done. The course certainly was a test with only two runners scoring the maximum 600 points , followed by another 2 runners with 590 and a further 2 on 580 and then a deluge of 8 on 570. Mind you a record was set with one competitor scoring -920 points!

Well done Uringa for an amazing night on one of the most scenic maps in Sydney.

Oceania Championships 2013

The Oceania Championships incorporating 3 World Cup races and the Australia-NZ Challenge as well as a few side events were a great start to the 2013 season. The Kiwis put on an incredible amount of events in some very tricky, challenging and tough terrain. Aldo and I were only there for the first part of the events but thoroughly enjoyed the orienteering and watching the elites whiz around their courses.

The results technology was outstanding. They had mounted TV screens under the tents and as soon as a runner started you could watch their running times (and how much time they were loosing) and progress on the course. Brilliant!!

Georgia Jones was part of the Australian Schools team competing against the Kiwis, which the home team won. Lawrence Jones in M18A was part of the Australian Team taking on the Kiwis. Australia was beaten in the Individual challenge, but tied in the relays - thus giving the Kiwis the overall win in the Australia - New Zealand challenge.

Sophie Jones came 2nd in the Oceania Long Distance Championships, while Maureen Ogilvie won the triple (Long, Middle, Sprint) in W80A.

The World Cup races were dominated by the Swiss and Scandinavians, but Lizzie Ingham came 3rd in the Sprint Final in Wellington cheered on by a big supportive crowd. That is quite an achievement which gave her some airtime on the local TV station.

If you are interested in seeing all the results, maps etc you can check out www.oceania2013.co.nz





Oceania Challenge # 1
Mature pine forest on flat to
rolling sand dunes






























Oceania Challenge # 2
Mature pine forest on flat to
rolling sand dunes plus
coastal dunes with mixed
vegetation.
Parts of the forest were used
for filming Osgiliath Woods
scenes for "Lord of the Rings" (2030).





























Oceania Middle Distance
Championships / AUS-NZ challenge / World Cup Middle Distance races

Complex sand dune terrain including open dunes both sandy and covered with grass with very intricate contour detail.

Spectator control for World Cup race was near our start and spectators were able to follow the race from across the river.

Middle Distance Spectator Control

Spectators watching elites cross the bridge

fast finish by the Swedish girl Helena Janssen

Maggie interviewing Swiss Daniel Hubmann

Prize giving Middle Distance Ladies

Price giving Middle Distance Men

Control at the World Cup Sprint Qualification race

Control at the WC Sprint Quali

Control at the WC Sprint Quali

Finish chute at the Sprint Quali

Prize giving Sprint Final Ladies

Prize giving Sprint Final Men