OH DEAR!

Brand new and never been biffed until!

Was it a kangaroo?

An errant wombat?

There is a story here somewhere..

Uringa Training Officer Maggie reports on first training session

Sunday dawned bright and sunny which was a relief as the exercises planned required much drawing and scribbling, and marker pens do not work well in the rain. We had a good turnout for the first training event of the year, with just over twenty people coming along.

There were two main exercises, both focussing on map memory and none using compasses.

The first was a point to point, or Nordic course. Here the runners are shown a map with the start and first control on it. They then had to run, without the map, to the 1st control point, where there was a map showing the 2^nd control and so on around the course. The idea is to remember enough of the map that you don’t have to run back to the previous control to check where you are supposed to be going! People were clearly concentrating as I don’t think anyone had to retrace their steps – or maybe they just didn’t admit to it?!

The second exercise was a little trickier and a bit more work. Here the runners had to run to a map posted some distance away from the start, which had the entire course marked on it. They then had to come to the start and were given a plain piece of paper with just the course overprint on it. They had to draw on enough detail on the paper, so that they could get to the first couple of controls of the course. They then ran to the checkpoints using their hand drawn map, and coming back to the start to do the same procedure for the next couple of controls. I had a look at the maps that had been drawn and it was incredible to see the difference between the detail that had been included for the first couple of controls compared to that for the last few. Aidan Dawson was surprised at just how simple you could make the features and still be able to navigate to the control. The word of warning from him was not to be so simple that you didn’t know on which side of a path you were supposed to be looking! Lisa Lampe said she found that without the compass she relied less on direction and more on specific features, something she said felt like sprint orienteering. I shall have to put the next map memory training in some deep dark bushland and see if she still feels like that!

It was good to see everyone who came along. Angela Murray was one of the first to arrive which helped calm my worries that no-one but the Joneses were going to be coming to training. Dave Lotty pretended he had only come along to get Mary Jane to sign some cheques for him but it wasn’t long until he was stripped down to his shorts and donning his signature headband. Brian Cleland and Ian Mackenzie quickly sized up the exercises and were off without much need for explanation from yours truly. Ron Garner and his son Adam whom we met at a Sydney Summer Series at Sydney Olympic Park, were among the new faces. We also welcomed Cormac McMullan and his son Sean, a new family who has recently joined Uringa. There was another son but he was injured from a vicious rugby encounter with another Sydney school and unable to run. We hope he is recovered soon so we can have more entries into the Junior Series and mount some sort of a challenge to the Garingal juniors this year! One of our other juniors, Jared McKenna, was out playing soccer instead of orienteering – argh! but Jane upheld the family honour, getting in some good preparation for the State League events next weekend. Garingal families, the Dawsons and Curries, were also along and on good form. Michele and Aidan whipped around the courses quickly which brought out the mean streak in both Ian and me. Ian invented the IJK race – a time trial to three more distant controls which Lawrence dubbed the ‘Ian Jones Kilometre’ but which was clearly longer than that and probably owed more to the letters he had printed on the control points! Duncan and Georgia were also looking too relaxed so I encouraged them to join Sophie as she did a map transcription exercise (described by Dave McKenna over a recent dinner) which involved multiple hill reps. It was gratifying as the coach to see them all end up sweaty and out of breath! I shall be asking Dave for some more ideas....

The next training is a track session on the 17^th May at ES Marks track in Kensington at 6.30pm sharp. I’m hoping people will come and give it a try.

Sydney Park Map Reading Session 8 May 2011

HOT & FRAZZLED

Day 2 Frazzled Again

Day 3Frazzled Out

Day 1 Frazzle Begins

When entering the Australian 3 Days the name Frazzle Rock was very prominent in the promotion. Driving into the event on day 1 the penny dropped as you drove past a property called Frazzle Rock. And so it was the next three days were spent on what was a map of 5 neighbouring properties all featuring lots and lots and lots of granite boulders and vast expanses of bare rock. Unfortunately the farmland was parched and not rally capable of sustaining farming. It will rain apparently on the 7th May.

So let us start from day 1- For those who were fortunate enough to get early starts it was only 28 degrees and for those like Gayle and i who were off after 11am the mercury was rising quickly to the maximum of 33 degrees. Hot Hot Hot and when you toss in the heat reflecting of the massive bare rock areas and lack of shade it was seriously sunstroke territory.

Mind you it was still fun out there and the climatic conditions put added pressure on you to make as few mistakes as possible.

Gayle (W35AS) and Maureen (W75A) finished 3rd and 2nd respectively on day 1. Lisa Lampe in W50A was a very creditable 11th whilst Dick had a strong run in M65A to finish 5th with Dave 2 places behind. I managed a 4th place in M45AS.

Day 2 and the temperature had cooled well it had if you were early and once more Gayle and I had the benefit of a late start and once more the mercury climbed above 32. well I did say it was cooler. the terrain was much the same although a wee bit more green appeared on the map.

Maureen took outright 1st in her class with a very strong run. Gayle maintained her 3rd placing from the day before and Lisa slipped one spot. Dick and Dave reversed places with Dave 4th and Dick 9th. I dropped one spot to 5th.

The final day was a change for all as there was quite heavy fog greeting early starters as they drove out to the event. Ah yes at last an early start...

Gayle returned to the podium with a third for the day and a 3rd place overall. Maureen gave us all a scare with a 8 minute mistake however whilst she dropped back to 2nd on the day her brilliant run the day before left her with a big buffer on the rest of the field and so she finished the carnival in 1st place. Lisa had a strong run to record her carnival best with an 8th which saw her into the top 10 overall. Dave and Dick swapped roles again with Dick in 5th (6th overall) and Dave in 7th (4th overall). Well I stayed consistent with a 5th placing which meant I was 5th overall.

It was a very well run carnival and the WA volunteers did a marvellous job. It was great to have the opportunity to have a chat with 3 of the property owners after the event. They were tickled pink to witness our sport and also to see people enjoying their land.

So Easter 2012- Queensland!

ACT CHAMPS

The ACT Middle Distance Champs were held on Collector Hill. This rather convenient map has one outstanding feature - the coffee shop. ( Coffee was however a little weak). The central ridge of rock was very tricky. However the feature that perhaps spoils the map is the vast amount of fallen timber. Those who ran on it at Easter 2010 will remember it fondly. That aside it is a challenging map with the timber making for slow progress.

The field for the Middle Champs was not very big but there was quality:

W40A Linda Sesta 1st

W50A Lisa Lampe 2nd

W55A Gayle Shepherd 4th

W65A Angela Murray 3rd

W75A Maureen Ogilvie 1st

M55A Ron Pallas 12th

M65A Dick Ogilvie 1st

M65A Dave Lotty 2nd (5 secs behind Dick!)

Despite overnight rain and steady rain on Sunday the long distance champs were a most enjoyable. Awooga was first used for the same event last year. The very open spur gully terrain made for very quick times but whilst the area looked a little "easy" there are traps as Gayle and I found out when heading to control 5.

The rain dragged us from the competition area to the warmth of the bakery at Goulburn where we had a chance to fill the bellies.

W40A Linda Sesta 1st

W50A Lisa Lampe 3rd

W55AS Gayle Shepherd 2nd

W65A Angela Murray 4th

W75A Maureen Ogilvie 1st

M55AS Ron Pallas 3rd

M65A Dave Lotty 2nd

M65A Dick Ogilvie 4th

An excellent weekend.

the travelling orienteers are busily packing their bags for the Australian 3 days in WA over Easter.

A reminder thatUringa is running State league 4 at Lyndhurst on 15th May. Entries close for SL3 ( Macquarie Wood) and SL 4 on May 1st.

The entry portal is via the uringa website:

http://www.uringa.nsw.orienteering.asn.au/sl_4_2011/sl4_2011.htm

see you in the bush!

WATTLE RIDGE WANDER ( WONDER)

State League 2 at Wattle Ridge was a case of how many finished the course and how many did the course finish!

It was certainly tough with reduced visibility. There is one thing about vegetation give it plenty of rain and sun and it gets thicker. The white on the map would be best interpreted as being green and the green well greener. Mind you there is no excuse for poor navigation.

It was a case of stay in contact or perish.

The very short leg from 2 -3 did me in with a 25 minute leg time ( I managed 8-9 in the same time... dumb dumb dumb.)

Oh well that is why one goes back each week. To invent new errors!

It was great to see Ross Coyle back again in full flight he notched up a very commanding win in M55A along with the comeback king Ian Mckenzie who took on the very challengingM 35A course. Georgia Jones W14A and Linda Sesta W40A were also grinning winners. Ian Jones M45A, Sophie Jones W10A, Brian Cleland MopB and Jane McKenna W21AS scored well deserved 2nd places and Maggie Jones W40A, Lisa Lampe W50A and Angela Murray W65A all manged to step onto the podium in 3rd place.

Full results:

M16A Lawrence Jones mp

M35A Ian Mckenzie 1st

M45A Ian Jones 2nd

M45AS Ron Pallas 5th

M55A Ross Coyle 1st

M65A Dave Lotty 4th

M65A Dick Ogilvie 6th

W10A Sophie Jones 2nd

W14A Georgia Jones 1st

W21AS Jane McKenna 2nd

W35AS Gayle Shepherd mp

W40A Linda Sesta 1st

W40A Maggie Jones 3rd

W50A Lisa Lampe 3rd

W60A Mary Jane Mahony mp

W65A Angela Murray 3rd

W70A Maureen Ogilvie 4th

MB Brian Cleland 2nd

The orienteering circus heads south to the ACT for the ACT Middle and Long Distance Champs over the weekend of the 9/10th April.

The terrain will be much more forgiving. ( Well I hope so!)

WATTLE RIDGE WANDER ( WONDER)

State league 2 at Wattle Ridge was a case of how mant finished the course and how many did the course finish!