Vale John Wilmott
- Last Updated: Thursday, 03 May 2018 08:36
John Wilmott, founding member of Uringa and father of one of the most famous orienteering families in Australia, has passed away aged 89.
John was also an original FOTH (Friend of the Hut, at Belanglo State Forest). The third of ten children, he died peacefully at home on Sunday morning.
"He was M50 Australian champion the same year that mum was W50 champ (1978)," said Luke, one of five sons.
"They would have been in M/W90 this year. He wouldn't mind us naming the dunny after him... The John 😊."
Son Mark added: "Looking through old photos, it struck us all how much the ‘orienteering family’ has been a great part of all our lives. Very early on, Dave Lotty contacted Dad - knowing if John joined up he would bring the kids and he would have an instant club.
Being afforded life membership of Uringa was something he treasured.
From this time until now there are so many friends from all over the world who are special to Dad and Mum.
Dad loved his orienteering, but what he loved most were the people he met. He would talk constantly about the characters, laughing out loud, but most of all he loved and was enormously proud of his family.
Orienteering gave us all so many great times and on behalf of Dad and our family we thank you for your kind thoughts and wishes."
Dave Lotty recalls: “It was 1961 or ’62, I was 18 and part of the first social running club in Australia; we used to run at Canterbury Racecourse. John brought the boys along and that’s how we met.
“When orienteering started around 1971 or 1972, I mentioned it to the boys and they said: ‘That’s for me!’. Within three months the whole family was doing it.
“We all joined Kareelah and in 1975 broke away to form Uringa.”
John's funeral is on Friday at 11am at St May Mackillop Catholic Church at 13 Parker St, Rockdale.
SMH link to leave messages - http://tributes.smh.com.au/obituaries/smh-au/obituary.aspx?n=john-wilmott&pid=188891511
SOS heads for the Hills
- Last Updated: Monday, 30 April 2018 11:52
Our popular Saturday morning series SOS resumes on Saturday and is expanding into the Hills District.
Each Saturday in Terms 2 and 3 for six weeks you'll have a choice of Northern Sydney or Hills - with a combined event to finish each school term.
This week the events are on at Castle Hill High School and Howson Oval, Turramurra. You may start any time between 9.30-11am.
The Turramurra map features a beautiful angophora and eucalyptus forest growing on sandstone outcrops and nestled in north shore suburbia. The courses will take advantage of the bush and the tracks.
The Castle Hill event will be Sprint orienteering within the school grounds - plenty of twists and turns in that!
No experience is necessary and courses are ideal for beginners as well as regular orienteers.
The SOS is run by partner organisation Bold Horizons. See here for details.
Amanda's triple treat at NZ MTBO Champs
- Last Updated: Sunday, 29 April 2018 17:54
Proving their kids' MTBO abilities are genetic, the Mackie parents (Big Foot) starred at the NZ MTBO champs last week.
Mum Amanda was on the podium each day in W50, claiming a first in the Sprint, second in the Long Distance and third in the Middle; while dad Hamish won the Long in M40A.
Newcastle's Andrew Power was third in the Sprint in M50.
Congratulations on these achievements.
High praise for NSW Long Champs map
- Last Updated: Wednesday, 25 April 2018 10:00
The 2018 NSW Long Championships earned glowing reviews as two of our more remote clubs - Northern Tablelands and Bush n Beach - combined in perfect harmony near Armidale.
"I think these new maps make it to my top 10 in Australia. Really awesome areas!" said Krystal Neumann, JWOC manager and current NOL senior women's leader - and winner of W21A.
And this from Bennelong legend Terry Bluett: "The best orienteering weekend I've had in ages."
Pretty much everyone raved about the accuracy of the yellow, grey and green areas that allowed you to navigate carefully but with confidence - making for a fantastic experience in testing terrain.
Setter Tony Woolford (Bush n Beach) sapped every ounce of our physical and mental energy with courses that criss-crossed open areas of fast running, steep rocky sections, and the promised "football fields of bare rock".
We noted these excellent performances: the Barbour twins (Big Foot) coming second and third in W14A, Nerise McQuillan (WHO) winning W35AS, Carolyn Davies (Garingal) taking out W55AS, Barbara Junghans (GO) winning W65AS on crutches!, and ACT junior Patrick Miller claiming M21A.
See our State League web page for links to results, Winsplits and Routegadget.
We ask all competitors to please fill out the very brief Course Setter survey for each day. This information provides valuable feedback and helps determine who wins Course Setter of the Year.
Our next SL weekend is May 12-13 when we go back to Canberra for the ACT Sprint and Middle Champs. Entries close on Monday May 7.
On behalf of the nearly 300 orienteers from ACT, QLD, VIC, NSW, SA (thanks, Emily) and TAS (onya, Will) who ran on these brand new maps - a massive thank you to Northern Tablelands, the Coffs crew and controller Rob Vincent for an awesome weekend. Showcased everything we love about orienteering.
Click on the blue links for photos by Alec Watt from Saturday and Sunday, Terry Cooke from the Middle, Long and presentations, and Tony Hill. Thanks for these great images.
