The O'Shea Adventure Race!
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- Last Updated: Tuesday, 26 February 2013 21:01
The O'Shea 2 day needs to be renamed to the O'Shea Adventure Race according to the intrepid participants at this year's event up near Wyong. Heavy rain didn't deter the teams who started on Saturday with a pairs relay on Dooralong Lodge map. Traditional spur gully terrain was spiced up with some rock for the longer courses, and steeper sections, plus of course the heavier going, courtesy of the weather front passing slowly across the region. Tracks were flooded and racers were soaked by heavy vegetation in the creek crossings, so that the course lengths of 2.9 Easy, 3.9km Moderate, and 4.9km Hard, felt a little longer than usual. 
The weather only added to the fun, according to some of the racers, who described the event as orienteering's version of adventure racing. The Hill family had the best of it in the Long courses with a win for Matt and Barbara Hill, with Angus Roberts and Michele Dawson winning the Moderate courses, and Ian Miller and Samantha Howe taking the top podium places for the Short courses.
The evening event continued on the same map using the extensive path network to keep orienteers on track. Head torches were of limited use with maps hard to read through the rain and light reflecting back off the sheeting deluge limiting visibility to maybe an arm's length. Lightening miles away was never going to cause a fire hazard in such weather instead illuminating the darkness and helping the adventurers with a little extra light. The conditions saw off quite a number of racers but Matt Hill, Angus Roberts and Samantha Howe all tackled the course successfully to take top spots each on their respective courses, giving them their second wins for the weekend.
Sunday dried out and the weather returned to the expected hot and sunny. A scatter course on the Yambo map was set where pairs had to split controls available to ensure full coverage. With the first pair back to win it was Nicola Blatchford and Angus Roberts but as they had won the overall competition it was Matt Hill and Michele Dawson (Garingal) who took the cake on the Long course with Hilary Wood and Robyn Pallas (Central Coast) getting their teeth into the prizes on the Short.
Overall champions for the three events were Fastest Long Pair Nicola Blatchford and Angus Roberts, and Fastest Short Pair Shane Trotter and Maureen Trotter
