Latest ONSW News
A reminder that early bird entries for Gold’n Ponds Easter 2013 finish on Sunday 16th December. Enter soon to take advantage of great discounts.
We are also pleased to confirm the camping arrangements for the event have been finalised. Accommodation in Bendigo is already heavily booked for the Easter weekend so this provides an exclusive, low cost option for orienteers. To book accommodation select the Service for camping in the 3-day event within Eventor.
Entries at Gold'n Ponds website
The Waggaroos Summer Series event last Thursday had participants running 30 or 45 minutes and finding the answers to as many questions as possible about the central Wagga area. Questions included history such as identifying the date of Wagga’s first blacksmith shop, and some were just child's play counting the number of rungs on playground ladders!
The scenic route led participants around Surveyor Townsend Park, along the riverbank to the Beach and then back though the civic centre precinct and Victory Memorial Gardens. On the shorter course Pauline Moore led the way and finished first with a good score of 85 points. Wes Campbell came in second with 65 points. John Oliver had also picked up 65 points but suffered a 10 point time penalty to finish third. Julie Gooding opted to ride her bike around the course. This proved to be more challenging than expected because she could not read the map while riding and had to stop frequently to check locations. Julie finished with 50 points.
Jonathan Holland was the only participant to select the 45 minute course and stormed around the course to pick up 225 points out of a possible 260 - an excellent effort.
Thanks to John Oliver for this report
The last in the 2012 Sydney Summer Southern Series is at Clovelly Beach on Monday 10th December. Fans will remember the hills and views of this fantastic area of the Eastern Suburbs as they raced around Joel Putnam's cleverly set course last year. He is back as the organiser again this year so participants will need to remember to concentrate on the contour detail when planning their routes, and not get distracted by the gorgeous views of Wedding Cake Island. Event starts are from 4:30pm to 6:45pm and participants are encouraged to bring their swimmers and something to pop on the beachside BBQ after their run.
New maps at the latest DuO event meant that there was plenty of adventure on offer, despite some of the choicest tracks being embargoed for the State Championships next September. Denis Lyons produced two new Foot O and a MTBO map for the DuO which was enjoyed by nearly 90 competitors at the second of the 2012/13 season of DuO races.
Organiser Greg Bacon was concerned about the effect the heatwave might have on competitors but on the day the weather was kinder than expected, overcast with milder temperatures than forecast. Three courses were on offer: Bitte, Twisted and Taster and all had been planned to offer an enjoyable challenge to all levels of competitor. FootO stages were scatter courses, with the competitors having one minute to work out the best ways to tackle the course. The MTBO stages were kept to a medium length with controls placed at regular intervals to keep interest and a sense of urgency going.
Twisted Men: 1st Greg Barbour BF, 2nd Steven Todkill NC, 3rd Patrick Gunnarson BF
Twisted Women:1st Mary Fien BFN,2nd Nicole Haigh NCN,3rd Kevin & Deborah Hancock
Bitte Men: 1st Bjorn Mella NC, 2nd Glenn Burgess NC, 3rd Robert Prentice SH
Bitte Women: 1st Carolyn Matthews NC, 2nd Sally Anne Henderson, 3rd Marina Iskhakova BN
Taster: 1st Jenny Enderby NC, 2nd Peter Newton NC, 3rd Chris & Logan Radford
Full report and results can be found on the DuO homepage here.
The next DuO race is at Belanglo State Forest 10th March 2013.
Thanks to Greg Bacon for his help with this report.