Entries have reopened for Garingal's innovative Goanna 'goat race', which this year will again be held on the fiendish Clay Pan map at Beacon Hill on Sydney's northen beaches.
The event is on Sunday August 6, with a mass start at 10am for the 3 moderate courses. Please note we will be testing the new touchless-contact SI Air sticks on the DraGOn course. Stick hire will be free in place of your normal SI stick.
Goat races are a wacky form of line orienteering in which:
* there is a mass start
* following is allowed (this is usually a no-no)
* you may skip a control (yippee!)
* there are forked controls (you go to 'a' or 'b')
* in the boxed section you visit the controls in any order
There are 3 course lengths (GeckO 3.5km, DraGOn 5km and GOanna 7km), with the standard varying from easy to moderate to hard depending on where you are on the course.
Have a look at a previous Goanna to see what you are confronted with.
Tactics have to be made up on the run - which control will you skip?, which fork will you take?, and in which order will you do 'the box'? The first two Goannas generated a lot of discussion about strategy, and great enthusiasm for the format. A 'fun' run in its own right.
Entries close on Fri Aug 4. The Very Easy and Easy courses are Enter-on-Day and will have a start window of 10.15-11am.
