WHO unveiled a terrific new Sydney bush map of Wianamatta Regional Park for round 2 of our MetrO League on Sunday.
Opened just two years ago after more than 50 years off limits, the park is one of the last remnants of Cumberland Plain forest. The site has a history of farming, timber cutting and from the outbreak of WWII to the late 1980s housed an explosives and munitions filing factory.
It was flat terrain with a few earthbanks and former roads in a grid assisting navigation. When the white was white it was right for smooth running; when the white was green it was a bit mean. The plethora of small termite mounds (<1m high) required caution to locate among the scrub.
As such many of the times were a little longer than expected, but we'll put that down to first-time trial. At the top end of the competition the big guns certainly proved the course lengths to be correct.
Uringa's Ondrej Pavlu (31.35) helped the hybrid WHO Evers to a comfortable win over a severely depleted Big Foot n Division 1, while Garingal had a close victory over SHOO-IKO.
Garingal had a good day out, winning 7 of 11 contests. Their Dragons and Frill Necks won in Division 2, while Uringa's Ian Jones (32.04) was the only runner under 35 minutes.
KNOX's Thomas Gordon (34.45) and Bennelong's Alitia Dougall (39.47) were the only runners under 45 miniutes in Divn 3, with most clustered between 47-53 minutes. Winning times in Divns 4 and 5 were just above 40 minutes.
We thank WHO for this great new adventure in western Sydney. Scores are on the ML web page. A reminder that Round 3 is on a new map at Glengarry Girl Guides Camp in North Turramurra on June 25. This event is being run by the NSW Junior Squad.
