One of the difficult things about setting on new maps, especially steep ones with lots of rock and a scale of 1:3000, is judging course lengths.
So the 188 hardy souls who turned out in glorious conditions for MetrO League 3 at Glengarry Girl Guide Camp in North Turramurra on Sunday got double their money's worth. And a glute workout to remember!
Setter Ian Jessup, also organising the event to raise funds for the NSW Junior Squad, thought he had courses about right - so he apologises now most profusely for what proved to be a challenging but arduous morning's orienteering.
Big Foot's Simon George (35:22) was the only runner to go under 44 minutes - as many people spent more than hour making several climbs and loops of the small venue.
Lots of rock, lots of loose leaf litter, and pockets of undergrowth all combined to slow participants - and place a premium on accuracy and route choice, as all courses should.
Having said that, there were enough attack points, catching features and handrails to guide the studious to the controls.
WHO Evers (Divn 1), UR-CC (Divn 2), Bennelong (Divn 3) and the WHO Hahs (Divn 5) remain unbeaten - and there were several upsets to make the points tables more interesting.
The Junior Squad wishes to thank Ian for setting, Mark Shingler for controlling, the GO SI team for results, and all the helpers on the day.
The MetrO League web page has links to results, Winsplits and Routegadget.
