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WHO President and Round 5 organiser Ted Mulherin summed up what most competitors might have liked to have said - "It's bloody hot - I'm glad I'm not running tonight!".
With temperatures still above 35 deg C at 7:00pm, almost all of the 62 competitors who started between 5:00pm and 6:30pm experienced the hot conditions and any interested onlookers might have thought that the runners should have been admitted to the hospital - it deals with pyschiatric cases!
The 3.1Km course made the most of the hospital grounds with a number of legs requiring careful navigation through gaps that were not too obvious, and around the historic sandstone buildings. WHO's own Andy Hill went out at the hottest part of the evening to set the pace with a scorching 15m17s. Andy held the lead for quite some time, and held off Peter Preston who came in just 1s behind him, but it was Big Foot's Michael Burton who was to steal the lead over the last 4 controls and finish in 15m12s.
However Michael was probably as surprised as the rest of the field was when Canberra's Shannon Jones appeared on the start line, and even more surprised when Shannon showed eveyone a clean pair of heals to win in 14m44s. Review of Shannon's splits shows that she was never lower than 3rd place over the first half of the course, and took the lead at control 8 and did not look back after that.
Congratulations to Shannon on her win, to all those who competed in the extreme temperatures and to WHO for staging Round 5 at a great sprint location.
Full results and splits can be found here.
Do you know a Junior Local Sporting Champion?
Are you, or do you know, a dedicated young athlete, coach or official participating in a state or national sporting championships? Are you aged 12-18 years old travelling further than 250km return for a state or national championships?
If yes, then you or your team could be eligible for a Local Sporting Champions grant to help meet costs such as uniforms, travel, accommodation and equipment. Grants of $500 per individual and $3,000 per team are available for young people participating in a nominated National Sporting Organisation-endorsed state or national sporting championships or a School Sport Australia national championship.
This program is an Australian Government initiative managed by the Australian Sports Commission and supports 7,000 young people each year. The grants are designed to help athletes, coaches and officials achieve their sporting goals and are distributed across all 150 federal electorates of the national parliament.
Applications are open, so apply now! Applications must be submitted prior to the commencement of the nominated championships. For further information, including application forms and eligibility criteria, go to: http://www.ausport.gov.au/champions
The sixth round of the 2011 Sydney Sprint Series saw the rise of another "young gun", with Garingal's Aidan Dawson managing to dead-heat the 3.0Km course with "old" Andy Hill in 14m39s. Aidan held a clear 8s lead at the last control, but let it slip in getting to the finish line.
Peter Preston was only 6s behind the leading pair, and just managed to hold off another fast rising Garingal youngster, Matthew Hill who finished in 4th place in 15m14s.
Tracy Marsh was the leading lady on the night and she completed the course in 16m26s, and finished 10th overall.
Master of Ceremonies for the evening was Sydney Summer Series organiser Ross Barr. Ross's courses on the updated to sprint standard Gladesville Hospital map made good use of the area by mixing use of the hospital buildings and grounds, and included use of a pivot control at 10 and 14.
With 6 events now completed it is interesting to note that there have been 7 different winners so far, with no one yet winning two events, and tonight's result being a dead-heat.
Full results and splits can be found here.
For the first time in Orienteering ACT's history, the ACT will host the opening round of the National Orienteering League season. Rounds 1-3 of the NOLs will held on 12-13 March 2011 as part of the Capital Orienteering Festival, a weekend of orienteering close to Canberra's CBD for the elite, regular and novice. To enter visit: http://canberraorienteering.blogspot.com
