Central Coast has the enviable position of being close enough to both Sydney and Newcastle to draw competitors from both those centres and this was reflected in the winners of this year's series. Patrik Gunnarsson (Sydney, Big Foot) and Karen Blatchford (Newcastle) were the worthy winners of the series with perfect scores of 600 points for their best six races over the ten races held.
Patrik was enthusiastic about the events saying 'it is a very friendly series not far from Sydney but without the traffic congestion we sometimes have to cope with in the city. My children have been especially keen; not for the racing of course, as they are too young yet, but because we can go straight to the Central Coast beaches after the event.' Karen enjoyed the fact that this year the series was held every week, giving a consistent set of events in some beautiful scenic areas.
This was the first time a cash prize had been offered for the series. Was it a successful recruitment tool? Robyn Pallas, President of Central Coast Orienteers, believes that it was. 'Participants stayed with the series, coming back regularly to race, which kept numbers up. In previous years the attendence was less consistent. We are very happy with how it worked out this year.'
