What a fickle creature the weather is! High temperatures and humidity on Sunday tested orienteers at the Central Coast Summer Series event at Shelley Beach, almost as much as the course itself. With fewer hills than the previous event, there were higher point scores across the participating runners but they had to work hard for it in the heat. Karen Blatchford, Newcastle, won the Open Women with some 70 points higher than her win the previous event, and Men's Open winners Justin Stafford and Neil Prosser were 90points ahead of Russell Blatchford's previous leading score.
Participants were looking forward to a cooling dip in the ocean, which had sparkled temptingly throughout the event. But it was not to be. As the runners lingered around the scoreboard discussing their routes, a cool change came through whipping up the wind and turning the blue sea into an unappealing grey topped with white horses. Ah well. The next Central Coast event on this Sunday is also another beachside delight - Wamberal on the 16 December. Maybe the sun will shine just that little bit longer.
