State League 1 & 2, set by Central Coast Orienteers were held over the weekend just outside Lithgow in Ben Bullen State Forest. Day 1 was a classic Middle Distance race, highly technical with lots of changes of directions, and a good sprinkling of short legs amongst the longer. The towering rock features were both a help and a hindrance- easy to spot from a distance but confusing up close. Rockfall mixed with leaf-fall made for very slippery conditions without any water, and times were perhaps a little longer than normally expected for a Middle Distance race. Australian golden girl Hanny Alston made short work of the W21A course finishing well ahead of the rest of the field in 44:28. There were similar gaps between board leaders and the rest of field in many of the classes, as some hit the race season in great form whilst others struggled to warm up to the technical difficulty.
Day 2 was faster and wetter, with the course set on Long Swamp. Longer legs on ground which, in general, was easier underfoot, resulted in much quicker times per km than the Middle Distance races. Lachlan Dow had a great race, clocking up 6:41mins/km to win the M21A. With less rock, and more classic spur gully terrain with limited undergrowth, the runners could stretch out and indulge their need for speed.
