Day 3 of the Xmas 5-Days carnival at Pyrmont retained the heavy nautical theme and sprint map detail of the opening days at Georges Heights and Cockatoo Island - but on A3 paper at 1:4,000 scale.
The score format allowed Dan Redfern to set controls from the base of the Anzac Bridge in the west to the Maritime Museum in the east, the Fish Market light rail station in the south and on the ends of the piers to the north, with sweeping views of the Harbour Bridge and CBD.
But this format - (1) get to as many controls as you can within 45 minutes, in any order (2) the controls are worth different amounts, and (3) penalties for being back late - is something most of our visiting Scandinavian elites have not experienced.
"It's the first time we've ever run this type of course," said Signe Klinting and Camilla Bevensee of OK Pan Aarhus club in Denmark. "The scenery was amazing and every control I was just smiling so much at the beautiful views."
"But I don't believe you should be allowed to look at the map beforehand."
Australians are well versed in 'score' orienteering as it is known, because the summer months are usually too hot for bush O. Sydneysiders in particular are used to unlimited planning time for score events. While this might seem a bit 'easy' or appear to bring the best orienteers 'back to the field', there is still quite some strategy involved.
You must choose a route that maximises your score while minimising time, and being mindful of slower sections (steps, bush tracks, sandy areas etc) and hills. There were 600 points on offer and 11 runners got the lot inside the allotted time. But the scale also seemed to throw others, and there were a handful of runners back 8-10 minutes early!
Today's run was also event 14 in the annual Sydney Summer Series. Open Men's star Steve Ryan atoned for mps on the first 2 days by sweeping all 30 controls in 40m3s. Newcastle's Alex Massey (41m21s) was set for a sub-40 time but accidentally punched one of the very easy controls near #7 by mistake - and realised his error as he was about to finish. Back out to #7, but slower than Steve overall.
The top women's score was 540, by Cecilie Fryberg Klysner (Norway) and Catherine Murphy (UR).
We would also like to thank the many regulars who handed back their map as we ran out of them. You can print one, or pick one up on Day 5 at the SCG.
Click on the blue links for Day 3 raw results, carnival standings, and photos on the ONSW Facebook page with some captions and commentary. Absolutely unmissable is SSS supremo Ross Barr's blog.
Such is the richness of Ross' prose, the uniqueness of his weekly theme, so vast his grasp of culture - from the fine arts to dance steps to gastronomy - that your humble correspondent readily defers to his highness for the official account of proceedings.
As Ross was collecting controls last night then retiring to the local for a well earned Reschs, this week's missive may be much shorter than usual.
