We wish these talented winners the best of luck with their training and racing. They each win an Endura pack – nutrition for elite athletes to help them train harder, race faster and recover quicker.
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Entries are open for the Xmas 5 Days, our very popular annual end-of-year holiday carnival.
This year we are based in Orange (about 250km west of Sydney). All events will be within 30 minutes of Orange and have a range of terrains including urban/sprint, granite, gold mining and spur/gully.
The program is (all days have starts from 7.30am except Day 1):
Day 1 Friday 27 December, 4pm start, CSU Campus (N edge of Orange) - urban sprint
Day 2 Saturday 28 December, Kahlis Rocks (33km E of Orange) - granite
Day 3 Sunday 29 December, Rocky Falls (24km N of Orange) - spur/gully with sandstone outcrops
Day 4 Monday 30 December, Ophir Diggings (27km NE of Orange) - spur/gully with gold mining
Day 5 Tuesday 31 December, Macquarie Woods (26km E of Orange) - spur/gully with granite
Central administration is with Jean and Basil Baldwin from Goldseekers (
Classes/courses and entry procedure are on Eventor.
The Stingers of the Month for August, September and October are Rob Preston, Tracy Marsh and Alex Massey. Our terrific trio have been in tremendous form of late, just when the bush season reached its conclusion at the Australian championships in the ACT in late September/early October.
Back to full fitness, in his last four NOL events his points average was second only to winner Matthew Crane from the ACT. That stretch included sixth placings in the Long and Middle distances at the Aus champs.
And in the relays on the last day he ran a blinding anchor leg, second only to that man Crane again, to secure 3rd place for NSW.
Rob has also had sustained success in adventure races over many years.
Tracy (Big Foot) was very consistent throughout the season and the Stingers' top performer in the sprint and long at the Aus champs. She was 15th in the NOL standings but missed five events so was really knocking on the door of the top 10. Soon to reach a 'significant birthday', Tracy is still more than comfortable competing against women much younger. Further evidence of this was her second placing at the NSW Sprint champs.
Alex (Newcastle) has stepped up to M21 this year and has had some promising results. His Aus champs placings (14th sprint, 15th long, 21st middle) augur well for him in elite company. Finishing in the top 20 in the NOL is a promising sign. 
It seems Coffs Harbour residents just can't get enough of orienteering, after very encouraging attendances at ONSW's two free taster weekends.
As part of the Australian Sports Commission's Participation and Membership expansion program - and similar to the promotion held a year ago in the Lismore/Ballina region which led to the establishment of ONSW's newest club NROC (Northern Rivers), ONSW now expects that this latest foray will create another new club on the mid-north coast.
The Coffs adventure attracted decent press coverage, culminating in NBN television filming some of Sunday's action and interviewing locally based NTOC member Bruce Meder who has done so much to get orienteering off the ground in Coffs Harbour. The NBN report ran on Monday night.
And last Friday evening, the nearby city of Grafton hosted its first ever event and drew almost 100 participants! Thanks to Gavin Rayward and Julie Irvine for pioneering such a successful initial outing.
This Sunday (Nov 3) we have a double helping of events a bit different to our standard foot O offering - and ones we recommend to all comers.
Newcastle are hosting the second DuO of the summer at O'Donnelltown.
This is a multisport adventure race combining traditional Foot O with MTBO (mountain bike orienteering). You can do one format or both. There are 3 course lengths to choose from.
The MTBO section will also double as the sixth and final event in the annual ONSW Super Series.
Greg Bacon, our DuO co-ordinator and the 2012 ONSW Cox's Cup Encouragement Award winner for his dedication in getting the concept up and running, is hosting the event. Entries close on Wed Oct 30 via Eventor. There will be enter-on-day but it's always best to pre-book so Greg knows how many maps to print.
On the same day at South Turramurra on Sydney's north shore, Garingal is putting on its second annual Goanna 'goat race' - a wacky form of line orienteering in which:
* there is a mass start (10am)
* following is allowed (this is usually a no-no)
* you may skip a control (yippee!)
* there are forked controls (see map segment left)
This novelty event is the brainchild of GO member and ONSW marketing officer Ian Jessup, who wanted to offer something unusual but still an O challenge in its own right.
There are 3 course lengths (4km, 6km and 8km), with the varying between easy and moderate depending on where you are on the course.
Tactics have to be made up on the run - which control will you skip?, which fork will you take?, and in which order will you do 'the box'? Last year's inaugural event generated a lot of discussion about strategy, and great enthusiasm for the format. A 'fun' run in its own right.
Entries close 8pm Thu Oct 31 via Eventor.
