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A full programme was set out for the Otago MTBO Carnival in New Zealand last week. Starting on January 7th there were two warm up events followed by the Sprint, Long Distance, Middle Distance events of the NZ/Australia match before the carnival wound up with a friendly Relay event on January 14th.
The Sprint distance was held on a tiny map, some 1km long by 500m wide, near Roxburgh but the size of the area, did not prevent the planner being able to set 5 courses of up to 7km each in this technically challenging gold mining area. The Long Distance event was raced in sweltering heat over steep hills testing the nerve and stamina of the field of 150 riders. NZ scored a narrow win over Australia in the Sprints and increased their winning margin in the Long Distance races before the teams took a well earned rest day mid week.
The course set by SHOO on their new map provided tight orienteering amongst the university buildings as well as leg stretching gallops over the grassy hills to the outer reaches of the map.
With cool damp weather giving perfect running conditions, participants in the score event enjoyed a course that was beautifully timed allowing a number of runners to gain all 300 points on offer with narrow time margins between the top results. Ian Myer's winning time was followed very closely by Corinne Fulford, with Linda Sesta only 30 seconds behind.
In the easy course, experience won out with Uringa's Sophie Jones taking the top spot but young Bethany Davey had a great debut. Full results available here.
This series deservedly continues to grow in popularity with nearly 40 runners participating this week. The next event is at Harrington Park on 21 January.
Thanks to Lyn Malmgron for her help with this report
After a morning of showers the skies cleared and the ground dried out in time for the Sydney Sprint Series evening event at Castle Hill Showground. Matthew Hill ripped around the course on the 16 January, winning the 2.9km course in 15mins 21 secs and holding off Eoin Rothery of Big Foot by 11 seconds. In equally impressive form was mother Barbara Hill who was the first woman home in 16mins 8 secs and the fifth fastest runner of the day overall.
It was clearly a day for fast feet with over a third of the runners completing the course in under 20 minutes.
Western & Hills Orienteers hosted event #2 in the Sydney West Series at Marayong on Sunday 22 January. Changeable weather made for unpleasant conditions for organisers but cool running for participants. Planner Steve Holloway challenged the best to get all the points on offer but winner James McQuillan from the local club topped the scores with 530 points. One competitor did get all controls but forfeited the win with severe time penalties.
The next event in the Series is on 5 February at UWS Kingswood.
Thanks to Chris Crane for his help with this report.
