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It was definitely worth turning up early at last Wednesday's Moonlight Madness in Cremorne. Early runners getting ready for their twilight sortie were treated to the evening illumination of the city, with ferries scuttling across the twinkling harbour towards our beautiful Opera House.  Once darkness fell and the race began there were more views to be had, including the eerily flashing green lighthouse at the end of the point.

There was a sizeable turnout for the event with nearly seventy  runners setting out, both individually and in groups, surprising the homecoming commuters walking up from the ferry point at Cremorne.  Planner Carolyn Haupt had set an enjoyable course where there were plenty of points for all, not just those with long legs and too much energy.  Average score on the course was 420.   Richard Green scooped up all the points in 42:40 with Glenn Horrocks and Steve Ryan in second and third places respectively.

Building on the success of the Space Racing series the Western Plains Orienteers hosted a coaching course on one of the Sappa Bulga maps last Saturday. Coaches Karen and Sean Hagan ran the course for fourteen members who wanted to move to or improve their performance on Moderate level courses. After revising basic skills, the participants tested themselves first on a short course and then with growing confidence, on a trickier longer course.  Review and reflection with the coaches consolidated their learning, giving them a solid basis to attend the Goldseekers event taking place on the following day at Ophir.

Thanks to Karen Hagan for this report

This weekend there was a veritable feast of orienteering.  The ACT Middle and Long Distance Championships near Canberra lured some of NSW best but there was still plenty of racing and competition across the State, from the 2nd Metroleague race out at Kingswood, to the the club event offerings at Yambo by the Central Coast Orienteers, and Ophir near Orange held by Goldseekers. 

The ACT Championships offered a contrasting pair of events; the Middle Distance on Saturday at Kowen Forest East was fast underfoot whilst Sunday's Long Distance at Glendale provided complex granite terrain which required stamina and concentration.  NSW did well in both and some of those who reached the podium on Saturday showed their experience by also gaining glory on Sunday.  In W50A NSW swept the board taking all three top places. 

Podium places in the Middle Distance
W20A Nicola Blatchford 2nd
M16A Aiden Dawson 3rd
M40A Scott Simson 1st
M50A Malcolm Roberts 1st
M55A Alex Davey 2nd
M60A Nick Dent 1st
M65A Steve Flick 1st
M65A Terry Bluett 2nd
M75A Barry Hanlon 1st
W45A Karen Blatchford 1st
W50A Gayle Quantock 2nd
W50A Carolyn Matthews 3rd
W55A Hilary Wood 1st
W60A Lyn Dabbs 3rd
W70A Janet Morris 2nd
W75A Maureen Ogilvie 1st
MOpenB Michael Lloyd 2nd

Podium places in the Long Distance
W20A Nicola Blatchford 2nd
M40A Scott Simson 1st
M65A Terry Bluett 1st
M65A Steve Flick 2nd
W45A Karen Blatchford 2nd
W45AS Julie Mann 3rd
W50A Gayle Quantock 1st
W50A Debbie Davey 2nd
W50A Caroly Matthews 3rd
W55A Hilary Wood 1st
W60A Lyn Dabbs 1st
W70A Janet Morris 2nd
W75A Maureen Ogilvie 1st
MOpenB Michael Lloyd 2nd

The Metroleague event at Kingswood favoured faster runners, with some complexity around the University buildings being offset by long ranging runs across open grassland.  It was also the first of the Junior League races and there was a good opening set of runners, with a number of new teams competing.  Honours were spread much more evenly at this Metroleague around the clubs with results closely bunched.

Divn A: 6.8km. GO Goannas 31 bt WHO 24, Big Foot 40 bt GO Frill Necks 0 (forfeit). Fastest time: G Horrocks (GO) 34m29s.
Divn B: 6km. GO Molochs 29 bt Bennelong 26, Big Foot 31 bt GO Dragons 23, UR-CC Harriers 27 drew GO Monitors 27. Fastest time: S Ryan (GO) 33m37s.
Divn C: 4.8km. Bennelong 35 bt GO Skinks 20, WHO Hommes 38 bt GO Geckos 16, IKO 28 bt SHOO 27. Fastest time: I Froude (IKO) 31m40s.
Divn D: 3.9km. Bennelong 40 bt SHOO 9, UR-CC Kites 28 bt UR-CC Falcons 27, WHO Femmes 33 bt GO Legless 19. Fastest time: G Jones (UR) 27m43s.
Divn E: 3.5km. Big Foot 34 bt UR-CC Kestrels 18, WHO 31 bt GO WoWHO GO Blue Tongues 24. Fastest time: M Osborne (BF) 23m48s

At the Goldseekers event there were a number of Western Plains club members using their polished skills from their club training day on Saturday.  Described by Goldseekers as a challenging, rugged and historic mining area, the Ophir map posed plenty of challenges for Western Plains and Goldseekers alike.  Although it was Goldseekers Darren Francis and Jean Baldwin who took the top place in Mens  and Women's Hard courses respectively Western Plain orienteers had a good showing with Dale Wallace, Sean Hagan, Sally Devenish and Kate Kennedy taking the other podium places. Ophir event results

Numbers at the Central Coast event at Yambo didn't actually seem to suffer despite from having many of the experienced members of the club racing in the ACT Championships and at the Metroleague as part of the Uringa/Central Coast team.  There were a good number of Newcastle club members who had made the short drive south to take advantage of a bush race the week before the major Coalfields Classic weekend coming up.  Greg Barbour won the Long Hard in 46:14, Greg Bacon taking first place comfortably in the Short Hard in 57:39. The moderate course was hotly contested with first place John Doran only three seconds ahead of Scott Johnston and only eight seconds ahead of Keith Morris in third.  Vanessa Delaney and family never looked at risk of losing their first place in the Easy, their splits showing a turn of speed that kept them ahead of the rest of the field for all but one of the controls.  Yambo event results.

Anyone heading to Newcastle for the Coalfields Classic this weekend should have another look at the event website.  It has all the latest bulletins, start lists and event information including a new press release from Australian Orienteering's Bob Mouatt describing how the SILVA National Orienteering League works, the elite competitors, their current standings and their chances in this weekend's races.