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Siblings Nea and Ewan Shingler have blitzed the annual Big Foot Sprints to claim their second victories in the event.

Nea (34m21s and eighth overall) went back to back in the women's division with a massive 6m26s margin over Garingal's Aniko Fozo-Kertesz, while Rebecca George (BF) was a further minute away in third place.

Ewan recaptured the trophy he won in 2018 and broke the 30-minute barrier by a second in winning by 53 seconds over Toby Wilson who has switched clubs from GO to BF.

Andrew Brown (BF) was another minute behind in third place.

The first race featured a long second leg, forcing runners to stay high through the grass and streets or drop through the rock on a shorter but slower route. Ewan lost over a minute here as Toby won the race by 32 seconds.

Ewan made another one-minute error on leg 2 of the chasing start, but Toby dropped two minutes there and another 30 seconds on leg 13.

Meanwhile, Nea - who has been recording some very large scores in the Sydney Summer Series - established an early lead over her rivals (which included her mum Paula) and stretched her advantage throughout for a comfortable victory.

Aniko improved from fourth after the first race to second in the chasing start and overall.

Thanks to setter Richard Mountstephens and organiser Andrew McDonald for their big efforts after the original date of December 2020 had to be moved because of the Avalon covid outbreak.

Links to the results and splits can be found on the Big Foot website here. Maps and photos of the event are on their Facebook page.

Our partner organisation Bold Horizons has two excellent training weekends planned for the first half of 2021.

(1) the very popular Women's Coaching Weekend is on March 6-7 in the Southern Highlands. This books out early so get in quick.

(2) the navigation skills weekend for all comers is on May 8-9, also in the Southern Highlands.

Full details and how to register are on the BH events page.

Our hugely popular Saturday Orienteering Series put on by partner organisation Bold Horizons resumes this weekend with a training session at North Sydney Boys High School.

Whether you are a beginner looking to learn the essentials to start your first series or an experienced runner eager to refine your technique, there will be training options plus friendly help and guidance available.

The event window is 9.30am-12pm but you can come along for any part of the session. Entry is via Falcon Street.

The SOS proper then kicks off on Sat Feb 13, with the first Macarthur event at Mawarra Public School and the first Northside event at Normanhurst Boys High School.

The Northside series will again feature 3D maps involving multiple levels of buildings - enormous fun and a great training activity to boot.

You can see the Term 1 SOS calendar here.

Fire up the flux capacitor, we're going back to the future... or 2020 at least.

One of the many big events postponed last year due to covid was our annual NSW Championships weekend, back on the awesome granite maps of Seldom Seen at Eugowra in the state's central west. (This was the home of the 2004 Australian Championships.)

This event will now be held the weekend after Easter (April 10-11) - and you can enter in your 2020 age class!

The 2020 NSW Champs will be the bookend to a fantastic week of orienteering which starts with the national Easter Carnival in Orange and Molong, followed by lower-key mid-week events in Orange (Wednesday and Thursday).

Orange is also a foodie haven so it's a natural fit for a relaxing autumn holiday when the area is at its prettiest.

You can find more in Bulletin 1, and follow the champs Facebook event.

Entries have reopened and covid protocols will be in place.

A few consequences of this approach are

• Orienteers will be required to bring their own food and water – as this will not be supplied
• There will be no prize “ceremony” at the event – winners will be sent their badges in the mail

Accommodation options are fairly limited in Eugowra, but you can find rooms in Forbes or Orange. Camping at the showground is a great option. Details are in the Bulletin.