August 2011

Big Fun at the Big Foot Sprints

published by Darren Slattery on Mon 15 Aug 2011, 10:09am

Early on Saturday morning (or, early for a weekend!), Big Foot gathered 40 of Sydney's keenest orienteers for the 2011 Big Foot Sprints! The sprints have a unique format; There are two short line courses over about 2.5km each. The short courses mean it really is about making quick navigational decisions, rather than having the stamina to go flat out for half an hour. The thing that makes the Big Foot Sprints most unique is how the starting times are done; Sprint 1 started with the standard one minute gap between runners, but Sprint 2 had everyone start at 10:30am, plus their sprint 1 time. That meant that some runners were starting as little as two seconds apart! Now while that would normally be a bit annoying (as you might be leading your competitors around the course!), because you were matched in performance and first across the line placed first, there was extra motivation to get ahead at each control and the leader could swap several times throughout the race. I myself was battling young Duncan Currie. He is a faster runner than me but it managed to make it to the finish line just a few seconds ahead of him with a couple of snappy route choice decisions. Read on...

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Moonlit Madness at Roseville

published by Darren Slattery on Sun 14 Aug 2011, 3:10pm

Last Wednesday night, Garingal Orienteers hosted an after dark orienteering event at Rosevile. Despite the cool weather the event managed to attract 53 competitors, along with their 53 torches and headlamps. The lack of daylight certainly makes the event quite different. The narrow beam of a headlamp means you've got to be looking right at something before you see it. If you're planning to run down that walkway between houses, you better know where it'll be. To make things a little easier there are reflective collars on all of the controls. If you get the angle right, sometimes you can actually spot the control 50 metres out. On the other hand, if someone has nicked off with the control the backup tape is a lot harder to find. Read on...

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Metro Final has Roos Running!

published by Darren Slattery on Sun 7 Aug 2011, 5:01pm

For the second Metro in a row, rain threatened to dampen our mood, but with the collective will of over 120 runners, again the skies cleared for a great sunny 6th and final MetrO League event for the season. Western and Hills Orienteers hosted the event at Cattai National Park by the Hawkesbury River. With a quick squirt of methylated spirits on our shoes we all set off to blaze some trails. (The metho was actual to kill off any myrtle rust that we may have inadvertently brought in to the national park, rather than for the purpose of literally blazing the trails!) The national park provided a great area for the event with some great courses. The grass in the fields was long, requiring some high-knee'ed romping and the bush was thick enough to get in the way, but not too thick to prevent a cross-country short cut. With limited roads and tracks there was a need for a bit of a bush bash but the navigation wasn't too tricky with some distinct trees and rock features to guide the way. Congratulations to Division D who won their round! Read on for course info and some results...