Melbourne Sprint weekend

The one and only 2020 orienteering carnival

WORDS MARGI FREEMANTLE & TED VAN GELDERMALSEN PHOTOS EVALINEMAE PHOTOS, SUSAN GUINANE & MARGI FREEMANTLE

It is always a pretty intense time for the organisers leading up to a Melbourne Sprint Weekend (MSW) and this year was no different. We had arrived back from the January sprints in New Zealand and were hard at work to get the myriad of things in place ready for the weekend. In the background there was this rumbling of a new virus having emerged out of China, but it did not really register, except for the sudden shortage of toilet paper, in the frenzy to get everything ready.

Then suddenly it was time for the event. The organising team had pulled everything together and we were ready to roll.

After MSW 2018 we conducted a survey to find out what people liked and where we could improve. Suggestions for improvements included: larger scale maps e.g. 1:3000 for as many courses as possible, more spectator friendly arenas, shade, better commentary, having coffee and food vendors, more toilets, events closer together in time and distance, and improved administration and general organisation. We incorporated all these suggestions for MSW 2020.

We fine-tuned the running of the events by having an overall Start Manager, Anne Arthur, and Co-Manager, John Meeking, which enabled a more consistent approach to the starts and eliminated mistakes that might have occurred. Nicola Dalheim joined this team as Manager for the Knock-out sprint which certainly made life a lot easier.

In addition, at Brodie Nankervis’s suggestion, a Knock-out Sprint competition was included on Day 3, with entry open to all, and Asha Steer ran a special competition for Under-25 elite competitors (incorporating Days 1 & 2).

So how did it go? Well based on the feedback – pretty well. The weather behaved and somehow we managed to keep to schedule, although things got a bit shaky with the transition between races 5 & 6.

Day One, Race One – Overnewton College MSW Race 1, World Ranking Event (WRE), National Orienteering League (NOL) Format: Individual Race

Course Planner: Bruce Arthur

Event Advisor: Blair TrewinM

apper: Fredrik JohanssonO

n-The-Day Club: Melbourne Forest Racers

We had Philippa Lohmeyer-Collins to thank for securing yet another fantastic sprint venue that was worthy of a WRE, and with the college Principal getting right on board for the event. Bruce and Fredrik had a bit bigger job than anticipated when it was found that some construction fences were going to be installed just before the event. Fredrik kept an eagle eye on the area and as soon as the fences went in, the map was updated and the bad news delivered to Bruce. The start location needed to be moved … and courses re-planned. The fencing emphasised an interesting characteristic of the map with it dividing the map in two with the lower part of the map being ‘rough open’ and even having some boggy sticky mud in places, and the upper part compromising of the main campus of buildings and quads. The start was in the upper part and led competitors straight into the main campus which included a central pentagon that provided some classic campus sprint legs, before heading to the lower half and finish / arena. Getting from the intense network of buildings through the dividing un-crossable fences to the rough open saw some of the longest legs of the weekend, and provided many tales of woe. Bruce had made A3 laminated sheets showing a leg-byleg analysis of route choices for Courses 1 & 2, which he put up for view after the last starter, which proved to be very popular viewing.

Day One, Race Two – Deakin University, Burwood MSW Race 2, NOL, Australian University Champs Format: Individual Race

Course Planner: Tim Hatley

Event Advisor: Barry McCrae

Mapper: Geoff Hudson; Peter Dalwood map updates & update to ISSprOM

On-The-Day Club: Nillumbik Emus Orienteers

Deakin University is a classic Melbourne sprint map that although it has never been used for MSW before, has been used for several sprint events over time. However this campus is constantly changing, buildings being pulled down or moved and new ones popping up everywhere. With every use it is like a new area. This is mainly why we have never used it for MSW in the past – it has been impossible to know what will change on the map from one day to the next, literally! We owe a big thanks to Peter for bringing the map up to date for the event. The Deakin campus is a dense complex mix of buildings, paths, uncrossable gardens and dare I say it, walkways and stairs. Tim used all to great effect, whizzing people around and even creating some manmade barriers to further complicate route choices. Few will forget the legs where “the bridge”, an area where there were two running levels, was a route choice.

Things got somewhat tense for the organisers in the lead up to the first starts. When we arrived to set up the courses we found an important route choice taped closed and blocked with a large compressor. We had liaised very closely with the university in planning the event but somehow this had slipped through. The workers were not very sympathetic and, for safety reasons, weren’t prepared to allow runners through until they were finished. Ten minutes before the first start time they were still there working. Barry headed back to postpone the event start. With five minutes to go the workers emerged from the building and turned off the compressor. Ted kept Barry updated by phone. A ute was backed up and connected to the compressor. We decided to let the starts go ahead. The workers removed the tapes, got into the ute and started driving off. Within a minute or two the first competitors were running through the previously closed route. Phew! Experiences like this are not uncommon for sprint orienteering organisers but that was a particularly close one.

Day Two, Race Three – Granite Hills Park MSW Race 3, NOL

Course Planner: Ted van Geldermalsen

Event Advisor: Alex Tarr

Mapper: Alex Tarr

On-The-Day Club: Yarra Valley Orienteers

Format: Pairs head-to-head race with loops

This was a fun race to watch and the area really suited the Pairs head-to-head racing format. This was the second time we have used a “bush” sprint map in MSW, the first one being the pairs race at Royal Park in 2018. The map covers a spur which rises about 70 metres above the surrounding residential areas featuring scattered bush and boulders and irregular land forms due to surface quarrying. The start at the top of the hill provided fantastic views, both of greater Melbourne and of competitors huffing and puffing their way up to the finish. The best viewing was out on the map though where people were going in all directions on their loops. A comment was made that it looked like the Monty Python ‘Marathon for Incontinents’ skit. Keeping focused on the map and ignoring everyone around you were crucial for this race, as was hill climbing ability in the later part of the course.

Day Two, Race Four – La Trobe University, Bundoora MSW Race 4, NOL

Course Planner: Ian Dodd

Event Advisor: Geoff Adams

Mapper: Ted van Geldermalsen

On-The-Day Club: Dandenong Ranges Orienteers

Format: NOL – Sprint relay; MSW – Individual

La Trobe is another classic Melbourne sprint map and was the venue of the very first OV Sprint Champs in 2004. The map has changed a lot since then and recent events have featured a new multi-level version of the map though we decided to spare people the increased complexity /confusion that map generates. Our university liaison person headed us to the big open lawn for our arena, and although initially we took some convincing, it proved to be a fantastic place to view the relay and relax in the sun. The campus is not as complex as Deakin and key to a good run was to keep in contact, tick off all the buildings and paths as you go and keep your speed up. From the look of the results, competitors varying fitness levels were starting to show by now with some time gaps opening up.

Day Three, Race Five – Victoria University, St Albans MSW Race 5; Knockout Sprint Qualifying and Quarterfinals

Course Planner: Frédéric Tranchand

Event Advisor: Warwick Williams

Mapper: Geoff Adams

On-The-Day Club: Bayside Kangaroos Orienteers & Tuckonie Orienteers

Format: Elite KO Sprint Qualifying and Quarterfinals; MSW – Individual

Victoria University had been earmarked as our back-up venue in case we weren’t able to get approval for one of our original choices. Well I suppose we should be happy that we managed five out of six of our original choices, but it would have been nice… VU St Albans has always been open to holding events on the campus, including holding them when the campus has classes on. The students moving around meant extra care was required when running and I’m sure we provided great entertainment for them as well. Fredo had set fairly open fast running courses for this race, a fact a number of people commented on. Little did they know he was just lulling them into a feeling of false security before the afternoon race. This race saw a bit more complexity for the organisers with the sprint KO quarterfinals start groupings needing to be calculated in a short space of time after the qualifying races.

Day Three, Race Six – Penola College, Broadmeadows MSW Race 6; Knockout Sprint

Course Planner: Brodie Nankervis

Event Advisor: Warwick Williams

Mapper: Geoff Adams

On-The-Day Club: Bayside Kangaroos Orienteers & Tuckonie Orienteers

Format: Elite KO sprint Semi-finals and Finals; MSW – Individual

Penola College was originally mapped for a Sprint into Spring event, and even then I think some people didn’t realise just how complex this small campus is. This was the event that we were approaching with some trepidation, given the format of the Knock out sprint semi-final starts where each competitor gets to choose one of three variations of the course, based on a quick view of a snippet of the map. We need not have worried though. Nicola had it all perfectly organised with a start crew well briefed. I defer to the words from Ross Barr to give a participant view of this Race.

“Arriving here one’s hopes sagged a bit. An open field, no real spectating opportunities and a spread out assembly that was the antithesis of the atmosphere at most of the other events. Even the coffee cart seemed lonely. However, what runners found as they began, and as they raced into the small and complex catholic college buildings, pathways and gardens (and statues), was hey, ”they’ve saved the best till last”. Truly Penola was a cracker. The hexagonal central garden pathways with OOB hedges were well exploited by our elite course planner Brodie Nankervis, with many being caught in the olive jaws. If you went over a minute on any leg here you’d make a blunder. Many did.

But the best aspect of Penola was the Semi Final and then the Final of the elite knockout challenge. After all other races had completed, you were invited to spectate anywhere on the campus, with many gathering around the hex. When the finalists began (what turned out to be a long cross campus leg), the speed with which they flew up the hex was completely enthralling. A screamer. They then appeared, reappeared, disappeared, and appeared again – with split options being taken as the crowd yelled encouragement. And in the final warp speed run-in Aston and Frédéric coming from different directions and almost colliding in the chute with Aston pretty happy to just edge the French champion (though Fredo was n/c).

Fantastic. Amazing. Sensational. A great final race, a great final venue – the size reminding those from MSW 2016 of that small college in Geelong (Kardinia) from that series. You don’t need to be big to work a screamer in Sprint O.”

And then MSW was all over. Little did we realise on that late afternoon that effectively MSW was to be the one and only orienteering carnival for the year. That fact only started to sink in when we rocked up to each school venue on the following Wednesday with a thank you cake to find the Principals were all attending a crisis meeting on managing the developing COVID-19 situation. Oh and also when we snagged one of the Race 2 Melbourne Sprint last packets of toilet paper in the Supermarket. If the event had Weekend been scheduled one week later, we doubt it would have been run.

The Great Puzzler Leg

Content sourced from an article by Ross Barr in the OA magazine where Ross looked closely at a ‘great’ leg in Race 2, Deakin University, Burwood.

Race 2 was at the large and complex campus at Deakin University in Burwood. ‘The Hat’ the planner. This map was the first one to use the new ISSOM symbol for showing two running levels, and deployed here to devastating effect. The start was from an underground carpark, and runners (bursting forth into the light) hardly had time to think before being confronted by the bridge and its attendant double level. Classic material, and course setting intensity across the rest that never let up (stunning in its detail, including magenta pathway blocks), and that hardly saw a leg over a minute long. Unless you were caught on the bridge that is.

The best of the double height running bridge legs was from Course 3, where the #3 - #4 leg generated pause and (maybe) panic. You had been intense going #1 - #2 - #3 and were then faced with a complex building dodge in exiting #3 to what seemed a straightforward drop west to #4 – a canopy, but one on another level you began to slowly comprehend. If the accelerator had been pushed too hard before you saw the danger you were in trouble, with many tales of woe here. You needed early wide left or wide right commitment to shine – and the right option was where you encountered the bridge. Ahhh.

Henry du Toit won the leg in 1:17, the ultimate course winner (Cathy McComb at 1:49) losing half a minute in ‘The Hat’s’ cunning trap. Many were well over two minutes.

What makes this such a great leg is the complex building and canopy material immediately south after leaving #3 that helps mask (but leads to) the narrow step pathway between the OOB hatching in the wide left option. Possibly the fastest route, and maybe Henry went here? Great Sprint O.