WORLD MASTERS, CANADA

Bronze medals for Staudte and Key

CANADIANS were unable to take much advantage of their local terrain in Edmonton, with only Ted de St Croix winning an “A” final at WMOC 2005. Technical and physical competence was tested severely in terrain consisting of pine-covered sand hills with marshland and some deeper valleys. Scandinavian and Russian orienteers dominated the placings, with Karen Staudte and Warren Key finishing third in W35 and M45A respectively. Warren was in good company in M45A, with Ted de St Croix winning from Jörgen Mårtensson. Hermann Wehner was 4th in M80, and Jim Russell 8th in a closely-contested M40A race.

Karen Staudte, 3rd in W35A How the Aussies and Kiwis placed in the Final at Ft Assiniboine:

W35A Karen Staudle 3rd W50B Jan Hardy 10th W60A Jill Dalton (NZ) 8th W60A Dale Ann Gordon 22nd W65A Ann Scott (NZ) 10th M40A Jim Russell 8th M45A Warren Key 3rd M45A Anthony Cox 12th M55A Nigel Davies 26th M55B Alistair Stewart (NZ) 1st M55B Keith Jay 41st M55B Barry Field mp M60B Blake Gordon 17th M60B Hugh Cameron mp M80A Hermann Wehner 4th Relay: Hugh Cameron 6th in 180+ year class (total age of 3 runners)

2005 WMOC Champions

W35 Cornelia Eckardt GER W40 Svetlana Berezina RUS W45 Jane Johansson SWE W50 Alida Abola LAT W55 Kyllikki Kauppinan FIN W60 Galina Vershinina RUS W65 Eivor Steen-Olsson SWE W70 Anne Jalava FIN W75 Alice Stalfors SWE W80 Elvi Fredin SWE M35 Esko Ylikangas FIN M40 Alexander Afonyushkin RUS M45 Ted de St. Croix CAN M50 Svein S. Jacobsen NOR M55 Matti Railimo FIN M60 Juhani Jokinen FIN M65 Erik Engebraten NOR M70 Jjell Persson SWE M75 Peritti Pelkonen FIN M80 Rune Isaksson SWE M85 Rene Piguet SUI

Blake Gordon reports:

It was a small but talented contingent (15 orienteers) from downunder that found their way to Edmonton, host city for the 2005 World Masters Games. Orienteering had over 1000 participants from all over the world competing in two qualifying events and a final race in age classes from 35 to 85. The terrain reminded us of Sweden and New Zealand - pine-covered sand hills with marshes (created by the glaciers and more recently by beaver dams) and some deep gullies. To say the whole map was green – except for the marshes that varied from dry to calf deep - gives some impression of the navigational challenges. The fieldwork was done in a relatively dry summer, but the area had received a steady soaking in 2005 resulting in thick undergrowth.

At the first qualifier near Winfield the open paddocks near the start and picturesque finish gave little indication of what the forest and marshes were like. We all struggled to come to grips with the terrain, but Karen Staudte managed a good 3rd, Jill Dalton 5th, while Hermann Wehner was not happy with his run but placed 4th. Jim Russell (8th) and Warren Key (7th) remarked that this was tougher going than many of their WOC’s runs. “Just give me some white that I can run in”, quipped Jim.

Day 2 at “Tiger Lily” started ominously with one of the big buses cutting the corner too short and blocking the entrance to the car park. Thank goodness for the local farmer’s tractor! Then on the compulsory school bus ride to the start we took a round-about route which first headed south, then reversed north, then west and finally dropped us at a clearing so we could jog 15 minutes east over pine-covered sand dunes to the start. This was the “two beaver dam crossing day” with some particularly challenging route choices on long legs. But running in the ‘yellow’ and ridges in the ‘white’ enabled Warren to vault into the lead in M45 going into the final. Karen made a few 2-minute errors and dropped back to 5th in W35. Ann Scott (NZ) remained rock solid to go into the W65 final in 3rd place after the qualifiers. Both Anthony Cox (M45) and Nigel Davies (M55) had steady top 15 runs sending them into the A finals.

The final day at Fort Assiniboine will be remembered not for the bear (statue made of wood) at the final control, but for the mosquitoes at the starts. You could tell who had used the organiser’s spray on the walk up the hill. “Count the mozzies” was the name of the game as we used leafy sprigs to keep the bugs air born! “Wildland” was the best of the forests we ran in. Once we picked up our maps, the high ground between the marshes, the horse trails and the marsh edges made running possible. At the finish I talked with Hermann. “The top three M80’s were just too fast for me this year,” he said. And Warren’s comment; “It was the best I could do after a few early errors”, told the story of his bronze medal. Karen waited

Warren Key, 3rd in M45A

Hermann Wehner, 4th in M80

anxiously at the finish for the last three runners to come in, but despite a minute or two lost in the last few controls she was our second “bronzed Aussie”. Jim’s 8th in M40, Jill Dalton’s 8th in W60, and Ann Scott’s fade to 10th were the next best downunder results. The W35 class was won by the German former international runner Cornelia Eckardt by a margin of over 6 mins. M35 provided a tighter result with the Finn Esko Ylikangas winning by 11secs over the more well-known Finnish elite runner Janne Salmi. The most impressive result was in the W50 class where another well-known name, Alida Abola from Latvia, won by more than 10 minutes. Closest finishes were in M70 and M75 where the winning margins were 4 and 3 secs respectively. My memories of the 2005 Masters will include the warm welcome smiles and positive comments from the team of volunteers. The banquets at Winfield, Stony Plain and Fort Assinibone were awesome - great value for money – and showed us just how the local towns really contributed to the success of the event. Blueberries in the bush; longish drives to each of the competitions; thunderstorms each afternoon; buffalo burgers and great ice cream; the sound of a loon (a bird) near Winfield, and the spectacular Canadian Rockies as we flew out to Vancouver. A most memorable WMOC – but Austria promises even more in 2006!

Photos: Blake Gordon