NEWS

ON 4 June, over 80 people from ACT Forests, Greening Australia, Orienteering ACT and the general public celebrated World Environment Day a day early with the staging of another Treeathlon in one of the areas devastated by the bushfires in January. The 2005 Treeathlon was conducted at Mt McDonald, which towers above the Cotter Dam.

Each tree-athlete had to run 1.2 km uphill, plant 50 trees down a slope and then run or ride 4.3 km. Twenty-six competitors, including a number from the Canberra Cockatoos (plus a ring-in from interstate), participated in the 2005 Treeathlon. The remaining 50+ assisted the tree-athletes through staking the trees, and placing guards around them or watering them, or just planted trees. Around 2,000 native trees were planted.

The placings were: men, Richard Pywell (Parawanga) in a time of 56min 33sec from Rod Higgins and Matthew Doolan; women: Rebecca Barwick in 60min 37sec from Shannon Jones and Rebecca Minty, the latter two are Red Roos. The secret of a Treeathlon, as Australia’s top orienteers Grant Bluett and Jo Allison came to realise, is being speedy in planting trees.

The Treeathlon was previewed on ABC and covered by ABC-TV and a glossy magazine called, Capital.

Bob Mouatt

Competitors in 2005 Treeathlon

Marathon best

IN a massive PB time, Lauren Shelley (BK-V) took 2nd place in the Gold Coast Marathon held on July 3.

Lauren was only 2:35 behind Jackie Fairweather who, as Jackie Gallagher, won the bronze medal at the Manchester Commonwealth Games.

Lauren’s big PB bettered the “B” qualifying standard of 2:40:00 for the Games but she has several girls ahead of her in the fight for Team places.

Gold Coast Airport Marathon, July 3

WOMEN 1. Jackie Fairweather, ACT.................... 2:34:42 2. Lauren Shelley, WA .............................. 2:37:17 3. Sarah Majah, Tanzania ....................... 2:40:36

TioMila event turns 60

SWEDEN celebrated the 60th Anniversary for TioMila last April. This demanding long relay event is one of the highlights of the Swedish calendar. Orienteers adjust their training programs to ensure they’ll be at their best for TioMila. The women’s event is held in late afternoon. Teams of five runners race for over 3 hours before the winners are known. The men’s event is an overnight one for teams of 10 runners. They start at 8pm and it’s not until some 10 hours later that the first teams finish. Australia’s David Brickhill-Jones led off for Halden club in this year’s TioMila.

Monkey attacks Aussie orienteer

ONE of Australia’s leading orienteers has been attacked by a monkey while training in Hong Kong. Troy de Haas, 25, was running up the bush track on Victoria Peak when a monkey jumped off a rubber tree and attacked his back and neck. The monkey, which was apparently after an energy bar Troy had just taken out of his back pack, inflicted bites and scratches which required hospital treatment before he was allowed to return home to rest. The injury forced him to delay by 24 hours his departure for Japan, for the world championships.

Troy has been attacked by ducks, emus and kangaroos in the past. “It’s amazing really. He’s got a phobia about animals but he seems to get attacked everywhere he goes,” said team manager Rod Dominish. “He flinches every time there’s a rustle in the grass. He doesn’t even like running past city zoos.”

JWOC success for French girls!

IT’S not only Philippe Adamski of the French athletes who impressed at JWOC 2005. The girls were not so good in the Long-distance but excelled in the Middle-distance race; even the French leaders were quite surprised by their good results!

Two French girls were among the top 12 best. In the Long-distance, the best was 32nd among a field of 125 girls. In the qualification for the middle, five of the girls were among the six best in their heats. It’s impressive that so many French girls have done so well.

“I am a bit surprised myself”, smiles the French head coach Olivier Coupat, a former elite runner who had to stop because of injury. “The reason for the good results is hard work and better chances for success. Since last autumn, junior girls can take part in Pole France”, says Olivier.

Pole France is a national training centre in St. Etienne for the best orienteers. “Seventy-five per cent of the French junior team in JWOC are in Pole France”, says Olivier. In St. Etienne there are both juniors and seniors. So the juniors are very often training together with the big French star Thierry Gueorgiou. “Most of them are training with him every day of every week”, smiles Olivier.

The good results are also because of good preparations for JWOC, and because the juniors are getting more and more experienced. “We have a good group of athletes of the same age and they have gained good experience from taking part in the European Youth Championships, European Junior Cup and also in Junior World Championships before”, he says.

During his junior years Thierry Gueorgiou won two medals at JWOC, but neither of them were gold, so French orienteering is still missing a junior gold, but it looks like that is only a matter of time. “Most of the juniors can also take part in JWOC next year. Only one of the girls will be a senior next year”, says Olivier.

Erik Borg/Clive Allen

Micro-orienteering

WOC 2006, to be held in Denmark next August, will feature Microorienteering as part of the Middle-distance final. This is a new concept where a large number of controls are placed within a small area. Competitors who punch the wrong control in this area are not disqualified but have to run penalty loops in the finish arena under the gaze of critical spectators.

Scientific O papers wanted:

THE Scientific Journal of Orienteering wants original manuscripts, reviews, re-prints or case reports to publish in their new on-line journal. Contact Andre Leumann at leumann.andre@gmx.ch The web address for the on-line journal is www.orienteering.org/SciJO/SciJOhome.htm