YORK SPRINT

Old York Town & Avon River

Shire of York 2006 Australian Sprint Orienteering Championships

York is a world beater!

John Sheahan

ESTABLISHING a precedent, Sprint-O in the small country town of York, during the Australian Championships Carnival, showed that this concept can be equally exciting in a whole range of locations. For this particular event, despite what would seem to be a very limited range of options, the organizers used every aspect of the venue to present a spectacle that showed the Sprint-O event to maximum advantage, helping to establish it as a legitimate arm of a national carnival. It was great fun for both spectators and contestants. The Location - one block of the historic York main street was closed to traffic and contained: the start; the finish; as well as a couple of controls, and a range of cafes and coffee shops for leisurely spectator viewing. The infrastructure around the competition area injected an element of excitement - a buzz - as you became aware that this event was going to be something special - something out of the ordinary. The Start - what better way to start the Elites than from the top of a Vintage Tray truck (from the York Museum) where the next starters were clearly seen by all. No craning of necks, no crowds impeding your view. The announcer’s introduction could be followed by all. From the truck tray there was a ramp to the ground where added interest came as the speedsters had to contend with a rapid angle change just as they were trying to get a first glimpse of their map. Interesting! Then off at speed up the main street, with a rapid decision required almost at once. The First Control - for some! The action started 50m from the Start. For some contestants their first control was in the main street, for others it wasn’t. Some ran too fast and overshot it. Some missed the first lane and had to come back. All of this was happening in full view of the spectators. It was action full on. Out the back - once the competitors had found the exit lane(s) it was then out onto the rest of the course which required the usual mixture of rapid reading, hasty route choice and several direction options. The hardest part for some was finding their way back through the narrow lanes and the old buildings of York. Double Action - after 10 -15mins the first starters were returning looking for one or perhaps two controls in the main street. This factor moved the action up a further notch. You had finishers and starters going in all directions in full view. There was never a dull moment! The Finish – with a 100m sprint from one end of the main street to the other backed by the encouragement of an excellent commentary by Neil Simson from the back of a Vintage Bus we were provided with a great finale to an event that showed SprintO at its best. Some who had recently completed similar events overseas in Zermatt, Lausanne, and Aarhus agreed that this event had a flair that certainly gave it an edge. The Awards - these were presented from a dais on the back of the same Vintage Truck that was used to start the Elites. Again it was very well done. All could see clearly what was happening and because of the narrow band of start times everyone stayed for the presentations. The event had ATMOSPHERE. The organizers are to be congratulated.

New Theory on Muscle Fatigue

It’s not often that researchers re-write the textbook, but La Trobe University Muscle Research Laboratory scientists have done just that. The latest edition of the Biology 1 text book for VCE students published by Heinemann carries a full page story about research led by Professors George Stephenson and Graham Lamb. The research overturned a widely-held but incorrect theory that acidity, through a build up of lactic acid, was a major cause of muscle fatigue. Professors Stephenson and Lamb discovered that the opposite is true – that acidity helps prevent muscle fatigue – and they discovered and explained the complex mechanism involving the role of chloride, by which this happens. Because many biology books had over the years espoused the incorrect facts, Professor Lamb requested textbook publishers to correct the error. Heinemann’s Biology 1 is the first to do so.

Bananas popular in Switzerland

With bananas at $12/kg in Aussie supermarkets it’s no wonder that Australians competing in the Swiss O Week were amazed to find them selling for just $2.50/kg in Zermatt. It was too good an opportunity to miss – so much so that the Swiss orienteering magazine, OL-fachschrift, carried an item entitled “Banana plundering in the Zermatt Migros”. Apparently the rapid disappearance of bananas from the shelves of the Migros supermarket each day was a source of wonder to the Swiss. No names were mentioned.