ORIENTEERING IN RED CENTRE

Orienteering in Alice Springs

Allan & Pat Miller(

Alice Springs got a real taste of Orienteering in July when nearly 300 rogainers and orienteers descended on the central Australian desert town. They were there for the 2007 Australian Rogaining Championships held at nearby Ross River Resort. Lead-up events during the preceding week included a Park & Street-O score event which started in the middle of town and a bush-O event at the Telegraph Station Historical Reserve.

Morning shoppers and café lizards in Todd Mall and nearby streets gazed in amazement as runners and walkers in gaily coloured outfits went here and there in seemingly aimless fashion, all the time staring at pieces of paper in their hands and occasionally bending down to the ground to do something with a red & white plate chained to a fence or lightpole. Jenny and John Sheahan (VIC) drafted the map in Melbourne then added lastminute fieldwork the night before the event, and set the course. The local press turned up with a reporter and a photographer to take photos and copious notes about how Orienteering was growing in popularity as a lifestyle sport around Australia. To her credit the reporter knew about Hanny Allston winning the World Orienteering Championship Sprint title last year. Word gets around ! The next edition of the Centralian Advocate later that week featured a page-and-a-half of Orienteering photos and text. The following day saw more enthusiasts take to the bush at the original Telegraph Station to sample the rock and dry creek beds and thorny bushes of central Australia. The terrain was much like that at Dubbo without the trees and grass. Great rocky outcrops rising from plains of sand and gibber (small sharp rocks). There was abundant evidence of water flow along the sandy creek beds but not a drop of water was to be seen at this time of year. Much of the undergrowth (is it still called ‘undergrowth’ when there’s no overgrowth?) was dead making passage difficult in many places. The remainder was largely spiky bushes with spiky grasses just lying in wait to deposit spiky seeds in your socks and shoes. No matter, navigation was often an interesting challenge – do we go around the rock outcrops through the spiky grasses or take a more direct route over the crumbling and ancient rock formations? John and Jeffa Lyon (SA) set several courses with enough challenge for those who wanted it but an easy run for the not-so-serious competitors. Then to Ross River Resort where some 300 rogainers gathered for the 2007 Australian Rogaining Championships. Jon Potter of Darwin’s Top End Orienteers was responsible for dreaming up the location and facilities for this event, entitled Yeperenye Yaw, and what an event it was ! With the Hash House set in the beautiful surrounds of Ross River it was always going to be a magical event. Yeperenye, the giant caterpillar, is important in the rock art and creation stories of the local Arrernta people who understand that their Dreaming, or Altyerra, which was established during the creation period, remains within the landscape around them today. Yaw, a verb, refers to a temporary deviation from a straight route. Combine these two words and you have a Rogaining experience unlike any other – ancient sea beds tilted at 70 degrees to form fantastic crumbling rock strata in deep red and ochre colours with hardy eucalypt and mulga trees clinging to any available nook or cranny. Spiky spinifex guarding the approaches to rocky knolls and even more rocky gullies where wallabies and control flags might lurk. Camel footprints on the tracks and bird life galore in the bushes and trees. Hundreds of bright yellow and green budgerigars flying in formation from tree to tree and chirping their familiar call as they go. Little finches of various kinds flitting here and there and hawks and eagles soaring slowly overhead searching for the next meal. Amongst the information provided, competitors were told that horses on the course were friendly; camels docile and apparently on a permanent valium drip; emus were lunatics and severely in need of medication; snakes were sleeping; dingoes were watching and howling from a distance; eagles and kites were magnificent; kangaroos ratbags; donkeys were bread thieves; rock wallabies gorgeous but secretive; cattle were cattle, and crows and noisy miners steal anything that isn’t bolted down. This event was a unique experience thoroughly enjoyed by all who took part. There could not be a more magnificent region to hold a Rogaine. For the record, the Men’s Open Australian Champions were Joel Mackay & Philip Whitten (NSW) and the Women’s Open Australian Champions Susie Sprague & Selina Stoute (ACT). On the flip side, Rogaining suffers from two problems which limit its attraction and potential to grow. They are the maps with poorly drawn detail; and misplaced controls on features which are either dubiously drawn on the map or are just plain wrong. There were examples of both at the Yeperenye Yaw event. Problems like this limit the enjoyment factor, which is a real pity. Rogaining also suffers from an inflexible administrative hierarchy similar to the difficulties seen in Athletics and Swimming in the 60s and 70s. They need to recognise that they are there to help competitors (their customers) rather than bind them with red tape. Athletics and Swimming have moved on. Rogaining needs to catch up.

Scale 1:33,000 contours 10m

Sheik Joy Marston (VIC) at control #63

Organiser Jon Potter (NT)

Rock solid trophies

APOC 2008 SEOUL, KOREA APOC 2008 Asia Pacific Orienteering Championships 2008 Asian Orienteering Championships 2008

Seoul, Korea July 25 – 30, 2008

The Korea Orienteering Federation (KOF) are proud to host the 15th Asia Pacific Orienteering Championships (APOC) and the 1st Asian Orienteering Championships (AOC) to be held in July 2008. The event, co-sponsored by the Korea Tourism Organization and Seoul Metropolitan Government, will offer participants a unique orienteering experience and a chance to visit dynamic Seoul. We welcome all of our orienteering friends from around the world to join in the fun and excitement!

Preliminary Program

July 25, 2008 (Fri): Model Event, Registration July 26, 2008 (Sat): Sprint, Opening Ceremony July 27, 2008 (Sun): Long July 28, 2008 (Mon): Rest Day July 29, 2008 (Tue): Middle July 30, 2008 (Wed): Relay, Closing Ceremony

Contact information

Korea Orienteering Federation Tel 82-2-318-2164 Fax 82-2-318-6005 Email: info@apoc2008.kr website: www.apoc2008.kr

The Entry Form is in Bulletin 2 which can be downloaded from the website.

Australia-New Zealand Challenge 2007

Australian Team

The Australian team to contest the 2007 AUS-NZL Challenge has been named. The competition will be staged near Canberra over two days: • Saturday 6 October. Oceania Long Distance

Championships at Boboyan Divide, at the southern end of

Namadgi National Park. • Sunday 7 October. Oceania Relay Championships at Antills

Creek about 25 kms south of Canberra off the Captains Flat

Road. W16 Krystal Neumann, Nadia Velaitis, Melanie Neumann. R1 Tamara Orr, R2 Claire Butler W18 Belinda Lawford, Bridget Anderson, Ineka Booth. R1 Aislinn Prendergast, R2 Brea Pearce W20 Heather Harding, Rachel Effeney, Jess Davis. W21 to be announced. W35 Natasha Key, Thor Egerton, Wendy Read. R1 Louise Fairfax W40 Nicola Dalheim, Clare Leung, Christine Marshall. R1 Karen Blatchford, R2 Su Yan Tay. W45 Anthea Feaver, Louise Fairfax, Jenny Bourne. R1 Gayle QuantockSimson, R2 Felicity Crosato (R3 Carol Harding, R4 Lisa Lampe) W50 Sue Neve, Robin Uppill, Carolyn Jackson. R1 Debbie Davey, R2 Hilary Wood. W55 Lynn Dabbs, Jacquie Rand, Meredyth Sauer. R1 Alison Radford. W60 Debbie Gale, Jenny Hawkins, Ruth Goddard. R1 Jean Baldwin, R2 Val Brammall. W65 Dale Ann Gordon, Ann Ingwersen, Janet Tarr. R1 Emily Quantock, R2 Helen Smith. W70 Maureen Ogilvie, Jeffa Lyon, Sue Mount. R1 Sue Healy. M16 Joshua Blatchford, Lachlan Dow, Oscar Phillips. R1 Kurt Neumann, R2 Oliver Crosato. M18 Tristan Lee, Simon Mee, Leon Keely. R1 Anthony Brown, R2 Callum Fagg. M20 Louis Elson, Morten Neve, Rob Fell. R1 Nick Andrewartha, R2 Rhys Challen. M21 to be announced. M35 Scott Simson, Graham Turner, Chris Helliwell. R1 Shane Trotter. M40 Paul Liggins, Martin Wehner, Jim Russell. R1 Tim Hatley, R2 Tim McIntyre. M45 Rob Vincent, Mark Nemeth, Mark Darvodelsky. R1 Bjorn Mella, R2 Andrew McComb. (R3 Mike Dowling) M50 Geoff Lawford, Chris Norwood, Roch Prendergast. R1 Ross Coyle, R2 Nick Wilmott. M55 Hugh Moore, Nigel Davies, Greg Hawthorne. R1 David Marshall, R2 Derek Morris. M60 Robert Allison, Tony Simpkins, Greg Chatfield. R1 Rob Tucker, R2 Trevor Sauer. M65 Alex Tarr, Peter Prime, Tim Dent. R1 John Hodsdon, R2 Ted Mulherin. M70 John Lyon, Clive Pope, Robin Simson. R1 Barry Hanlon, R2 George Reeves.

Vale Peter Jackson

1950-2007

Peter Jackson passed away on Wednesday, July 11 after a two-year battle against cancer. He was a major contributor to the sport in Victoria over a period of three decades, including a stint as VOA President during the first half of the 1990’s, and later roles as the VOA’s Mapping Officer, a member of the VOA’s Technical Committee and a regular controller for many years. He was a mainstay of the Rockhoppers club for most of its existence, and later became a founder member of the Melbourne Forest Racers. Peter was also a serious competitor at the masters level. He had numerous championship placings to his name, and won two national titles, in 1988 (M35A) and 1998 (M45A) from 24 starts. As recently as last October, with his illness well advanced, he took out the resident title in M55A at the Victorian Long Distance Championships, and was second in M55AS at Easter in his last major event. He will also be a significant loss to the Australian scientific community. Until last year he was head of the Co-operative Research Centre for Clean Power Generation, and was a leader in the effort to develop methods of reducing greenhouse gas emissions from coal-fired power stations. The Australian orienteering community extends its deepest sympathies to Peter’s wife Carolyn, and their children Adrian, Melinda and Timothy.

Blair Trewin

Peter competing at the Easter 3-days in Burra this year. Photo: Bob Mouatt

IOF Anti-doping

The International

Orienteering Federation (IOF) has decided to introduce blood testing for haemoglobin control as part of its anti-doping activities. As a first step, all elite runners participating in the World Cup events in Mjölby, Sweden, on 23 – 25 July 2007 were tested. The IOF engaged Professor Bengt Saltin, who has been a member of the World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) expert panel, to organise the blood tests and the analysis of the blood. The first blood testing took place on 22 July, and in the following three days repeat testing was performed before the start and just after the finish on 40 runners on 23 July and on 70 runners on 24 July and 25 July. In several sports, testing of athletes’ haemoglobin concentration in the blood has been a regular procedure since the 1990s. In some of these sports, specific rules exist in regard to how high the haemoglobin or the haematocrit levels can be in order for the athlete to be allowed to start in an event. At this stage, the IOF has not defined the maximum values. Thus, regardless of the value recorded, there were no start prohibitions in this World Cup event. The athletes involved in the testing were informed about their own values.

Vale Antony White

Antony, of OH-S, died unexpectedly on 22 June, of a heart attack. He was a geophysicist who taught at Flinders University, and did research in magnetic and electromagnetic phenomena in the Earth with an international group of collaborators.

Ski orienteering in tunnel!

The first ski tunnel in the world was completed 1997 in Vuokatti in northern Finland. The length is 1.2 km and the width 8 metres which makes it possible to train both classical and free technique. The height difference is 18 metres and total climb 51 metres. The temperature in the tunnel is –2 and – 7C°; temperatures down to –18 C° are possible. The tunnel is open from May to December and also in winter at times when it is too cold to ski outdoors. And now there has been a Ski-O event inside the tunnel! Map via OL, Switzerland. www.vuokattisportsinstitute.com

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

Shelagh & Colin O’Brien

Formerly of EVOC club in Tasmania, Shelagh and Colin are now managing Glen Helen Resort, some 150km west of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory. They said they miss Orienteering and are hoping there will be some more events staged

Glen Helen gorge

Shelagh & Colin O’Brien

near Alice Springs in the future. The Resort is just 10min walk from the beautiful Glen Helen gorge where up to ten species of native fish survive in the pools of the Finke River. And the endangered black-footed rock wallaby can be seen bounding across the slopes below spectacular red cliffs across the river from the lodges. Shelagh & Colin can be contacted at info@glenhelen.com.au