The Australian Orienteer – June 2009 by Orienteering Australia

Adrian Jackson Athlete of the Year 2008 RRP $7.50 inc GST

s n tio A i t e ILV p m S o c rom R o w es f RBE t – riz GE 7 IN h p nd e p4 W it a se w

FAITH FI0813

SILVA National Orienteering League Event Calendar 2009 Date

Race

Round 1

Location Adelaide Autumn Classic

South Australia

Sat Mar 21

Sprint Distance - AM

Sat Mar 21

Middle Distance - PM

Sun Mar 22

Long Distance

Round 2

Australian 3-day Championships

Tasmania

Fri Apr 10

Easter - Prologue (Sprint)

Sat Apr 11

Easter Day 1 - Middle Distance

Sun Apr 12

Easter Day 2 - Long Distance

Mon Apr 13

Easter Day 3 - Relay Distance

Sat Apr 18

ASC Galaxy Sprint

Sun Apr 19

Buttongrass Challenge

Round 3

ACT Championships

ACT

Sat May 16

ACT Sprint Championships

Sat May 16

ACT Middle Championships

Sun May 17

ACT Long Championships

Round 4

Australian Championships Carnival

Victoria

Sat Sep 26

Australian Middle Distance Championships

Sun Sep 27

Victorian Long Distance Championships

Fri Oct 2

Australian Sprint Orienteering Championships

Sat Oct 3

Australian Long Distance Championships

Sun Oct 4

Australian Relay Championships

All race details can be found at www.orienteering.asn.au www.silva.se

Silva is a FISKARS BRANDS company. australia@fiskarsbrands.com

Winning PartnershiP

The Australian Sports Commission proudly supports Orienteering Australia The Australian Sports Commission is the Australian Government agency that develops, manages and invests in sport at all levels in Australia. Orienteering Australia has worked closely with the Australian Sports Commission to develop orienteering from community participation to high-level performance.

AUSTRALIAN SPORTS COMMISSION 4 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER JUNE 2009

Orienteering Australia is one of many national sporting organisations that has formed a winning partnership with the Australian Sports Commission to develop its sport in Australia.

www.ausport.gov.au

w w w. o r i e n t e e r i n g . a s n . a u Orienteering Australia PO Box 284 Mitchell BC 2911 orienteering@netspeed.com.au w: 02 6162 1200 President: Bill Jones oa_president@netspeed.com.au h: 02 6258 6362 Director (High Performance): Eric Morris oa_highperformance@netspeed.com.au Director (Finance): Blair Trewin oa_finance@netspeed.com.au h: 03 9455 3516 Director (Development): vacant oa_development@netspeed.com.au Director (Technical): Robin Uppill oa_technical@netspeed.com.au h: 08 8278 3017 m: 0419 037 770 Director (Special Projects): vacant oa_projects@netspeed.com.au IOF Vice President: Hugh Cameron oa_international@netspeed.com.au h: 02 6027 0885 Executive Officer: to be advised orienteering@netspeed.com.au Manager (High Performance): Robert Preston oa_headcoach@netspeed.com.au m: 0403 296 516 Badge Applications: John Oliver 68 Amaroo Street, Wagga Wagga, NSW 2650

STATE ASSOCIATIONS Orienteering Queensland Inc: PO Box 114 Spring Hill QLD 4004. Admin Officer: Sandy Cantwell, Ph (07) 3379 8238 admin@oq.asn.au OA NSW: PO Box 3295, North Strathfield NSW 2137. Secretary: Dave Lotty, Ph. (02) 8116 9848 orienteering@sydney.net Orienteering ACT: PO Box 402, Jamison Centre ACT 2614. Office: John Suominen, Ph. (02) 6162 3422 orienteering.act@webone.com.au Victorian OA: PO Box 1010 Templestowe 3106. Secretary: Geoff Hudson, geoff@orienteering.com.au OA South Australia: State Association House, 73 Wakefield St Adelaide SA 5000. Secretary: Ken Thompson 08 8351 4757 secretary@oasa.net.au OA Western Australia: PO Box 234 Subiaco WA 6904. Secretary: Carol Brownlie Ph. (08) 9446 3457 carolnken@ozemail.com.au Orienteering Tasmania Inc.: PO Box 339, Sandy Bay, TAS 7005. Secretary: Sally Wayte, Ph. (03) 6234 8440 secretary@tasorienteering.asn.au Top End Orienteers (Northern Territory): PO Box 39152 Winnellie NT 0821. Secretary: David Rolland brolland@bigpond.com

NEXT ISSUE DEADLINE

July 17 ; Time-sensitive - July 24

ISSN 0818-6510 Issue 2/09 (no. 154) JUNE 2009

The national magazine of Orienteering Australia Inc. ABN 77 406 995 497 Published four times a year: First day of March, June, September, December. Print Post Approved PP 236080/00011 Editor: Michael Hubbert, P.O. Box 165, Warrandyte, Victoria 3113 mikehubbert@ozemail.com.au Phone (03) 9844 4878 Magazine Design & Assembly: Peter Cusworth, 8 View Street, Avonsleigh, Vic. 3782. Ph. 0409 797 023 cusworth@netspace.net.au Magazine Treasurer: Blair Trewin Printer: Ferntree Print Centre, 1238 Burwood Hwy Upper Ferntree Gully. Contribution deadline: July 17 ; Time-sensitive - July 24. Deadline dates for contributions are the latest we can accept copy. Publication is normally planned for the 1st of March, June, September & December. Copies are dispatched in bulk to State associations in the week prior to that date. Regular Contributors: Badge Awards: John Oliver; Competition: Blair Trewin; High Performance: Mike Dowling; MTBO: Blake Gordon; Official News: Kay Grzadka; Nutrition: Gillian Woodward; Training: Steve Bird; Psychology: Jason McCrae. Contributions are welcome, either directly or via State editorial contacts. Prior consultation is suggested before preparing major contributions. Guidelines for Contributors are available from the editor or from state contacts. State Editorial Contacts Qld. – Liz Bourne 07 4683 6374 (h) batmaps@halenet.com.au NSW – Alex Davey alexdavey@internode.on.net ACT – Philip Purcell philippurc@hotmail.com Vic. – SA – Claire Davill 08 8226 4381 (w) davill.claire@saugov.sa.gov.au WA – Cath Chalmers 08 9380 4049 catheoin@ozemail.com.au Tas. – Mary Hawthorne 03 6243 8616 (h) editor.oti@trump.net.au Subscriptions: State Association members via State Associations. Contact relevant Association Secretary for details. Other subscribers: Write to The Australian Orienteer, PO‑Box 165, Warrandyte, Vic. 3113. Within Australia: $40 inc GST. Overseas: Asia/Pacific (inc. NZ) $A44, Rest of World $A49. Delivery is airmail, there is no seamail option. Please send payment in Australian dollars by bank draft or international postal order, or pay direct by Visa or Mastercard. Quote full card number and expiry date. Subscription renewals (direct subscriptions only). The number in the top right-hand corner of the address label indicates the final issue in your current subscription. Opinions expressed in The Australian Orienteer are not necessarily those of Orienteering Australia.

CONTENTS AUSTRALIAN 3 DAYS................................ 6 N A T I O N A L J U N I O R C A M P .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 2 P R E D I C T I N G T H E F U T U R E .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 4 THE PERSEVERENCE CUP ........................ 16 I T A L L S TA R T E D 4 0 Y E A R S A G O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 8 WMOC 2009......................................... 20 S O U T H E R N C R O S S S E R I E S.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 2 ORIENTEERING IN THE AMERICAN NW........ 24 URBAN SCORE COURSE........................... 26 NUTRITION – CSIRO RESEARCH................. 29 L E T T E R S .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 1 ESK VALLEY WINS AWARD....................... 32 O - S P Y .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 3 M T B O T R A I N I N G.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 3 MTBO – DIRTY WEEKEND IN WOODEND....... 34 TOP EVENTS......................................... 41 C L I M AT E C H A N G E . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 2 ORIENTEERING AUSTRALIA ..................... 44 TRAINING DIARY .................................. 46

Front Cover: Lilian Burrill (QLD), has been selected in the JWOC Team to Italy this year. Photo: Paul Prudhoe

JUNE 2009 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 5 JUNE 2009 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 5

2009 AUSTRALIAN 3-DAYS

Sprint – Julian Dent (NSW) followed by Simon Uppill (SA) Photo: Mike Hubbert Day 3 – Evan Barr (VIC) heads Glenn Meyer (NSW) Photo: Clive Roper

6 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER JUNE 2009

Day 3 – Hanny Allston (TAS) Photo: Clive Roper

The Trewin Report Blair Trewin reports on the Easter Carnival in Tasmania.

2009 Australian 3-Days:

Dent and Allston return to the top

ULIAN Dent (NSW) and Hanny Allston (TAS) cemented their positions as the leading orienteers in Australia today with comprehensive wins at the Australian 3-Days in Tasmania. Both were either missing or restricted by injury for large parts of 2008, but look to have returned to something close to their best and can now look forward to performing on the wider stage. Dent had a strong rival in Simon Uppill (SA), who was in touch on all four days, but was unable to break through for a win on any of them. The lead was around two minutes after the first two shorter races, extending to four after the Long Distance day, and six in the end. The only time the NSW Stingers runner looked at all vulnerable was when Uppill had an excellent section through the middle of the Long Distance day, winning five successive splits and cutting deeply into the lead established during Dent’s fast start, but that was as close as he got at any stage. The rest were effectively competing in a different race, in what was the largest elite men’s field since the 1980s. The best of several contenders for third were Grant Bluett (ACT), Rob Walter (ACT) and Rob Preston (NSW), but it was Bluett who prevailed, a result set up with a strong third place on the Long Distance day. Troy de Haas (VIC), making his first appearance in a major national event for some time, might have been expected to challenge for third at least, but lost his chance of an overall result by mispunching on the first day and never got into the competition thereafter. The women had a contest for the first two days. Allston made two errors in the Sprint Prologue and had to settle for third behind Kathryn Ewels (VIC) and Shannon Jones (ACT). She was still a little below her best the next day with a two-minute mistake at #10, but others stumbled too in the low-visibility eucalypt plantations, giving her a three-minute break to take into the Long Distance day. From there it was one-way traffic, as she had nine minutes in hand on the Long Distance day, and more remarkably seven on the relatively short last day, stretching the final margin to around 20 minutes. Ewels was best of the rest, ahead of fellow Victorian Jasmine Neve, who looks to have improved over the summer, particularly over the longer distances that have tested her in the past. There was also a career-best result for her older sister, Mace, who took fourth with a good final day, while Shannon Jones (ACT) was also solid in making up the top five. A good contest was anticipated in the junior women’s, where four 2008 JWOC Team members all entered the week in decent form. It proved to be less of a contest than anticipated; Belinda Lawford (ACT) made a statement early with an impressive Sprint and went on to win the event comfortably, winning three out of four days and finishing seven minutes clear of the field. The close contest was behind her with the next three separated by less than two minutes. Bridget Anderson (QLD) took second, while Sarah Buckerfield (TAS), who indicated that she has taken a big step up

with an impressive four-minute win on the Long Distance day, edged out Krystal Neumann (QLD) by two seconds for third. M20 was closer at the front. Joshua Blatchford (NSW) had a disappointing Easter last year after going in with high hopes, but was always at or near the front in 2009, and set up his eventual victory with a three-minute win on the Long Distance day. (The Long day was not quite as critical on paper this year as in some recent years because the lack of a last-day chasing start meant there was more scope to gain or lose a lot of ground, but the decisive breaks at the front were still made then). Lachlan Dow (ACT) was not always at his peak but was consistent enough to take second, while Max Neve’s (VIC) equal-first on the last day got him into the placings. Leon Keely (VIC) won two days but lost his overall chances when he punched the wrong second-last control on the Long Distance day. The younger junior classes are often rather thin at Easter with no State teams present, and such was again the case in Tasmania, but there was still room for an M16 contest between two Canberrans, Ian Lawford and Oliver Poland. Poland was very impressive in the Friday Sprint where he placed fourth in M20 (as he would again the following weekend), but over the three main Easter days Lawford was comfortably the stronger, with Poland needing a good last day to edge Karl Bicevskis (TAS) out of second. W16 was a largely Tasmanian affair with Rebecca Phillips emerging as the best of the bunch. Many of the veteran classes were won by relatively comfortable margins. The terrain around Launceston was largely enjoyable (assisted by kind weather) but not exceptionally technical, especially for the shorter courses, and numerous classes took the form of the fastest runner opening up a margin on the first day and gradually building on it over the next two. There were only three veteran classes with last-day lead changes, all of them women. The pick of these was W60, where only 29 seconds separated Ruth Goddard (VIC), Jenny Hawkins (NSW) and Debbie Gale (TAS). All three led at times on the last day, and Kathy Liley (VIC) also got close, but in the end it was Hawkins who prevailed after having the most consistent run of the leading group. The other two classes were two-horse races. W35 was close throughout but Suzie Kluth (formerly Hogg) (ACT), in her first major event appearance for a long time, reversed a one-miute gap against Martina Craig (NSW), while Maureen Ogilvie (NSW) conceded seven minutes to Jeffa Lyon (SA) on the first day in W75 but pulled that back over the last two to win by just over a minute. (Craig’s husband, Steve, marked his return to Australia with a emphatic victory in a thin M40 field). A number of statements were made by Australians who will be strong medal candidates at the World Masters Championships later this year. Jenny Bourne (ACT) set up her comprehensive W55 victory by winning the first day by 13 minutes (on a 31-minute course). Geoff Lawford (M50-ACT) and Hugh Moore (M60-ACT) both totally dominated local opposition; they were pushed a little by Swiss opponents, Toby Imhof and Ernst Baumann, but both still won all three days and won easily. New Zealanders, or former New Zealanders, made their presence felt in a number of classes. Graham Fortune took out M65, although not without some nervous moments late in the piece when a four-minute loss on the third-last control saw Tim Dent (VIC) cut his margin in front. Ted van Geldermalsen (VIC), a regular presence towards the front since settling in Australia several years ago, broke through for a rare win in M55, over Nick Wilmott (NSW), in a class otherwise notable for Roch Prendergast’s (VIC) final-day surge from ninth to third. Gillian Ingham (NSW) won the first day in W50, but struck trouble at the first control on the second, which proved to be decisive as she had to settle for second behind Liz Abbott (ACT). JUNE 2009 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 7

2009 AUSTRALIAN 3-DAYS

Stingers lead the way in SILVA National Orienteering League Blair Trewin

HE senior men’s trophy for the SILVA National Orienteering League is almost certain to have a new name on it in 2009. After 15 years of domination by the Canberra Cockatoos – only interrupted by Victorian Nuggets’ wins in 2003 and 2007 – the NSW Stingers, led by Julian Dent and with an impressive array of depth behind him, have had an exceptional start to the 2009 season, achieving maximum points from each of the first nine rounds, and only a total collapse in the second half of the season will see them fail to achieve their first series victory. Their closest rivals, the Southern Arrows (SA), also went into this year hoping for a first title but look as if they will have to settle for second. The senior women’s competition is in more familiar territory, with a close battle for the lead between the Nuggets and the Cockatoos, in a competition that is likely to be decided by the quality of available back-up for the lead runners from each State. The Victorians fared a little better in this department in the last part of the Easter week and take a six-point lead into the May races in Canberra. The Tassie Foresters are also still in touch, but will need more support for Hanny Allston – which may happen if Grace Elson returns for any of the late-season events – if they are to challenge for the lead. The Tasmanians are faring better in the junior competitions, leading the way along with the Queensland Cyclones in both competitions. In the men’s competition the Tassie Foresters lead the Cyclones by two points; the positions are reversed in the women’s, with the Cyclones holding a solid and probably unassailable lead. The junior individual competitions are well-contested this year with the carrot of a trip to Europe for the series winner with the largest margin. Belinda Lawford (ACT) is the front-runner for this at present, opening up a 19-point lead after winning three of the four days of Easter, but a win on the final day of the carnival by Bridget Anderson (QLD) has kept her in touch, and Aislinn Prendergast (VIC), with some low scores to drop, may also move into contention later in the year. Joshua Blatchford (NSW) and Lachlan Dow (ACT) are currently well ahead of the junior men’s field, with Blatchford leading by five points, despite Dow producing the performance of the season to date with a sixminute win at Lively’s Bog; the other one likely to challenge later in the year is Leon Keely (VIC), with four wins but only two other scores to date. Day 3 – Hanny Allston (TAS) Photo: Clive Roper

8 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER JUNE 2009

Day 3 – Julian Dent (NSW) Photo: Paul Prudhoe

The senior individual competitions, despite a larger number of races (10) counting this year, are both virtually decided at the season’s halfway mark. Julian Dent (NSW) has won nine times from nine starts in 2009, an unprecedented sequence in the League’s history, and has opened up a 54-point lead. A single fourth place from any of the remaining seven individual races would be enough for him. Equally remarkably, Simon Uppill (SA) has eight second places from eight starts (he was course-setter 1 for the Long Distance race in SA) and has an equally strong hold on second, while Grant Bluett (ACT) has enough points to have the inside running for third. Hanny Allston (TAS) is almost as much in control as Dent – she is 35 points ahead and, unlike Uppill, none of her closest rivals 2 have a zero score to drop. There is a good battle for second in store between the two Victorians, Kathryn Ewels and Jasmine Neve. Neve started the better with two seconds and a third in South Australia, but Ewels moved to a narrow lead at Easter and extended it to 10 points with two second places on the carnival’s 3 final weekend.

Benbullen Day 3 – Rachel Effeney (Qld) Photo: Clive Roper

It takes more than a little heat to ruin an SI box… Jim Laver

W Benbullen

Day 1 – W17-20E Scale 1:10 000

HEN Barbara Tassell and Jim Laver were putting out controls the day before the Fonthill mini-Rogaine during the Easter Carnival in Tasmania, they noticed a burning log in the vicinity of one of their control sites. The wind was blowing away from the control site and that night it rained quite heavily but neither of these factors saved the control! Next day, when competitors reached the control which was on the side of what remained of a gorse thicket, the flag was burnt down to its wire frame and the punch was melted and inoperable. The casing of the SI box had melted and a perspex ‘icicle’ was hanging from its distorted base (see picture). But amazingly the SI box still worked! An impressive performance. The circuitry must be very robust!

Map scale 1:10000, Contour interval 5 metres, Grid interval 250 metres

JUNE 2009 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 9

Day 3 – Julian Dent (NSW) Photo: Clive Roper

Prologue – Neil Barr (VIC) at the ‘water control’ Photo: Debbie Dodd

Brookstead

Day 3 – M17-20E Scale 1:10 000

Day 3 – Dave Hogg (ACT) Photo: Clive Roper

Day 3 – Cath Chalmers (WA) Photo: Clive Roper

10 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER JUNE 2009

Sp Ph

print – Brian Keely (VIC) and Lee Andrewartha (TAS) hoto: Mike Hubbert

Prologue – Josh Blatchford (NSW) Photo: Paul Prudhoe

Windfalls Day 2 – M21E Scale 1:15 000

10A-Arabella Phillips(EVT) & Heather Lane(POA) Photo: Catherine Phillips

JUNE 2009 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 11

NATIONAL JUNIOR SQUAD

Day 1 – Aislinn Prendergast (Vic) Photo: Mike Hubbert

The Easter JWOC Training Camp Lachlan Dow

– Lachlan Dow(ACT) (ACT) Day Sprint 1 – Belinda Lawford Mike Hubbert Photo: MikePhoto: Hubbert

Back Row L to R: Josh Blatchford, Oscar Phillips, Max Neve, Leon Keely, Callum Fagg, Lachy Dow. Front row L to R: Nick Dent, Bridget Anderson, Sarah Buckerfield, Lilian Burrill, Krystal Neumann, Belinda Lawford, Aislinn Prendergast, Hilary Wood

N Easter Monday at the conclusion of the Australian 3-Days the team to compete at this year’s Junior World Orienteering Championships (JWOC) was announced. The team is: Men: Joshua Blatchford Lachlan Dow Callum Fagg Leon Keely Max Neve Oscar Phillips

Women: Bridget Anderson Sarah Buckerfield Lilian Burrill Belinda Lawford Krystal Neumann Aislinn Prendergast

But as the saying goes, there is no rest for the wicked, and after four days of hard racing we were whisked away to a super-secret training location by Nick Dent and Hilary Wood, i.e. the St Helens Youth Hostel. Here we were met by Julian Dent and Hanny Allston, who were to help out for a few days during the camp regarding training, racing and travelling. The team was excited and enthusiastic. 12 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER JUNE 2009

JWOC is to be held in Italy in July this year, and much of our training camp was spent discussing the terrain and environment of the competition area: the Dolomites. This means steep hills, high altitude, a hot Mediterranean summer and understanding at what times of the day Bolognaise could be eaten. The Sprint will be held in a small Italian town with many alleyways, roads and the odd olive grove. We also discussed ideas for travel to the training camp to be held in Italy the week before JWOC. On Tuesday we conducted an easy training session on the mining map Jason’s Task, and our start triangle and changeover area was surrounded by huge piles of scallop shells that had been dumped there after the scallops had been processed, which posed the route choice of around or over, the latter comprising of a lot of sliding back down the pile and an enormous clatter of crashing shells. Wednesday morning we donned our polar fleeces and beanies and headed to Mount Pearson in freezing weather. The training session was practicing long legs and orienteering

Sprint – Max Neve (Vic) Photo: Mike Hubbert

Sprint – Oscar Phillips (Tas) Photo: Mike Hubbert

Day 1 – Belinda Lawford (ACT) Photo: Mike Hubbert Sprint – Sarah Buckerfield (Tas) Photo: Mike Hubbert

downhill. We practiced route choice and navigation on legs of up to 2km long and navigating legs with up to 80 metres of descent. We were all happy to make it back to the hostel for lunch. On Thursday we returned to the mining detail map of Chiron for practicing Middle Distance techniques, such as short length controls and exaggerated direction change. The course turned and looped many times around a certain area so Nick and Hilary could keep a keen eye on our skills while Julian and Hanny followed our progress through the bush and gave out valuable advice when needed. After lunch the rain set in for our mass start with split controls at Littlechild’s Creek (other orienteers who had gone to Cradle Mountain after Easter were being snowed upon). The bush was thick and the marshes full of “cutting grass” and those who chose not to wear adequate clothing paid dearly. In preparation for the Galaxy Sprint and Buttongrass Challenge, Friday was a rest day. Although no ice baths or

recovery spas could be found, the swimming hole at Douglas Apsley National Park was more than adequate, with freezing water and warm flat rocks to dry off on, although some chose instead to see how far they could throw stones. After fish and chips in Bicheno we drove back to St Helens, where Hilary lead a session on mindfulness, based on the article in the last issue of The Australian Orienteer. The team stayed together in St Helens with a day trip and an early start to Launceston for the Galaxy Sprint. Nick thoughtfully produced a spreadsheet of our splits from the morning’s race, and Anna Sheldon discussed travelling and orienteering. After a long and very helpful camp and the Silva NOL race at Livelys Bog the JWOC team left for home. Many thanks should be given to Nick Dent and Hilary Wood who organised and ran the camp, as well as Julian Dent and Hanny Allston for their experience and advice and the time they put aside for us. We came away a motivated JWOC team looking forward to Trentino, Italy. JUNE 2009 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 13

BACK TO THE FUTURE

Predicting the Future Victorian Orienteering Championships, 2009 by Margot Jones, Bendigo, Victoria

In Isaac Asimov’s “Foundation” series the science of Psycho History was established by Hari Seldon as a means for predicting the nature of future events. But it seems that Bendigo orienteer Margot Jones was way ahead of Asimov. In an article in The Australian Orienteer in April 1990 Margot Jones predicted certain outcomes of the Victorian Championships in 2009 – more than nineteen years into the future. The VIC Long-Distance Championships in question will not take place until the end of September. Meantime, for an insight into how they may be run, read on. (We are indebted to Ian Hassall (IK.N) for drawing our attention to this article.)

HE tracks into competition areas never seemed to improve, not through all the years he had been coming, thought Bayside’s oldest Orienteer, Ian Baker. He programmed his Golda into rut-evade-drive, wondering how many in his age class would attend! Ranks had thinned in the past two years and it was likely that there would be only twenty or so M75As, despite the Government Edict that everyone must follow a sport actively. In his age class most chose to run B Grade. A final bend and he was there. Switching to ‘park’ he started looking to see if he could see any others of his class. The Golda’s sensors worked perfectly, reversing in between a scatter of rocks to a grassy patch in the shade. Last weekend it had selected a spot in the blazing sun - but still, it had been fairly cool. First, the Registration van. He placed his hand in, punching in his VOA number, and the time he needed to prepare. A quiet buzz or two and out came his card. Start time, 10.40 am... perfect! He checked the sub-total... fifteen M75s had registered already. Good. Still time for others to arrive. Chat and a laugh here and there and he collected a Sponsor’s bag from the Tuckonie Club van. Oh no .. not Vitamin E tablets again, but he was glad of the Ankle-gel which he used every event, a chance to win a trip to Perth and the usual clutter of promotion leaflets! Ross and Peter Wymer zipped past as he walked back to his car. Asking as usual, if Shirley had made any of those butter biscuits and could he take a Boy and his O-bag back to Beaumaris after the event! Had he seen Keith Holmes’ new Russian ute? How was he? Was his back any better? They were already too far away to answer, but Ian knew they would be back for biscuits and the lift home. 14 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER JUNE 2009

He started applying his ankle-gel. No art to it really, wonderfully supportive, yet flexible, and only a moment or two to set! His brand dissolved away in water, after the event and did not have to be ‘lifted’ off! Gear on, compass (Silva Norther, only been on the market a year), glasses in case, and also important, tinnies in the Golda’s fridge compartment. Attending to his stretches, he noted he was in good time. So he slowly jogged to the Start, and put his Register Ticket in the Start Whizz. It clicked busily. BEEP. He inserted his hand as identification proof - 1 minute to ‘GO’ he read. He moved to the far end of the Start Whizz and with 30 seconds to go, it issued his map, with his name and number printed on it, magnetic strip on its northern end, clue descriptions in LARGE print, and course clearly etched in bright translucent ink, so that he could read the features under the red-line. It had been much easier since the introduction of 1:5,000 scale for all over-50 orienteers. He had his hand over the ‘reader’ and immediately the Start Whizz buzzed GO, he took it off, oriented his map and began. Best route was following a shallow gully down to a rock-face, then ninety degrees to contour across three small spurs. It worked well. He saw his depression, ran to the recorder, placed his hand in... knowing that it registered his success and time. No-one could take controls out of order with these gizmos, he thought. Moving off, to begin his second leg, he carelessly let his map turn, and the magnetic strip went bright red. Quickly he righted it, checked his compass then started across to a ridge of rocks. He would use the boulder at their end as an attack point for the pit. He noted his course crossed over itself between #6 and #7. No problem these days with the Recorders. No need of manned controls, and the information was immediately beamed back to

So now we know how Ian Baker will go in the Victorian Champs later this year. A “Recorder”

the Central Register, to be displayed on small screens so that each of the A Grade classes could see how their rivals were doing! Nearing his pit, the lithe and lovely Emma Elcombe dashed across his path. Australia’s first World Champion! He saw Mace Neve just a little way behind. Concentrate man, he murmured and read his way in to the Recorder, small, sturdy, light, ideal really... though sometimes he wished they were a brighter colour. Distracted momentarily by Adrian Jackson racing in to Record also, he set off down a steeper gully than he should have to #3, a small boulder-cluster, and this was later to cost him time. Hot and a little annoyed he reached it eventually and noted that it was in temporary malfunction. It was flashing ‘replacement coming’. Not to worry... he merely inserted the corner of his map in the emergency slot, manually operated the lever and stamped the evidence of his success there. He checked that it had and began a dicey slither down to the creek. Luck was with him. He found an easy crossing through the blackberries and an animal track leading in his direction. He left the animal track as it crossed through old diggings, and located from a run of small rock-faces which took him directly to his shallow gully. His back twinged a little as he bent to register, though a brief glimpse of a determined Melinda Jackson racing straight up the hillside cheered him up. And so he went on - taking good care to keep his concentration centred on the task. He felt pleased. He had gone well today. As he ran in under the Finish banner, surrendering his map to the wide-slot of the Finish Register, then pausing long enough to extend his hand for print identification, he heard his name called: ‘Had a good run’?’ It was old Jarl. Jarl looked rather pleased too. Together they walked over to read their times and present placings.

Runners came in constantly and mostly drifted down to look at the result-screens before going back to their vehicles to change and generally refresh themselves. Groups gathered fairly close to the Register, for it was almost time for the last start - then they could have their maps. 1 pm! The machine signalled ‘no further starts’ and whirred busily. It was not long before ‘Map Collection’ was signalled and the orienteers quickly queued behind the appropriate drawer. Victorian maps were always sorted into Courses. So Course 1 runners queued at that drawer, and as each competitor registered, his map was zipped out. Now the chatter really waxed furious, with courses being compared and route choices argued over. Ian noted that there had been 23 in his Age Class and at present he was lying third. Ian Hassall had come down from Sydney, and as usual won by 10 minutes - but Ian was still pleased with his run for the day. With a bit of luck he might hold his position. One DNF? Someone either went to the wrong control... took one out of order, or perhaps was too tired to complete the course! He hoped nothing had gone wrong. Ian had a word with the Organiser. Only one machine had malfunctioned and everything else had gone well. He recommended the toasted sandwiches they were selling, but Ian had come prepared with his own - which he toasted in his Golda’s Picnic module! Then, like the others over 50, he collected his tag, as evidence of sport participation, so he would be tax-exempt, and joined the group waiting for the presentations. Alas he had slipped to 4th, as Neville de Mestre had a blistering time. Still, it had been a top event!

JUNE 2009 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 15

NAVIGATION

The Perseverance Cup or how I managed to remain in the bush for 236 minutes and 52 seconds Jim (I wonder where he got to) Bowling

There is a trophy in the Queensland orienteering calendar that is somewhat unique. Awarded once a year at the Queensland Championships, it is at once shunned by all but still accepted with happy smiles by whoever the current winner should be. It is the Perseverance Cup, and I have been the winner of this trophy. I would like you to share my triumph.

Y now the Queensland Championships at Leyburn Diggings will be a fond fading memory for most of you. But for me it will still be a bright shining glorious event. It was the event where I achieved the pinnacle of my success as an orienteer. I am the proud winner of the Perseverance Cup - that much coveted prize for the orienteer who can remain in the bush longer than anyone else and still return home through the finish chute. Some of you might say, ‘It’s easy to win that.’ But let me tell you, it is the most difficult trophy of all to win. It takes hard work, dedication, skilful misreading of the map, and most of all, perseverance. You must also be able to make every mistake you’ve made over the years all within the time it takes to run one course. After 20 plus years of orienteering I felt that this was my year. I knew there were quite a few serious contenders who had beaten me in previous years, but this time I had a cunning plan. Here is how it went. Not wanting to be too obvious I started my run in good form. Along the watercourse, across the hillside with the dam on the right, over the saddle and along the gully on the left, then into the next saddle. This is where the first part of my plan began. Making sure no-one was close by to see me I skirted down to the left instead of moving across the hillside on my right. Naturally I thumbed my map across the hillside. I was able to cross, and ignore, a gully, a hillside, and a couple of patches of green that were not on my thumbed track. I then used some boulders, which were in the wrong place to attack my control. This should have led me directly into the control; instead I sighted a major track through the bush. Now, I realised that if I went to the road I could quickly relocate and I would be on my way again. Instead I proceeded to run in a wide circle until I had returned to near where I was when I started. (Did you get that?) Running in a circle is fairly difficult and takes practice. Basically what you have to do is take a short step with your right leg and a long step with you left leg. This ensures that you will circle endlessly about until you wish to change direction. At that time you just change legs. I don’t want to give away too many secrets so we will continue. Eventually stumbling onto the road I proceeded to ignore my compass telling where North was, and forced the map to fit the contours and gullies nearby. This little exercise consumed about ten minutes. By running up the nearest gully I crossed over my previous track and casually watched Trevor Sauer and David Firman galloping in a beeline across the hill and through the far saddle. Since I had been looking for my first control for 30 minutes I felt I should move on. So, up through the saddle and along the 16 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER JUNE 2009

ridgeline which would lead me to my control. This is where the organisers assisted me greatly. (I really must thank them.) I was now looking for a 7-metre high boulder, and was within 80 metres of where it should be. Surprise, surprise, I could neither see the boulder, nor any formation that could support such a boulder. My (perseverance) cup runneth over. My time out was approaching 39 minutes when I happened to glance down at some jumping cactus and spied a control cunningly hiding behind a 0.7-metre high boulder. Drat! There it was. Never mind, I had found the 1st control in 40 minutes and felt that my grasp on the Perseverance Cup was sound. In a state of euphoria I galloped, (read trotted), down the hillside, through the watercourse junction and contoured around the far hill. Reaching the next saddle I moved off to where my next control was. Forgetting for a moment my cunning plan, I slyly kept myself between a large tree and Tony Tavner-Corner as he moved off in the wrong direction. Sure enough, there was my control nestled in the gully. Controls #3 and #4 were spiked without trouble and I was really tearing up the course. Leaving control #4 sanity prevailed as I realised I was in imminent danger of forfeiting my trophy. However, I soon got back on track and proceeded to find two unmapped gullies, one misread group of rocks, and a watercourse I went up the wrong way. My plan was back on track! I was able to stumble about in the area for at least 30 minutes, finding all sorts of beautiful control sights, but luckily not mine. Then Lynne Cavanagh came along and almost spoilt it. (I realise now she was in the pay of the opposition). Without hesitation Lynne asked if I was looking for the 5th control. Reluctantly I said “yes”. Smiling maliciously she triumphantly pointed to the map and said, ‘We’re here, on the watercourse junction.’ This could mean disaster for me! However, never let it be said I can’t think in a crisis. Quickly looking around I spied a jumble of rocks on the far side of the watercourse and looking Lynne straight in the eye told her it couldn’t be, as those rocks weren’t mapped. Not giving her a chance to refute my argument, I rapidly made off down the watercourse in a generally eastern direction (I think). This encounter just goes to show how a momentary lapse of concentration can ruin your whole plan! So, down the watercourse, along the ridgeline and relocate. I ignored my first relocation point and gamely carried on until I found three cliffs, two earth banks, and a major watercourse junction. Deciding I could no longer ignore the signs I turned about and ran (?) up the watercourse until I stumbled on my 5th

control happily waiting in its gully. Looking at my watch I realised I had excelled myself. At least 47 minutes to find the 5th control. Not only that, but the leg was half the distance of my first one! I now felt confident in my quest. I have to say that the last group of controls were no bother. However I did have a moment of concern at the 9th. But I needn’t have worried, as I overran it and almost stumbled on the finish area before turning back into the bush. I gamely punched the last control and crawled up the finish chute. Rhonda, who had been in for so long she thought it must be Sunday by now, hailed me as a champion. Looking at my results a little later I felt that I had excelled myself. With a creditable run on Sunday I was sure I could achieve my goal and win The Perseverance Cup. Sunday was a doosey! I completely forgot my plan until the 7th control. Luckily I managed to lose myself between #6 and #7. After a moderate time finding one control twice, I located the toilets at the Start, which sent me on my way. This little diversion not only clinched my grasp on the Cup, but also managed to put me two minutes behind my nemesis, Chris Spriggs. I’ll get you yet Chris! * I would like to note that the winning time for Day One was 47 minutes; I managed to spend that much time on one control! Now that’s perseverance! I just love it when a plan comes together. JUNE 2009 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 17

40TH ANNIVERSARY

It all started 40 years ago Way back in the 1960s Orienteering was a little known activity outside Europe though its popularity was spreading fast. It was 40 years ago that Tom Andrews introduced this “new Swedish sport” to unsuspecting Aussie lovers of the outdoors. This coming August will mark the 40th anniversary of the first event which Tom organised at Upper Beaconsfield in Victoria on 23rd August 1969. The event started on the verandah of the Pine Grove Hotel. The hotel burnt down in the 1983 Ash Wednesday fires and was rebuilt in 1984. Fortunately for Orienteering history the rebuilt hotel is still there today. The following extracts are from The Australian Orienteer, August 1989, which was then celebrating 20 years of Orienteering – how time flies when you’re having fun.

Pine Grove Hotel

of interest for me. Seeing the competitors sprinting to the finish at Uppsala gave me the idea to try organising a similar event on my return to Australia. Armed with advice from Sweden, I contacted Peter Wills-Cooke, a shot putter/discus thrower at the Richmond Harriers, whose father owned an acre property at Upper Beaconsfield, some 40 kilometres east of Melbourne. Little did I know then that Victoria’s state forests would have provided much better terrain and maps than the privately owned land at Upper Beaconsfield.

Beaconsfield Revisited The Organiser Remembers Tom Andrews organised the event and learnt the fundamentals of Orienteering in the process:

All we had was a 1:63,300 (1 inch = I mile) black & white map, which we enlarged, and set out a couple of courses. The longer one covered about 5 miles and crossed nearly 20 properties. Each owner was contacted to explain reasons for access request. Explaining Orienteering was like introducing a new religion! (Time-consuming!). One owner refused access, due to dogs, which meant reducing the courses. (Again time consuming for a couple of rookies).

Y first exposure to Orienteering was in June 1969 when, during a business trip to Sweden, Alvar Kjellstrom, the managing director of AB Broderna Kjellstrom (Silva Compasses), took me to see the Swedish Orienteering Championships at Uppsala. Alvar Kjellstrom, with his older brothers Arvid and Biorn were Swedish Orienteering Relay Champions in the early 1930s.

Peter finally drew the map, enlarged it to 4 inch = I mile. I set the courses and prepared clue sheets. After visiting the chosen control points, most had to be changed again. At that stage

Having a few years earlier retired from track and field competition with the Richmond Harriers, running still held a lot

CHRONOLOGY OF AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEERING

Orienteering ‘pre-history’ 1947: First Melbourne University Mountaineering Club 24-hour walk 1955-1957: Orienteering events held in SA; South Australian Orienteering Association formed (later disbanded) 1962: Orienteering events organised in Canberra for Canberra Bushwalkers 1964: First intervarsity (unofficial) 24-hour walk 1965: Paddy Pallin Orienteering Contest started 1969: First official intervarsity ‘orienteering’ (24-hour Rogaine) 31 May 18 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER JUNE 2009

compiled by David Hogg

1969

• I naugural event held at Upper Beaconsfield (SW of Melbourne) - 23 August • F irst organisation to describe itself as an O-club (Richmond Orienteering Club) • F irst Victorian Championships (You Yangs) - 21 December

1970

•V ictorian Orienteering Association and Orienteering Federation of Australia formed - 21 April • T he Victorian Orienteer (forerunner of The Australian Orienteer) commenced publication as a newsletter – May

• F irst OFA Annual General Meeting - 22 May (in Adelaide in conjunction with Intervarsity Orienteering)

1971

•O rienteering started in Canberra (Black Mountain) - 16 May •A CT Orienteering Association formed - 14 October •O rienteering started in NSW – November • F irst ACT Championships held (Pierces Creek Forest) - 21 November

• F irst Australia-New Zealand Challenge and first Australian Championships held (Puckapunyal, VIC) - 28 November • F irst formally constituted O-club formed (Bennelong Occasional Orienteers)

1972

•B jorn Kjellstrom (Silva) visited Australia •A ustralia joined International Orienteering Federation (fee paid by Bjorn Kjellstrom) • F irst ‘interstate’ challenge ACTOA vs Bennelong (Penrose State Forest) - 20 February

I did not know how to use a compass with a map. I remember opening a Silva compass pack, getting out the instructions pamphlet and trying to learn the Silva 1-2-3 system on the way to Control #1 from the chosen starting point. One control description point was ‘clearing with a good view’, which was subsequently joked about in an issue of the British Orienteering Federation’s magazine. Between the above chores, we obtained about 20 four-gallon drums and painted them red and white (2 weekends). Each weighed around 4 kilograms. Tom Andrews

•O rienteering Association of NSW formed – March •V ictorian Orienteering Association organised into clubs • F irst major interstate Orienteering competition (in ACT with VIC & NSW participation) - Queen’s Birthday weekend • F irst Australian to run in World Championships (Rod Dominish in Czechoslovakia) •S ki-Orienteering event held at Mt Baw Baw (VIC) - 27 August • F irst Tasmanian event held (The Lea) - 9 September • F irst Australian team to visit New Zealand (November) - open men only

With two to three weeks to go, I contacted the media with the news that a ‘new sport from Sweden’ was about to be introduced. Notices

1973

•R oland Offrell (Sweden) visited Australia to instruct in mapmaking •O rienteering Association of Tasmania formed - 6 March • F irst full colour O-map – Mt. Egerton, VIC – event held 18 March • F irst interstate Easter competition (Canberra) - used colour maps including first map to show granite detail (Smokers Gap) •A ustralian Championships held on colour map (Camp Hawkes-bury, NSW), incorporating AustraliaNew Zealand Challenge with women’s and veterans’ classes

of invitation were sent to bushwalking and athletics clubs. On the day about 28 starters took part. We also attracted three officials from the Victorian Amateur Athletics Association (VAAA), mainly to observe that the code of ‘amateurism’ was not tampered with. This was running and they controlled running and all Harrier activities were the VAAA’s responsibilities. However, as there were no notable professional athletes taking part and no big monetary prizes they left us alone with a warning to officially advise them of any future events that involved running! The start and finish took place at the Pine Grove Hotel in Upper Beaconsfield. The hotel

•O FA Technical Committee formed • F irst Orienteering event in Western Australia conducted • F irst Orienteering Relays conducted (Bostock Reservoir, VIC) - 9 December •O rienteering re-introduced to South Australia.

1974

• F irst Australian team to World Championships (Denmark) •O rienteering Association of WA formed - 1 August • F irst Orienteering event in Queensland conducted •Q ueensland Orienteering Association formed • F irst event in northern Tasmania 1 October

• K areelah Easter Three Days event held in Royal National Park, NSW •D etailed granite map produced for Australian Championships (Murray’s Corner, ACT) - Queen’s Birthday weekend • F irst Australians competed in Swedish O-Ringen Five Days JUNE 2009 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 19

40TH ANNIVERSARY

WMOC 2009

provided an old shed in the back that was used as changing rooms and a single shower.

World Masters Orienteering Championships 2009

The media coverage was unbelievable, despite the event clashing with the last round of the VFL home-and-away matches. Both Channels 7 and 9 were there and provided television coverage, plus the Sun, Age and Herald newspapers. The Melbourne scandal tabloid ‘The Truth’ sent their top reporter, Evan Whitton, who took part in the event and wrote a story with photos that ran to a page and a half. One of the participants was MUMC member Annabelle Roth, who competed wearing very brief shorts. Blackberries and bracken left a number of marks on her legs at the end. The Truth’s page 7 headline was ‘The Girl with the Lacerated Legs’. The story continued to page 8, subheaded ‘Shower was Her Reward’. The first event may not have been an outstanding success, judging by the two dozen or so entries, but the interest created by the media and word of mouth from those present laid a sound foundation for subsequent events.

10th – 18th October 2009 Nick Dent - Event Director ndent5@bigpond.com

As the Event Director for the World Masters Orienteering Championships which will be part of the Sydney World Masters Games I would like to firstly provide you with some background as to why we are holding the World Masters Games in Sydney and why Orienteering is part of those Games; and secondly to request your involvement either as a competitor or as a volunteer or as both.

Tom Andrews

Some Background

The Winner Remembers Ron Frederick, a veteran of 24-hour walks and a member of the winning team in the inaugural intervarsity `orienteering’ competition, was the fastest finisher:

HERE was significant media publicity about a forthcoming ‘orienteering’ event to be held at Beaconsfield, 45 kilometres south-east of Melbourne. As I had enjoyed MUMC 24-hour walks (now called Rogaining), I thought it would be interesting to try participating in a shorter event. The day was fine and on arrival at the assembly area (beside the Beaconsfield Pub) I noticed that Tom Andrews and a number of fellow members from the Richmond Harriers appeared well set up with much bunting and many time-keepers. The controls consisted of four-gallon petrol drums painted red and white. Some had self-inking stamps attached. The map was of course black & white, a scaled-up version of the 1:63,360 army map. One checkpoint was located in an orchard and I was most impressed to find that each tree had an individual dot on the map with the checkpoint being therefore easily located within the orchard. My attire was t-shirt and shorts and Dunlop Volleys. I still have kind thoughts for the organisers as I apparently dropped my control card between the last control and the finish. They recorded my time when I first crossed the line but then allowed me to go back and look for my card which I successfully did. The finish of the event was also beside the Beaconsfield Pub. Such a choice was appreciated by many competitors. On August 23rd this year Bayside Kangaroos will conduct a Victorian State Series event at Ridoni’s Paddock, near Daylesford, commemorating 40 years of Orienteering in Victoria. 20 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER JUNE 2009

In October Sydney will be the host for the 7th World Masters Games. They have previously been held in Australia twice - Brisbane 1994, and Melbourne 2002. The Games involve 28 sports for competitors 35 years and older. Orienteering is considered a “core” sport and as such it is part of the World Masters Games every four years. Edmonton, Canada was the location for the last World Masters Games in 2005. The International Masters Games Association (IMGA) owns the World Masters Games and awards the right to host the event through an organised bidding process every four years. Based in Lausanne, Switzerland, the IMGA comprises 17 members of the General Association of International Sports Federations and their sports form the core of the World Masters Games competition. The International Orienteering Federation is a member of the IMGA. The NSW government has appointed the Sydney 2009 World Masters Games Organising Committee (SWMGOC) to be responsible for organising the Games. The Orienteering Association of NSW on behalf of Orienteering Australia has therefore been invited to participate in the Games. Since the IOF has stated that the World Masters Orienteering Championship which is held every year must be part of the World Masters Games, OANSW has the responsibility for organising the Orienteering events which the IOF rules say are part of the World Masters Orienteering Championships. The OANSW has appointed a committee to fulfil this responsibility. This means that NSW will have hosted two international Orienteering events (JWOC 2007 and WMOC 2009) in just over two years. This is quite a task especially given the amount of effort that went into JWOC 2007. The organising of this event is unusually complex because the committee is required to work with two organisations that are imposing their particular requirements on the committee. SWMGOC have certain conditions which make the normal organising of an Orienteering event go from the straight forward to the complex. We continually have to negotiate around barriers which would not normally be there. Also we do not control the financial side of the event so we are totally dependant on SWMGOC from a financial perspective. They have decided to set one entry fee for all sports, something over which we had no say. The IOF have competition rules which must be followed and also have established “Guidelines for the World Masters Orienteering Championships (WMOC)”. Sometimes there is a conflict between

s Qualification map

Final map

the requirements of the two organisations (SWMGOC and the IOF). This is most obvious in the Entry Fee which SWMGOC have determined. This is made up of $220 entry fee plus an additional World Championships Fee $55. The IOF, OA and OANSW have levies attached to international events. These levies are not accepted by SWMGOC and therefore they will not pay them. The only way for the IOF to receive their levy payment was to have the World Championships Levy added to the entry fee. This is an ongoing issue which has existed at least since Melbourne 2002. It is something that the IOF needs to address as a member of the IMGA as it has a significant impact on the event and has proven to be a difficult situation for the committee to be in, trying to negotiate a suitable outcome. Something as Event Director I have not been able to do, hence the two level entry fee for Orienteering. The other area where there has been disagreement is in the promotion and marketing of the World Masters Orienteering Championships among the Orienteering community both internationally and nationally. SWMGOC have been unwilling to allocate money for sport specific promotion and marketing. They are focusing on the promotion and marketing of the World Masters Games not the sports. This is despite the major recommendation from the Edmonton Games that promotion should focus on sport specific promotion and significant funding needs to be allocated for this promotion. The money that we have been given for promotion and marketing is coming out of the World Championships levy ($55) and not from the overall SWMGOC budget. We are effectively spending the OA and OANSW levies on promotion and marketing. This has severely impacted on our promotion and marketing.

The Events Despite these issues we are focused on organising another world class Orienteering event to follow on from JWOC 2007. We have some very technically challenging areas for the Sprint events both of which are in Sydney - Qualification at Macquarie University and Final at Sydney Olympic Park. The Long Distance events will be in the Lithgow area. Qualification #1 will use an area 15 minutes from Lithgow – gully/spur eucalypt forest with areas

of complex sandstone rock (previous map “Long Swamp”). The second Qualification and the Final of the Long Distance events will be new maps in Clandulla State Forest (55 minutes from Lithgow). This forest varies from fast open gully/spur terrain to complex sandstone rock detail. The same arena will be used for both days. There will be an event centre at Lithgow Showgrounds with camping and motor home accommodation. There is more event information available at www.wmoc2009. orienteering.asn.au - this information will be regularly updated.

Special request to all NSW Orienteers To help us in our aim of organising a world class event we are making a special request to all orienteer’s in Australia to support the event. One way to support the event is to enter and be part of the excitement of competing in the World Masters. The other way to support the event is to register as a volunteer on the World Masters Games website - www.2009worldmasters.com We need to develop a key group of volunteers from the Orienteering community who are willing to give some of their time to help organise this event. Even if you have entered and or plan to enter, there will be opportunities for you to help in the organisation. So please enter and also register as a volunteer. If you do this we will be in contact with you to discuss ways that you can help. SWMGOC are promising that all volunteers will receive the following benefits • Sydney 2009 World Masters Games accreditation pass and sports bag; • Free public transport on Sydney trains, ferries and buses; • An allocated seat at the Sydney 2009 World Masters Games Opening Ceremony; • Entry to the Sydney World Masters Games Closing Ceremony; • Access to the Sydney 2009 World Masters Games social hubs; • Entry to the Sydney 2009 World Masters Games Health and Lifestyle Expo; • A souvenir style Sydney 2009 World Masters Games Commemorative Program; • A discount booklet for use at selected Sydney restaurants and tourist attractions; • A certificate of participation; • Uniform and sunscreen; • Meals/refreshments whilst on duty; • Access to free of charge parking allocation. It will be a great event with challenging Orienteering and a chance to meet many overseas orienteers. We would like to see you there competing and if possible we would like your help so please volunteer. JUNE 2009 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER

Southern Cross Series Bruce Arthur Southern Cross Series Director

A triumphant Vic Country team

HILE the SILVA National Orienteering League continues to go from strength to strength, the level of elite competition at State level in Victoria has been only modest in recent years. Although many top class orienteers reside in Victoria, it was rare for more than five or six orienteers to compete in the State Series competitions. With minimal competition, and long, lonely courses, the level of enjoyment was often not enough to encourage top orienteers to attend regularly. Surely, with so many elite orienteers, top coaches, great maps and technical terrain, a better product could be presented for bush orienteering at the State level. So in 2009, the Southern Cross Series was created. The objective of the Southern Cross Series is to provide high performance orienteers with regular opportunities for competition within Victoria, and to prepare orienteers for the SILVA National Orienteering League.

A series of twelve races was created, utilizing mostly existing scheduled events for a team-based competition between Victoria Metro, Victoria Country and the Interstate Raiders. The Interstate Raiders team is open to anyone who represents a State other than Victoria, but given the large number of elite orienteers that have relocated to Victoria from interstate, the strength of each of the three teams is actually very even. Usually Orienteering is an individual sport, but one of the key components of this Series is the team aspect. Each team has a captain who nominates seven runners in their team before the race across open men, open women, junior men and junior women classes, forming seven match races. The winning team of each race is determined by awarding points; 3, 2 and 1, according to the placings in each of the seven match races. Thus the competition between the 7th seeded runner in each team is just as important as the top seeds. Innovative formats and courses are encouraged. SportIdent is used in all races which allows mass start and head-to-head

Some of the Vic Metro runners: Jasmine Neve, Bruce Arthur, Aislinn Prendergast, Matt Schepisi 22 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER JUNE 2009

Match race sprint course with 3 runners starting together

Rob Preston and Hanny Allston – two Interstate Raiders

match racing formats with multiple loops and butterflies in small technical areas. On many occasions, multiple races are scheduled on the same weekend, or even two races have been scheduled on the same day; usually a Sprint race following the State Series race. This provides further incentive for elites to attend and get maximum value for their travel and time. The additional races have been setup in and around the assembly areas using existing controls, with minimal extra effort. Spectator involvement is also a major feature, demonstrating fast and exciting racing to the public. After 7 races so far this year, the success of the Series has been fantastic. Top orienteers from all over Victoria have embraced the Series. Competition in the open classes has been unprecedented, with around 25 men and up to 20 women competing in each race. This has helped lead to a resurgence in attendance at the Victorian bush event State Series this year, defying recent trends.

The team competition is also proving to be exciting and close with only a handful of points separating all three teams midway through the series. Interest has spread interstate, with several orienteers from South Australia traveling to compete in several of the races. Going forward, the invitation is open for orienteers from other States to travel and compete for the Interstate Raiders. Many of the national women’s team has been involved, and they enjoy racing the men often and even beating most of them on many occasions. For 2010, the Southern Cross Series will look for clubs to bid to organize races in the Series, encourage teams to obtain distinctive uniforms, and hope to attract a naming rights sponsor. Further information and results can be found at http://www.vicorienteering.asn.au/highperf/southerncross/

Some of the Vic Country team: Evan Barr, Kathryn Ewells, Bryan Keely, Mary Fleming JUNE 2009 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 23

GLOBETROTTING O

Casual Orienteering in the American North West Matthew King – Bayside Kangaroos

My daughter went to Lulea in the north of Sweden (near the Arctic Circle) on a student exchange in 2008. So, of course, my wife and I had to visit her. Unfortunately, I never got a chance to do any Orienteering in Sweden, but we returned via Canada, Alaska and Seattle and I managed to participate in three events, two in Vancouver and one in Seattle.

I hit the swamp. Forests in Vancouver are either quite dense underneath or swampy but relatively clear of undergrowth. The swampy areas consist of little islands of earth covered in trees and it is a challenge to find your way from island to island. One of the swamp controls was quite difficult to find but I had the satisfaction of seeing a number of locals also struggling to find the control. The third event was two weeks later; it was the Gig Harbour Street Scramble. The event was held on a Saturday morning at Gig Harbour near Tacoma about an hour’s drive south of Seattle. It was very much like a Melbourne

HE first event was on a Wednesday evening in Vancouver, held in Ambleside Park, just north of the Lion’s Gate Bridge joining North and South Vancouver. The instructions were to meet beside the kiosk in the park for a 7pm start. At 6:30 I turned up – no-one around. I wandered around looking for Orienteering flags but found none. At about 7pm I found a number of people by the kiosk - this was it. We wrote our names on a sheet of paper and the “starter” let us go at about 30sec intervals in the order our names were written down. There was one course with the option to finish early by missing a number of controls after passing the Finish the first time. The park had some quite dense vegetation and several of the controls were quite difficult to locate. Some interesting aspects of the event were - the controls were little red flags about 20cm high which you needed to touch before moving to the next control; there were no control cards, just the honour system; there was a control in front of a “homeless people’s doss” in the forest; and, you were not disqualified for climbing the 2metre fence to cross the railway line (Melbourne metro evening Orienteers understand this comment)!

At Gig Harbour there were tents set up by sponsors: health companies taking blood pressure; the police, fire brigade and even the local aquarium had exhibits.

The second event was the following Sunday - a club type event. This was held at Rice Lake in North East Vancouver in a beautiful pine forest. It was also National Orienteering Week in Canada and there were quite a lot of beginners attending to try out Orienteering. This event had a 10am start and an option of three (short, medium and long) courses with Sportident. I chose the medium course because I had limited time and was unfamiliar with the terrain. First control was a rock on top of a small hill – well I found the hill but where was the rock? First lesson - rocks in Vancouver are green and blend in with the vegetation because they are covered in moss! I was doing OK (the locals thought the course and map were quite technical) until 24 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER JUNE 2009

Ambleside Park Scale: 1: 5 000

Map printed here at 75%

Street event and more like a fun run/metrogaine than an Orienteering event. There are a number of these events held annually around Seattle and they are organised by a company run by an orienteer who sells the organisation of the events to the local councils.

Rice Lake in North East Vancouver.

At Gig Harbour there were tents set up by sponsors: health companies taking blood pressure; the police, fire brigade and even the local aquarium had exhibits. The police started the event by blocking the street while runners crossed at the start. Sponsorship included a free tee-shirt for pre-registration, food and drink after the event, a ribbon for every competitor and medals for the prize winners. Gig Harbour was $0 entry fee - covered by a sponsor; other street scrambles do have entry costs. There was a 90min and 3hour event and you could change mid-way if you decided you would be late for the 90 min finish. Lots of families, babies in pushers and kids on bikes and people generally out to enjoy themselves. The format was like a Rogaine with participants required to circle the correct answer at the control points and 30 minutes to review the map prior to the start. I participated in the 90min event and was four minutes late. I did find some of the controls a bit obscure – but they were all where they said they would be. I did notice when I was finishing that I had the wrong attitude to this event. A significant number of 3hour starters had gone along the north shore to visit controls and were taking their mid-event break at one of the many cafés that lined the foreshore of Gig Harbour, before picking up the controls on the south shore. I thoroughly recommend participating in local events if you are travelling overseas and have a few spare half days. Orienteers the world over are friendly, like us, and are pleased to have you involved and it provides a new dimension to your Orienteering by trying someone else’s approach in another part of the world. I even took my Bayside Kangaroos t-shirt and wore it at the events!

Rice Lake

The key to participating in events overseas, as a tourist is to have researched the events before arriving and having a definite idea of which events you may participate in when you arrive. If you know an event is on and you are free you only need to register or even just turn up (if it’s a minor event). I had slotted the events I thought I might be able to enter in my travel itinerary and only needed to register if I discovered I had free time.

Scale: 1: 10 000 JUNE 2009 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 25

URBAN ORIENTEERING

Urban Score Course – Challenging Tales from the Course Setter Glenn Horrocks – Garingal Orienteers, NSW

There are many challenges in organising an Orienteering event, but this article will focus only on the course setting for an Urban Score Course. The article uses the Macquarie Hospital event held on 29th October 2008 as an example

The first and most important task is to decide what the event aims to achieve. For an Urban Score Course I see the following challenges: F Easy navigation - about Green orienteering level. F Route Planning - for the experienced orienteers the event should:

a. Challenge their ability to plan an effective route;

b. Challenge their ability to run the course at speed;

c. Have a winning time for all controls of about 45 minutes. F Suitable for inexperienced orienteers by making:

a. All controls easy to find;

b. A variety of controls close to the start/finish;

c. All controls are “in play” – there are no controls which are not worth the time taken to get them. F Event safety - the main issue for this event is the busy roads. F And most importantly - the event should be fun! Now the aims of the event have been determined, all course setting decisions should be made to achieve these aims.

Easy Navigation – Green Level Green level courses can have controls on linear features (tracks, fences, watercourses) or obvious point features (man made objects, rocks) close to strong linear features. All controls should be able to be found by following linear features, but cross-country “shortcuts” between linear features is to be encouraged. This is harder than a Blue level course where a checkpoint must be placed on each change in direction (such as track junctions), and easier than Orange level courses where legs can be set which require compulsory cross country navigation. On most Urban maps it is not possible to set courses much harder than Green level as the terrain is usually streets and urban parklands. Where the possibility of harder controls exists the course setter must resist it – it would 26 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER JUNE 2009

not be appropriate for an event where beginners will be competing. Therefore in the example event all controls were placed on features suitable for Green level orienteering.

obvious point feature in a parkland, control #11 on a track and control #29 on a point feature which is obvious from the parkland next to it. All these controls can be reached via tracks and parklands, but cross country legs from #10 to #11 or #29 to #11 will encourage experienced orienteers to try a cross country leg as a short cut. During course setting I walked both these potential short cuts to check the terrain was correctly mapped and the scrub levels acceptable.

Route Planning

Figure 1 - Checkpoints on linear features or obvious point features

An example is the setting shown in Figure 1. Control #10 is set on an

A key factor of an Urban Score event is challenging route planning. In a good course there will not be an obvious way to connect the controls together, with the result being that in the event competitors do a wide variety of routes. I received several comments that this

event was well set so I assume people found planning a route challenging! However I must admit I set the controls by putting a control in every corner of every park. After doing this I saw that there was a broad spread of controls and no obvious way to connect them – easy!

Running Course at Speed This, along with running speed, will be the factor which decides the top couple of competitors in each class.

All Controls Easy to Find This was achieved during the field check of the control sites to make sure all sites were clear and described with no ambiguity. An example was control #23. Originally it was placed on a distinct vegetation boundary (marked in blue in Figure 3). While the site looks fine on the map, when you are actually there the area has light tree cover throughout and the transition from open tree covered ground in white to open grassed area in yellow was definitely not distinct. The control was moved to the embankment a little NE where the feature was much more distinct and therefore suitable for an event at Green orienteering level.

Figure 2 - Macquarie Hospital is easy navigation but the changes of direction are tricky at speed.

An example of my attempt to achieve this objective is shown in Figure 2. Even though each individual control here is simple and would present little challenge to an experienced orienteer, what I tried to do is make it so that as the competitor leaves one control the direction to head for the next control is not obvious. For instance the leg from control #20 to #1 on the most direct route involves going in a direction with no distinct feature to guide you in. The road is crossed at an acute angle which gives little assistance to your position. However this leg is considerably simplified by the road to the SW of #1 which is a strong catching feature to guide people into this control – the hospital grounds was not big enough to spread the controls out more!

Course Length From measuring what I thought was the optimum route in previous Urban events over the years I use 9.5km as a typical course length for the winner in 45 minutes on a fast course (ie mainly roads). If the course is slow (ie lots of slow bush tracks) the distance is about 8.5km. For the course I set here I worked out what I thought was the best route and measured it to be 9.8km. As this is a little longer than my normal length I expected the winner to finish in about 46 minutes. As it turned out, Richard Mountstephens won the event by getting all controls in 45 minutes exactly, so the winner was slightly faster than I had expected. Richard’s run is particularly noteworthy as the event was held after a wet and rainy day so all the tracks were wet, slippery and slow.

I also had a variety of controls in the Pidding Park sports oval, the misshapen layout of the hospital grounds and the bush tracks in the region south of Pidding Road. These controls were worth a significant number of points (the remainder of the course is significantly more spread out) which means even the most unfit competitor can get a few points, and tends to bunch the scores together. People feel happier when they do well and the top of the leaderboard is in sight. It is disheartening being beaten by miles by the top runners. I wanted even the most unskilled competitor to find a generous number of controls so they felt happy about their efforts rather than only finding a few and being beaten by miles.

All Controls “In Play”

Original site for 23 Figure 3 - Control #23 had to be moved to a distinct feature

A second factor was the use of thick, high-visibility tape at each control. Often the tape was more visible than the control. If you were close to the control I wanted you to see it straight away. People should not be hunting around for hidden controls.

A Variety of Controls Near the Start/Finish To achieve this aim I set three checkpoints in Garran Park (the Start/ Finish location) itself (#7, #17, #26), and another two close by (#18, #21), as shown in Figure 4. The hospital had another six and the small track network south of Pidding Road had three (#2, #16, #24). All of these controls should have been easily reached by even the least fit competitor.

Figure 4 - Controls near the Start/Finish

When a competitor looks at the map, no matter what their orienteering skill, all controls should be “in play”. That is all controls should be worth an amount of points matching the time and effort required in getting the control from the controls immediately adjacent to it. There should be no obvious lonely controls which are clearly not worth enough points to warrant visiting. This means controls which are a longer distance apart should be worth more points than those close together. This is best demonstrated by two examples of bad course setting: 1. Don’t set a low value control which requires a huge effort to get to “just for the top runners”. All this does is make top runners who leave this control out get 590 points (out of 600) and those who do get it come back late and end up with about the same score. 2. Don’t think that controls need to be given higher scores as they get further away from the Start/Finish. If the controls are worth more as you go further away from the Start/Finish then one minute’s running a long distance from the start/finish will get you many more points than one minute’s running at the same pace near the Start/Finish. This tends to needlessly spread the scoring out as only the faster runners can get into the region of high points and the less fit people are stuck with lots of low value controls. Controls should be scored so one minute’s running anywhere on the course gets you points at the same rate. In fact I like to bias the scoring such that the scoring rate near the Start/Finish is faster than at the edge of the course, as this tends to: JUNE 2009 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 27

URBAN ORIENTEERING

•b unch the scoring up as the inexperienced orienteers can also get into the area of high scoring rate; •e ncourage the top orienteers to spend some time near the Start/Finish. This means new orienteers are more likely to see the top orienteers on the course during the event and see their skill in action – this gives them something to aspire to.

least a block before turning down a side street. This means you have a fair bit of time to cross the road without having to stop and lose time – and there should be no reason to take a dangerously small gap in the traffic.

Event Safety Quarry Road and Pidding Road are the two busiest roads on this map. Twin Road and Badajoz Road are also a bit busy. As course setter you have to trust the competitors to be sensible crossing roads, but the course setter can help safety by: 1. Minimising busy road crossings. A busy road should be crossed no more than twice – once to get out there and once to get back. You should not encourage people to cross busy roads any more than this by setting controls which require zig-zagging across a busy road multiple times. Thus the course was set so the main busy roads would be crossed once to get into a region of several controls and crossed once to return. 2. If crossing points like underpasses or pedestrian bridges exist then place a control in the middle of it so competitors will use it rather than crossing the road. Even if the control is a short distance from the safe crossing point some sneaky competitor may think they can save a few seconds by taking their chances on the road. The example event had no underpasses or bridges on the map so this could not be utilised. 3. It is safer to cross a busy road while travelling along it rather than trying to cross it directly. If you are running along a road on the footpath and want to cross it you can keep running until a break in the traffic appears, then cross. This means you are unlikely to lose much time on the road crossing as you can keep running until a break in the traffic appears. If you are crossing straight across a busy road, then if the road is busy the only thing you can do is to stop and wait. As a competitor this is frustrating. It is time lost and can be a safety problem as in the heat of competition somebody may be tempted to take a risky crossing. Take for example connecting control #21 to #15 or #4, as shown in Figure 5. This leg would require crossing busy Badajoz Road, circled in blue. To maximise safety on this leg I made it so you would have to run along Badajoz Road for at 28 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER JUNE 2009

Figure 5 - Checkpoints set to make road crossing safer. Badajoz Road, a busy road, is highlighted in blue.

Make the Event Fun! To achieve this aim I thought about what I enjoy in an Urban Score Course and tried to incorporate these concepts into the course. Things like: 1. I enjoy exploring obscure back-alleys, the far corners of parks few people visit, and local highlights (like waterfalls, lookouts, interesting monuments). To achieve this I put controls in lots of parks, alleys and back lanes of the map. Not one boring control was placed “just” on a road. Three controls were placed on interesting local spots (see Figure 6): Control #22 was on a great little waterfall which was running strongly because it rained during the day before the event; control #24 was placed on a fascinating old bridge with sandstone buttresses; and control #17 was placed high above Gannan Park, overlooking some unusual terracing. As you could see control #17 from the Start/Finish it was great fun to see people going for this control by all sorts of different approaches.

Figure 6 – Above: Control #22 was on a waterfall. Right: Controls #17 and #24 on interesting features

2. I enjoy going to new places, and seeing things like parks and hospitals from the unusual perspective of an orienteer. Macquarie Hospital has been in many events previously but it has always been a long way away from the Start/Finish so only the fast people could get there. This event gave me the opportunity to let everybody have a play in the hospital. Additionally, in the Field of Mars parklands the area around controls #12, #13 and #22 have not been fully used in previous events (see Figure 6), and extension of the map south of Quarry Road and Pidding Road meant I had a new area with a few new tracks and parks. 3. I don’t enjoy climbing hills any more than is necessary. The area used for this event is undulating but not as hilly as some Urban maps. No controls were set on top of hills or the bottom of valleys where the only option is just to climb back up again. Control #17 was probably the closest one to being a “pointless climb” but it was such a great spot I had to use it. 4. I don’t enjoy unavoidable doglegs (controls where the only option is to backtrack the way you came in when exiting the control). Every control had at least two approaches. Control #22 (see Figure 6) had only one track leading to it so was a dogleg if you did not leave the tracks, but the option of going cross country to the north was possible and several competitors did that during the event. That is a summary of a few of the things I considered when setting this Urban Score Course event. For those who have not yet done the hard but fun work of course setting – hopefully it makes you think about what a course setter is trying to achieve and appreciate the effort that goes on behind the scenes.

URBAN ORIENTEERING NUTRITION

CSIRO research leading to healthier foods In the not too distant future, a bowl of cereal, muesli bar, sandwich or steaming bowl of pasta will not only satiate the appetite but have highly targeted nutritional roles.

SIRO’s Food Futures National Research Flagship is developing new grain varieties and tailoring fibre content to optimise health benefits to consumers. Cereal grains are major sources of dietary fibre, an important contributor to human health. Dietary fibre fractions, such as non-starch polysaccharides (NSP), have the potential to lower cholesterol and the glycaemic response of foods as well as to promote regularity and improve bowel health. New grain varieties with improved health benefits also have the potential to be easier to process, thus saving on energy.

Benefits of fibre and NSP FIBRE is important because of its contribution to human health, including promotion of regularity, improved bowel health and, in the long term, protection against diverticular disease. Total dietary fibre consumption has been associated with lower risk of colorectal cancer. Fibre components can also lower plasma cholesterol and lower the glycaemic response of foods. Dietary fibre is that fraction of the edible part of plants or their extracts that is resistant to digestion and absorption in the small intestine, usually with complete or partial fermentation in the large intestine. The main contributors in typical diets are NSP (e.g. pectin in jam), resistant starch (e.g. high amylose maize) and oligosaccharides (e.g. inulin derivatives found in artichokes). Dietary fibre also includes lignins such as those found in wheat bran. The benefits of increased consumption of cereal NSP include enhanced laxation and the associated lowered risk of diverticular disease, and a possible reduction in the risk of coronary heart disease, diabetes, certain cancers, especially of the large bowel, and obesity. Human trials have shown that the soluble NSP found in particular grains, such as oats and barley, lower plasma cholesterol. Most of these issues will be of interest and concern to many older orienteers. Nearly all starch is consumed as cooked foods and is broken down into glucose in the small intestine, where it is absorbed into the body. However, resistant starch – the fraction that escapes digestion in the small intestine and passes into the colon, where it is broken down by resident bacteria – has important health attributes. Amylose, one component of starch, has been targeted because of its established health benefits. It is more resistant to digestion so it releases glucose more slowly, leading to a low glycaemic response. Research suggests that it can promote bowel health, reduce colorectal cancer risk and improve the control of blood glucose. Controlling blood glucose is important in managing Type 2 diabetes and may also help lower the risk of obesity.

Reducing food waste CSIRO is also working on ways to reuse the fruit and vegetable materials which are currently wasted during food processing. The beneficial fibres and bioactive components from these waste

streams can be added back into processed food products to replace currently added gums and stabilisers. Food processors waste between 20% and 40% of the vegetable material they process. Such items as stalks, skins, cores, outer leaves, etc, are all sent to waste. It is known that one food manufacturer discards 8,500 tonnes of apple, pear, peach and tomato components each year. Many processed foods have textures which are controlled by added gums and stabilisers such as guar or xanthan. By working out how these additives create texture and mouth feel, CSIRO researchers hope to develop ways to replace them with natural additives developed from the current fruit and vegetable waste stream. Components such as broccoli stems, apple cores and peels, oranges and lemons waste, and grape seeds and skins from wine making, are being targeted for reuse. Researchers are finding ways of reducing the unhealthy components of processed foods and of adding back many phytonutrients and antioxidants which consumers are missing in their regular diets. As well, natural colours and flavours may be extracted from these fruit and vegetable wastes. Researchers have already developed a colour palette made from 100% natural colourings.

The gluten problem Gluten is a protein found in wheat, rye, barley and oats. Eating gluten triggers an auto immune reaction in people affected by coeliac disease, resulting in intestinal inflammation and damage. One in 100 Australians have coeliac disease (although four out of five are as yet undiagnosed) and the only management option is life-long avoidance of products containing gluten.

Gluten free beer Sorghum, millet or corn based gluten free beers are commercially available. However these products lack the authentic taste of barleybased beer. By Australian law, a gluten free product must contain no detectable gluten. This is 5 parts per million or below, with current testing methods. CSIRO scientists are now working to produce barley varieties with gluten levels below the acceptable limit for coeliacs. Barley is genetically simpler than wheat, so achieving a gluten free barley variety is faster. This is an important proof-of-principle step on the way towards producing a range of gluten free cereals. In barley, the class of gluten-like proteins is called hordeins, and these are toxic to coeliacs. Scientists are working to remove these hordeins from barley. They started by combining two non-genetically modified barley mutations bred in 1975 by the Carlsberg Laboratories in Denmark. These mutations make the plants very low in hordein, providing a perfect starting point for the project. These lines have been crossed to reduce the hordein in the grain by over 90 per cent. Work is proceeding to further reduce the hordein level in barley. The initial taste tests on beers made from barley with 90 per cent reduction in hordeins are promising. The gluten free characteristics will be bred into current malting varieties, suited for growth in Australia, which will reduce the price of the final product to consumers. If all tests and research are successful, barley gluten free beer may be available on the Australian market by 2014. www.csiro.au/ff JUNE 2009 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 29

NUTRITION

Lupin-enriched bakery items may slash blood pressure, boost heart health

CIENTISTS at the University of Western Australia in Perth have found that bread enriched with lupin kernel flour, at the expense of wheat flour, may reduce blood pressure and boost heart health. Overweight and obese men and women who consumed the lupin-enriched bread experienced decreases in their systolic and diastolic blood pressures of 3.0 and 0.6 mm Hg respectively, according to findings published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. “These results suggest that a diet moderately higher in dietary protein and fibre can significantly reduce blood pressure,” wrote the researchers, led by Jonathan Hodgson from the University of Western Australia. “They also confirm the potential of lupin kernel flour as a novel food ingredient to bring about these outcomes. This approach may be a relatively simple and acceptable dietary measure for helping to reduce cardiovascular risk in overweight and obese persons.” Lupin flour has been earmarked as the next major competitor to soybean as a high protein source. Lupin (Lupinus angustifolius L.), is the major grain legume grown in Australia and production exceeds 800,000 tons per year. Used mainly for stock feed, since 2001 lupin bran and flour have been used in Australia in food formulations as a substitute for more expensive traditional cereal grains. The average protein content of lupin is just over 30 per cent, compared with 44 to 48 per cent in soybeans. In Europe, the flour is already being used in bakery and pasta products because it can replace eggs and butter to enhance colour, and additional potential uses of lupins are in crunchy cereals and snacks, baby formula, soups and salads. In addition to the protein, lupin flour is also said to contain non-starch polysaccharides which act like both soluble (oat fibre) and insoluble (wheat bran) fibre.

group. The pulse pressure of participants in the lupin-flour group also decreased by 3.5 mm Hg, but the researchers noted no change in heart rate. The researchers could not pinpoint the mechanism causing these changes since “a range of mechanisms may be involved”, they said. One such possibility is the high content of arginine, which is a known precursor for the vasodilator nitric oxide. “The decrease in blood pressure could result from an improvement in vascular tone mediated by nitric oxide, a potent endothelium-derived relaxing factor,” wrote the authors. “However, it is difficult to speculate on the mechanisms behind the observed differences in blood pressure, given that multiple factors in the diet - protein, carbohydrate, and fibre - were changed,” they added.

Role for lupin in weight management Previously, Dr Hodgson has reported that lupin flour may increase satiety and play a role in weight loss. A study from 2006 reported that eating a breakfast containing lupin bread resulted in significantly higher self-reported satiety than a group eating white bread, and a lower energy intake (488 kJ less) at lunch by the lupin bread group than those eating the white bread breakfast. Eating the lupin-enriched bread at lunch also reduced betweenmeal energy intake (1028 kJ less) than the white bread lunch (American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 84, pp. 975-980). Source: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2009, Volume 89, Pages 766-772 “Effects of lupin kernel flour-enriched bread on blood pressure: a controlled intervention study” Authors: Y.P. Lee, T.A. Mori, I.B. Puddey, S. Sipsas, T.R. Ackland, L.J. Beilin, J.M. Hodgson

Study details Dr. Hodgson and his co-workers recruited 88 overweight and obese men and women with an average age of 57.9 and an average BMI of 30.6 kg/m2, and randomly assigned them to receive either a white bread group or a lupin kernel flour enriched bread group for 16 weeks. Both interventions contributed between 15 and 20 per cent of the participants’ usual daily energy intake. At the end of the study, results for the 74 people who completed the study showed that systolic and diastolic blood pressures decreased by 3.0 and 0.6 mm Hg, respectively, in the lupin-flour 30 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER JUNE 2009

Orienteering Australia – National Training Centre

Letters

The Australian Orienteer welcomes letters. Preference will be given to letters which are concise and which make positive points. The editor reserves the right to edit letters, particularly ones which are longer than 300 words.

Courses for Older Competitors

hen we went to WMOC in Portugal in 2008, the oldest female competitor was 94 years old. The organizers not only set an extremely short course of just over 1km, but they also shadowed her at a distance of about 100m. That was not to help her with navigation but lest she fell over. I started just after her on one of my “runs” and saw it all happen. My reason for recounting this is because I believe that Orienteering Australia should consider the ageing orienteering population and add to the courses offered at a national event an “Optional Oldest Course”. People such as Herman Wehner obviously need no such special treatment but Bob Walker would have benefitted from the option of a very short course with just a modicum of navigational challenge. He might have been able to finish his course on all three days at Easter, a goal which he had obviously set himself. As it was he was unable even to finish Day 1. I hope that Orienteering Australia may see its way to easing us out more gently! Jeffa Lyon (Tintookies, SA)

OR I ENTEER I NG PUBL I CATI ON S IOF Publications

Australian Publications

International Specifications for‑Orienteering Maps . . . . . . . . . . $11.00 Competition rules for IOF events. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $11.00 Control Descriptions. . . . . . . . . . . . $11.00 Simple Maps for Orienteering . . . . $11.00 Trail Orienteering (BOF book) . . . . . $30.00 Trail Orienteering (booklet). . . . . . . . $8.25 Trail O (leaflet) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $0.70

Elementary Orienteering Instructors‑Manual. . . . . . . . . . . . . $13.20 Level 1 Coaching Manual. . . . . . . . $22.00 Level 1 Coaching Syllabus . . . . . . . . $3.90 Level 2 Coaching Syllabus . . . . . . . . $4.40 Level 3 Coaching Syllabus . . . . . . . . $4.40 Among the Best Orienteers (video).$19.75 Sponsorship & Advertising, 1996 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . available from states Club Guide, available on disc.

Prices include GST and postage within Australia for single copies. Prices for bulk orders available on request. Orders should be addressed to Orienteering Australia, PO Box 284 Mitchell BC 2911, with cheques made payable to Orienteering Australia. Email: orienteering@netspeed.com.au

VICTORINOX AWARD The Victorinox Award goes to Jeffa Lyon from Tintookies, SA for her letter. Jeffa will receive a Victorinox Voyager with 20 tools and features including a watch/alarm/timer; retail value $109.95.

Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority JUNE 2009 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 31

DEVELOPMENT

Esk Valley Orienteering Club wins Minister’s Award for Excellence

ASMANIA’S Esk Valley Orienteering Club recently received recognition for its primary sport Orienteering program as the recipient of the Minister’s Award for Excellence at the Tasmanian Sports Awards held at Wrest Point in Hobart on March 13. The program is a partnership between the Launceston State School Sports Association, a group of mainly physical education and classroom teachers responsible for a Friday afternoon primary school sport program which includes basketball, super 8 cricket, softball etc, and Esk Valley Orienteering Club members. Initiated in 2003, ten schools participated in 2008, involving a total of up to Mike Dowling, Miriam Whittington, Valerie Brammall and John Brammall at awards night. 250 students each week in a series in Launceston parks and reserves over a ten week period. The real improvement had been seen in the attitude to the In accepting the award as both the President of EVOC sport. Initially teachers chose students who didn’t fit the and a key organiser of the program, together with Valerie mould for the other sports on offer, the not-so-fit or turnedBrammall and the secretary of the LSSSA Justin Cudmore, on by sport. Now the students were asking to be selected John Brammall recognised that the nature of Orienteering for Orienteering and teachers in some instances weren’t able events, requiring course planning, setting up and collection of to bring all who wanted to participate. And for the first time, controls, maintenance of maps etc, was beyond what could following an incentive scheme and a talent identification be expected of teachers in the time available for conducting recognition initiated during the 2008 program, an influx of such an event. students from the LSSSA series have appeared with their He explained that the successful partnership between the families at the introductory club events in the new year midteachers and the club was responsible for the development of week program run by the club. childrens’ skills and their enjoyment of the program. On the one hand there was the technical expertise and ongoing professional development through weekly updates to the teachers by the club’s coordinator of the program, Valerie Brammall and, on the other, the instruction and management of the children by the teachers. In addition a number of regular volunteers from the club assisted the children out on the courses and the increasing knowledge and enthusiasm of the teachers contributed to the success.

32 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER JUNE 2009

The club was represented at the Sports Awards dinner by John and Valerie Brammall and two of the more long-term volunteers assisting with the program, Peter Hoban and Ken Saunders. Also attending were the president of the LSSSA Malcolm Hales and co-ordinator Justin Cudmore and past and present presidents of Orienteering Tasmania, Miriam Whittington and Mike Dowling. Mike relished the opportunity to celebrate the winning of the award as his first official duty as President.

Rob Lewis to coach WOC Men’s Team

O-Spy Most Countries record

ORMER World Orienteering Champion and creator of the Park World Tour, Jörgen Mårtensson of Sweden, has competed in 100 countries. He achieved this mark late last year on one of his Orienteering tours. Interestingly, there is only 70 member countries of the International Orienteering Federation, so Jörgen has been taking the sport to a large number of nonmember countries.

New General Manager for NZOF

ORMER President of NZOF, Rob Crawford, is now their General Manager. Rob commenced orienteering in 1978 and has at various times served as National Squad Manager and President. One of his goals is to further develop the NZOF youth strategy. He says “Our sport has a lot of great qualities, including being able to continue to compete as we gather grey hairs, but thanks to time and mortality the future of anything is dependent on the next generation coming through”.

Great Train Race

ANNY Allston has won the women’s section of the Puffing Billy Great Train Race held on May 3 last. Hanny’s time of 47min 7sec for the 13.2km hilly course through Melbourne’s Dandenong Ranges compared well with the fastest male time of 42min 44sec. Both winners were awarded a trip to Antactica.

RIENTEERING Australia’s High Performance Group has appointed Rob Lewis as the 2009 Australian Men’s Coach for the World Orienteering Championships in Miskolc, Hungary. Rob has been a keen orienteer since age ten in the mid 1970s, running with the Red Kangaroos (later Bayside Kangaroos) and also with Melbourne Forest Racers. He attended the Orienteering school in Åmål, Sweden, and was a member of OK TYR. He currently lives in London with his fiancée and runs with South London Orienteers and Wayfarers (SLOW). Rob is a qualified social worker and is working at Maudsley Hospital on a psychiatric outreach team for homeless people.

Adrian Jackson tops World MTBO rankings – still

HE most recent IOF World rankings show that Adrian retains his Number One ranking in the MTBO world. Congratulations to Adrian and we look forward to reporting on his exploits in Europe in coming months.

Jackson Team Australia

HE Australian team to contest this year’s MTBO World Champs in Israel has been announced and comprises Adrian and Carolyn Jackson.

Most Courses completed

ICHAEL Hubbert of Bayside Kangaroos club has completed 2835 courses since running in the first Victorian event at Upper Beaconsfield in 1969. In completing those courses he has punched 35,523 controls and covered approx 20,000km.

There were only a few athletes that made themselves available this year due to the Champs being in Israel, but both Adrian and Carolyn clearly won both of their selection races held in conjunction with the Victorian MTBO Champs near Woodend in April. Adrian will be defending his Middle Distance World Championship. Both Adrian and Carolyn will be contesting the Anaconda MTB Enduro in late May – a 5 day MTB stage race run out of Alice Springs. The dry rocky tracks should be ideal preparation for Israel.

Madeleine Seviour

ORMER World Orienteering Championships Team member, Madeleine Love (nee Seviour), lost her Marysville house in the Black Saturday fires. Police now suspect that fire was deliberately lit. JUNE 2009 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 33

MOUNTAIN BIKE ORIENTEERING

MTBO Training & Specificity Kay Haarsma

RAIN smart not harder or longer. Your body is wonderfully adaptive. It responds to the training quality and quantity, or lack of, that you invest in it. The training year would be very boring and quite unproductive if a rider did exactly the same training each week. In fact studies have demonstrated that the body acclimatises physiologically to a specific training diet after about 6 weeks, and thus adjustments then need to be made. Generally a training year is “periodised” or broken down into different blocks. These can be varied but they usually involve: Base, Pre-Competition, Competition and Recovery periods. These blocks are often broken down into micro-periods. So the three months of base training would have two or three slightly different training plans. Jan B

Feb PC

Mar April May June July Aug Sept C C R+B PC C C+R C Trials WOC

Oct R

Nov B

Dec B

The above model is a bit stylised and simplified to show the two main peaks (major competition periods). In reality a MTBO rider will also have other major events that they will aim to do well in too. Luckily a cyclist can recover quickly, so can compete often in a year. B = (base) - the emphasis will be on endurance with high volume (many kilometres) and little intensity. PC = (pre-competition) - there will be a greater emphasis on quality / intensive training with intervals, sprints, hills etc. There may be some races here but there is no resting up for them. Some map reading sessions need to be incorporated too. C = (competition) - ideally with weekly races (MTBO / other) and other quality training sessions. Importantly, adequate recovery should be planned, as should tapering (training reduction) leading into major competitions. R = (recovery) - the rider needs a rest from structured training to rejuvenate. They maintain their fitness level by doing other forms of exercise or some easy riding. There are six “training principles” that need to be incorporated in training plans to achieve optimal performance. These are: Individuality; Overload; Reversibility; Variability; Recovery and Specificity. I will look at specificity below.

Training Specificity Most MTBO and even traditional mountain bike cross country riders tend to spend 75%+ of their training time on road bikes for the majority of the year. This is because they can train at a higher intensity and with greater consistency than single track riding allows. Also, just pure technical mountain biking, if done day after day, is very draining on the muscular system and will cause undue fatigue. However, when the major competitions come closer the rider must ensure that they are specific with their training, rather than just clocking up kilometres / hours. This is much harder for the MTBO rider than the foot orienteer as there are far fewer MTBO races available.

34 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER JUNE 2009

MTBO REQUIREMENTS and application of SPECIFICITY Physical fitness - ride at or near threshold (very hard) for the whole race, with occasional micro breaks or slowing down for control punching and map reading. Race time is known, as is the steepness of the terrain. The best preparation for racing is to race. If you do all your training at a comfortable speed then the body won’t magically adapt to race speed when required. If you can’t do actual MTBO races every week then either simulate them, or preferably do criterium type races. These are at a high intensity and have the added value of requiring surges at the frequent corners on the course, which replicates the power demands of accelerating away from controls. Ensure that you practice races at the differing winning times. Be they 25 minutes for the Sprint, 50min for the Middle Distance or 90 / 110 minutes for the Long Distance. Do more of the one that you find the most difficult. Physical skills – MTBO races are off-road so in the competitive season you must do more sessions on the dirt. Intervals and even tempo training can be done on faster tracks. If you aren’t so good technically then a greater amount of specific single track riding is needed. Whether the riding surfaces at the race venue are sandy, rocky or root /log strewn, or have lots of single track, can usually be ascertained beforehand and you can seek to train more in the relevant terrain. However the major factor with most MTBO races are that you are riding on unknown tracks, so you must have the riding smarts to adjust quickly to what you see ahead. Imitate this by regularly riding fast on unfamiliar tracks. Navigation – quick map reading and route choice decisions whilst riding is the specific demand. Map memory and visualisation techniques are more advantageous and crucial than in Foot-O, as you can’t go roughly on compass. You must make the correct choices on which tracks to take. Mistakes are costly, as you can’t cut through to the correct track. Rider thoughts may be “after about 800 metres turn left onto small dotty track in the second gully, then almost immediately right onto steep uphill single track and turn right again when it hits the major road near the knoll after about 400 metres.” If you have to stop or slow down at every change of direction you will be considerably slower than the rider who can memorise the lot. Map reading is the area neglected terribly by many riders. No matter how fast you ride, if your map reading is poor you won’t succeed. This doesn’t need to be done all year round but must be highlighted in the pre-competition and competitive phases. Race practice or simulation is ideal. Otherwise be creative by riding around on street maps of areas as this at least trains your eyes and memory. Also just ride trails while doing route choices on maps of other areas. Decide on your route choice hurriedly (as you would do in a race) and then look again at all options and see if you chose correctly.

Route choices can also be done in the armchair at home. Improve your memory, by looking at a leg and then drawing your route choice on paper. Foot orienteering is another way of improving your map reading and memory skills, especially for the newcomer who has trouble with contours. If you map study a lot you will see dramatic improvements in how much detail you recognise at a single glance. The fewer glances you need to take the faster you will be. Before a big race make sure that you practice reading maps of the same scale and contour interval. Study other maps and courses of similar areas and especially those that you have raced on before. Mentally – the main thing is to “control the controllables,” and rehearse other “what if ‘x’ happens” situations. At the start of every competitive season revise and update your strategies in this area. Do you have a checklist of what to take to each event? Good to incorporate this on a luggage label on your race bag. You should have a time-line from wake up to race start with everything factored in. What you have for breakfast and your warm-up should be planned. Your nutritional needs (food and fluids) for in the event and afterwards should be organised. Don’t try a new gel in a big race. Have cue words to keep you on task when: a) other riders are around you; b) if you make a mistake; c) you are pushing up a big hill etc. Be positive and pat yourself on the back for what you do right. Practice everything in minor events so you get into a routine, so you just reproduce this at Australian Championships, WOC, or other major events. Also factor in training at the time of day and in the weather of the upcoming race. Evaluate all races to confirm what strategies worked and what didn’t. Don’t just look at your mistakes. Examine all your good legs and realise what made them successful. Orienteering is a unique sport in that the “playing field” is forever changing and different mappers invariably have their own interpretations. This means that there are a lot of variables and unpredictable unknowns. I am a strong believer in exposing athletes to other sports so that they get sensitised to being in new situations. Thus doing triathlons, adventure racing, road racing, etc. can be beneficial both from a mental strength viewpoint and also by keeping the athlete fresh by not orienteering all year round.

Main training “diet” MTBO / MTBO training Criteriums - road / dirt Mt Bike XC races Mt Bike training Road bike training / races Indoor trainer – intervals / tempo Armchair map study Core strength Additional training possibilities Foot orienteering Adventure races Enduro or 12/ 24 hr team races Multi-day mountain bike stage races Bike touring Weight training Gym workouts Yoga, Swimming

Evaluation tool: For your separate training “periods” in the year do this quick calculation and see if you have enough specificity in your competitive phase. Weekly hours spent: % Mountain Bike Training - % Map reading on/off bike - % Road Training

Technique Hints 1) Tight corners. Look ahead – where your head points the bike usually follows. Decide on your line and then look around the corner to view what is next. If you look at the tree or drop on one side that you are trying to avoid that’s exactly where you will go. Don’t get fooled into watching where your front wheel is going either. Push down on the inside bar end - this will steer you around the corner. Start the corner wide – remember that your back wheel takes a shorter line than your front one. The outside pedal should be down and have weight on it, to increase traction. Maintain momentum – keep pedalling unless its downhill and you already have speed. Be prepared to stand up out of the seat slightly. This enables you to move your weight around quickly if need be. 2) Quick map contact In Foot Orienteering people “thumb” the map to ensure that they look at the right leg at each glance. Since a MTBO rider is travelling much faster he/she has an even harder task to identify just what part of the map is the current leg. This can be facilitated by having markers on the map board. The NZ method, which works very well, is to place tin under the map and an industrial weight magnet (or two) on top. Blutack blobs and dynatape arrows work beautifully in fine weather but are less reliable in rain. You don’t need to move these every leg. JUNE 2009 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 35

VICTORIAN MTBO CHAMPS / NATIONAL MTBO SERIES #1 & 2

Middle Distance

Dirty Weekend in Woodend

Saturday’s Middle Distance courses incorporated an unusually high percentage of the famed purpose-built Wombat single track which was more technical riding-wise and navigationally. Joyce Rowlands (W70) didn’t like the small 1:20,000 A4 map and went further afield to explore uncharted territory. She redeemed herself on Sunday keeping her nose on the map and recording a relatively quick win. The slippery conditions made a “hike the bike” steep hill difficult for many and ensured that all winning times were somewhat slower than intended. The ride of the day was on Course 2 by 17-year-old Heath Jamieson who recorded 57 minutes, and rode 9 & 10 minutes faster respectively than M40 victor Fabrizio Andreoni (VIC) and W21E Carolyn Jackson (VIC). Queenslander Chris Firman took out 2nd in M17-20E in a smart 69 minutes. In W21E Melanie Simpson (NSW) was 2nd just 3mins behind Carolyn in 70mins, with Thor Egerton (QLD) 3rd on 74mins. Foot orienteer Kathryn Ewels (VIC) recorded 79mins and NSW adventure racer Alison Curtin was next on 81mins.

Kay Haarsma

Present Middle Distance World Champion, Adrian Jackson (VIC), had to work hard for his win in 62mins. Alex Randall (VIC) rode similar leg times but finished 2mins down, losing most of this en route to control #6. David Simpfendorfer (ACT) showed good form for 3rd (68mins), while Rob Preston (NSW) was just a minute further back and Hayden Lebbink (VIC) impressed in 5th.

Long Distance The Long Distance courses on Sunday had all riders peering closely at the 10 metre contours as minimising climb was certainly important given the hillier terrain. Each course had two or three long route choice legs with options of around via the fire road versus shorter minor tracks. The elite men had 32km with 840 metres of climb and just 10 controls. AJ (Adrian Jackson) dominated with a clear 9min win courtesy of strong riding Aaron Dodd was part of a big field in M21E Photo: Mike Hubbert

Adrian Jackson punching the Radio control. Photo: Mike Hubbert

ORRENTIAL rain in the preceding 24 hours ensured that mud riding skills and the bike durability were fully tested in the Victorian MTBO Championships. Luckily there was little actual rain during the races and Sunday’s forecast strong winds and hail held off. However the 3-degree temperature and high wind chill factor required the multi-layer clothing approach, with ear warmers, long gloves and foot booties being useful accessories. Many people had a slide out or fall or two during the event, and 2008 WOC team member Melanie Simpson (NSW) managed to fracture a wrist in the Saturday warm-up. She had a somewhat painful ride, bumping along the prolific single track but still managed to place a fine 2nd before literally getting “plastered.”

Kathryn Ewells 4th W21E in the Middle

The area utilised, Woodend state forest (central Victoria) was new to MTBO and was yet another Andrew Slattery map production. The area had been first used for Foot Orienteering in 1972 as “Red Hill” and, amazingly, Keith Wade was the course setter then too. Orienteers are just like “eveready” batteries, they just keep on keeping on. In that event Tim Dent, Andrea Harris, Peta Whitford and Jan Weate competed in ’72 and are still navigating through the forest some 37 years later. Even faster now they are on bikes! Both the Middle Distance and Long Distance events had the assembly area and finish at Cammeray Waters Resort, with finish sprints around the lake each day. How nice it was to utilise their indoor facilities for changing, getting warm with the gas heaters and eating lunch cooked on site by Carolyn Cusworth and friends. Many orienteers chose to stay in the resort cabins, thus eliminating the travel time completely. 36 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER JUNE 2009

Kay Haarsma won W40 on both days

Adrian Jackson won both Middle and Long races. Photo: Peter Cusworth Alex Randall was a close second in the Middle but flatted in the Long. Photo: Mike Hubbert

Andreoni (VIC) & Rob Davis (VIC) in M40, Tim Dent (VIC) & Leigh Privett (VIC) in M60, and Joyce Rowlands (VIC) in W70.

National Series

on the longer legs. David Simpfendorfer found his optimal “happy speed” to gain 2nd, while 2002 WOC representative Grant Lebbink (VIC) did brilliantly in his return to be just a minute behind. Several of the other men had troubles with punctures. Rob Preston borrowed a tube from Anthony Darr (NSW) only to find it was a 29” and not a 26” and later got a correct sized one from Alex Randall. Good deeds don’t always pay off as Alex subsequently punctured himself and had to walk his bike for some 10mins plus before being given a tube by another rider. This cost Alex another 2nd place finish and he had to settle for 4th, just ahead of an emerging talent in Jamie Dougall from Qld. The A3 map required at least one map refold in the map holder and the more agile like Heath Jamieson were able to achieve this whilst riding. Some of the steeper gullies had “swimming pools” of muddy water which claimed a few victims. The elite women had 26km and 610 metres climb. Carolyn Jackson led from control #2 and was never headed, winning by 6mins in 109 minutes. This was despite losing almost 3mins to 2nd placed Thor Egerton (115 mins) by taking the straighter single-track route rather than the road option on leg #9. Alison Curtin (131 mins) stepped up for 3rd. It was great to see Jasmine Sunley (VIC) master the conditions in W17-20E but juniors in general were in short supply. Two decided to try themselves against the elite men. 20-year-old Joshua Roberts excelled in both races placing 8th (Middle) and 7th (Long) in the 21-person field despite finding the big climbs on the Long Distance quite onerous. Luke Poland (ACT) was 12th in the Middle Distance but had to DNF the Long Distance due to the cold conditions. Many people had double wins – Angus Robinson (VIC) in M14, Heath Jamieson (VIC) in M17-20E, Robert Prentice (NSW) in M50, John Sheahan (VIC) in M70, Jasmine Sunley (VIC) in W17-20E, Kay Haarsma (SA) in W40, Peta Whitford (VIC) in W50, Kath Liley (VIC) in W60. One day winners were: Fabrizio

National Series leaders are: M21E: Adrian Jackson – 60 pts, David Simpfendorfer – 51; Alex Randall – 49, M17-20E: Heath Jamieson – 60, Chris Firman – 27. W21E: Carolyn Jackson – 60, Thorlene Egerton – 51, Alison Curtin – 45. W1720E: Jasmine Sumley – 60 Leading states are: M21E: VIC (18), NSW (14), Qld (9). W21E: VIC (18), NSW & Qld (14) M&W17-20E: VIC (18).

Selection Trials The Championships also incorporated the selection trials for MTB WOC 2009 to be held in Israel. Only five riders nominated this year, mostly due to ethical and safety concerns re the venue. Only Adrian Jackson and Carolyn Jackson were selected. Carolyn may be in the veteran ranks but she is navigationally brilliant and the fittest, most aggressive and most skilful rider in our squad. She was a fine 15th woman overall in the recent BMC 100km race, whilst Foot Orienteer, Dave Shepherd, displayed that he is multitalented with an outstanding 7th out of 700 riders. Alex Randall and Anthony Darr have chosen to contest the European Championships in Denmark and the Czech 5 Day event instead. Most riders are looking forward to the 2010 WOC & JWOC in Portugal, so we should have a large and very competitive team again then.

Route Gadget Route Gadget is available for these races at www.eurekaorienteers. asn.au. Why not look at the courses, make your own route choices and then click to see where the winners went? Middle Distance: www.eurekaorienteers.asn.au/routegadget/cgibin/reitti.pl?act=map&id=1&kieli Long Distance: www.eurekaorienteers.asn.au/routegadget/cgibin/reitti.pl?act=map&id=2&kieli

JUNE 2009 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER

Carolyn Jackson. Photo: Mike Hubbert

Melanie Simpson. Photo: Mike Hubbert

W21E Middle Distance

Finish

1. Carolyn Jackson (Vic)

6:12

16:14

26:43

36:14

40:50

45:04

51:23

1:00:29

1:05:05

1:06:16

1:07:48

6:12

10:02

10:29

9:31

4:36

4:14

6:19

9:06

4:36

1:11

1:32

5:37

15:17

27:19

36:59

41:28

46:20

52:57

1:02:17

1:07:54

1:09:21

1:10:59

5:37

9:40

12:02

9:40

4:29

4:52

6:37

9:20

5:37

1:27

1:38

2. Melanie Simpson (NSW)

38 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER JUNE 2009

Orienteering Service of Australia www.osoa.com.au

Orienteering Service of Australia stocks a wide range of orienteering equipment and publications, Miry MTBO mapboards and world-leading Silva compasses. We also supply navigational aids, walking poles, pedometers and personal lighting and other outdoor equipment. Check out our range of Italian designed Gabel trekking and walking poles. Gabel poles are high quality and lightweight.

Order online

and receive a free gift! Quote “AOad” when you order for a free carabiner LED light.

Browse our product range and order securely online at:

www.osoa.com.au

AMAZING New Zealand

tales

New zealand orienteering in full colour drama % action % passion % thrills & spills magazine subscription via www.nzorienteering.com or email nzof@nzorienteering.com

annual subscription (4 issues) = 31.50 NZD ≈ 13GBP or 28AUD JUNE 2009 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 39

Advertise your event in this space You can have a 5 x 8 cm event ad for just $50. In colour, if we have room, otherwise black and white. Send artwork to The Editor: mikehubbert@ozemail.com.au

40 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER JUNE 2009

TOP EVENTS 2010

2009 June 6 - 8

AUS MTBO Championships 2009 (Sprint; Middle; Long) Mt. Gambier, SA

June 13 - 14

Jukola Relays Mikkeli, Finland www.jukola2009.net

April 2 - 5 tba June 19 - 20

June 22 - 28

JWOC/MTB Farum, Copenhagen, Denmark www.eocmtbo2009.dk

June 27 July 4

July 3 - 5

Northern Territory Champs Coomalie www.topend.nt.orienteering.asn.au

July 4 - 11

July 3 - 5

3 Days of Belgium Genk, Belgium www.orientatie.org

July 5 - 12

JWOC 2009 Primiero, Italy www.jwoc2009.it

July 7 - 12

5 Days of Dolomites Primiero, Italy www.jwoc2009.it

July 12 - 17

Fin5 Hameenlinna, Finland www.fin5.fi

July 16 - 26

World Games 2009 Kaohsiung, Taiwan www.worldgames2009.tw

July 19 - 24

O-Ringen 2009 Eksjö-Småland, Sweden www.oringen.com/smaland2009

Aug 2 - 8

Aug 9 - 16

July 11 - 17

July 12 - 17

July 24 - 30

July 24 - 31

July 31 Aug 6

Swiss O Week Muotathal Switzerland www.swiss-o-week.ch

Fin5 Ruokalahti, Finland www.fin5.fi O-Ringen 2010 Örebro, Sweden www.oringen.se/987.php Tour O Swiss 2010 www.tour-o-swiss.ch

Sep 25 Oct 3

WMOC 2010 Neuchatel, Switzerland www.wmoc2010.org WOC 2010 Trondheim, Norway www.woc2010.com AUS Champs Carnival 2010 – SA www.sa.orienteering.asn.au

Dec 27 - 31

Xmas 5-Days NSW

April 22 - 25

Australian 3-Days 2011 West Australia www.aus3days 2011.orienteering.asn.au JWOC 2011 Wejherowo, Poland www.jwoc2011.pl Fin5 Lohja, Finland www.fin5.fi WMOC 2011 Hungary O-Ringen 2011 Halsingland, Sweden www.oringen.se WOC 2011 Savoie Grand Revard, France www.woc2011.fr

Aug 7 - 15

Scottish 6-Days Tayside, Scotland www.scottish6days.com

Australian 3-Days 2010 ACT www.act.orienteering.asn.au AUS MTBO Championships 2010 (Sprint; Middle; Long) Victoria Jukola Relays Kytäjä, Finland www.jukola2010.net 6 Days of Tyrol 2010 Karersee, Austria / Italy www.tyrol2010.com JWOC 2010 Aalborg, Denmark www.jwoc2010.dk WOC/MTB & JWOC/MTB 2010 Montalegre, Portugal

2011

WOC/MTB 2009 Ben Shemen (20km from Tel Aviv), Israel

Dates tba

Aug 14 - 16

3 Days of the Kempen Leopoldsburg, Belgium www.kempen-ol.be

Dates tba

Aug 18 - 23

WOC 2009 Miskolc, Hungary http://woc2009.hu

Dates tba

Aug 17 - 23

Hungaria Cup (6 Days) Miskolc, Hungary hungariacup.woc2009.hu

Aug 23 - 30

Portugal ‘O’ Summer 2009 (6 Days) Cantanhede, Portugal www.ptosummer.com

Sept 26 Oct 4

AUS Champs Carnival 2009 Victoria www.vicorienteering.asn.au/

Oct 10 - 17

WMOC 2009 Lithgow, NSW. www.wmoc2009. orienteering.asn.au/

Dec 27 - 31

Xmas 5-Days Mittagong & Moss Vale Southern Highlands, NSW www.nsw.orienteering.asn.au

July 23 - 29

Aug 13 - 20

JUNE 2009 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 41

CLIMATE CHANGE

Extreme weather brings floods and fire Floods in northern Queensland, cyclones tracking down the coast, record high temperatures in South Australia and Victoria – and bush fires. Last summer brought all these extremes to us and Orienteering is still counting its losses. Most tragic being the loss of lives in Victoria. Orienteering terrain was also lost. In some areas it will be many years before the forests are suitable for competitions again. Falling trees will be a major safety problem for some time. Eucalypt forests will recover fairly quickly though seedling wattles and other vegetation may grow thick in places, radically changing the vegetation appearance on maps. Pine forests which have been destroyed will be harvested and replanted making them unusable for Orienteering for many years. Orienteering forest terrains destroyed or severely affected include: Belltopper Hill (TK) Darlimurla (MTBO BK) Devonshire Reef (BG) Gembrook (DROC) Lake Mountain (BK) Lake Wombat (BK) Mortimer Park (BK) Mount Robertson (YV)

New Saint Mungo (BG) Watsons Creek (DROC) Wellington Chase (DROC) Williams Creek (BK) Stanley (MTBO AW) Strath Creek (YV) Two Kangaroo Creeks (TK)

Neil Barr (Bendigo Orienteers) gives some graphic descriptions of the Bendigo fire:

HE Daylesford fire burned the southern part of the Lake Wombat map, and after my last experience in that terrain, I was not at all surprised to see that the infra-red imagery showed an extremely hot burn. The Bendigo fire burnt most of the forest terrain on the New Saint Mungo map. That map will not be safe for a few years until the many partly burnt trees have fallen. New Saint Mungo was the map used for the 2006 Easter Prologue. Those who competed in the event will remember the terrain as a mix of forest, mining land and suburbia. The fire was started less than 500 metres to the west of the map. With gale force winds and 46ºC temperatures, the fire raced through a paddock, into the mapped area, and emerged on the other side where it ran as a narrow tongue of fire deep into the suburbs of California Gully and Ironbark. Over fifty houses were destroyed. There were many amazing stories of loss and survival. One disabled homeowner refused to leave and died trying to defend his home. A colleague of mine arrived home in time to use earth-moving equipment to smash a firebreak through the middle of his house and save the front four rooms. The fire highlights a dilemma for the town of Bendigo. The city likes to describe itself as the town within a forest. The forest surrounding the town was protected to provide a reliable source of timber for the mining industry. The mining industry has 42 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER JUNE 2009

moved on from wooden props, but the forest legacy for the orienteer is a suite of eight bush maps on the edge of the town. But there lies within the town another interesting legacy. The main reef system runs from the northwest (starting in the Fiddlers Green map) and bisects the town in a line running to the south east (ending in the Diamond Hill map). Along this line lie a number of areas that were long ago reserved for future mining use. They are unlikely to be developed for housing because of a combination of arsenic-laden soil and numerous mineshafts capped some 80 years ago. (There is one house in Bendigo which has been built over a mineshaft. Apparently the lounge room floor is transparent and the residents can look down a mineshaft illuminated by fairy lights.) One of these reserves is maintained as a formal park. Victoria Hill Historic Site is a great place to explore. It was burnt on the 7th of February. Some reserves are maintained as semi-managed parklands and some are left as historic wastelands. The New Saint Mungo map lies along this line of reefs. Within these reserved areas are some fascinating venues for Sprint maps based on mining terrain, and the Bendigo Club has been slowly mapping them. Work was underway on one area burnt in the fire. The reserves are now seen as a serious problem for Bendigo. Some harbour thick vegetation, and their orientation is perfect for conducting fires into the heart of Bendigo. This is what happened on the 7th of February. When the cool change arrived, the fire front was little more than a kilometre from the centre of the town. The fire may have been much worse but for some judicious fire reduction burning conducted in the area in the previous autumn. The big question for the town now is how to manage these reserves to minimise fire risk yet maintain their historic value.

Australian climate change Data from the Bureau of Meteorology shows: • More rain in Australia’s northwest since 1950, but less in the south and east; • Increase in the intensity of Australian droughts; • Victorian rainfall has declined by 10mm per decade in the west, and more than 20mm per decade in central and eastern areas; • Rise in sea level of about 70 mm since 1950; • Impacts include more droughts, fires, heat waves and storms, and fewer frosts, less water resources and snow.

Australians connecting Australia on climate change In the Sydney CBD, a young office worker is talking to her employers about ways in which the company can save energy. Not far away, a social worker is presenting a film to a group of boys

New Saint Mungo 1 – before

at a juvenile detention centre, while over the border a woman discusses sustainability. Across country, the YMCA is being educated on sustainable business practice, while a secondary school teacher is talking to her geography class about global warming. And in Sydney’s west, a woman is standing in a church speaking to a group of mainly middle-aged Italian women about climate change. The Connectors Project, run by the Australian Conservation Foundation, was borne from the success of the Climate Project - Australia. In 2007 Al Gore, working in conjunction with ACF, visited Australia to personally train a group of Australians to deliver his presentation, made famous by the film An Inconvenient Truth. ACF was overwhelmed with applications and it was clear that around Australia people were ready and able to take a leadership role in the fight against climate change. In rural Victoria, Pat Naughtin, a Climate Project Connector, is presenting to a Rotary club filled with farmers. Pat has presented to more than 1,200 Rotary and Probus Club members from western Victoria to the Queensland border. Pat is from a family of farmers who have been active in Australian agricultural communities since the 1810s. One of Pat’s goals as a Climate Project Connector is to inform farmers, a sometimes conservative section of the community, and to get them to question their attitudes toward farming practices and climate change.

New Saint Mungo 1 – after

“Farmers have an appreciation for the interconnectedness of ecology and farming,” he says. “They know that you cannot change one part of a living system without changing everything else. However, there are still some farmers who hold the belief that it is OK to exploit the earth for everything it offers.” Pat is made of tough stuff, so tough in fact that he happily conducted his climate change presentation at a Rotary club in northern NSW to a group of farmers involved in one of the most environmentally destructive farming practices, cotton growing. He had a receptive audience who asked well-informed questions, but he says jokingly, “I left in one piece largely because the farmers consider me to be one of them.” “Farmers, like everyone, are looking for ways that will give them an edge. I spoke in terms of my own farming experiences, and they could really relate to that; I suppose I talk like a bushy.” And that, says Pat, is the key to the Connectors Project success. When people go out into their own communities and talk about what they are doing and what their communities can do, people listen, and more importantly, they act. Website: www.acfonline.org.au/connectors

New Saint Mungo 2 – before

New Saint Mungo 2 – after

JUNE 2009 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 43

ORIENTEERING AUSTRALIA

Executive Matters Kay Grzadka – OA Executive Officer

HE Orienteering Australia 2009 Annual General Meeting, held in Launceston on Saturday 11 April 2009, brought about changes to the composition of the Board. Directors Mike Dowling, Andy Hogg and Ben Rattray stepped down from their positions and Robin Uppill and Eric Morris were appointed as Director (Technical) and Director (High Performance) respectively. There were no nominations for Director (Development) but the Board hopes this important position will soon be filled. A staggered rotation of Board directors was also introduced. Other appointments made at the AGM were Jennifer Binns and Jenny Casanova to the Misconduct Tribunal and Cath Chalmers to the Selection Appeals committee.

section 1.1 of the Operation Manual on the OA website www.orienteering.asn.au/administration/op_manual/ The Annual Orienteering Awards were announced at the OA Presentation Dinner held during the Australian 3-Days Carnival in Tasmania. The 2008 Athlete of the Year award was won by World Mountain Bike Orienteering Champion, Adrian Jackson. The 2008 Silva Medal was awarded to Alex Tarr. The 2009 Silva Award for Services to Orienteering was presented to joint recipients Nick Dent and Hilary Wood. The inaugural David Hogg Medal for Services to Event Management was awarded to Ron Pallas. There were no nominations for the coaching award. This is my last article for The Australian Orienteer as I will be vacating the position of Executive Officer in June. I would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank all directors, officers and State Association members with whom I have worked over the past two years for their invaluable support and assistance. It has been a revelation for me to see how much work is done at the national level for the advancement of Orienteering in Australia.

Changes to the OA constitution were introduced to make it more robust and to bring it into line with Australian Sports Commission recommendations for the governance structure of sporting organisations. The new constitution is available as

I also would like to pay tribute to the vast number of orienteers who voluntarily contribute many hours to promoting this wonderful sport in their communities.

Australian Team for 2009 World Games Orienteering Championships

Athlete of the Year for 2008 – Adrian Jackson

RIENTEERING Australia has selected the team to compete at the 2009 World Games in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. The World Games is a multi-sport festival consisting of non-olympic sports. Over 4,500 competitors from 100 nations will attend. Australia is one of only 21 teams competing in the Orienteering races. The team is: Men: Julian Dent, Simon Uppill Women: Kathryn Ewels, Hanny Allston The Orienteering races will be held from 17-19 July 2009. There are three races - Sprint, Middle Distance and a mixed Relay consisting of all four team members. With such a strong team, we have high aspirations that someone may repeat Grant Bluett’s Gold Medal at the 2001 World Games in Japan. Futher information can be found at http://www. worldgames2009.tw/

Australian Team for 2009 JWOC

RIENTEERING Australia has selected the team to compete at the 2009 Junior World Orienteering Championships to be held at Primiero, Italy, from 777 – 12 July. The JWOC team is: Men: Josh Blatchford (NSW) Lachlan Dow (ACT) Callum Fagg (TAS) Leon Keely (VIC) Max Neve (VIC) Oscar Phillips (TAS)

Women: Bridget Anderson (QLD) Sarah Buckerfield (TAS) Lilian Burrill (QLD) Belinda Lawford (ACT) Krystal Neumann (QLD) Aislinn Prendergast (VIC)

Reserves are Kurt Neumann (QLD), James Robertson (VIC), Catherine Hewitt (TAS) and Brea Pearce (TAS). 44 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER JUNE 2009

Again, thank you all.

DRIAN Jackson has been named Orienteering Australia’s Athlete of the Year for 2008 in a unanimous vote. This follows an outstanding season, highlighted by his second world title, when he won the Middle Distance event at the World MTBO Championships held in Poland last August. Adrian also finished on the podium in the other two World Championships events, placing sixth in both the Long Distance and Sprint events. He finished the year as the world’s top-ranked mountain-bike orienteer, with wins in four World Ranking Events on top of his successes at the World Championships. He also won all three distances at the Australian Championships held in Queensland in October. As well, Adrian has been steadily improving as a mountain bike racer. He won two major multi-stage MTB races in 2008, the Alice Springs Enduro in May and the Wildside in Tasmania in January, and was highly competitive in the Crocodile Trophy in Queensland in October. He also took out a National Series round late in the year. Adrian was presented with his award at the MTBO WOC selection trials (and Victorian Championships) near Woodend in April.

ORIENTEERING AUSTRALIA

Award for Services to Orienteering

HE Board of OANSW nominated Ron Pallas for the inaugural David Hogg award of OA Medal for Services to Event Management, for his leadership role as Event Director and Organiser of the JWOC 2007 and Easter 2008 carnivals in Dubbo, NSW. JWOC 2007 was arguably the largest international Orienteering event run in Australia since the WOC in 1985. While many orienteers both from NSW and other States were involved, it was Ron’s leadership role which provided a central focus and impetus for the planning and event management. As Chairman of the Organising Committee, Ron led and guided the Committee in all aspects of the event planning. He ensured that regular meetings were held and that all foreseeable requirements were identified and addressed. He was active in identifying actions and persons responsible for those actions, and followed up to ensure that they were carried out. Having directed the JWOC carnival, Ron immediately volunteered to continue in the role for Easter 2008. Coming so soon after JWOC, the Easter events threatened to stretch the resources of OANSW but by utilising the previous planning work, Ron and his team were also able to carry out this program successfully. The success of the Easter carnival was critical for NSW in helping to recoup the cost of the professionally-produced JWOC maps and other expenses of JWOC. In addition to his role as leader of the organising team, Ron was heavily involved in organising two critical aspects of the events: (1) landowner and community liaison; and (2) SportIdent timing. The first task required numerous long drives from Sydney to Dubbo for meetings with Dubbo Council, the local community, private landowners and the Western Plains Zoo. In relation to SportIdent, Ron was involved in planning and setting up the timing system and was always to be found in the Finish tent during events making sure that the system worked seamlessly.

2009 Silva Award for Services to Orienteering

ICK Dent and Hilary Wood, started orienteering in the mid 80’s, and quickly became part of the driving force behind the original Mountain Devils orienteering club based in the Blue Mountains, initiating the Rhododendron 2 Day event, and kept orienteering alive in the Blue Mountains until they moved to the Central Coast in the 90’s. During their time in the Blue Mountains Nick started mapping areas in the mountains, while Hilary became involved with organising and controlling events. In 1993 Nick was the organiser of the National Championships held at Evans Crown, and also supported the event by mapping the Relay area. In 1998 Nick and Hilary became managers of the NSW Schools team and assisted in continuing NSW’s position as

the top State at the annual school’s competition by extending NSW’s then unbroken 5-year run for a further two years. In 2002 they said goodbye to the Schools team with another victory at the School’s competition. Towards the end of this period the “Dent-Woods” moved from the Blue Mountains to the sea and surf of the Central Coast and become members of Central Coast Orienteers. Throughout the 90’s as members of Mountain Devils, and even until today as members of Central Coast Orienteers, one or both of them has been involved in some way in the organisation, course planning or controlling of a NSW State League event, O’Shea 2-day, Metro League or club event. 2004 saw them both become involved in the 2004 National Championship Carnival week as part of the organisation of the 2004 Schools Championships held at Dungeree near Mudgee - Nick being Controller for the Schools events and Hilary being the Schools Liaison Manager. The last five years has seen Nick and Hilary move into roles at a national level, initially as co-managers of the 2005 Australian JWOC team in Locarno, Switzerland, and again for JWOC 2006 in Lithuania. In 2005, with Australia being awarded the 2007 Junior World Championships to be staged in Dubbo, Nick took on the role as Teams Liaison Officer for the event. This involved Nick in promoting the event while overseas, contacting, arranging and taking entries from participating national teams before the event, conducting briefings for teams and managers during JWOC, and being available to, and assisting, the overseas teams during the whole period of the highly successful championships. Prior to the actual event Nick and Hilary were also involved with the 2006 Xmas 5 Days and with organising the two JWOC training camps in Australia in January and in July. With Nick involved as part of the 2007 JWOC event organisation, Hilary took on the role of Manager of the 2007 JWOC team in Dubbo. JWOC 2008 in Sweden saw the partnership resume with Hilary as Manager and Nick as Coach, and they will continue in these roles for the 2009 JWOC in Italy. This continued high level of involvement by Nick and Hilary with the JWOC teams since 2005 has had a significant influence both on the general conduct of the team and on the team’s results in competition. Continuing their on-going commitment to the sport, late 2007 saw Nick take on the role of Event Director for the World Master’s event to be staged later this year in NSW on behalf of Orienteering Australia, while Hilary took on the role of Arena Manager for each of the events. In 2008 Nick also accepted a position on the OANSW board as Planning Director. With this sustained involvement in Orienteering initially at a State level and more recently at a national level, the Board of the Orienteering Association of NSW was pleased to nominate Nick Dent and Hilary Wood jointly for the 2009 Silva Award for Services to Orienteering. JUNE 2009 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 45

SILVA COMPETITION WINNER

Training Diary In each issue of The Australian Orienteer, SILVA will award an L1 Headlamp to the best account of how you have been training and of your goals for the future. There are two more awards to go this year so send in your Training Diaries to mikehubbert@ ozemail.com.au . All Training Diaries received so far will remain in the running for future awards.

DARIAN PANTER

is the winner this time. Darian is an M16 Orienteer from the ARDF Orienteering Club in Melbourne, Victoria. He is a member of the Victorian Junior Squad. The acronym ARDF stands for Amateur Radio Direction Finding and Darian is a keen competitor in both RadiO and Foot O events, as well as Mountain Bike Orienteering.

Darian’s training and immediate goals Darian says: “Over the summer holidays I had a break from running and training but when school started I got back to running about 4 - 6 km on a Tuesday and Thursday mornings. I also run in the Street-O and bush events and ride in MTBO competitions. Once a month we go Foxhunting which is the car version of a RadiO event held on Friday nights and involving radio direction finding. This year I plan to try out for the Victorian Schools team. And I plan to compete in the Schools MTBO competition as well. Later in the year I look forward to going to the Australian Championships, and I might be going to the Australian MTBO Championships as well. In the winter I compete in the Monday Street O training events as well as competing in the Wednesday Street Night-O events around Melbourne. My Training and Competitions Diary for an average week – total distance covered is close to 40km, plus about 10km a week of casual riding. MONDAY Training/StreetO – 6km TUESDAY Training run – 4-6km WEDNESDAY Street O – C course, 5.5km THURSDAY Training run – 4-6km FRIDAY Foxhunting (ARDF) once a month – 5km SATURDAY Rest SUNDAY Bush O or MTBO – B course, 6.5 or 12km

46 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER JUNE 2009

WIN a

L1 Headlamp valued at $199.95

Send us your TRAINING DIARY Record your training for a typical week; include some words about how your felt; tell us your short term and long term goals; then send your Training Diary and a photo of yourself to The Australian Orienteer;email: mikehubbert@ozemail.com.au We will choose the best entry and print it in the next magazine. Each Diary printed will win a SILVA L1 Headlamp. This competition will run all year, so keep sending your Training Diaries in. An efficient headlamp with a compact lightweight design; the LED headlamp has 3-watt output power, 63m beam length and 200 hours illumination time. Suitable for running or skiing, optional accessories include a running belt and external battery back.

RRP: $199.95 -available at Anaconda, Rays Outdoors and other leading outdoor retailers. www.silva.se; australia@fiskarsbrands.com

WIN a Gerber Method™ Butterfly Opening Multi-Plier® valued at $119.95 Every issue of The Australian Orienteer needs good quality action photos from recent events. This is your chance to get your photos in print. The best photo in each issue will win a valuable prize. We need high resolution photos (file size 2MB or greater). Send your photos to mikehubbert@ozemail.com.au Winner this time is Paul Prudhoe who supplied photos of the Easter Carnival including the cover photo of Lilian Burrill. The Method™contains a full set of tool components featuring stylised spring-action pliers and ergonomically contoured lightweight aluminium handles.

RRP: $119.95 -available at Anaconda, King of Knives, Rays Outdoors and other leading outdoor retailers. www.gerbergear.com; australia@fiskarsbrands.com JUNE 2009 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 47

FAITH FI0815

The Gerber Flik deploys all the tools you need with a simple flick of the wrist. Its quality engineering enables you to access all the tools without having to open the pliers. Keep your Gerber Flik handy; you just never know when you might find yourself in a tight spot. Available at Anaconda, King of Knives, Ray’s Outdoors and other quality outdoor and sporting goods stores. Check out gerbergear.com for the full range of Gerber products and for some great examples of how real people have found our gear useful, and at times, even lifesaving. Gerber is a FISKARS BRANDS Company. australia@fiskarsbrands.com

The Australian Orienteer – June 2009

Articles inside

CLIMATE CHANGE

ORIENTEERING AUSTRALIA

MTBO – DIRTY WEEKEND IN WOODEND

TOP EVENTS

ESK VALLEY WINS AWARD

URBAN SCORE COURSE

NUTRITION – CSIRO RESEARCH

WMOC 2009

SOUTHERN CROSS SERIES

AUSTRALIAN 3 DAYS

PREDICTING THE FUTURE

THE PERSEVERENCE CUP

ORIENTEERING IN THE AMERICAN NW