The Australian Orienteer – September 2009

Double Gold for Adrian Jackson at World Champs

RRP $7.50 inc GST

World Games Gold & Silver for Hanny Allston

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

1

Sprint Distance - AM

Sat Mar 21

2

Middle Distance - PM

Sun Mar 22

3

Long Distance

Round 2

Australian 3-day Championships

Tasmania

Fri Apr 10

4

Easter - Prologue (Sprint)

Sat Apr 11

5

Easter Day 1 - Middle Distance

Sun Apr 12

6

Easter Day 2 - Long Distance

Mon Apr 13

7

Easter Day 3 - Relay Distance

Sat Apr 18

8

ASC Galaxy Sprint

Sun Apr 19

9

Buttongrass Challenge

Round 3

ACT Championships

ACT

Sat May 16

10

ACT Sprint Championships

Sat May 16

11

ACT Middle Championships

Sun May 17

12

ACT Long Championships

Round 4

Australian Championships Carnival

Victoria

Sat Sep 26

13

Australian Middle Distance Championships

Sun Sep 27

14

Victorian Long Distance Championships

Fri Oct 2

15

Australian Sprint Orienteering Championships

Sat Oct 3

16

Australian Long Distance Championships

Sun Oct 4

17

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 SEPTEMBER 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

Oct 16 ; Time-sensitive - Oct 23

ISSN 0818-6510 Issue 3/09 (no. 155) SEPTEMBER 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: October 17 ; Time-sensitive - October 23.

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 WORLD GAMES....................................... 7 PROFILE – Shannon Jones ...................... 12 R E F L E C T I O N S O N W O C 1 9 8 7 .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 3 SPORT PSYCHOLOGY .............................. 15 N A V I G AT I O N.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 6 N U T R I T I O N – C a r b s .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 8 J W O C 2 0 0 9.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 9 NT CHAMPS......................................... 25 O - S P Y .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 9 L E T T E R S .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 0 C O U R S E S E T T I N G .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 2 MTBO – Aust Champs............................. 34 TOP EVENTS......................................... 41 C L I M AT E C H A N G E . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 2 ORIENTEERING AUSTRALIA ..................... 44 TRAINING DIARY – Lachlan Dow .............. 46

Front Cover: Two World beating performances. Hanny Allston – Gold and Silver medals in the World Games in Taiwan and Adrian Jackson wins two Gold Medals at the World MTBO Champs in Israel.

Photo credits: Adrian in Israel– Dan Chissick.

Hanny running – Erik Borg, Hanny podium – Rob Preston SEPTEMBER 2009 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 5 SEPTEMBER 2009 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 5

E T LA WS NE Photos: with many thanks to Dan Chissick

Two Gold Medals for Adrian Jackson at World MTBO Champs Ben Shemen, Israel

Adrian Jackson has won the Long Distance Final at the World Mountain Bike Orienteering Championships. This followed his victory in the Sprint Championship the day defore and a 5th place podium finish in the Middle Distance race.

This is Adrian’s fourth MTB WOC gold medal and having won the Middle Distance final last year in Ostroda Poland, he has now won gold in all three distances in the past 12 months. He won his first gold medal in the Middle Distance final in Ballarat in 2004 and with four gold and three bronze medals he is now Australia’s most successful orienteer.

Adrian posted the fastest times through the two radio check points. He then extended his lead to clock 92 min 41 sec for the 35 km course to win by nearly three minutes from Russian Ruslan Gritsan, with France’s Matthieu Barthelemy third, 58 seconds adrift of Gritsan.

The race was conducted in 36 degree heat.

Bob Mouatt

Adrian on the podium for the Sprint Championship with Lasse Brun Pedersen from Denmark and Ruslan Gritsan from Russia

AJ sprints to gold!

Riding in only his second WOC Sprint ever Adrian Jackson took out the gold medal today by 11 seconds over the Dane, Lassse Brun Pederson. Lasse had started 1 minute in front of AJ but they didn’t see each other. Adrian was leading after the 3rd of 17 controls and was either 1st or 2nd for the rest of the race before finally taking the lead again and holding it from control 15. On a course where it was impossible to ride without error Adrian only lost 10 -20 seconds several times. However he made some telling “cuts,” running with his bike cross-country for short distances between tracks. Adrian was stoked with his ride immediately after he finished and being the 4th last starter he only had a short wait to be confirmed as champion.

Brother Timmy was then despatched to make the gold medallist flower garland and proud Tim and mother Carolyn presented it to him on the podium. Initially they had hung our flag upside down on the flagpole, but this was soon corrected, being pointed out by several other nations before us!

Carolyn rode steadily to place 36th, except for one bad route choice, but found it difficult to read the map on the go due to the detail. Estonian Maret Vaher unfortunately suffered several broken ribs from a crash but managed to finish before getting taken to hospital! Slovakian Hana Bajtosova won, repeating her sprint victory from 2008.

The Neot Kedumim area was fantastic terrain for sprint orienteering being a Biblical landscape reserve which had literally been sculptured out of eroded hillsides. There were many old farming and archealogical sites dotting the almost open rocky hillsides. More importantly there were a myriad of small tracks, with many of them paved for easy access making for very intense orienteering. It was the most exciting and unique area for Sprint orienteering that I have seen in a WOC. Kay Haarsma

Sprint Results – Men 1 23.19 Adrian Jackson 2 23.30 Lasse Brun Pedersen (Den) 3 23.56 Ruslan Gritsan (Russia)

6 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2009

Sprint Results – Women 1 22.37 Hana Bajtosova (Slovakia) 2 23.00 Marika Hara (Finland) 3 23.34 Michi Gigon (Austria) 36 31.22 Carolyn Jackson

WORLD GAMES

Gold and Silver to Hanny Allston at World Games in Taiwan

In the Sprint event the previous day, Hanny took the silver medal. An early starter, she led the field for much of the day but her time was eventually beaten by Minna Kauppi of Finland, who took the title by 23 seconds, most of which was set up in the first part of the course. Norway’s Elise Egseth was third. Kathryn Ewels placed 15th, 1min 34sec further back.

Hanny Allston went to the World Games in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, with high hopes of doing well. But she had some formidable opponents in the field – Finland’s Minna Kauppi is reigning Middle Distance World Champion and also took silver in the Sprint last year. Dana Brozkova from Czech Republic is reigning World Champion at Long Distance, and the Swedes Kajsa Nilsson and Linnea Gustafsson both have fine reputations.

I

N a pre-Games interview with the IOFs Erik Borg, Hanny said, “I am certainly excited to be part of The World Games that I understand is the second largest sporting event in the world”.

Hanny Allston won The World Games Middle Distance title by the impressive margin of 76.4 seconds. Erik Borg wrote: “The Australian showed remarkable strength at Chengcing Lake. She has taken new steps forward since she became a World Champion in 2006”. Hanny had a smooth run and stuck to her race plan, which involved taking safe routes, staying out of the forested green areas and sticking to the tracks as much as possible. It payed off with a dominating run, 1min 16.4sec clear of second placed Minna Kauppi of Finland.

Hanny’s gold medal is the second for an Australian at a World Games following Grant Bluett’s win in Japan in 2001. The second half of the women’s team, Kathryn Ewels, was 19th after losing small amounts of time at the #3 and #13 controls. Julian Dent achieved his best international result to date in the men’s race, taking 13th place with a solid run. Simon Uppill, the first finisher for the day, was 23rd.

After the race Hanny told Erik Borg, “I had a good race. I followed my plan exactly. I planned to run carefully and not at full speed, and look for the fastest route choices and take the safest of them.

I ran for example to the corners of buildings or the tops of hills instead of taking short cuts”. She told Erik, “I orienteer more safely now. I have become more a navigator than a competitor.

I have more control in my way of orienteering. I have also improved my running and I am stronger”.

Hanny told Erik Borg it’s impossible to compare the 2006 World Championships gold and the gold at this year’s World Games.

Both are big successes, but they are very different events.

While Hanny was the first Australian to win at the World Championships, she is the second to win at The World Games; Grant Bluett won the individual distance in Akita in 2001. It’s a bit special to follow in his footsteps. “He has been an idol for me when I started orienteering”, said Hanny.

Photo: Erik Borg

In the Men’s event, both the Australians finished in midfield positions. Simon Uppill was 17th, his best international result to date, while Julian Dent was 22nd after losing time on the second half of the course.

Andrey Khramov (Russia) edged out Daniel Hubmann (Switzerland) by 1.6 seconds for the gold medal, with Tero Föhr (Finland) taking bronze.

Another noteworthy result was a tenth place for New Zealand’s Ross Morrison.

In the final event, the Relay, the Australian team equalled its best Relay placing (4th) in major international events. In The World Games Relay teams consist of four runners – two women and two men.

Russia led the men into the changeover after the first leg, ahead of Sweden and Norway. Simon Uppill was with the leaders at the first spectator control, dropping a few places in the second half of the course. Kathryn Ewels took over and ran a great second leg, losing very little time to the leaders, where Sweden overtook Russia at the end of the second leg. Andrey Khramov, the Sprint gold medallist, chased down Peter Oeberg of Sweden to give the lead back to Russia. Chasing were Julian Dent and the Middle Distance gold medallist Daniel Hubmann. Julian was with the Swiss runner for much of the course, and kept Australia in the medal hunt being in 5th place at the changeover, just behind Tero Föhr of Finland and ahead of Norway’s Østerbø.

The leading runners from Sweden and Switzerland made errors on the early part of the final leg, allowing Minna Kauppi of Finland, the Sprint gold medallist to move into second place. Australia and Norway were battling for third and fourth, with Elise Egseth holding off Hanny Allston for the bronze medal.

The Australian Boomerangs team for the Relay was 1. Simon Uppill AUS

7th place, 1 min 20 secs behind the leader;

2. Kathryn Ewels AUS 4th place, 1 min 53secs behind the leader; 3. Julian Dent AUS

5th place, 2 mins 18 secs behind the leader;

4. Hanny Allston AUS

4th place, 2 mins 3 secs behind the winner.

The Team said they were stoked with the result, and happy to show the Europeans that Australia can match it with them!

This year’s World Games was the eighth. Thirty one sports were on the program. In total, 4700 athletes from 105 nations took part, a record in terms of the number of sports, athletes and nations.

Orienteering made its début on the program of The World Games in Akita, Japan, in 2001. This year was the third time for Orienteering to be part of this huge, highly successful multi-sport competition. And, for the first time, a Sprint was added to the program, making three Orienteering events. At previous World Games it had been just two – Middle Distance and Relay.

SEPTEMBER 2009 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 7

WORLD GAMES

Expert Assistance Creates a most Successful Event Christine Brown - IOF Senior Event Adviser

T

HE 8th World Games, held every 4 years, were held in the city of Kaohsiung in Taiwan (a.k.a. Chinese Taipei). The World Games are affectionately known as “the Olympics for non-Olympic sports” and this was the 3rd time Orienteering was included. Inclusion in The World Games is a significant intermediate goal of the International Orienteering Federation (IOF) in its ultimate aim to get Orienteering included in the Olympics. The World Games in Kaohsiung certainly proved that Orienteering, with the help of the appropriate technology, can be an exciting spectator sport as evidenced by the thousands of hits on the live internet broadcast.

At previous World Games the Orienteering was limited to a Middle Distance competition and a mixed Relay. This time a third discipline, the Sprint was added. As no extra days could be added to the competition schedule this added extra demands to the existing schedule, forcing the Model event to be held on the same day as the opening ceremony.

After being appointed as the IOF Senior Event Adviser in 2006 I made my initial visit to Kaohsiung in January 2007. It took anther two visits before the final visit in July to ensure that everything was on track. There was an enthusiastic core group of orienteers from the local association CTOA. It was apparent from an early stage that their experience was limited and the IOF committed the support to ensure that the Orienteering competitions at The World Games would be suitable for athletes & spectators and have TV and internet coverage for the rest of the world watching the Games. Ultimately a combined team of skilled organisers was assembled from CTOA, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and Australia.

The World Games organising committee took care of many of the non-Orienteering specific aspects such as transport, accommodation and catering. This meant that the assembled team were able to concentrate on the Orienteering specific aspects and brought to life fantastic courses in the urban settings of the Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts and Chengcing Lake.

Australian Opening Ceremony officials, Paul Pacque, Christine Brown and Mike Dowling

To comply with the wish of International World Games Association (IWGA) that all competitions in the Games are close to the host city it was decided to hold all Orienteering events within the city boundaries rather than in a more traditional bush setting. As well as introducing the Sprint to the Games schedule we also sought a deviation from the rules of Foot Orienteering and ran the Middle Distance and Relay competitions on a 1:5000 map prepared using ISSOM. Feedback indicated that this innovation was a success. Innovation can have its place in major events.

The final result proved that a major event could be put together and be available to the world. IWGA board members who were present at the event were impressed by the professionalism with which the event was organised and, coming from a limited background of Orienteering knowledge, were able to understand what was happening. This was possible through the use of TracTrac, a large video screen, good commentary and on-screen graphics.

Australia first tasted success at the World Games with Grant Bluett winning a gold medal in 2001. In 2009 Hanny Allston proved that she is a world class athlete by winning gold (Middle Distance) and silver (Sprint) medals. The Australian team narrowly missed out on a bronze medal, finishing 4th in the Relay, an outstanding performance in a strong field.

It was a pleasure to be there both as an organiser and as a spectator. In 2013 the World Games will be held in Cali, Colombia – what an Orienteering experience that will be!

IOF Officials team

8 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2009

Hanny Allston on the podium with Minna Kauppi (left) and Linnea Gustafsson (right). Photos: Rob Preston

MIDDLE DISTANCE – WOMEN 1. Hanny Allston AUSTRALIA 2. Minna Kauppi FINLAND 3. Linnea Gustafsson SWEDEN 4. Signe Søes DENMARK 5. Aija Skrastina LATVIA 6. Dana Brozkova CZECH REPUBLIC 19. Kathryn Ewels AUSTRALIA

27:01.0 28:17.4 28:44.4 28:49.2 29:16.5 29:18.0 32:08.4

SPRINT – WOMEN 1. Minna Kauppi 2. Hanny Allston 3. Elise Egseth 4. Rahel Friederich 5. Linnea Gustafsson 6. Sarah Rollins 15. Kathryn Ewels

FINLAND AUSTRALIA NORWAY SWITZERLAND SWEDEN GREAT BRITAIN AUSTRALIA

14:17.7 14:40.0 14:53.8 15:05.1 15:06.8 15:25.4 16:14.1

MIDDLE DISTANCE – MEN 1. Daniel Hubmann 2. Dmitriy Tsvetkov 3. Andrey Khramov 4. Tero Föhr 5. Mattias Millinger 6. Øystein Kvaal Østerbø 13. Julian Dent 23. Simon Uppill

27:43.4 28:16.6 28:51.8 29:00.3 29:01.2 29:32.1 31:08.5 32:28.9

SPRINT – MEN 1. Andrey Khramov 2. Daniel Hubmann 3. Tero Föhr 4. Øystein Kvaal Østerbø 5. Matthias Mueller 6. Lars Skjeset 17. Simon UPPILL 22. Julian DENT

RUSSIA SWITZERLAND FINLAND NORWAY SWITZERLAND NORWAY AUSTRALIA AUSTRALIA

13:11.2 13:12.8 13:46.5 13:49.1 14:00.7 14:07.2 14:41.6 15:03.2

SWITZERLAND RUSSIA RUSSIA FINLAND SWEDEN NORWAY AUSTRALIA AUSTRALIA

RELAY 1. Russia 2. Finland 3. Norway 4. Australia 5. Denmark 6. Latvia

1:55:07.7 1:56:38.0 1:56:48.9 1:57:11.3 1:59:15.8 1:59:19.1

SEPTEMBER 2009 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 9

WORLD GAMES

Hanny – silver in the Sprint.

Photo: Erik Borg

WORLD GAMES WOMEN’S SPRINT MAP AND PHOTOS Museum of Fine Arts Scale 1:4000 2m contours

Julian Dent.

Photo: Rob Preston

Switzerland’s Daniel Hubmann, 2nd in the Men’s Sprint.

Photo: Rob Preston

10 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2009

Kathryn Ewels, second leg runner

Minna Kauppi brings the Finnish team in for a silver medal

WORLD GAMES RELAY MAP AND PHOTOS Photos: Rob Preston over Juian Dent hands to Hanny Allston for the final leg

Hanny anchoring the Aussie team to a 4th place finish

Simon Uppill gets the team off to a good start

The Aussie team – very happy with their 4th place.

Photo: Christine Brown SEPTEMBER 2009 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 11

WORLD ORIENTEERING CHAMPIONSHIPS

PROFILE

Shannon Jones The most recent orienteer to win initial selection to compete for Australia at the World Orienteering Championships (WOC) is Shannon Jones of Red Roos, ACT. Shannon was no. 73 to run in Australian colours at WOC when she lined up in Hungary for the Sprint event on August 20th.

Shannon demonstrated her running ability with some very good performances in major Canberra races earlier this year and has combined that ability with her Orienteering technique to win selection in the Australian Boomerangs team which competed at WOC in Hungary last month.

Shannon’s climb through the Orienteering ranks has been something of a stop-and-go affair in years past as she tried to balance her studies with training and racing.

1987 started orienteering with the family in Wagga Wagga; 1994-1998 Member of NSW Junior Orienteering training Squad; 1997

moved to Canberra;

2000-2003 didn’t really orienteer or run much at all throughout her university years; 2004 Shannon moved to Sweden for a year to live with Grant Bluett (she was still just a social orienteer, no training); 2005 Moved back in Canberra with Grant and started working as a teacher. No running or orienteering; 2006 Shannon started training and got a couple of ok results in National Orienteering League races; 2007 Lazy! (she says). Didn’t orienteer or run this year; 2008 Shannon says: “I decided to see if I could run every day of my January holidays because I was really unfit. I ended up running every single day of the year (still haven’t had a rest day yet!) and got back into Orienteering. Started doing PB’s in 5km and 10km running races. Got an equal first in the National Orienteering League Sprint race at the University of Canberra in April, and 2nd at the WOC Sprint trial in Tasmania (but I didn’t nominate for WOC). I was selected for the Bushrangers team competing at the Australian Championships in QLD but was very disappointed with my runs”; 2009 “I decided to keep running and Orienteering as I am loving it. Got new PB’s for 5km (18.02) and 10km (38.15 - I think).

Grant helps me plan training and gives advice on training and racing. I’m super excited about going to WOC in Hungary this year!”

Orienteering Australia – National Training Centre 12 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2009

WORLD ORIENTEERING CHAMPIONSHIPS

Reflections on a French WOC held 22 years ago With the 2011 World Orienteering Championships scheduled to be held in the Savoie region of France, Rex Niven (Nillumbik Emus, VIC), reflects on his involvement with France 1987.

F

RANCE has only once before hosted the World Championships. As France 2011 approaches I can now reveal my recollections and behind-the-scenes details of the World Champs 1987 held at Gerardmer, Eastern France.

As I lived in western France, I must drive all afternoon to a mountain inn in the east part of Lorraine. I arrive to find the organisers hard at work, or in the local lingo en plein boulot.

Clearly my group are in mid-briefing. Four authentic-looking mountain woodsmen with full black beards like big paintbrushes are gathered around the only table. They are making rapid inroads on a crate of beer and seem to be ignoring the presenter.

SEPTEMBER 2009 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 13

WORLD ORIENTEERING CHAMPIONSHIPS

“Remember to keep some water cups topped up but don’t put them all out at once,” warns the official. “Some people aren’t fussy where they put their feet”. Our job as contrôleurs is to record the order and time each runner arrives at each control and, of course, keep the control clean, erect and as it should be, or comme il faut. As I have scored the last control I will get the most action of anybody. Also, my records may be important for timing of the finish leg sprint.

Another team is working on the results display. The team leader brings out a box full of miniature flags to attach to the competitors’ names. Most of the flags are known but one causes bemusement. “I think it must be New Zealand” says someone finally. I am about to remonstrate when the leader attributes it correctly to somewhere in Eastern Europe. Antipodeans can rest easy.

Individual Championship day, time 05:30. Time for life-giving black coffee, croissants, brioche and jam. Our leader Bernie, also equipped with an impressive beard, is handing out our high-tech equipment for the day – a roughly-hewn slab of particle board, some sheets of paper already used on one side, a few biros some of which function and a plastic bag. We are to supply our own time-piece. SportIdent is still many years away. Let’s hope there are back-up systems.

Finally one of the New Zealand team staggers up and seems to collapse into a hole. I climb out of my tree and try to help.

We are also given a shopping bag packed to the brim with drinks, filled baguettes, cake and fruit - the inner Frenchman is being given due attention. Our “herbergement” is adjacent to the Finish so my walk to the last control won’t be far. Finally we get our maps. One of our number is the brother of the course setter, who is a soldier and an elite orienteer. He has a powerful torch.

We form a group around the beam and look at the M21E course.

The terrain is quite mountainous. The centre piece is a long leg which is quite spectacular with multiple route choices, but many controls hold more physical than navigational challenges. It looks like strong runners could do well.

We deploy ourselves at our controls. Next to mine is a compact tree with big leaves which is a nice place to perch and watch as the serious-looking Scandanavians sprint by. Later in the day the runners are not looking quite as confident. A Hong Kong guy looks quite dizzy. Finally one of the New Zealand team staggers up and seems to collapse into a hole. I climb out of my tree and try to help, but he is back on his feet. He is not at all fazed that a foreign guy in an exotic tree in the middle of the French mountains knows both his own name and who his father was, so he must have had a good time.

The weather has been good, the competition has been successful for the organisers, and French runners have performed reasonably well.

Team leader Bernie and his wife converse with me at dinner. We discuss the state of Orienteering in France, which was mostly dominated and paid for by the military and related services like gendarmes. This was partly as a training aid, but also a way of attracting les sportifs and sportives to stay in the military after Military Service. Ever the diplomat, I express the view that Orienteering seems to develop in an idiosyncratic way in every country, with local map symbols, a hide-and-seek or cache-cache way of course setting, different class structures and unusual race formats. Only after years of maturing is the IOF methodology fully accepted. However, Bernie is equal to this challenge to 14 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2009

national honour! Although the French federation had only 2000 or so regular participants in 1987, he is naturally proud of what had been achieved. We go to sleep satisfied with the day, except me, whose bed has been appropriated by a new arrival.

Relay Day, the hour 04:30. More coffee and brioche. Today there is a long drive through the hills to the competition area, less steep but prettier and set about with small lakes. This time I have a camarade and we have been allocated one of the more distant controls. Our army truck drops us at a road junction. As it is pitch black I scan my map in the headlights to figure out where we are. Dawn begins just after we set off though, and a whine in the ears shows that “les moustiques” are also up early and heading for coffee and croissants of their own.

Eventually we settle down in the ferns at our control, which is also a drinks station. We have a military radio, a talkie-walkie. We think the first runners will appear 20mins after the start. Sure enough, after time zero +18 minutes the face of a Scandanaivan girl is seen, then another blonde head, and another and the whole group pass in no time. We report in by radio as each girl arrives: “la suedoise, la danoise,…”.

Forty minutes later, the same thing happens again for leg two. We wait another sixty minutes, but no-one comes. Odd. Eventually we call base on the radio, wondering if the competition has been stopped. “On n’sait rien nous” they snap back, meaning they have no idea why no-one is coming to our control, and judging by the tone, please don’t bother us again. Later we find out that legs three and four go in a quite different direction, so our day’s work is done. We walk a few km back to the finish, still carrying most of our enormous pique-nique. Warm weather has made for a good day and everyone is happy. The official dinners can proceed in an atmosphère amicale et chaleureuse.

France is unusual in Europe having a low population density, high standard of living and a lot of forested countryside. Many of the mountains in the eastern Pyrenees and the south-east Departments of Jura, Savoie and Hautes Alpes offer superb orienteering in complex glacial and karst geology. Along the Atlantic coast are long stretches of intricate sand dunes, and closer to Paris the large royal hunting forests like Fontainebleau and Rambouillet offer interesting terrain of good runnability with sandstone escarpments, ancient flint mines and boulder fields or chaos. After a run, one can search the forest floor for mushrooms like the elusive and delicious bôlets and cèpes.

There are also excellent Orienteering forests overlooking the Champagne district vineyards and near the Bordeaux region.

However, despite all these attractions, interest in the sport by the general public is much lower than in neighbouring Switzerland and Britain. Speaking as the average Anglo-Saxon though, I can certainly recommend the terrain, and definitely the lunch.

SPORT PSYCHOLOGY

Psychological aspects of improving performance Lisa Lampe

N

O matter what level you compete at, there isn’t an orienteer who wouldn’t like to improve their performance. Studies consistently show that psychological factors can determine the outcome between athletes of similar physical and technical ability. So what can be done?

Psychological factors can be addressed at a number of stages, including training, the pre-start, and the actual race. A good place to start is to analyse some recent performances. An often neglected exercise is to look at what went right – what did you do well? It’s useful to identify the things we did well for a number of reasons. First, it helps build confidence, an important psychological factor. By explicitly recognising the things we did well it brings to our attention that we are capable of doing these things, and with some focus can do them consistently.

Next, think about aspects of your performance that did not go as well as you would have liked. Consider the physical, technical and mental aspects of orienteering. Looking at this list, decide whether the problem was some failure to implement skills you know you have, or whether you can identify some deficit. Examples of deficits might include a lack of fitness in climbing hills, poor route choice, challenges in mapreading in certain terrain (e.g. rock), distractibility or loss of focus towards the end of the course.

Having identified problems, ask: was this a one-off, or does it appear to be part of a pattern? If the latter, then we can plan how to address these factors in training and performance.

The role of confidence As the focus of this article is on psychological or mental factors, we will look at these in more detail. To perform well requires a number of mental skills and attributes. Confidence is one such factor. Confidence can be affected by personality style, previous experience (e.g. success or perceived failure), level of preparation and emotional factors. It can also be affected by factors that arise on the day, depending on how we think about them and let them affect us. For example, if an individual has slept poorly the night before the event they may believe that this will put them at a disadvantage, yet interestingly there is research that suggests that a single night of lost sleep is unlikely to impact performance.

As confidence wanes we may react in a number of ways, again influenced by personality and temperament: some individuals may become over-cautious and slow right down, others may abandon careful route planning and become impulsive, trying to make up lost time. Still others may quickly revert to asking other competitors where they are, abandoning problem-solving approaches prematurely (e.g. when did I last know exactly where I was?).

The good news is that habitual responses, whilst influenced by personality, are not set in stone. Gaining insight into unhelpful habitual response patterns allows the opportunity to train ourselves to respond differently. Steps in changing any habit include identifying the need to change, making the commitment to change, and determining the appropriate alternative response that, with repeated practice, will become the new habit.

Trying to make such changes for the first time during an event where there is felt to be a high level of challenge or competition can be difficult. So using minor events to start practicing and testing out changes can be a better place to start. Aiming to use the new strategies consistently will speed their conversion to habit.

Optimism is another aspect of confidence that can be increased.

Deliberately focusing on the positives, rather than the negatives is one well-known strategy that actually works. Visualising successful management of challenging situations can also help to stay focused on the positives.

Martin Seligman drew attention to the tendency of those with high levels of optimism and self esteem to take credit for successes, and to see them as being due to one’s own actions rather than chance. This relates back to the point above about actively identifying what we do well. All these strategies can be practiced so that they become more habitual.

In future articles, other psychological aspects of improving performance will be addressed.

Lisa Lampe is a psychiatrist and academic with a special interest in anxiety and cognitive behaviour therapy. She works for the University of Sydney and is based at the CADE clinic.

Cartoon by John Walker, Red Roos, ACT

Confidence is enhanced by preparation, planning and an optimistic outlook. Personality style contributes to the level of optimism, and also to the degree of emotionality – whether a person is of a sensitive, reactive, emotional disposition (what is often referred to as ‘highly strung’), more phlegmatic, or somewhere in between. Being too sensitive can lead to over-reaction when problems arise (e.g. running late to the start, problems ‘getting into’ the map, having difficulty on a leg) which can quickly sap confidence.

SEPTEMBER 2009 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 15

NAVIGATION

Revenge On The Diggings Jim Bowling (Enoggeroos, Qld)

Revenge is sweet. Despite my cunning plan of last year coming to fruition with my winning of the coveted Perseverance Cup, the Leyburn Diggings map believed that it had defeated me with its subtle underhanded tricks. As I left the field of battle last year I could hear the triumphant whispers in the trees, the low chuckles in the rocks, and the rustle of the leaves in the watercourses, as the map spread the word of its having bested me.

T

HE sheer arrogance of this map to think that it, and not my supremely cunning plan, had enabled me to win the cup!! I knew I had to prove that it was me, and not it’s childish efforts that had accomplished such a feat of endurance! I waited.

Patience is a virtue when one is fighting to retain one’s honour on the field of battle.

The time came for me. A two-day event on the Leyburn Diggings map arrived. I was ready. Packing my bags I left early Saturday to travel to Leyburn and do battle with ‘that map’!

Being the sportsman that I am, I decided to let ‘that map’ know I was throwing down the gauntlet; let it answer the challenge if it dared. On arrival I carefully dressed for the occasion and entered the forest. At the start site I wandered casually about allowing ‘that map’ to see me and realise that the challenge was on! I was confident in my ability. Well, anyway, I acted as if I was confident.

The shadows were lengthening as I left the start and advanced rapidly and confidently up the hill to the first control. I had taken ‘that map’ by surprise! It was overconfident in its ability to confuse. Perhaps the lateness of the start had caught it by surprise. No cunning plan for me today; I was just there to throw out the challenge. Let ‘that map’ accept it if it dared. Belatedly it attempted to confuse me with a half-hearted attempt at misplacing some boulders. I laughed at this puny attempt and continued on my way. Next came the small rocks that rolled as I stepped on them. How pathetic, trying to trip me in such a way.

However the challenge had been accepted. Not wishing to blow my own trumpet, not too much anyway, I finished the course in fine fettle and returned to Leyburn to await the morrow.

Showered and changed I repaired to the Leyburn Hotel where a warm fire, a cold beer, and a hot steak set the seal on the day. Of course I realised ‘that map’ now knew I was back and would be preparing its attack for tomorrow. One victory was not going to be enough. I had to show ‘that map’ I was superior to it.

Sunday dawned bright and cheerful. A perfect day for the challenge. I arrived early just to show my confidence, and again walked casually about for a while letting ‘that map’ know I was in charge. Then the time had come for me to show it that it was my cunning plan that had won me the Perseverance Cup, not its sneaky underhanded, and I must say subtle, terrain misplacements.

My first control appeared directly in front of me without trouble.

A quick change of direction and off to the second. Still ‘that map’ had not realised I was on the ground and running. I had caught it completely by surprise! The third and fourth controls 16 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2009

were behind me before ‘that map’ had woken up to my brilliant navigation, lightning speed, and tenacious grasp on the situation!

However I nearly came to grief due to my sense of elation. ‘That map’ tried the old ‘rolling rock underfoot trick’. I was nearly undone as I bounded confidently down a slope and the rocks suddenly moved! I was immediately brought to my senses and that old adage ‘Pride cometh before a fall’, flashed through my mind. The fight was on! Oh how the blood boils when your challenge is met! I had a worthy opponent and I was determined to beat it! Ignoring the blood, as a true warrior should, I resumed my course, albeit with more caution. Down the slope, across the watercourse junctions, that appeared subtly out of shape from the map, and up the next ridge. ‘That map’ was really fighting back.

Again I was nearly caught. This time it was the cobbler’s pegs with their grasping clinging black pins. But my blood was fairly up. My eagle eyes sighted a wallaby track through the barrier and I was through before ‘that map’ could close the gap.

Recovered from its surprise, I knew it was rattled when it tried to trip me up with its loose rocks and cobbler’s pegs again but I was ready for it. ‘You only catch me once’, I shouted defiantly.

Deftly stepping over the rocks and around the cobbler’s pegs I proceeded to spike the fifth control. ‘That map’ was now getting into its stride. It tried the old trick of moving the boulders to the other side of the watercourse, but I had its number. Ignoring the obvious ruse I sneered at the boulders, tracked along the watercourse, and climbed the misrepresented hillside to pounce on the next control.

Oh, it was glorious. Victory was in my grasp. One last sneaky trick almost caught me when the last control seemed to move mysteriously from one watercourse to the next. But it was the last gasp from a vanquished foe. As I placed my SI stick in the finish control I could hear the trees whispering in defeat, the rocks slithering to hide under the leaves that were blubbering.

Yes, revenge is sweet. I had shown ‘that map’ who its master was.

As I left the finish area I noticed Greg Chatfield among many others patiently picking out cobblers pegs from their O-suits.

I knew ‘that map’ had spitefully taken out its defeat on the other competitors. Deciding that discretion was the better part of valour, I refrained from mentioning my victory and quietly slipped away.

At midnight, in an ancient Druid ceremony, with incantations and a full moon shining down, ‘that map’ was sacrificed and devoured in flames.

SEPTEMBER 2009 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 17

NUTRITION Gillian Woodward

Are you having enough

carbohydrates?

It seems to be fashionable to limit carbohydrate foods in the Australian diet these days. I have even heard of gym instructors telling their clients to ‘limit the carbs in the evening meal ‘or ‘not eat any carbs after 4pm in the afternoon’. Some advocate restricting them all day!

I hope no orienteer in training would take this advice seriously. It is completely the opposite of what good sports nutrition strategy would advocate. Carbohydrates are our major energy source for physical activity. Even though there is a good fat supply stored in most of our bodies, it is not the preferred energy source for activity as it takes more oxygen to burn, and oxygen is at a premium in exercise. So our small reservoir of carbohydrate stored as glycogen in our muscles and liver (only a few kilograms) is definitely the preferred energy source for activity.

It is true that some carbohydrate foods/drinks are not very high in nutrients and should therefore not be included as a regular part of the diet, but rather be used on special occasions or times of high energy need. These include things like soft drinks, cordials, lollies, chips, chocolate bars, biscuits, cakes etc. But there are many carbohydrate-rich foods which are staples in the diet and contribute other vital nutrients – namely bread, cereals, fruit, starchy vegetables and dairy products.

Dietitians dealing with athletes in training often find they do not eat sufficient carbohydrates, especially in the evening. If you have trained after work or school, you should definitely be having carbs as your recovery nutrition snack or drink. That is why sports drinks, milk shakes, fruits and juices make excellent posttraining choices. They not only replace lost fluid, but also provide

18 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2009

carbohydrates to replace those glycogen stores that have been used up in your run or workout. They need to be followed up by some more carbs in the evening meal – whether it is potato, sweet potato, corn, rice, pasta, cous cous or another grain product, there is a lot to choose from. Of course some protein-rich food to accompany these carbs would be desirable as well – lean red meat, chicken, fish, legumes, tofu or nuts are all good choices.

A dessert of fruit and yoghurt or custard or ice-cream would add more nutritious carbs as well.

It is true that eating excess carbohydrates can lead to weight gain, but if quantities are controlled and if the carbs are not fried or coated in fat, then it is less likely to happen. It is usually the fat associated with the carbohydrate-rich foods that is the cause of the weight gain. For instance it can the amount of butter or cheese on top of the bread, or the amount of oil in which the potato chip is fried which is responsible for the weight gain – not the humble slice of bread or the innocent potato!

So if you are serious about your training diet, include good quality, nutritious carbohydrate-rich foods at each meal and snack for lasting energy. If you are not feeling satisfied for long enough after eating try including at least one low GI (glycaemic index) carbohydrate food at each meal. These have been discussed before, but to put it briefly, all dairy products including milk, yoghurt, custard and ice-cream are low GI. So are wholegrain breads, legumes, most pasta and many fruits – especially our winter ones like oranges, apples and pears. The lower GI foods tend to keep your energy levels more even, so you won’t run out of fuel so quickly. On the other hand, if you are in need of a quick energy boost just before, during or immediately after a training session or workout, then high GI carbs are recommended – sports drinks, cordial, watermelon, rice or rice cakes, etc.

As you can see, it is more about choosing the best type of carbohydrate for your immediate needs than about restricting the total amount of carbohydrate that you eat in a day that is important.

Gillian Woodward is a Practising Dietician and has been providing advice in the field for over 25 years. She has been an orienteer since 1984.

JUNIOR WORLD ORIENTEERING CHAMPIONSHIPS

Junior Team tackles the Italian terrain JWOC 2009 – July 5-12 – Primiero, Dolmiti, Trentino, Italy The Australian Junior Orienteering Team was made up of some ‘old’ hands, Bridget Anderson, Belinda Lawford, Krystal Neumann, Aislinn Prendergast, Lachlan Dow, Leon Keely and Oscar Phillips and some new young blood: Sarah Buckerfield, Lilian Burrill, Josh Blatchford and Max Neve. We arrived in Venice on the Friday and spent a good day in the ‘City of Canals’, even going for a little run around the streets of the old city on the Orienteering map of the area, ending in St Marco’s Square.

Text and Photos: Hilary Wood (alias ‘Hill Top Woods’) – Team Leader

M

UCH gelato was consumed and we finished the day with a visit to Lido on the beach and some sampled the sea - a vast flat expanse of water which was pleasantly warm and inviting.

Some spectacular thunder and lightning storms made for an interesting sleep that night.

The Team commenced its ‘Italian job’ in the hills near Asiago, staying at La Pineta, a guest house in Cesuna. The Danish senior team shared the accommodation and we shared the kitchen with them. Some delicious meals were prepared and enjoyed by the Team and they could go for training runs right outside the door in a mapped forest.

Ian Anderson kindly helped out with some massages and with training in the forest. With plenty of garlic in the food most remained healthy although Lilian Burrill had a cold early in the week followed by Oscar Phillips coming down with a cold leading into the competition week. Bridget Anderson had suffered with a bout of tonsillitis leading into the training week but was raring to go and compete come the JWOC week.

We had several good maps representing the Primiero terrain to train on nearby. The Team visited Primiero on the Wednesday prior to the competition week and did some training on Dismoni after we got some inside info about it being similar to the Middle Distance terrain. We enjoyed a hot chocolate afterwards at a conveniently located restaurant on the map. We then travelled up the mountain and had a peek at the Dolomite peaks on Passo Rolle snapping a team picture (just off the Long Distance map).

Then on to Tonadico to practice some Sprint training through the winding streets of an old town mixed with some cross country running.

The setting for JWOC this year was undoubtedly a most beautiful and spectacular part of the world. The towering pinnacles of rock above steep slopes of alpine meadows and pine forest dotted

WOC Team at Passo Rolle.

From left: Sarah Buckerfield, Callum Fagg, Lilian Burrill, Max Neve, Belinda Lawford, Lachlan Dow, Bridget Anderson, Leon Keely, Krystal Neumann, Josh Blatchford, Aislinn Prendergast, Oscar Phillips.

with a mix of rock features made for a challenging set of maps to be conquered by this year’s contestants. One would think the terrain is very similar to the Swiss terrain of 2005 when JWOC was in Locarno. The similarity stops at the steepness of terrain as Locarno had mostly deciduous forest and this year’s JWOC was more pine and coniferous fir trees interspersed with rock of different types. The clinking of cow bells as one negotiated the alpine meadows was a familiar and pleasant sound.

The team settled into some very nice 3-star hotel accommodation, Hotel Eden, located between the event centre and the bus stop - a most convenient place. Shops within walking distance and the town square very close too. The event attracted over 3000 public entries to the Dolomite 5 Days and a very substantial Australian presence of parents and others. In fact over three quarters of the Team had a relative attending to lend their support and barrack for the Aussies!

The Sprint Race - Mezzano-Imer The arena for this was the athletics track in Mezzano. It made for a very good arena with good weather for this first race.

The stand was full of Aussie supporters and the team were somewhat nervous for their first race. The arena was very spectator friendly with views over the back of the stand to controls and four controls visible from the Finish. This put pressure on the competitors to be on guard for the correct control at the end of their courses with different controls for the men and women being close to each other. Unfortunately Oscar Phillips fell victim to the pressure at the third last control and punched the girls’ control rather than his own.

Aislinn Prendergast was very happy to be the best performing girl in the Aussie Team and although she had some hesitations was pretty happy with her run. Lachlan Dow was also a good performer for the boys and that gave him a good confidence SEPTEMBER 2009 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 19

JUNIOR WORLD ORIENTEERING CHAMPIONSHIPS

boost. Josh Blatchford was not far behind and the time lag of just over 2 minutes behind the winning time in 59th position shows the strength of this World Class competition. A few seconds hesitation can count against you and the value of smooth and sure control punching becomes very important. As one can see, they have to be able to run fast to compete with the world’s best as well as navigate well. The distance given is deceptive as they had to negotiate around buildings and out-of-bounds areas to complete their courses. The areas were typical old town laneways interspersed with long legs across some fields and roads. Route choice was complicated by lots of out-of-bounds areas of private land.

fastest routes. In fairness the Long Distance course wasn’t set as a Long course usually is with long legs giving route choice. The boys had 27 controls over the 9.5km. On average about 1 control every 300 metres.

The girls also found the going tough; Sarah Buckerfield, Lilian Burrill and Krystal Neumann were out in the worst of the weather.

However Bridget performed the best of the Aussie girls in this race with Krystal Neumann coming in close behind and Lilian Burrill having a good shot at the Long Distance event in her first JWOC.

Middle Distance Qualification Race San Martino, Nord The Middle Distance qualification proved to be a tough race on the steep hillsides of San Martino de Castrozza. The distances, deceptively short, covered up the toughness of the terrain. Sarah Buckerfield was the best placed Australian followed by Aislinn Prendergast, in terms of time behind the winner and place.

MEN Q1 (58) 4.4km 150m 15 controls 1. Martin Hubmann (SUI) 26:20 27. Josh Blatchford 32:06 (+5:54) 41. Max Neve 34:25

WOMEN Q1 (42) 3.3km 90m 12 controls 1. Jevne Arnesen (NOR) 25:19 23. Aislinn Prendergast 31:47 (+6:28) 28. Bridget Anderson 33:45

Q2 (58) 4.4km 155m 16 controls 1. Matej Klusacek (CZE) 26:17 30. Lachlan Dow 33:17 (+7:00) 36. Callum Fagg 34:22

Q2 (40) 3.4km 90m 14 controls 1. Ivana Bochenkova (CZE) 25:53 21. Sarah Buckerfield 31:28 (+5:35) 28. Krystal Neumann 33:14

Q3. (58) 4.5km 155m 16 controls 1. Mathias Kyburz (SUI) 26:43 40. Oscar Phillips 35:22 (+8:39) Leon Keely mp

Q3 (42) 3.5km 100m 14 controls 1. Signe Klinting (DEN) 27:20 24. Belinda Lawford 37:05 (+9:45) 27. Lilian Burrill 37:30

Middle Distance Final San Martino – Centro Photo Aislinn leaving last control in the Sprint

Long Distance Race – Passo Rolle Sud The Long Distance race was held up high on the Passo Rolle pass and made for a magnificent backdrop of soaring mountains and flattish meadows with forested steep and complex hill sides which punished the runner who did not keep track of the height of the controls on the hillsides. The day was also a mix of weather and started out a little cool and damp but developed for the middle runners into almost blizzard conditions with driving rain and sleet and dramatic drops in temperatures. It was at this point in the day the coaching zone was empty! The day finished quite balmy with the sun coming out although always remaining wet and muddy underfoot. These conditions favoured the early runners and the later runners although those in the middle may have hurried more to get out of the appalling conditions more quickly.

The Long Distance race is traditionally the most demanding physically and mentally and this race proved to be in line with that tradition. Results for the Australian men have improved this year with Lachlan Dow in 35th position and Josh Blatchford, in his first JWOC, finishing in 57th position ahead of Leon Keely in 66th.

Max Neve struggled physically and was caught in the worst of the weather ending up very cold and exhausted when he finished. He was sent back down the mountain early in a warm car to recover.

He later claimed “That was the hardest thing I have ever done in my life”.

Oscar Phillips struggled with the dense contours and the technical difficulty of the course. The 1:15000 map was very busy with lots of complex contour details and rock features in dim coniferous forest. A competitor could not avoid climbing steep hills for the 20 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2009

Bridget Anderson was extremely disappointed to miss out on the Middle Distance “A” Final but Sarah Buckerfield went out with the intention of improving on her performance in the Long Distance and just missed out on the “A” final in 21st position (first 20 qualify).

Josh Blatchford and Lachlan Dow continued to be the most consistent runners and out performed the other boys although missing out on the “A” finals. Experience says that one must run a time under 30 minutes to have any chance of qualifying for the “A” finals.

Leon Keely tried to show what he’s made of and unfortunately, although he believed he had punched the control, it failed to register on his stick and he was disqualified. He reported that he had made a mistake in that leg and so remembered visiting this control however the proof is always taken off the SI stick and it didn’t show any registration for the missed control. Needless to say he was pretty devastated about this result.

Unfortunately, this year no Australian made the top-20 grade to run in the Middle Distance final. As a result the coach, Nick Dent, encouraged them to do their very best in the “B” and “C” finals and try and make the Australia #1 Relay team.

The challenge for the Aussies was to get as close to the top of the “B” and “C” finals as they could. The four girls did not disappoint in their efforts. Belinda had her best race of the week so far and Krystal, Bridget and Aislinn turned in pretty good results.

The boys were a mixed bag on this day. Josh continued with his consistent good performance with Callum Fagg coming in close behind. Lachlan had a blow-out and Max Neve, although finishing in a good time of around 22 minutes, unfortunately mis-punched on a control on the adjacent spur in the forest and did not take the time to check his number. Leon Keely had some good splits but then made some costly mistakes leaving his time behind the top runners in the “C” final.

Josh approaching the spe ctator control in the long race.

View from the last control in the Long Distance race zone and Lachlan Dow approaching the coaching Race. spectator control in the Long Distance

Relay - Val Canali The team leaders’ job in choosing the optimum Relay team combinations is always a difficult one when the team shows some promise and inconsistency in performances over the week.

We usually have competitors who have traditionally run the first or last leg of the Relay in school teams or State Relays and so can be somewhat thrown by being asked to run second. A Relay depends on consistency over the three runners so the leadership went for those who had shown the most consistent and better performances over the week. Injuries as reported were taken into consideration and morale of each member was also taken into consideration. Oscar Phillips had been suffering from a cold all week so was not in peak form. Leon Keely was nursing a sore bruised big toe from the Middle Distance qualification race. Max Neve had suffered badly from fatigue in the Long Distance race.

Lachlan Dow and Josh Blatchford had been the best of the boys and Callum Fagg had marginally out performed the other boys in the Middle Distance races and had finished all the races.

For the girls Bridget Anderson and Aislinn Prendergast had been reasonably consistent and were keen for their last race at world level in the junior ranks. Krystal Neumann had been consistent over the week and shown an improvement on last year. Belinda Lawford, although having a good race in the “B” final, had been out performed by the others in the Long and Middle Distance qualification. Lilian Burrill has shown some promise for the future and Sarah Buckerfield also has potential for some good performances in the future.

Some may think a controversial choice in light of the results.

However the time between the finish of the Middle Distance race and when teams are required to submit the Relay teams and running order is short. Discussion was held with all team members and order was decided mostly by consensus unless a decision had to be made between runners who could not reach an agreement about running order.

All runners did their best under a lot of pressure to perform well and not let other team members down. Unfortunately Callum Fagg succumbed to the excitement of the Relay day. He also went over on his ankle and had to limp home. Max Neve also tried his very hardest and, because of so much hillside running, aggravated his ITB and was in a lot of pain when he finished.

Lachlan and Josh showed their consistency and had the best times of the Australian boys. For the boys, times under 45 minutes were required to compete at the highest level.

The girls tried their best too but the competition was too good and times under 40 minutes were needed to be anywhere near the top teams. Bridget performed the best and sprinted down the finish chute so hard she was overcome. Belinda also showed she has the potential to perform at the top level with a good solid Relay run.

MEN 43rd place - Australia 2, 3:02:54 (time, time behind, leg place) Max Neve 57:59 (+14:39) (47) Leon Keely 66:37 (+24:51) (47) Oscar Phillips 58:18 (+17:08) (37)

WOMEN 24th place - Australia 1, 2:11:56 (time, time behind, leg place) Aislinn Prendergast 43:59 (+10:31) (24) Krystal Neumann 47:47 (+12:52) (25) Bridget Anderson 40:10 (+7:30) (16)

48th place - Australia 1, 3:16:25 Callum Fagg 90:32 (+47:12) (55) Josh Blatchford 54:57 (+13:11) (33) Lachlan Dow 50:56 (+9:46) (23)

29th place - Australia 2 , 2:38:14 Sarah Buckerfield 53:05 (+19:37) (30) Lilian Burrill 61:56 (+27:01) (31) Belinda Lawford 43:13 (+10:33) (23)

The Team enjoyed the terrain although very steep. The scenery was magnificent and the Italian hospitality warm and welcoming.

The food available at the hotel was excellent this year with a wide variety of salads available and pasta and meat dishes.

The Opening and Closing Ceremonies were well done with entertainment European style, fascinating and enjoyable.

JWOC 2009 finished with the party and disco which all the team enjoyed. The Aussie Team made a great attempt at the ‘Italian Job’.

Performances have improved from last year and that augers well for Denmark in 2010. We are in the fortunate position of having SEPTEMBER 2009 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER

21

JUNIOR WORLD ORIENTEERING CHAMPIONSHIPS

many juniors wanting to have the JWOC experience and the competition for places in the Team will be hot at Easter 2010 in Canberra.

Denmark terrain has open beach, sand dunes and flat forested areas with negative terrain for the Long Distance race. Fine contour reading will be required and ability to run in sandy hills and to count them as you run. The Middle Distance races will have pine and spruce forest in flat areas with many contour details and tracks. The Relay will be very hilly with open vegetation and more obvious contours. If you’re keen get training, both physical and technical!

Bridget Anderson and Josh Blatchford at the spectator moose!

Australian supporters at the Middle Distance final

The Australian team having fun in Venice

RESULTS SPRINT Women 1. Jenny Lönnkvist Sweden 13:34 2. Ida Bobach Denmark 14:02 2. Tereza Novotna Czech Rep 14:02 4. Fiona Kirk Switzerland 14:15 5. Mari Jevne Arnesen Norway 14:16 6. Sarina Jenzer Switzerland 14:26 29. Aislinn Prendergast Australia 15:26 64. Belinda Lawford Australia 16:44 68. Bridget Anderson Australia 17:03 87. Lilian Burrill Australia 18:03 90. Krystal Neumann Australia 18:33 98. Sarah Buckerfield Australia 19:30 Men 1. Matthias Kyburz 2. Milos Nykodym 3. Martin Hubmann 4. Florian Howald 5. Søren Bobach 6. Severin Howald 40. Lachlan Dow 59. Joshua Blatchford 98. Max Neve 111. Leon Keely 146. Callum Fagg Oscar Phillips

Switzerland 14:43 Czech Rep 14:56 Switzerland 14:58 Switzerland 15:00 Denmark 15:01 Switzerland 15:04 Australia 16:34 Australia 17:00 Australia 17:56 Australia 18:29 Australia 21:09 Australia mp

MIDDLE DISTANCE “A” Final – Women 1. Tove Alexandersson 2. Britt Ingunn Nydal 3. Ida Bobach 4. Fiona Kirk 5. Bettina Aebi 5. Julia Gross “B” Final 4. Belinda Lawford 6. Krystal Neumann 7. Bridget Anderson 9. Aislinn Prendergast 15. Sarah Buckerfield 21. Lilian Burrill

Sweden 23:24 Norway 23:42 Denmark 23:59 Switzerland 24:11 Switzerland 24:54 Switzerland 24:54 Australia Australia Australia Australia Australia Australia

27:29 28:40 28:46 29:48 32:58 35:49

“A” Final – Men 1. Olli-Markus Taivainen Finland 26:21 2. Philipp Sauter Switzerland 27:00 3. Ulf Forseth Indgaard Norway 27:39 4. Martin Hubmann Switzerland 28:05 5. Søren Bobach Denmark 28:24 6. Albin Ridefelt Sweden 28:36 “B” Final 28. Joshua Blatchford Australia 29:47 31. Callum Fagg Australia 30:10 44. Oscar Phillips Australia 32:37 53. Lachlan Dow Australia 35:05 “C” Final 28. Leon Keely Australia 26:51 Max Neve Australia mp

22 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2009

LONG DISTANCE Women 1. Ida Bobach 2. Jenny Lönnkvist 3. Marika Teini 4. Elen Katrine Skjerve 5. Julia Gross 6. Kristin Löfgren 65. Bridget Anderson 66. Krystal Neumann 75. Lilian Burrill 77. Aislinn Prendergast 83. Belinda Lawford 102. Sarah Buckerfield

Denmark 54:12 Sweden 55:33 Finland 56:28 Norway 56:37 Switzerland 57:41 Sweden 58:17 Australia 1:19:42 Australia 1:20:43 Australia 1:27:08 Australia 1:29:05 Australia 1:33:38 Australia 1:56:36

Men 1. Gustav Bergman Sweden 1:05:55 2. Søren Bobach Denmark 1:09:19 3. Martin Hubmann Switzerland 1:09:25 4. Lauri Sild Estonia 1:10:03 5. Rasmus Thrane Hansen Denmark 1:14:56 6. Torgeir Nørbech Norway 1:14:57 35. Lachlan Dow Australia 1:29:26 57. Joshua Blatchford Australia 1:34:17 66. Leon Keely Australia 1:37:36 93. Callum Fagg Australia 1:45:55 99. Max Neve Australia 1:47:44 122. Oscar Phillips Australia 2:01:22

RELAY Women 1. Switzerland 1

1:44:42 2. Norway 1

1:46:29 3. Denmark 1

1:46:39 4. Sweden 1

1:47:28 5. Czech Republic 1

1:51:12 6. Sweden 2

1:52:54 24. Australia 1 2:11:56 29. Australia 2

2:38:14

Men 1. Sweden 1

2:08:51 2. Switzerland 1

2:09:34 3. Denmark 1

2:12:03 4. Sweden 2

2:12:23 5. Norway 1

2:15:44 6. France 1

2:16:00 43. Australia 2 3:02:54 48. Australia 1

3:16:25

Belinda Lawford at the final control in the Sprint

Callum Fagg in the Sprint

JWOC 2009 MIDDLE FINAL – WOMEN

SEPTEMBER 2009 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 23

JUNIOR WORLD ORIENTEERING CHAMPIONSHIPS

Sarah Buckerfield – Middle B Final

Leon Keely – Middle C Final Bridget Anderson – Middle B Final Josh Blatchford – Middle B Final

Map enlarged to 110% 24 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2009

A 1942 Harvard flyover. Photo: Adam Liedloff

where there was a significant military presence during World War II (the event area was dotted with war relics). The airstrip also provided the venue for entertainment which occupied much of Saturday afternoon between races, as a number of vintage aircraft provided an informal airshow (with many orienteers taking the opportunity to take a ride in a Tiger Moth or other aircraft of a similar vintage).

Despite the small fields, there was some good competition to be had. Perhaps the most keenly-awaited battle was that in M21, between now-local Lachlan Hallett and Victorian Blair Trewin.

This almost failed to eventuate thanks to the latter being stuck in Western Australia for some days with a broken-down car, but in the end he only missed the Sprint (from which Hallett was also absent as course-setter). They ended the weekend with honours even; Hallett took out the Middle Distance, but Trewin reversed the result in the Long Distance event despite having a shoe partially disintegrate in mid-course.

Northern Territory

Championships Blair Trewin

T

he Top End’s stalwarts were joined by a keen group of interstaters for the 2009 Northern Territory Championships weekend, which took place over the first weekend in July. There were, in total, about 60 participants in the three events, starting with a Sprint at Charles Darwin University in suburban Darwin before moving to the forests south of Darwin for the Middle and Long Distance events.

The Top End is a long way from the terrain that most southerners are used to competing on, so it was not surprising that the terrain types were somewhat different to what they are used to. There is not much tropical rainforest to be found in the Northern Territory (the dry season is too dry for that), and most of the north is covered by relatively open savannah woodland; the critical factor in runnability is how recently the terrain has been burnt. About one-third of the Top End is burnt each year so it is rare to find an area that hasn’t seen fire for a long time, but where those areas exist the grass is very challenging to get through.

On the ground, the main feature of the weekend maps was the extreme rockiness of the ridges underfoot. There are not a lot of big rock features, but the areas were covered with small rock which could be quite awkward to run on. The flatter areas featured gully-spur terrain and many termite mounds, some of them very big. There was even the odd buffalo wallow – a feature you certainly won’t see down south – but no water features large enough to support any crocodiles. Conditions were relatively kind; after a hot and humid week leading in, a wind change on the Saturday morning brought dry air and race temperatures in the low 20s, although that still would have felt warm to those coming directly from the south.

Another good contest was that in M17-20, featuring two of Australia’s better M16s, Oliver Poland and local Kelly Bertei, along with Poland’s older brother Luke. Oliver was particularly impressive in the Sprint (not for the first time this season), in which he had the fastest time of anyone on the long course, and also led a Long Distance field in which the three were separated by only five minutes. In between, Luke took out the Middle Distance.

Susanne Casanova, also a new(ish) Darwin resident, was untroubled in taking out the Middle and Long Distance in W21.

Kate Radford provided her closest competition in these events but was unable to take advantage of Casanova’s absence in the Sprint, which was won by Victorian Ann-Cathrin Degn.

The interstate contingent were responsible for two of the more interesting Long Distance races. The gap was just under two minutes in W45, where Gayle Quantock (Queensland) edged out Toni Brown (ACT), and Liz Bourne’s win over Janet Davill in W55 was similarly close.

It was a weekend of enjoyable Orienteering for most concerned.

For those who do not head for Europe for the winter, the Territory provides a chance for a new Orienteering experience without leaving Australian shores, and also has potential as a warm weather training venue for those about to compete in hot countries (at least for people with strong ankles). The next major event is expected to take place in mid-2011.

Luke Poland. Photo: Wolfgang Meike

The Long Distance event, at Coomalie Creek, about 90 kilometres south of Darwin, was based around the old Coomalie airstrip, SEPTEMBER 2009 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 25

NORTHERN TERRITORY CHAMPIONSHIPS

Top End Juniors Julianne Giffard

A

small but enthusiastic group of young orienteers gathered on the shores of Manton Dam near Darwin on Saturday July 4. Some had just completed or attempted the very rocky Middle Distance course with varying degrees of success as part of the NT Championship carnival week-end.

All were keen to improve their orienteering skills with the help of the Blue Sparks ACT Primary School Team lead by David Poland and Toni Brown who had brought their family to the Top End for the Championships.

The children, ranging in age from 5 to 11, along with their older siblings and parents (who learnt a few things too) practised their map reading skills with a star course relay race based around a 1:2500 enlarged and easy-to-read map of the lake shore and picnic area. Various features were identified on the map such as vegetation boundaries, thickets, spurs, bridges and other man-made objects. David used his knuckles to illustrate contours and a saddle and the children had to identify areas of varying degrees of steepness by using the contours.

Map reading practice. Photo: Wolfgang Meike

An activity alluded to but not demonstrated and perhaps more suited to southern climates was edible orienteering using porridge, milk and lollies to demonstrate different terrain and features. After completing a treasure hunt and balloon orienteering the children were ready to face the challenges at the rocky and sometimes overgrown terrain at Coomalie Creek the next day.

Noah Poland, who had already won the Sprint and Middle Distance events, capped off a great week-end by winning the M10 course in a blistering time. Three of the other children became NT Champions in their respective categories. The most successful local junior under the age of fourteen was the winner of the W12, Jilly Storrs, who had also picked up a second and third in the Sprint and Middle Distance events respectively.

David Poland demonstrates contours on his knuckles. Photo: Wolfgang Meike

Thanks to David and Toni for showing the Top End Orienteering children how much fun Orienteering can be.

Aerial view of the assembly area at Coomalie Farm.

Photo: Adam Liedloff

26 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2009

Map used for children’s activities at Manton Dam

Sunset over the Timor Sea after the sprint event. Photo: Wolfgang Meike

Tyson Hillyard, Long event winner in M21AS. Photo: Wolfgang Meike

Susanne Casanova and Adrian Uppill after the sprint event. Photo: Wolfgang Meike

Liz Bourne, winner of W55A receives her commemorative medallion from Richard Luxton. Photo: Adam Liedloff

Kelly Bertei running across Dripstone cliffs in the sprint event. Photo: Wolfgang Meike

SEPTEMBER 2009 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 27

NORTHERN TERRITORY CHAMPIONSHIPS

A Pleasant Sojourn to the Top End Bob Mouatt - Red Roos, ACT

F

or those who can remember how enjoyable Orienteering was in the 1970s and to those who would like to go back in time and experience it, may I recommend the Northern Territory Championships; no SportIdent, and plenty of entertainment.

I had the pleasure of fitting part of the 2009 NT Championships into a trip through central and northern Australia. I visited the Sprint Distance event at the Charles Darwin University on the evening of Friday 3 July. After a challenging run through the University and visiting some beach control sites, which at other times would have been covered by a high tide, participants watched the sun set on Beagle Gulf and enjoyed a BBQ on the beach at Dripstone Park.

I skipped the Middle Distance event on the Saturday morning as I had other commitments, but attended the pièce de résistance, the dinner at Coomalie Creek airstrip, which had been the base for No 1 Photo Reconnaissance Unit and No 31 Fighter Squadron. The dinner was sumptuous, but the highlight for many was the opportunity to fly in two World War II planes, a Tiger Moth or a Harvard (on which the Australian Wirraway was based). One of my abiding memories was seeing John Lyon in the front of the Tiger Moth looking like Terry Thomas in the movie ‘Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines’. After dinner we were entertained by two musical groups, the Top End Folk Club and a quartet, Sax Seasons, which included the Top End’s own Susi Bertei.

Next morning we returned to Coomalie Creek for the Long Distance event, which provided a tough physical and navigational challenge for most competitors. The terrain was covered with tens, if not hundreds, of relics from World War II, as well as many rocky outcrops and termite mounds. To paraphrase Crocodile Dundee, some of the 5 metre plus termies could be described as, “Now that is a termite mound!”

The NT Championships attracted around 70 competitors, but every State and Territory (except Tasmania) was represented by at least one person (there were eight from the ACT), plus a lone New Zealander and a couple of Danes living in Australia.

The workload for a small club such as Top End Orienteers to stage such a magnificent carnival was enormous and its members might not be able to repeat it every year, but I strongly recommend that orienteers in the south seriously consider heading north when the next NT Championships are held.

PS. I can now claim to have joined a small select band of orienteers who has participated in the Long Distance Championships of every State and Territory in Australia.

Thank you Top Enders for a most enjoyable weekend.

John Lyon in front cockpit of Tiger Moth

Magnetic anomaly Adrian Uppill (Onkaparinga Hills, SA)

T

he need to orientate the map to features in the field rather than using the compass needle is clearly the case when orienteering at Manton Dam, NT. Jon Potter (TEO) had warned of magnetic anomalies over the map but I did not expect a deviation of about 18 degrees west from the north lines when at a particular saddle on the map. The north lines at this point are obviously wrong in that they are not parallel but perhaps should bend as shown on the map subset.

Alternatively, in this part of the country, one could use the magnetic termite mounds for orientating the map!

28 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2009

The Melbourne Millennium Club – Inaugural Memberships

O-Spy Pichi Richi Marathon

C

ONGRATULATIONS to South Australian Jenny Casanova who put her Orienteering and Rogaining fitness to good effect with a 4th place, 3hr 48 minutes, finish in her first marathon last July. This was the Pichi Richi event which starts at Port Augusta and undulates up to the finish at Quorn, in the lower Flinders Ranges.

Adventure Racing

O

RIENTEERS have also been active on the adventure racing scene.

NSW duo Mary Fein and Orla Murray won the women’s section of the NSW Kathmandu event in June, while the trio of Zara Soden, Fern Tomas and Kay Haarsma were equal winners of the SA Teva event in July.

T

HE Millennium Club has been developed to acknowledge enduring participation in the Melbourne Park & Street Orienteering Program. It presented its inaugural memberships on 3rd June, 2009.

Twelve orienteers were presented with their Companion membership badges for completing over 750 street-O events since the start of this millennium: Geoff Hudson, Mike Hubbert, John Sheahan, Jenny Sheahan, Vic Sedunary, Debbie Dodd, Noel McVey, Ian Dodd, Len Budge, Ian Stirling, Wally Cavill, and Peter Yeates. The most applauded membership awarded was to Judy Hopkins who passed away earlier this year but had qualified for Companion membership of The Millennium Club with more than 840 events completed. Another four people received their Companion badges at a later occasion: Ken O’Brien, Peter Kempster, Mark Besley and Stan Gurman.

Associate membership badges (500+ events) were presented to Ian Greenwood, Schon Hudson, Bryan Ackerly, Ian James, Andrew Baker, Sue Gurman, Ray Howe, Dale Howe, Lauris Stirling, Tina Smith, Bruce Paterson, Pat Miller, Allan Miller, Pam King, Peter Grover, Ilze Yeates, Reg Saunders, Denise Pike and Peter Dalwood. Five other eligible members were later presented with their badges: Peter Kovassy, Tony Bird, John Meeking, Phil Poulton and Mary Enter.

No Legends memberships (1000+ events) have been achieved but it is anticipated that this milestone will be reached later this year.

ORIENTEERING PUBLICATIONS IOF 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

Australian Publications 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

Cartoon by John Walker, Red Roos, ACT

Mountain Biking

I

N the Anaconda Enduro stage event in Alice Springs Adrian Jackson was placed 3rd in the elite race, with Dave Shepherd 17th and David Simpfendorfer 21st. Melinda Jackson was 5th in the elite women, while Carolyn Jackson won the 50+ category and Paul Darvodelsky won the 40+ class.

Congratulations

A

USSIE WOC team member Grace Elson (Tas) married British orienteer Matt Crane last July in Great Britain.

SEPTEMBER 2009 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 29

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.

F

JWOC selections

oot O - in the individual events this year only 6 times out of 36 runs did Australian runners finish in the top half of their fields. Results were: Sprint - 1 girl and 2 boys; Middle none; Long - 3 boys. Nor did we hit the top half in the Relays, with our girls placing 24th and 29th out of 40 teams, and the boys were 43rd & 48th out of 58 entries. Hidden in these statistics were some outstanding runs but overall it reflected a need for greater consistency. Perhaps the juniors should be racing more often against the Kiwis, so they have more pressure of unknown opponents and terrain.

However it does raise the question of whether we should automatically select 12 team members each year. Do we need some quality control? Too often our runners “make” the JWOC team and then start training in earnest, rather than training hard at least 9 months beforehand.

MTBO - this year at least two hugely talented Aussie U21’s watched the MTB JWOC in Denmark from their lounge rooms. Orienteering Australia suggests we need to wait until there is great depth in the junior ranks here before sending any juniors. That is backward thinking and discriminatory against those with talent NOW. If our Olympic team was picked the same way we would certainly have fewer medals.

Some people have short memories - in Foot O our first JWOC “team” in 1989 was just Clare Hawthorne (Tas).

Foot O and MTBO have many similarities but also many differences and both should be embraced. MTBO will always have fewer events but those riders who are extremely able must be allowed to test themselves at the highest level.

This is not a question of funding but of opportunity.

Kay Haarsma

T

The first event

he dispute over which State was the first to put on an Orienteering event has been running for many years: though South Australians appreciate and acknowledge the roles played by Victorians such as Tom Andrews - as well as people like the ACT’s David Hogg - in getting a modern version of our sport up and running, some of us here feel miffed by repeated Victorian claims of its event being the first.

According to The Australian Orienteer, June 2009 issue, “It all started 40 years ago”, with interesting pieces from Tom Andrews and Ron Frederick. However, 50 Golden Years: The History of Orienteering in South Australia, 1955 – 2005, (which you and David received from me in December 2005), tells a different story.

in 64:30, was a Western Districts AC runner, Carl Cederblad, who also won the first State championship at Mt Crawford in 1956, at which there were 43 participants. The SAOC formed late in 1956, and the whole thing was the brainchild of the late Lembit ‘Jess’ Jarver OAM, an athletics coach of international standing, later the founder editor of a respected coaching magazine, Modern Athlete and Coach, who’d remembered enjoying a kind of relay orienteering as a child in Estonia during the 1930s. Teams would line up on the oval, and in turn they had to run into the forest, find 2 controls and return – sounds idyllic and a lot of fun, and Jess (a nickname given him after the 1936 successes of Jesse Owen), was mighty quick (11.4sec was his best time for the 100m).

We acknowledge that, in the evolution of our sport, what was offered in SA as Orienteering was an unwieldy, out-of-date version, one prone to errors from incorrect grid references, ancient and unsuitable maps (brought along, pencilled, erased, then re-used) and, by 1961 it was being run by and for a dozen or so people who had careers, young families and other sporting interests, especially running/athletics: it simply ran out of steam. However it was called Orienteering, it did have five State championships and the first night event (at O’Sullivan Beach on 14/7/1957), though it failed to evolve, and was far too much an off-shoot of Adelaide’s cross-county running fraternity (originally intended by Jarver as a form of cross-training for athletes he coached).

In 1971-72, word emanating from the VOA and/or the OFA and probably from Tom reached the National Fitness Council in Adelaide, the same organisation that had helped promote it in 1955, and Jarver, a NFC field officer and sports scientist, along with its long-serving director, Albert Simpson, were again on hand to help find interested people, give admin assistance with map production, and cajole those who would run events in 1973, some of whom would help form OASA in 1974, (omitted from David Hogg’s chronology on pages 18/19). Jess was our version of Tom Andrews (another ‘Balt’, but from Lithuania), but his first love was track & field coaching, one of the factors which led to the SAOC’s demise.

The only other state Orienteering history published, as far as I know, is Map & Compass: The Story of Orienteering in Queensland, by Barbara Pope and Pam Cox (Orienteering Queensland, 2008), and on page 1, under “Orienteering Reaches Australia”, it acknowledges that which I’ve outlined above, though the authors did have access to and clearly used Fifty Golden Years material.

(On another navigational front, the first SA 24 Hour Open Bush Walk, eventually known as 24 Hour Walks, held each year by the Adelaide University Mountain Club, was run from Tanunda to the Morialta Conservation Pk in 1963. It was won by A Ward, G Ward and T Lothian of the Adelaide Bushwalkers, with every control on its course, eg Mt

Its first chapter, The South Australian Orienteering Club, was researched and written by Jeffa Lyon: it ran from 1956 to 1961, while David Hogg refers to the SA “Association”, and gives its life-span as 1955-1957. He describes what occurred in the late 1950s as “orienteering ‘pre-history’”: we beg to differ.

Chapter 1, page 1: “On Sunday afternoon, July 9th 1955 the first orienteering event was held at Lobethal in the Adelaide Hills.” The map used was a 1:63,360 Military Survey dated 1928, there were four controls over 6.5km and a stagger of 3 minutes; and each control marker was made of red crepe paper. Six figure grid references were used and the winner, 30 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2009

Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority

Kitchener (later Kaiser Stuhl - many German place names were replaced by Anglo-Celtic ones during WW1) - being trig points. A proposed history of SA’s 24 Hr Walking/Rogaining (SARA from 1987) is currently being discussed).

With the 40th anniversary of the VOA and the OFA/OA coming up next year, it would be good to clear up any confusion. The Lobethal event on 9/7/1955 was the first Orienteering event held in Australia, while the one at Upper Beaconsfield on 23/8/1969 was the first Australian Orienteering event to offer a modern ‘Swedish-style’ form of the sport, with no use of grid references or need for magnetic declinations, a speciallyprepared large scale map (1: 15,840) and a cross-country course with pre-marked circles and leg lines. What happened in Lobethal was, in fact, history, not “pre-history”, in my/our opinion.

John H. Williams (Life and Founder Member of OASA; Founder member, Tjuringa Orienteers; co-writer (with Jeffa and John Lyon) and Editor, Fifty Golden Years).

T

First Event 40 Years Ago?

he section in The Australian Orienteer, June’09, under the title, ‘It all started 40 years ago’, which refers to the Victorian Beaconsfield event, 23-8-1969, as the ‘first event’ and ‘inaugural event’, must have come as a shock to South Aussies, who in 2005 celebrated the 50th anniversary of Orienteering in SA with the publication of a grand book entitled, ‘50 Golden Years: The History of Orienteering in South Australia, 1955 – 2005’. It’s first eleven pages, researched and written by Jeffa Lyon, details the first event at Lobethal 9-7-1955, initiated by a post WW2 Baltic migrant and well known SA sporting identity Jess Jarver. It goes on to detail some of the many events and five State Championships held by the South Australian Orienteering Club from 1956 to1961.

the development of Orienteering in Victoria and the formation of the Victorian Orienteering Association and the Orienteering Federation of Australia, as well as being responsible for the introduction of public Orienteering events to the ACT and Tasmania. The 24 Hour Walk also led directly to a similar event in South Australia, the establishment of intervarsity ‘orienteering’ (now rogaining) and the formation of Rogaining as a recognised sport.

If Tom Andrews and his colleagues had not organised the Upper Beaconsfield event in August 1969, the whole pattern and timing of Orienteering development in Australia would probably have been very different. Without the 24 Hour Walk, the early momentum for Orienteering development in Victoria would have been much less, and its spread to some other parts of Australia would have been slower. The South Australian events of the 1950s, on the other hand, had a minimal effect on the development of Orienteering nationally, their main long-term benefit being in facilitating the re-introduction of Orienteering to SA in 1973.

It is for this reason that I consider the Upper Beaconsfield event to be the defining event which all present-day orienteers should recognise as giving rise to the sport which they now enjoy.

David Hogg

The Australian Orienteer section is dismissive of these and other early attempts at Orienteering in Australia. The 24 hour walks of the university mountaineering clubs of Melbourne, 1941, and other cities in the next two decades, were a sufficiently different navigation sport that they developed into the separate sport of Rogaining. But what was started by Jess and the SA Orienteering Club, had the club survived, would surely have developed into modern Orienteering, and was in fact early Orienteering.

For South Aussies the truth of the two and a half page section finally came out in its last sentence - “commemorating 40 years of orienteering in Victoria”.

Paul Hoopmann (Tjuringa, SA)

T

David Hogg responds

he 1955 Lobethal event is believed to be the first crosscountry navigational event held in Australia described as ‘Orienteering’, but the 1969 Upper Beaconsfield event was the one that gave rise to the current Orienteering movement and led to the establishment of Orienteering as a national sport.

I consider the early navigational events held in Victoria, South Australia, the ACT and New South Wales prior to August 1969 to be orienteering ‘pre-history’ because they did not directly form part of that movement. The most influential of these prehistory events was the Melbourne University Mountaineering Club 24 Hour Walk, first held in 1947. People associated with that event played a major role in accelerating

FOR STOCKISTS CALL 1800 209 999

www.victorinox.com

VICTORINOX AWARD The Victorinox Award goes to (Name of Winner) from (Location), for (Reason for award). (Name of Winner) will receive a Victorinox Handyman which includes 24 tools and features, retail value $ 119.00 SEPTEMBER 2009 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 31

Course Setting Course setting can be an intimidating task.

It is time consuming, technically demanding and there is always the possibility of making a very public mistake. Setting Day 1 of the 2009 Australian 3 Days, held last Easter at Diddleum, Tasmania, was the first major event for both course setter and controller. This article has been compiled

by Nigel Davies (Esk Valley Orienteering Club, Tasmania).

32 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2009

Ground rules A friend used to design wilderness reserves as a palliative from his day job as a forester. He described the process as being both artistic and creative as he tried to endow each reserve its own qualities and values, supported by appropriate boundaries.

Without wishing to be too precious about it, there is a similar element in creating an Orienteering course. The courses that tend to stick in your mind have the feeling of a journey – an ‘expedition’ – with a beginning, a middle and an end, each part with its own individuality and terrain. Two events that exemplified this for the writer were the courses for APOC 2000 at The Cascades, Queensland and for the World Masters 2002 at Kooyoora, Victoria.

Although Diddleum lacked the full-on, wild quality of these areas the first goal was to design courses that gave the feeling of a journey. In some respects the availability of SportIdent discourages this process as it is possible to design compact courses with

criss-crossing loops. This results in the runner re-crossing familiar territory and losing the discovery element of new territory.

challenge of detailed navigation in complex terrain but without the $5,000 airfare.

The second goal was that dead running should be minimised and every leg should pose a particular problem and require some sort of decision from the runner.

The second stage (and the first stage for the shorter courses) was the open rough pasture, of the main valley. The challenge here was to resist the temptation to run too fast and lose touch amongst many similar marshes and drainage channels. For the aesthetically inclined the transition from plantation to pasture opened up a striking view of Mt Barrow at the head of the valley.

A high intensity of decision making imprints a leg in the mind.

After some courses it is possible to recall every leg clearly because every leg is different. If there is a sameness of terrain, leg length and decision making then the nature and sequence of legs begins to blur in the memory.

Course design

The third stage was the low-visibility southern plantation which contained quite a bit of rock. This required well-defined attack points before entering the plantation and offered interesting route choices between the forest, a track network and some open leads.

One year out from the event, three of us visited Diddleum and ran the entire map to get a feel for the terrain. This enabled us to identify a location for the event centre, approximate locations for the start and finish and a ‘shape’ for the courses.

The last controls for all courses were in a marshy paddock beneath the admiring gaze of the spectators.

The longer courses all began with a descent into a Tolkienesque patch of plantation and rainforest, with small marshes, gullies, log piles, streams, rock and several ‘rides’. The rides (marked on the map as elongated dashed lines) were not a familiar feature to all runners. They are found more frequently in European forests where plantation forestry is more common. We felt that this area was similar to some Scottish orienteering terrain with the same

Once the rough shape of the courses was identified we walked the map and located attractive control sites on the ground. This was done before designing the courses because we had read that up to 30% of control sites selected from the map might subsequently prove to be unsuitable. Without hiding controls it was our intention that runners should have to approach them with confidence before sighting the flag. This was particularly important in the open central section of the map where controls might otherwise have been visible from a considerable distance.

Commentary on marked legs shown on map: 1. I nto the forest. A descending, contouring leg. Left or right around the large logpile then choice of two rides left, ride right or straight. The first 300 metres of the edge of the map was taped and signed to prevent people running off the map.

2. A cross the gullies. Wide left through open pasture around the top of the gullies, choice of rides right with loss of height around the bottom of the gullies or straight.

3. O ver or around the hill. Track left, track or ride right or a 10 contour climb over the top, either following the ride or direct.

Following the ride over the top gave better attack points but was more circuitous.

4. I nto the marshes. Out of the constricting plantation and into the open pasture. Faster running but you had to stay in touch with the map to avoid overshooting the controls.

5. I nto the gullies. Pick the right gully from four similar parallel gullies. The open terrain is not your friend here as there is a tendency to select a gully visually from a distance, rather than navigating in using the compass.

6. P oint control. Over a slight rise and down to one of two small erosion gullies. Either accurate rough navigation or navigate off the log piles.

7. B ack into the forest, but this one is denser and slower than the northern plantation. You could play safe and run wide on the tracks, follow the branching open gully that bisects the plantation or run straight. The direction of plantings assisted the straight runners.

Control features

Over 100 possible control locations were selected and then assessed for interesting combinations. Several attractive ‘lines’ were identified and incorporated into as many courses as possible.

Some of these lines are identified on the accompanying map.

Control overload and ‘following’ was avoided by using multiple control locations at the beginning and end of each line. The Condes course setting software was invaluable in this regard. It calculated the loading on each control and enabled all courses to be overlaid on the same screen to ensure that no courses shared more than two or three consecutive controls.

On the day On the day of the event at 9.46am the start crew released the first of the runners. Having wound the mechanism it was intriguing to watch it unfold. Observation of the runners showed all the anticipated route choices being used – and a few choices that hadn’t been anticipated.

Things we would do differently (should there be a) next time On the day before the event one of the test runners identified a misplaced control. This resulted from a late change to the courses to correct two similar control features positioned too close to one another. The change escaped the standard sequence of independent taping and checking and was placed from the ‘wrong’ direction. This showed that: 1. You can’t start planning too soon; 2. You can’t check too carefully; and 3. C ontrols should be taped and vetted from the direction runners are likely to arrive.

8. W ide right around the top of the gullies and follow the ride to approach the control from the rear, even wider left on the track, or straight over two gullies then pick the right gully from three similar branches to regain the track. A good attack point was required before leaving the track.

We later learned that at another event the course setters were asked to check the map for accuracy within 100 metres of every control. This would help verify accuracy of control locations and also improve the accuracy of the map (which is, after all, only one person’s symbolic representation of the terrain).

9. C areful navigation through the maze of open leads or run wide to the track or ride.

Anyone wishing to review the courses and route choices taken by the runners can inspect them at http://www.tasorienteering.asn. au/tas_e_results.htm by clicking on the Route Gadget link.

10. S traight through the plantations or a three contour climb to take the ride on the right.

SEPTEMBER 2009 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 33

MOUNTAIN BIKE ORIENTEERING

AUSTRALIAN MTBO CHAMPIONSHIPS Mild conditions one day, torrential rain and hail the next.

The weather gods really turned it on for competitors in the AUS Championships held near Mt Gambier, South Australia, over the June long weekend. Kay Haarsma takes up the narrative:

A

LTHOUGH the event centre was based in Mt Gambier, two of the races were held just over the border in Victoria. This venue had the advantage of new areas never before ridden on, which made for fantastic racing. OASA is to be congratulated in taking the risk of mapping these areas and running the event some 450 kilometres from its main orienteering population in Adelaide.

The Championships had a great atmosphere with most people accommodated at the event centre, the Comfort Inn – Silver Birch motel in Mt Gambier. The Sunday evening social evening at the motel was a real highlight - 130 people enjoyed a three course dinner while warmed by a roaring fire, entertained by a photo slide show, and rewarded with their Sprint and Long Distance event prizes.

Three different areas, most people staying in the one motel, two days of riding without rain - what more could one ask in the middle of winter? Add 30 New Zealanders to the mix and it was probably the best MTBO AUS Championships ever. The Kiwis were there for the AUS v NZ Challenge in conjunction with the Championship events.

The Sprint event was held in the small seaside town of Nelson, with a surprising complexity of small tracks in and around the town’s caravan park, and along the banks of the Glenelg River.

Being cheered on by the children resident in the park was an unexpected mid-race experience. Sunday saw us assembled for the Long Distance event at Donovan’s Landing, a small village on the Glenelg River. The large “Caroline Forest” map was gently undulating pine forest highlighted by a section of rideable grassy clearings where there were a number of controls. Near the finish there was a ride option for most through a bumpy farm paddock pitted with wombat holes.

Mt Gambier in June was always likely to be cold and wet ..... After two days of mild conditions we well and truly got hammered by the weather gods on the Monday when the Middle Distance event was staged at Mt Richmond, 75km east of Mt Gambier in Victoria. Torrential rain and hailstones doused most riders’ warmup activities and left a white blanket in some parts of the forest.

Steep coastal sand hills and very sandy forest tracks churned up by trail bikes added to the degree of difficulty and made for some 34 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2009

times longer than intended. However the views over the Southern Ocean in between rain storms were magnificent!

The competition was fierce in the elite classes and most veteran classes. Kiwi pocket rocket Marquita Gelderman, (4th at the World Championships in 2008) stamped her authority from Day 1’s elite Sprint race with a huge 5min win over Thor Egerton and Melanie Simpson. Thor has recently moved from Brisbane to the colder climes of Melbourne. Melanie is concentrating on her internship as a doctor this year, so it was good to see her out and about. In the Long Distance the Aussies got a bit closer to Marquita (106mins) - just a 3min margin with Thor holding off Carolyn Jackson by a mere 4 seconds for 2nd place. The sandy conditions of the Middle Distance obviously suited Marquita (72mins) because she took a 7minute win over Carolyn and Melanie, just 14secs apart.

Heath Jamieson, a 16 year-old from Gisborne (VIC) was often seen in a close huddle with Marquita after events quizzing exactly where she went. The M20 class he was riding and the elite women had the same courses so Heath was eager to learn what different route choices Marquita had taken or whether it was just quicker decision making. He was thrilled to claim a 29sec “victory” on the Long Distance course but had lessons to learn from her on the other days. This sharing of skills and methodology between competitors is what makes our sport so unique.

Queensland’s Chris Firman, also just 16 years old, must have shivered in the cold, but he chased Heath home each day, especially in the Middle Distance, where he was just 4mins adrift.

Ben Davis, a local lad doing his first MTBO events, was thrilled to finish 3rd in the Middle and Long Distance and receive his glassware prizes.

The elite men’s class had 15 competitors but it was the foursome of Alex Randall, Paul Darvodelsky, Adrian Jackson and NZ’s Stu Lynch who shared the prizes and took most of the International Ranking points. Alex won the Sprint, 30secs ahead of Stu and a similar margin to Paul in 3rd. Adrian (AJ) had to settle for 4th after a fall resulting in a broken chain. Fuelled by that disappointment AJ obliterated the field in the Long Distance with a 13mins win over Paul, with Alex 19secs back in 3rd and

Stu a further 2mins behind. AJ had 4mins in hand in the Middle Distance, with Stu gaining silver and Paul the bronze.

Di Michels (NZ) in W 40, Kathy Liley (W60) and Aussie MTBO matriarch Joyce Rowlands were the other riders besides Marquita and Heath to record a trifecta of victories. Di and Kathy both triumphed in strong classes. Joyce was all alone in W70 but rode times that would have placed her midfield in W60, on the same course.

Many funny stories emerged from the weekend. One was when the serving staff at the motel restaurant assumed that the prize glassware was to be filled with drinking water and put on each table…. Another revolved around where to place your SI stick when its attachment to the bike breaks. Down the front of your knicks wasn’t a good choice for a veteran male. Unable to find it at a control he dropped his knicks only to look up into the befuddled gaze of an incoming female rider!

together and to the squad of course setters who created interesting challenges. The unflappable OHOC twins Michelle Chamalaun and Jenny Bourne solved all things computer/ money / social, and many others who volunteered their time and didn’t even get to ride to keep warm.

Australia / New Zealand Challenge The 2009 AUS/NZL MTBO Challenge was convincingly won

by New Zealand: NZL 13 - AUS 7 over the seven age classes contested. Australia won the M21E class for all three races and W21E in the Long & Middle Distance races. However, the New Zealand M40, W40 and W50 riders won all three races to seal the Kiwi victory. The Australian M60 team salvaged some points winning the Sprint and Long Distance races, while the AUS M50 riders won the Middle Distance race. The next AUS/NZL MTBO Challenge is scheduled to be staged in New Zealand in 2011.

Victoria convincingly won with the State Championship Plaque The appointment of Jenny Casanova as event controller was yet again. Final points were: 1st Victoria (175); 2nd South meant to motivate her to learn to ride a bike. As this skill Australia (68); 3rd NSW (25); tied 4th ACT (23) & Tasmania (23); remained unlearned by June, the process of checking control 6th Queensland (17). sites was undertaken by driving around the forest outskirts with her father as navigator (a sport hereafter known as Class SPRINT MIDDLE DISTANCE LONG DISTANCE Subarallying) and then running in to the controls.

M14 Tim Jackson (V) Jack Allison (SA) Angus Robinson (V) The organising committee had explained to Jenny M16 Darian Panter (V) Marc Gluskie (T) Mark Gluskie (T) the peculiarities of Mountain Bike Orienteering, including the start set-ups. A quick check of the M20 Heath Jamieson (V) Heath Jamieson (V) Heath Jamieson (V) MTBO rules convinced Jenny that they weren’t M21E Alex Randall (V) 29.31 Adrian Jackson (V) 72.53 Adrian Jackson (V) 99.57 Stu Lynch (NZ) 30.00 Stu Lynch (NZ) 76.41 Paul Darvodelsky (N) 113.10 just making it up as they went along and then the Paul Darvodelsky (N) 30.44 Alex Randall (V) 78.13 Alex Randall (V) 113.29 only complication was matching up the regulatory M40 Pete Swanson (NZ) Pete Swanson (NZ) Rob Davis (N) requirements of the AUS-NZ challenge starts with the M50 Dave King (NZ) Darryl Smith (T) Bruce Meder (NZ) IOF rules for an International Ranking Event.

Despite the mud, hail and rain all competitors enjoyed themselves and were glad they had made the effort to visit the Mt Gambier region. Put the dates of Oct 16-17 2010 on your calendar for a 2-Day event there prior to the AUS Champs in Victoria the following weekend.

A big thanks to mastermind, mapper and chief organiser Andrew Slattery for putting this event

Overseas MTBO News Unfortunately the 2009 MTBO World Championships in Israel had the lowest ever number of entrants of the seven WOCs held to date. This was due to worry caused by the fighting outbreak some months earlier and thus many riders chose to prioritise the European Championships in Denmark rather than committing to WOC. The only Australian representatives were Adrian Jackson and Carolyn Jackson. No New Zealand riders raced the World Championships this year.

Men Women Israel 09 82 51 Poland 08 110 58 Highest ever (2005) 130 (2002) 72

MTB JWOC 2009 The 2nd MTB Junior World Orienteering Championships were held in the Danish town of Hillerød, just north of Copenhagen. There were 22 countries entered, comprising 35 girls and 62 boys. At the same venue and time, 140 elites

M60 Michael Wood (NZ) Rick Armstrong (N) Rick Armstrong (N) M70 John Sheahan (V) Eine Meuronen (A) John Sheahan (V) W21E Marquita Gelderman (NZ) 24.01 M. Gelderman (NZ) 72.44 M. Gelderman (NZ) Thorlene Egerton (Q) 29.09 Carolyn Jackson (V) 79.38 Thorlene Egerton (Q) Melanie Simpson (N) 29.14 Melanie Simpson (N) 79.52 Carolyn Jackson (V) W40 Di Michels (NZ) Di Michels (NZ) Di Michels (NZ) W50 Viv Prince (NZ) Viv Prince (NZ) Jacqui Sinclair (NZ) W60 Kathy Liley (V) Kathy Liley (V) Kathy Liley (V) W70 Joyce Rowlands (V) Joyce Rowlands (V) Joyce Rowlands (V)

competed in the MTBO European Championships, including Australian representatives, Alex Randall and Anthony Darr.

In the MTB JWOC Sprint the Russian junior women were strong, taking four out of the six podium places. Fastest of all was Svetlana Poverina, who beat Kaisu Yli-Peltola (FIN) by eight seconds. In the men’s class the gold medal went to Czech Republic. Frantisek Bogár had a clear 46-second margin over Finn Antti Vainio.

The Middle Distance event saw the Norwegian team gain their first ever medals in MTBO World Championships! Participating for the first time they gained silver in the girl’s race and a bronze in the boy’s. Russia’s Svetlana Poverina again took the gold, while Czech Marek Pospisak improved from his 5th in the Sprint to stand on the top dais this time.

In the Long Distance event Austria’s Kevin Haselsberger and the Finn Susanna Laurila were the delighted winners, having both been 4th in the Middle Distance; 2nd place for Kaisu YliPeltola gave her two silvers and a bronze in the individual events. Svetlana Poverina, winner of both the Sprint and Middle Distance had to settle

106.25 109.39 109.44

for 4th while Britain’s Emily Benham was again on the podium in 5th. In the Relays Finland and Russia were the dominant nations. In the boy’s Relay Finland #1 had a clear 7min win over Finland #2, with Russia and Austria next. In the girl’s Relay the favoured Russia #1 team won by 6mins from Finland, Russia #2 and the Czech Republic. This saw Svetlana Poverino collect her third gold medal of these Championships.

In the European Championships Sprint event Alex Randall finished in 19th place, 2mins 20secs behind the winner Ruslan Gritsan from Russia, and Anthony Darr was 65th. Austria’s Michaela Gigon took out the women’s title. In the Middle Distance, Danish riders won both EOC Championship categories. Rikke Kornvig won the women’s by just 4secs from Finnish star Ingrid Stengard, with Austrian Michi Gigon third. The Danes won two medals in the men’s race, with Erik Skovgaard Knudsen winning in 53min15sec and Lasse Brun Pedersen in 3rd. Times were close so Alex Randall had to settle for 31st , just 6mins down, while Anthony Darr was 75th in 78mins.

SEPTEMBER 2009 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 35

MOUNTAIN BIKE ORIENTEERING

The men’s Long Distance event saw Denmark, the host nation, have a sensational result with their six riders finishing in the top-10 of the 82 strong field. They also took the quinella, this time with Lasse Brun Pederson (100mins) having a 2min victory over Erik Skovgaard Knudsen. Denmark’s success was not unexpected as the men won the World Championship Relay last year. Alex Randall finished 24th in 109mins, while Anthony Darr was 68th in 138mins. A look at the splits over the championship indicated that Alex was riding well enough to make the top-10 in several events, but small mistakes are very costly in international fields in MTBO now.

Russia’s Nadiya Mikryukova won the women’s Long Distance in 92mins, with Austrian Sonya Zinkl breaking into the medals for the first time in a major international event in 2nd (94 mins) just ahead of her compatriot Michi Gigon.

The increasing depth of women’s MTBO was reflected in that 9 nations were represented in the top-10 in this race.

The Relay again demonstrated the depth of the Danish men when their #1 team incurred a mispunch but their #2 team came through to win the gold, just 90secs ahead of Estonia, with Russia taking bronze. The women’s event was even closer with Finland prevailing by just 25secs over Austria, and Denmark gained another bronze medal. On the last leg Finland’s Ingrid Stenmark started with a 90sec lead with Austrian champion Michi Gigon chasing hard.

Adding to the intrique was that both girls were on exactly the same split. A 60sec mistake by Ingrid going to #19 saw Michi get within sight but she couldn’t bridge the gap, despite taking fastest time for the day.

Ann Scown W50 (ACT) Viv Prince (NZ) won W50 in the Sprint and Middle races

Rob Prentice (NSW) 2nd M50 in the Long race.

All photos

by Troy Merchant

Czech 5 Days In Czech Republic in early July, Alex Randall was placed 16th overall out of 81 starters, with day by day results of 56th, 10th, 14th, 12th, 22nd. Anthony Darr had a DNF followed by 61st, 58th, 63rd and 46th.

Alex then raced in the Lithuania 3 Day event that included two World ranking events.

Estonian Erm Tonis won overall while Alex was 6th overall and also 6th’ and on the podium in the Middle Distance World Ranking Event (WRE). He was then 12th in the Long Distance WRE and a fine 3rd in the second Middle Distance race on Day 3.

Other news Adrian Jackson raced in the ultra-hard Trans Germany 7 Day stage race in July. This covered 657 rugged kilometres with 15,600 metres of climb! On Day 1 he was 12th out of 180 elite riders, just 6mins down. He had several other top twenty results but also two days beset with mechanicals, so did well to finish 19th overall. His team of Merida Multivan, comprised also a Swiss and two German riders, easily won the best team category.

36 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2009

Map for 2009 Australian Middle Distance MTBO Champs.

Bruce Meder (NZ) on his way to M50 victory in the Long race

Joyce Rowlands (Vic), won Women’s 70+ on each day

Phil White (NZ) M40

Peta Whitford W50 (Vic)

Tim Jackson M14 (Vic)

Di Michaels (NZ) dominated W40

Jamie Goddard (Vic) shows how to punch without stopping.

Chris Firman M20 (Qld)

Heath Jamison (Vic) put in some great rides to win M20 on each day.

SEPTEMBER 2009 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER

37

MOUNTAIN BIKE ORIENTEERING

Stuart Lynch (NZ) came 2nd M21E in the Sprint and Middle distance races

Anthony Darr (NSW) making short work of the hills with his big 29er wheels

Marquita Gelderman (NZ) earned maximum World Ranking points after winning all three races

The final control in the Sprint, on the banks of the Glenelg River in Nelson.

38 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2009

World No.1, Adrian Jackson (Vic) suffered a broken chain in the Sprint, but won both of the other races

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 SEPTEMBER 2009 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 39

40 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2009

TOP EVENTS 2011

2009 Sept 26 Oct 4

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

April 22 - 25

Oct 10 - 17

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

June

Dec 27 - 31

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

2010 March 20-21

April 2 - 5 June 19 - 20 June 27 July 4 July 4 - 11

July 11 - 17

July 12 - 17

July 24 - 30

July 24 - 31

July 31 Aug 7 Aug 8 - 15

Sept 4-5 Sep 25 Oct 3 Oct 16-17 Oct 23-24

Dec 27 - 31

MTBO Selection Trial – NSW National MTBO Series #1 Middle & Long Distance Australian 3-Days 2010 ACT www.act.orienteering.asn.au 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 http://mtbwoc2010.fpo.pt 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

July 1-9

Dates tba

Dates tba July 23 - 29

July 31 – Aug 6 Aug 13 - 20

Oct 1-9

Australian 3-Days 2011 West Australia www.aus3days 2011.orienteering.asn.au Jukola Relays Salpa, Finland JWOC 2011 Wejherowo, Poland www.jwoc2011.pl Fin5 Lohja, Finland www.fin5.fi WMOC 2011 Hungary O-Ringen 2011 Halsingland, Sweden www.oringen.se Scottish 6 Days Oban & Lorn www.scottish6days.com WOC 2011 Savoie Grand Revard, France www.woc2011.fr Oceania, Australian & Schools Championships VIC, NSW 7 ACT

WMOC 2010 Neuchatel, Switzerland www.wmoc2010.org WOC 2010 Trondheim, Norway www.woc2010.com Qld MTBO Champs/Nat MTBO #2 Middle & Long Distance AUS Champs Carnival 2010 – SA www.sa.orienteering.asn.au SA MTBO Champs Nelson – Vic/SA border Aus MTBO Championships – Vic Nat MTBO #3, WRE Middle & Long + Sprint, Castlemaine/Daylesford vicmtbo.com Xmas 5-Days NSW www.nsw.orienteering.asn.au

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 & white Send artwork to The Editor: mikehubbert@ozemail.com.au SEPTEMBER 2009 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 41

CLIMATE CHANGE

States must brace for more heatwaves, deaths Climate change is causing heatwave records to be smashed in ways that would have been considered fantasy just a few years ago, a leading climate scientist has warned. Monash University’s Professor Neville Nicholls said the increase in the number and severity of extremely hot summer days in Victoria was unprecedented, making it impossible to estimate accurately the impact it would have on people’s health. The Victorian State Government recently estimated 374 people may have died because of extreme heat in the final week of January. And that was before Victoria was hit by the Black Saturday fires.

Professor Nicholls, a lead author with the agenda-setting Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, said many people thought of climate change caused by greenhouse gas emissions as something that would happen in 2030 or 2070.

“With heatwaves it is not. Climate change is happening now and will happen all through the rest of our lifetimes,” he told a Victorian State Government conference on adapting to climate change. “We are seeing huge changes in the frequency and the extremity of heatwaves - every population centre in the world is being threatened by this.”

The rise in extreme heat is one of the factors predicted to exacerbate the risk of bushfires as climate change takes hold.

Professor Nicholls said heat records for many centres were broken more than once last summer, often by huge margins by meteorological standards. Melbourne had never before experienced a run of three days hotter than 42 degrees. The final week of January had three consecutive days topping 43 degrees. In March 2008, Adelaide had 15 days hotter than 35 degrees — seven more than the previous record.

“The old records are not just being broken by increments, they are being smashed,” Professor Nicholls said, pointing to other heatwaves this decade in Europe, the US, Asia and south-eastern Australia.

He said adapting to cope with extreme heatwaves would be easier than factoring climate change into other aspects of life.

Measures included increasing fluid intake, keeping cool and reducing physical activity.

The number of nights that do not drop below 20 degrees, linked with increased mortality rates, has risen by 20 per cent over the past 50 years.

During summer there are many urban Orienteering events held in the early evenings. In recent years temperatures have not dropped as quickly as they used to, resulting in events starting when temperatures are still above 40 degrees. Competitors need to ensure they have adequate hydration when temperatures remain high.

42 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2009

The Climate Project

Asia-Pacific Summit ‘We have everything we need to solve three climate crises – we only need to solve one.’

S

O says the Honourable Al Gore, former Vice President of the United States and the joint recipient, along with the International Panel on Climate Change, of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize.

Mr Gore was speaking in Melbourne on Sunday July 12 at The Climate Project Asia-Pacific Summit, where he came to train 261 Climate Project presenters from nineteen countries throughout Australasia and the Pacific. They will take back his climate crisis presentation and work with their communities to find a solution to the climate crisis in the remaining five months before the UN climate change negotiations in Copenhagen.

More than 2,000 people from 22 countries applied to take part in the three-day event, and the passion and commitment of all the applicants was overwhelming. The 261 individuals who were selected to be trained represent an astonishingly broad social and geographical range of people.

They were drawn from some of the world’s largest economies to some of the smallest and most vulnerable island states. People from Bangladesh, China, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands joined those from New Zealand and from across all parts of Australia, to make their way to Melbourne for a single purpose.

From Fiji came Reapi Masau, who has already seen the small island on which she was born erode so much that its inhabitants have been forced to leave, and the sand dunes in which she used to play be reclaimed by the sea.

Whilst Khalida Brohi, from Pakistan’s mountainous border region with Afghanistan, has already lived through years of drought, followed by devastating flash floods, and has found that the indigenous knowledge of generations can no longer predict the changing climate conditions.

Their backgrounds may have been very different, and they may have all had different stories to tell, but the trainees were united in their reason for being there - to become an agent of real change in solving the problem of climate change. Diplomats, doctors and chief executives joined students, economists, and school principals in discussion, and a fruit grower, a fire-fighter, and an associate professor of philosophy could all find common ground.

The trainees heard from a range of experts, including eminent scientist Dr Graeme Pearman and Australian Conservation Foundation Executive Director Don Henry, about the challenges faced by the global community and the solutions needed to help avoid dangerous climate change.

They were also given training to help develop the personal skills needed to inspire change in their communities, in this crucial year for climate change before the UN negotiations in Copenhagen this December.

“Countries in the Asia-Pacific region are going to be crucial in a good outcome at Copenhagen,” said Don Henry. “All countries need to lead on this issue – just as we need to do the right thing at home. The delegates are united in wanting to find a solution to avoid the worst of dangerous climate change. They will now return to their communities and act as agents of change, asking their leaders to be part of the solution to the climate crisis.”

In a message recorded specifically for the Summit environmentalist Dr David Suzuki helped end the first day on a high note, and the levels of energy and enthusiasm among the trainees remained high on day two, as Mr Gore greeted them with the reminder that this was ‘a time of extraordinary promise and extraordinary risk.’

Mr Gore presented an updated version of his renowned slideshow, made famous by the film An Inconvenient Truth, and spoke about the science of climate change and the global impacts it will have. Bleak images of the changing face of our planet were in stark contrast to beautiful photographs of Earth taken from space, which show us the fragility of the biosphere in which we live, and the essential need to protect it.

But the main focus of his talk was on solutions, which include investment in renewable energies and green industries, improved public transportation systems, improved energy efficiency standards for both goods and buildings, the introduction of carbon emission reduction schemes globally, and legislation by our politicians to ensure that these things happen.

The issue of climate change may seem difficult, if not impossible to solve, but there was no one in the room who doubted it could be done.

Mr Gore reminded attendees that in 1961, President John F Kennedy issued a challenge to his countrymen – to put a man on the moon and bring him safely home within the decade. Many doubted it could be achieved. But only 8 years and 2 months later, Neil Armstrong took his ‘giant leap for mankind.’

In Mission Control that day, the average age of the systems engineers was only 26. They had heard Kennedy’s challenge whilst still only teenagers, and, ignoring all the naysayers, they had risen to the challenge and they had met it.

And so it is with the challenge of climate change. We already have the scientific and technological solutions we need to meet this challenge, and the message of the summit was that now we must raise the awareness of the crisis among our fellow citizens and bring about a change in consciousness which must, ultimately, be met with political action and solutions.

The 261 people who are now the faces of The Climate Project Asia-Pacific Summit believe it can be done, and are now at home and work, starting the process. As Mr Gore has said, ‘all that is lacking is political will, but in our great democracies, political will is a renewable resource.’

SEPTEMBER 2009 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 43

ORIENTEERING AUSTRALIA

Executive Matters John Harding – OA Executive Officer

M

Y first task in taking over from Kay Grzadka as Executive Officer was a meeting with Kim Neilson, the Sports Consultant at the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) responsible for Orienteering. I was accompanied by Kay and by Bill Jones, OA President, who had just come from a breakfast for Presidents and CEOs of national sporting organisations in Australia.

The good news from Kim was that Orienteering is considered by the ASC to be a very well run sport with Orienteering Australia (OA) having excellent financial management and a very good High Performance program. OA submits a report to the ASC every six months on a range of standard performance indicators including the on-going strategic and operational plans. Longer term plans are under a bit of a cloud at present, not just for OA but for all sports receiving funding assistance from the ASC, as a government review of funding of sport will not be completed until the end of the year and the results not known until later. Kim, however, did give us an overview of a number of special ASC programs such as the Active After Schools Communities (AASC) Program where other sports become service providers and this income helps fund development officer positions. She is intending to attend the Australian Championships carnival in Victoria so say “hello” if you meet her at an event.

The Trewin Report Blair Trewin reports

2009 WOC trials/ACT Championships

T

he 2009 ACT Championships weekend in mid-May, which doubled as the World Championships (WOC) team trials, saw results which had a similar look to many earlier races this season. Hanny Allston swept the three races by increasingly large margins, whilst Julian Dent and Simon Uppill continued their dominance of the men’s events.

As they had in eight of the previous nine SILVA National Orienteering League rounds, Dent and Uppill filled the first two places in all three events, but this time not in the same order. Uppill ended Dent’s winning streak at nine with a win in the Sprint, and then took the overall honours for the weekend by winning the Long Distance event after Dent lost seven minutes on a major parallel error. In between, Dent took out the Middle Distance event. None of the younger competitors produced a performance which might have made the WOC team selectors think they were worth taking a chance on. The other significant result was the comeback of Dave Shepherd after eight months out with an ankle injury, with third places in the two shorter events.

Allston was never seriously challenged in any of the three events, and extended her margin to ten minutes in the Long 44 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2009

Much is happening at the International Orienteering Federation (IOF) level and a steady stream of IOF email bulletins arrive at the OA office. At its April meeting progress was reported from many working groups. Perhaps the report of greatest interest was a Vision and Objectives statement for Mountain Bike Orienteering, and agreement to produce similar documents for the other Orienteering disciplines.

New IOF Anti-Doping Rules were to come into effect on 1 June 2009. An IOF working group is looking into adventure sports which have an orienteering component to see what the definition and rules are, and to what extent IOF member federations are engaged in or administering adventure sports at a national level, and what possibilities exist for cooperation between IOF member federations and other stakeholders.

Australia is well represented on the IOF Council, through IOF Vice President Hugh Cameron, and on IOF Committees. Mike Dowling, a member of the 8-member IOF Foot Orienteering Commission, was travelling to Europe in July not just to attend Commission meetings but also to represent Australia at the Presidents’ Conference and the Out of Europe Federations meeting. Blake Gordon is a member of the 10-member MTB Commission.

Distance race. The interest was in those competing for places behind. Shannon Jones was the most impressive of these, taking second in the Sprint and Long Distance events, which was enough to secure her a place in the team. Kathryn Ewels was also consistent with a second and two thirds.

The highlight of the junior classes was the tussle between Bridget Anderson and Belinda Lawford, who were not separated by more than 12 seconds in any of the three races.

Each won one of the three races, but they were pushed down to second and third due to an impressive run by Aislinn Prendergast in the Long Distance event. The junior men spread the honours around with Max Neve, Josh Blatchford and Lachlan Dow each winning a race.

In the teams competition, the NSW Stingers men’s team continued their unbeaten run, although they had their closest challenge yet in the Sprint, where the Victorian Nuggets were eight seconds behind and only 42 seconds separated the first four teams. The Nuggets women’s team extended their lead over the Canberra Cockatoos to 11 points, despite losing some ground when Jasmine Neve injured an ankle in the Long Distance race. The Queensland Cyclones continue to dominate the junior women, and are two points behind the Tassie Foresters in the close junior men’s event.

ORIENTEERING AUSTRALIA

Mountain Bike Report

Blake Gordon OA MTBO Coordinator

Adrian Jackson World Number One for a Whole Year It was early in June 2008 when Adrian Jackson started his push to the top of the World MTBO rankings. After a magic four victories in France and Poland, Adrian (280 points) was 6 points in front of his competitors. With gold and two 6th placings at MTB WOC 2008 in Poland he had stretched his lead - and after two victories in the Australian Championships (Queensland) he totalled 380 points, 33 points clear in first place. During the first six months of 2009 he maintained his lead with two more victories in the Mt Gambier AUS/ NZL Challenge events. He chose not to ride in the exciting European WRE’s but did a strenuous week-long trans-German MTB stage race.

Then the points rush of the European Championships in Denmark, the Czech WRE and Lithuanian WRE results came in – Adrian now on 356, still 3 points clear of Ruslan Gritsan (RUS). What makes Adrian’s golden year even more inspiring is that he competed in just 11 WRE races while his nearest rivals competed in 14 or more of the 37 WRE events. It has been a remarkable year at the top of World MTBO rankings – now the final test at MTB WOC in Israel, August 9 - 16. Could Adrian improve on what certainly has been a brilliant year by any standards? The author says “Yes he can!”

Check Adrian’s blog site http://adrianjacksonsblog.blogspot. com/ for the results from Israel.

Victoria dominates National MTBO Series after Round 2 in Mt Gambier Victoria’s elite M21, W21 and M-20 riders scored near perfect points to take commanding leads in all four classes in the 2009 National MTBO Series. Adrian Jackson (142) and Alex Randall (127) top the M21Elite, while rapidly improving Heath Jamieson (150) has a perfect score of five wins from five races in M-20.

In the Women 21Elite, Thor Egerton (QLD) lost to Marquita Gelderman (NZL), who jetted over for the Australian Championships and AUS/NZL Challenge, but posted the highest score of 127 after Round 2 followed closely by Victorians Carolyn Jackson (111) and Di Mittag (103), with Melanie Simpson (97) in fourth place. Jasmine Sunley (VIC) scored two wins in Round 1, but will need to ride in Round 3 to assure herself of winning W-20E. Round 3 takes place in Beerburrum, Queensland, in early September. If Victorian riders finish on the State League ladder in no worse than third place in Round 3, they will claim the honours in all four Elite classes. Currently the combined State standings are: Victoria 149, Queensland 71, NSW 68, SA 27, ACT 9, Tasmania 3.

New Zealand wins 2009 AUS/NZL Challenge An enthusiastic group of 31 of New Zealand’s best mountain bikers came over “the ditch” in late May to contest the AUS/ NZL Challenge. With pinpoint planning and a terrific two-week tour of some of Victoria’s best maps in Woodend, Bendigo, Maryborough and Ballarat the Kiwis, led by Di Michels, again showed us a clean set of tyre tracks en route to a 5-2 Sprint, 4-3 Long, & 4-3 Middle victory at Nelson and Mt Gambier.

It started with an exciting 2-person Relay at Maryborough

with mixed teams of Kiwis and Aussies, followed by a Long Distance race at Mosquito Flat next day. A week of training rides in wet Ballarat (we turned the water on for them!) put them in the right frame of mind to brave the cold, wet and windy conditions south of Mt Gambier. Outstanding rides from Marquita Gelderman (W21E), Di Michels (W40-), Vivian Prince (W50-), Jacqui Sinclair (W50-), Stu Lynch (M21E), Pete Swanson (M40-), Rob Garden (M40-), and Michael Woods (M60-) assured the Kiwis the bulk of the glassware prizes.

South Australian organisers staged the best Australian MTBO Championships yet – and the Kiwis will respond by bringing back more than 40 next year to the 2010 Australian Championships in Central Victoria on 23-24 October.

2010 National MTBO Series The June meeting of the State MTBO representatives voted to hold the 3-round 2010 National Series on: •2 0-21 March - Round 1 – NSW - Middle and Long Distance – selection trials for JWOC/WOC in Portugal; •4 -5 September - Round 2 - QLD – Middle and Long Distance – Queensland Championships; •2 3-24 October – Round 3 - VIC – Sprint, Middle and Long Distance – Australian MTBO Championships.

2009 National Ranking Scheme After discussion from the Easter meeting, it was agreed to rank age classes (M-12, M-14, M-16, M-20E, M21E, M40-, M50-, M60-, M70- and W-12, W-14, W-16, W-20E, W21E, W40-, W50-, W60-, W70-); •O n the best two events at State or Australian Middle or Long Distance Championships; •O ne of the events ranked must either be an Australian Long or Middle Distance Championship or a Long or Middle Distance Championship outside one’s home State; maximum of one Championship event to count from one’s home State Long or Middle Distance Championships (excluding the Australian Championships when held in your home State); •S print Championships - results NOT to be used for 2009 National Ranking List.

Junior MTBO World Championship The MTBO committee is seeking support from all States / State reps at the 2009 December Orienteering Australia Conference for junior representation on the Australian MTB team for the WOC/JWOC in Portugal (July 11-17, 2010). The key points are: •M ore potential for medals due to decreased numbers in MTB JWOC (only 3rd event); •A ustralian MTBO riders will make the A final in Short, Middle and Long Distance; •M -20E should not be compared with M21E standard in Foot-O or MTBO; •M TB WOC and MTB JWOC are held in the same country, same venue and same time in 2010 making it possible for coach/manager to fill the same roll with junior and senior squads.

So please talk with your State Association representatives to the December Orienteering Australia Conference and support a team that includes our best juniors and seniors at Portugal’s MTB WOC in early July 2010.

SEPTEMBER 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 is one more award 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.

LACHLAN DOW The winner this time is JWOC 2009 Team member, Lachlan Dow, from the Bush Flyers Club in ACT. Lachlan is a student at Dickson College studying “All the sciences of the rainbow”. He says his most recent Orienteering successes are - Second overall M17-20E at 2009 Easter 3-Days; and surviving Naseby (NZ) in Jan ’09.

Lachlan’s Orienteering goals are to become consistent and competitive on the world stage and reach the top-10 in JWOC. He says he is “proud to be the orienteer with the most disgusting collarbone”.

His future academic plans are “Science at uni, and to research something more important than hair products.”

46 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2009

Lachlan’s typical Training Diary (from last summer) MONDAY - strength/conditioning 30mins of calf and abs strengthening and ankle propioception.

TUESDAY warm up - 10 minutes athletics race - 5000m in 18:04 - got a stitch on the fifth lap and couldn’t shake it off; as a result I couldn’t get my speed up and ended up equalling my personal best run last year. Next time I should try to cook dinner a bit earlier. warm down - 10 minutes WEDNESDAY Riding - 25 minutes out to the University of Canberra for the twilight Orienteering event Orienteering race - 5.3km; time - 30:30 University of Canberra 1:5000. Lost nearly a minute on the first control. Think I got caught out by the scale.

After that I navigated well until the last few controls in bushland where I struggled to stick to my bearing. Was glad to see other people struggling in the heat as much as me! I missed some of the best route choices by failing to read that there were underpasses under some buildings.

Riding - 45 minutes back home via some mountain bike tracks.

THURSDAY Interval running with the Canberra Cockatoos on Black Mountain in the morning. 3x8min efforts around a track circuit with a couple of minutes rest in between. Had barely woken up by the time we started warming up, and the sun was beating down by the time we started warming down.

Orienteering - a 4.5km night Orienteering course on Black Mountain with a few ACT/NSW juniors. Some controls were great; others I just couldn’t spot the pink tapes that had been put out, and some termite mounds had disappeared. Heading into #6 I saw Belinda’s light behind me so I decided to hide behind the termite mound the control was on to scare her. She claimed to have seen me. :-) FRIDAY – rest day, just an easy ride into town to watch a movie.

Saturday - hill intervals up a track on Mount Ainslie - ran at about 11:30am to (a) get a sleep in and; (b) give the training session the insane touch (37OC today). Ran six efforts that took between 2:25 and 2:40. I calculated the gradient to be about 7%.

SUNDAY – Huge turnout for the “Cantera” Cockatoos long run. Plenty of interstaters for the coaching workshop. Headed from the carpark up to the top of Mount Majura then headed down the other side into the pine forest mountain bike tracks where the pace quickened. Climbed up out of the pines and climbed Hackett Hill. We’d reached the one hour mark and I was feeling parched, but I knew the only tap was on the top of Mount Ainslie. So up the hill we went, down the other side and around the bottom took the time to about two hours.

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 Rob Preston who supplied photos of the World Games.

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 SEPTEMBER 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