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
