The Australian Orienteer – March 2010

Park & Street O Growing Participation

RRP $7.50 inc GST

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SILVA National Orienteering League Event Program 2010 Date Round 1

Race

Location

Eureka Challenge

Victoria

Sat Mar 6

1

Long Distance- Massed Start

Sun Mar 7

2

Sprint Distance - AM

Sun Mar 7

3

Mixed Relay- PM

Round 2

Australian 3-day Championships

Fri Apr 2

4

Easter - Prologue (Sprint)

Sat Apr 3

5

Easter Day 1- Middle Distance

Sun Apr 4

6

Easter Day 2- Long Distance

Mon Apr 5

7

Easter Day 3- Relay Distance

Fri Apr 9

8

ACT Sprint Championships

Sat Apr 10

9

ACT Middle Championships

Sun Apr 11

10

ACT Long Championships

Round 3

WOC Trials

ACT

NSW

Sat May 15

11

Sprint Trials

Sat May 15

12

Middle Trials

Sun May 16

13

Long Trials

Round 4

Australian Championships Carnival

South Australia

Sat Sep 25

14

Australian Middle Distance Championships

Sun Sep 26

15

South Australian Long Distance Championships

Fri Oct 1

16

Australian Sprint Orienteering Championships

Sat Oct 2

17

Australian Long Distance Championships

Sun Oct 3

18

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 MARCH 2010

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): Robert Spry rbspry@gmail.com IOF Vice President: Hugh Cameron oa_international@netspeed.com.au h: 02 6027 0885 Executive Officer: John Harding orienteering@netspeed.com.au 02 6162 1200 m: 0427 107 033 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

April 16; Time-sensitive - April 23

ISSN 0818-6510 Issue 1/10 (no. 157) MARCH 2010

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, Ph. 0409 797 023 pcusworth@bigpond.com Magazine Treasurer: Blair Trewin Printer: Ferntree Print Centre, 1238 Burwood Hwy Upper Ferntree Gully.

Contribution deadline: April 16; Time-sensitive - April 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 - Eric Morris; MTBO - Blake Gordon; Official News - John Harding; Nutrition - Gillian Woodward; Training - Steve Bird; Psychology - Lisa Lampe.

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 – ACT – Philip Purcell philippurc@hotmail.com Vic. – SA – WA – Tas. – 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 INTERVIEW – Kathryn Ewels ..................... 6 XMAS 5 DAYS

.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

G R O W I N G PA R T I C I PAT I O N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 0 W O R L D M A S T E R S O R I E N T E E R I N G .. . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 3 SPORT PSYCHOLOGY............................... 20 S I LVA D U O S E R I E S.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 2 THE TRAVELLING ORIENTEER.................... 23 N A T I O N A L J U N I O R C A M P .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 6 N U T R I T I O N .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 8 L E T T E R S .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 9 HOTEST DECADE ON RECORD.................... 32 BADGE AWARDS.................................... 33 BIKE RIDING IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA............ 35 MTBO................................................. 38 TOP EVENTS......................................... 41 E X E C U T I V E M AT T E R S.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 2 N AT I O N A L R A N K I N G S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 4 TRAINING DIARY – Oliver Crosato ............ 46

Front Cover: Asha and Lanita Steer (Dandenong Ranges OC) discussing their Park & Street courses.

MARCH 2010 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 5 MARCH 2010 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 5

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2009

Interview with a Podium Princess – Kathryn Ewels At the 2009 World Championships in Hungary, Australia achieved its second best individual result at a World Championships when Kathryn Ewels finished 5th in the Women’s Sprint. The Sprint event was a bush Sprint that had intricate details in the Miskolc Zoo. Kathryn is only the second Australian to stand on the WOC podium for an individual result.

What was your expectation at the start of the race?

Kathryn: Sprint races are always a bit hit and miss. I knew that if I could have a clean run I was capable of getting a good result. You always have a dream of standing on the podium but I knew I would have to run a special race to get there.

What was it like running through the spectator controls and into the Finish?

Kathryn: I have learnt from experience that the spectator control is where it’s really easy to get distracted and make mistakes. I didn’t really hear much, the crowd was making a lot of noise that I blocked out. I had no idea how I was going until the end when I crossed the line. I knew I was having a good race but I was unsure where I would be placed. I didn’t realise I crossed the line in first place until the commentator asked to do an interview.

6 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 2010

What was your plan for the race and how did it turn out?

Kathryn: My plan was just to go for it and see what would happen. I had an average run in the morning Heat and was motivated to have a better run in the Final. I was the only Australian in the Final and to make this as comfortable as I could I convinced Jasmine (Neve) to warm up with me.

This made the start of the race just feel like any other race in Australia.

I raced really hard from the start as planned and I was navigating well into the controls. Reflecting on the race I lost time when hesitating on what way to cross an impassable fence otherwise I had a good race.

Tom Quayle has probably had the biggest influence on my career. When I was on the verge on dropping out of the sport, I travelled to NZ with the Bushrangers and he took me aside and pointed out that I still had the potential that I always had, but needed some motivation to get back into the sport. The year after that camp I was back in the senior team and racing at the World Champs.

Orienteering has taken you to many countries. Where have you most enjoyed?

Kathryn: I ran the Swiss 6 Days in 2000 that had three days held in my favourite type of terrain: flat, fast, open with lots of point features; then the next three days were held in the Swiss Alps and maps were surrounded by glaciers. This was technically harder but the scenery was spectacular.

How do you fit in training with a full time job? What compromises do you make?

6secs off 3rd - do you think you could have made the time up?

Kathryn: You always think at the end where you could have not lost time on the course but I was happy to finish 5th.

What was the biggest change you made last year to finish a career high 5th at the World Champs?

Kathryn: Finishing 14th in the Long Distance final at the 2008 World Championships gave me the confidence to perform well at an international level. I felt I was much more prepared in 2009 before I headed overseas and I had great management support in place at WOC to support me.

I also trained a lot more consistently than I had previously in the last year. I started to be coached this year by Lauren Shelley (a marathon representative in the 2006 Commonwealth Games) who runs the occasional race for Bayside Kangaroos. The training Lauren has provided has more purpose and I have enjoyed the structure and the sessions.

Kathryn: Training and working full time is quite challenging.

I am often trying to fit training in around meetings and other work commitments. My job is a customer co-ordinator for HVP Plantations in Gippsland. In short I am responsible for the flow of wood from the contractors in the forest to the sawmill customers.

Last year in February it became impossible to train. Our house was located in the middle of a fire zone and I spent two weeks working on the fire line as a part of my job. I was just too exhausted to even think about training. As a result I missed a block of training. I started the Orienteering season not as fit as I had planned but then on the up side I was still running well late in the session.

The logistics of the jobs has some similarities to trying to put together the relay teams for Australian Champs (Ed: Kathryn is Victorian Relay selector). Nothing ever seems to go to plan!

How do you train for Orienteering in Gippsland (2 hours East of Melbourne)?

Kathryn: It was great. The Team was really friendly and supportive of each other.

Kathryn: Gippsland is a great place for running training however the closest mapped forests are more than two hours away. It takes a lot of commitment in time to travel on weekends to training and events.It is all part of the effortand sacrifices required to race at a high level.

You also represented Australia at the World Mountain Running Championships - how did you find this experience?

How do you think the SILVA National League has changed and why do you think that the Victorian Nuggets girls have been successful in 2009?

Kathryn: The World Mountain Running Championships were held in Italy two weeks after WOC. It is always hard to back two big competitions together however I was given the opportunity and I made the most of it.

Kathryn: Having SILVA sponsorship has increased participation which has lead to good quality competition especially amongst the girls. The Victorian team has been lead by great management and because we all get along so well together it has made travelling to competitions more enjoyable.

The Australian Team this year was an all female team – How did you find this?

The 10 days before the race I spent sightseeing around Italy which was not the ideal preparation but a great experience.

I finished the race in 43rd place - 2nd Australian. The course was particularly tough at 2200m+ altitude.

What got you started in Orienteering?

Kathryn: I was introduced to the sport by Troy de Haas who attended the same school. I was a good runner and the navigation skills came fairly quickly. It wasn’t long before my parents became involved and started to enjoy the sport as well.

Who has inspired you most in your Orienteering career?

Kathryn: Early in my career I was inspired by the elite that were doing well at an international level. Natasha Key demonstrated to me that a runner could be good at Orienteering and if I continued to train I could get good results as well.

Are you planning to race more DuO and MTBO races?

Kathryn: I have always enjoyed doing some cross training in my training. I really enjoyed doing the DuO series and the MTBO events last year and hope to fit some in this year.

What are your Orienteering goals for 2010/11?

Kathryn: The goals for this year are to go the World Champs in Norway. I will also compete in the World Rogaining Championships in NZ in late November.

What advice do you have for up and coming juniors?

Kathryn: The best advice for the juniors is to try and race as much as they can; if Orienteering races aren’t available then they should be doing local cross country races. Most of the juniors show great talent but really need to learn how to use their skills and recognise the importance of following a good training program.

MARCH 2010 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 7

XMAS 5 DAYS

Christmas Five Days 27 to 31 Dec 2009 John Harding

T

he 2009 Christmas Five Days held in the Southern Highlands of NSW had its genesis in the 1980s in the Central Coast backyard of stalwart Frank Anderson. In the Christmas – New Year period Orienteering enthusiasts would camp in the backyard at Toukley and enjoy going for runs and taking in the sand and the surf for relaxation. In 1983 the Toukley Two Days (renamed later as the O’Shea Two Days) provided local maps that became the foundation of the first Christmas Five Days of Orienteering the next year.

law of averages and climate change will probably see a reversion to hot conditions.

Current organiser Dick Ogilvie recalls those early days very fondly; “The nerve centre was Frank and Ethel’s kitchen. Frank used to do everything, putting out the flags and bringing them in, and doing all the results on the kitchen table. Out the back, there were 30 to 40 people camped in the backyard. Maps were a bit rough compared to today but everyone had a great time”.

In Men’s A, Simon Uppill (SA) had a blistering win in the Sprint in Mittagong on Day 1 but had to be content with second to Dave Shepherd (ACT) over the next three events, with Shep also taking out Day 5 in the technical granite and mining terrain of Soapy Flat in Jellore State Forest. At Soapy Flat Russell Blatchford won plaudits as course setter of the week for clever and challenging loops that optimised use of the best areas on the map and largely avoided thick undergrowth in the large gullies.

These days Frank races pigeons but turned out for three or four Orienteering events last year, with daughter Jenny Enderby in Newcastle largely flying the Orienteering flag in carrying on the Anderson family legacy.

A big feature of the current Christmas Five Days format is the daily random prize draw for bottles of wine, apple juice and fruit cakes. Dick says this tradition was started by Queenslander Dave Erbacher who organised a Five Days near Stanthorpe one year.

Dick’s most memorable Five Days was held in Canberra in the late 1990s. Jason McCrae and a group of Canberra elites organised a twilight 5-a-side round robin and knock-out soccer tournament each day at the Lyneham sports field because there was no beach to go to and billed it as World Cup Soccer. Jason says that his Orienteering career as The Voice of the Forest really took off when he did the live commentary for the final. The winning team included the Quayle brothers and some other elites.

One expects hot weather at Christmas but this is not guaranteed.

Finish tent supremo and entry coordinator Ron Pallas says his most memorable Five Days was held at the Northern Tablelands near Armidale several years ago when the temperature was only 10 or 11 degrees on some days and he froze in the finish tent with the 7am starts, not having brought much warm clothing. The 2010 Five Days will return to Armidale and Ron reckons that the

The 2009 Five Days in the Southern Highlands was blessed with good Orienteering weather with light rain on the first two days and overcast conditions for the remainder of the events.

Dick Ogilvie and Ron Pallas and the NSW clubs put together an interesting program of events in and around Mittagong and Belanglo and attracted visiting orienteers from as far away as Russia, Sweden and South Africa.

In Women’s A, Aislinn Prendergast (VIC) secured the overall win with three firsts and two seconds to Bridget Anderson’s (QLD) two wins and two seconds. The Christmas Five Day format is a best 4 out of 5 for overall calculations.

Men’s B saw ACT junior star Oliver Poland too strong for Big Foot veteran Michael Burton and Russian Nikolay Sytov. A high quality Women’s B field resulted in a win to Australia’s most capped female representative Jo Allison (ACT), on the comeback trail after motherhood, from Sweden’s Maria Brodin and Queensland’s Lilian Burrill.

Men’s C went to Malcolm Roberts; Men’s D to Steve Flick; Men’s E to John Hodsdon; Men’s F to Ashley Nankervis; Men’s G to Nicholas Burridge and Novice to Noah Poland. Women’s C was won by Paula Shingler; Women’s D by Lynda Rapkins; Women’s E by Heather Burridge; Women’s F by Georgia Jones and Novice

by Sophie Jones. In Women’s F, Kate Hagan finished 2nd and became the first member of the relatively new Western Plains Orienteers at Dubbo to place in a national event.

As befits tradition, the 2009 Christmas Five Days was again a well organised low key event enjoyed by all participants who revelled in the challenging courses set by masters of the art.

Don’t miss the 2010 event in and around Armidale, NSW.

8 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 2010

MARCH 2010 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 9

ORIENTEERING DEVELOPMENT

Growing Participation Michael Hubbert

Despite what some people might say, size does matter.

T

HE size of our sport, the number of members and the amount of participation all matter a whole lot when we try to convince government agencies and commercial sponsors to support Orienteering with grants, donations, sponsorship and other forms of support. We have to show that Orienteering is a popular and vibrant sport which is growing with the times and is meeting the changing needs of communities for active recreation. We also have to show that we are working hard within our Associations and Clubs to grow our sport, and not just going cap-in-hand looking for some form of hand-out.

In terms of marketing Orienteering for growth an obvious winner has been, and continues to be, Park & Street Orienteering. In Melbourne in particular this form of our sport has become a major success story which needs to be told – evening events during the summer and night events during the rest of the year are attracting more and more participants to the point where participation in Park & Street events accounts for some 65 – 70% of all participations in Victoria. In 2009 that meant some 17,000 participations in Park & Street events; and the numbers are still growing.

We all know that an enormous amount of volunteer work is going on within Orienteering but the important point that we sometimes miss is that we have to demonstrate the positive effects of this volunteer work to outside agencies who are not about to go and find out for themselves.

In other States it is a similar story – Nav-Dash and Metro Series in Perth; Summer Series on Friday evenings in Adelaide; Summer Twilight Orienteering on Wednesdays in Canberra; Parks Sprints and Summer Series in Sydney and similar events in Wagga, Newcastle, Armidale, Orange and Central Coast in NSW.

A good measure of the success and popularity of a sport is in participation numbers. It’s not just about counting State Association memberships, but far more about counting how often people come back for more. If people take part in Orienteering events several times a week then it’s a simple conclusion that Orienteering is more popular within the community than another sport in which people participate once or twice a month.

In Melbourne and nearby towns (Werribee, Geelong and Macedon) there are seven weekday evening series running during summer entailing 109 events, as well as the Mountain Bike Orienteering series and the SILVA DuO events. In the four main Summer Series programs held in Melbourne there are 87 events with average attendance well over 100 per event (more than 10,000 participations each year, and growing).

10 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 2010

The record attendance at one of these Summer Series events is 305 and numbers well over 250 were common. But these numbers placed too much strain on the venues used, particularly parking and its impact on local residents with some schools bringing 44-seater buses. So the decision was taken to expand the program over most evenings of the week. That lowered attendances to more manageable levels but also rapidly grew the overall participation as series became regionalised around Melbourne’s suburbs and nearby towns.

Growth in attendances has been largely due to word-of-mouth, but there has been a significant number of newcomers attending after finding the events publicised on the Orienteering Victoria internet site. And small articles regularly appear in suburban regional newspapers such as the Leader Group and Warrandyte Diary and flyers are placed in suburban libraries and similar places.

The extension of daylight saving to nearly six months in Melbourne has enabled each of the series to be extended by a few weeks, but when daylight saving ends most participants simply put on headlamps and come back for more.

In Melbourne there are 70 night Orienteering events held each year, with an average attendance of over 100 – ie more than 7,000 night Orienteering participations in Melbourne each year. This

segment is growing steadily. When regular night events were first organised it was thought that 25 was a good turn-out. But within a year attendances grew to average 90 and are now well over 100.

At first it was just Wednesday nights, then a Tuesday series started up and, more recently, an informal training series was run on Monday nights where light pole numbers are used to avoid the need to put out (and collect) controls. In 2010 this Monday night series will become a formal competition.

It seems people just don’t have homes to go to on these evenings and, to ensure it stays that way, organisers provide hot water and packet soups to entice people to hang around after the event creating a social atmosphere. The cost of gas for hot water, and the tea, coffee and soup, is paid from entry fees.

There is also a Saturday afternoon series of 16 events run through the Autumn to Spring months. The Saturday afternoon events are informally known as ‘cake-O’ because most people bring a cake or biscuits to share after the event. Organisers provide hot water, tea and coffee too.

In summer the training series is continued on Saturday mornings, to escape the heat, and has become known as ‘coffee-O’ because participants usually repair to a coffee shop afterwards. In fact, start venues are now being chosen for their proximity to a good coffee shop.

MARCH 2010 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 11

ORIENTEERING DEVELOPMENT

One of the major boosts in participation came when a Power Walkers category was introduced. People who would have baulked at any suggestion that they should run suddenly said “yes – I can power walk”. Now the Power Walkers category amounts to around 35% of all participants. It has also led to a lot of power talking on the courses (particularly amongst the women) which I suppose has enhanced the social side.

In the other capital cities the Park & Street format is also thriving and is the format sustaining greatest growth in Orienteering participation. The recent success by Australian elites in Sprint events at the World Games and the World Championships is a reflection of the popularity of Park & Street Orienteering in this country.

Image of Orienteering Orienteering in Australia needs an image make-over. We need to present our sport as one which, at its elite level, presents athletes who are trim, fit, taut and terrific. Other sports promote this image at similar levels and Orienteering must do the same to be competitive. With a much improved image at elite level we will find it far easier to grow participation at lower levels. (It’s Bill Clinton’s “trickle down effect”). And we are more likely to attract governmental and commercial funding.

12 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 2010

At international events, when the Swiss or Scandinavian orienteers step on the podium to receive their medals they always present well. And they wear their headbands and wave their water bottles.

Why do they need headbands and water bottles on the podium?

Because those items carry some of their sponsors’ names.

The clothing they wear carries more of their sponsors’ names. And there’s sure to be a team manager standing by to check they have everything before they go up on the podium. Attention to detail like this is most important but is something we in Australia tend to ignore (to our detriment). Orienteering in Australia needs to take a more professional approach to the ways we acknowledge grants and sponsorships. Just putting up a few banners at major carnival events is not enough.

We don’t want Orienteering in Australia to be seen by those who matter (media, Australian Sports Commission, State Govts, commercial sponsors) as a daggy, non-competitive, non-elite, recreational activity. Orienteering Australia and State Associations need to present Orienteering as the vibrant, fun, enthralling and challenging sport which we who take part in it know it to be.

The fact that once people take up Orienteering they generally stay with the sport for life is fine proof of just how attractive our sport is to participants. We need to get that message out to the wider world.

WORLD MASTERS ORIENTEERING CHAMPIONSHIPS 2009

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MARCH 2010 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 13

WORLD MASTERS ORIENTEERING CHAMPIONSHIPS

World Masters Orienteering Championships (WMOC) and the World Masters Games (WMG)

The Sydney 2009 Experience Nick Dent - Event Director, WMOC 2009

Nick Dent speaking at the presentations for the Long WMOC

I

n order to consider this issue in an objective way it is necessary to understand some of the historical events which have created the situation where the WMOC are part of the World Masters Games when they are held - Melbourne 2002; Edmonton 2005; Sydney 2009 and Turin 2013.

The International Masters Games Association (IMGA) owns the World Masters Games and awards the right to host the event through an organised bidding process every four years. Based in Lausanne, Switzerland, the IMGA comprises 17 members of the General Association of International Sports Federations and their sports form the core of the World Masters Games competition and the International Orienteering Federation is a member of the IMGA. The NSW government appointed the Sydney 2009 World Masters Games Organising Committee (SWMGOC) to be responsible for organising the Games. The Orienteering Association of NSW (OANSW) on behalf of Orienteering Australia (OA) was therefore invited to participate in the Games. Since the IOF has stated that the World Masters Orienteering Championship (WMOC) which is held every year must be part of the World Masters Games (WMG), OANSW had this responsibility.

OANSW appointed a WMOC Organising Committee which then had a WMOC 2009 Agreement between the IOF, OA and OANSW outlining the mutual rights and obligations of these parties.

Clause three (3) states that “subject to the Sports Agreement, OA and OANSW commit themselves to organising WMOC according to Competition Rules for IOF foot orienteering events”.

14 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 2010

WMOC Organising Committee is therefore operating with two agreements originating from different sources and with different perspectives. It is important to understand that the one common organisation involved in these agreements is the IOF which creates the foot orienteering rules and also has agreed that WMOC must be part of the World Masters Games.

The 2009 WMOC was a quality event receiving many positive comments from both overseas and Australian orienteers. It required the Orienteering volunteers of NSW in the organisation of their second World Championship event within two years and for this they are to be congratulated. Without their assistance and dedication the event would not have been successful. A large number of NSW orienteers put in many hours of voluntary work culminating in five high quality events for over 1100 entrants during the eight days. The holding of the Sprint Final at Olympic Park was perhaps a highlight of the carnival. As this was probably a one-off situation it provided the organisers with a fantastic opportunity to promote and demonstrate the sport in Australia’s largest city and the centre of the Sydney World Masters Games.

The Orienteering community of NSW and Australia have received many benefits from being involved in the World Masters Games.

We have two high quality Sprint maps fully funded from the WMG and a large new bush map which will be able to be used extensively in the future providing funds to OANSW for years to come. Well over $15,000 worth of equipment has been purchased with funds from the WMG and is available to be used by all clubs in NSW. Therefore no financial burden exists for OANSW as a result of this event.

Despite some initial hurdles the Orienteering community of NSW generally adopted a “lets get involved” attitude thus providing quality events and a great Orienteering experience for all overseas visitors. Feedback received indicates that this was the case.

As Event Director of WMOC 2009 I would like to take this opportunity to raise a number of significant issues that have added to the normal event organisation. Many of these issues relate specifically to the unique organisational structures mentioned above and therefore can be partially avoided in the future with some strategic changes which I will recommend at the end.

Issues 1. The IOF levy The IOF had the following clause in the WMOC 2009 Agreement “the levy to be paid to the IOF is EUR 17 per competitor. OA and the OANSW may add this sport specific fee on top of the entry fee as decided by SWMGOC 2009”. As SWMGOC were aware of this due to their involvement in Melbourne 2002, I had no room to negotiate. Prior to being appointed as Event Director, SWMGOC were presented with a budget by the OANSW board that included a $10 levy to be paid to OA and a $16 levy to be paid to OANSW. This information made any negotiation on how these levies were to be collected very difficult. There were similar issues encountered during the WMOC 2002 and my thought was why have the IOF, who are represented on the World Masters Games Board, allowed this issue to still be a problem for the local organisers seven years later. It was also an issue for the Edmonton organisers.

“As regards the sanction fee, we will have to make a similar arrangement as we did for Edmonton 2005. That is, there will need to be an orienteering specific fee on top of the WMG fee AUD$220 which is the same for all sports” - email from IOF Secretary General, March 2008.

2. IOF Support Despite many requests for support in my negotiations with SWMGOC regarding the above issue the feedback was always that this is what happened last time so just accept it.

“No agreement exists between the IOF and the IMGA. The agreements are 1) between the WMG organiser, in this case the SWMGOC, and the national organiser of the events in each sport on the programme, and 2) between the IOF and the national orienteering federation/event organiser” - email from IOF Secretary General, March 2008.

Given the feedback from Melbourne and Edmonton regarding the extra fee that orienteers had to pay I could not understand why the IOF has not been proactive in resolving this issue. A lot of anecdotal feedback indicates that this extra fee significantly reduced the entries that we received in 2009. Why did we in Sydney have to go through the same negotiations when they had been done twice before?

3. SWMGOC The issue with negotiations with SWMGOC initially was the number of changes in personnel that occurred with the Sports Liaison position. Added to this was the need to explain to each new person the specific requirements that Orienteering has and to convince them that we have done it before and we therefore know what we are doing.

Associated with this was the need to start planning three years before the event, especially the mapping. This created a funding problem for the committee as we had the need to spend money but no source of funds.

who responded effectively to our requests for both decisions to be made and funding to be provided. Without his help and cooperation the events would not have been as successful as they were. This is the case particularly with the Sprint Final at Olympic Park.

When dealing with an organisation responsible for 28 sports some of these issues are to be expected and require a willingness by both parties to achieve a similar outcome. This is what eventually happened.

4. OANSW The IOF added a Sprint Qualification and Final to the WMOC program from 2008 onwards (Competition Rules for IOF Foot Orienteering Events - 1st January 2007).

The WMOC 2009 committee was of the view that we should have Sprint events in our program because of the rule change and also because it would enable events to be held within Sydney.

This was initially resisted by the board of OANSW and during 2007 it became an issue which held up any negotiation we could have with SWMGOC for suitable Sprint locations. Eventually the OANSW board approved the inclusion of the Sprint events in the program.

5. Post Melbourne hangover The common view expressed to me by orienteers involved in Melbourne 2002 was that you will have a difficult time working with the Games organisation and that it will not be worth the effort. Also many orienteers stated they did not want to have anything to do with the WMOC if it was part of the World Masters Games and therefore would not be attending the event.

Whilst I appreciate the difficulties that existed in Melbourne, some of which I encountered leading up to Sydney 2009, I did not find this attitude at all helpful. For those Australian orienteers who did participate in WMOC 2009 the event was high quality providing a very rare opportunity to compete against international orienteers in excellent terrain.

The committee’s view was that we wanted to provide a high quality, well organised event which demonstrated again to overseas orienteers that it is well worth the effort to travel down under and experience Orienteering. This we are proud to say we achieved. It is a shame that there were not more Australian orienteers there to enjoy it. “this was a tremendously enjoyable trip and I would recommend orienteering down under to anyone” Mike Edwards, CompassSport Dec 2009.

Recommendations 1. That the IOF negotiate an agreement with the International Masters Games Association that establishes a process for the payment of the IOF levy so that the orienteers who enter the event do not have to pay an extra levy additional to the Games entry fee.

2. That the IOF as part of this agreement also establish a procedure whereby the World Games Organising Committee actually employ an orienteer (part time or full time) from the local Orienteering community to be part of the Games Organisation. This will enable the specific requirements for planning and organising a World Masters Orienteering Championship to be fully understood. This will avoid a lot of the issues that occurred in Melbourne, Edmonton and Sydney being repeated. As the IOF have agreed to the inclusion of the WMOC in the World Masters Games in 2013 they have a responsibility to negotiate this agreement.

Eventually a Sports Liaison person was allocated to Orienteering who demonstrated a good understanding of our needs and MARCH 2010 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 15

WORLD MASTERS ORIENTEERING CHAMPIONSHIPS

WMOC versus WMG Michael Hubbert

T

he World Masters Orienteering Championships (WMOC) are staged every year in a country chosen as host by the International Orienteering Federation (IOF). But, every four years or so, WMOC is held in conjunction with the World Masters Games (WMG) and, effectively, the IOF passes control of WMOC in those years to the WMG organisation – the WMG goliath, some might say.

The most recent WMG events have been in 2002 (Melbourne), 2005 (Edmonton, Canada) and 2009 (Sydney). In each of those years the slick and efficient volunteer orienteers organising the WMOC events have been pitched against the lumbering, gigantic and very inefficient career administrators who the WMG seems to attract every time it is staged. There’s no question which side has to yield in this battle and the result each time is an Orienteering carnival which is diminished in the quality of enjoyment for many orienteers who simply want to get out and compete with their peers on good Orienteering courses.

• unavailability of accommodation in 2002 due to the WMG administration placing a blanket reservation thus allowing them to control bookings and prices; • orienteers prefer to book their accommodation directly so they know what they are getting and that it is at the right price; • accommodation owners aren’t too pleased either when their rooms remain unbooked because the WMG release their ‘reservation’ very late and don’t guarantee a booking; • the entertainment at the Sydney Opening ceremony was lavish, but inappropriate to Masters competitors in any sport with the result that up to half of the ‘audience’ left the stadium before the ‘entertainment’ had finished. A major misjudgement on the part of the WMG administrators who clearly hadn’t bothered to ask themselves what the audience might like to see and hear.

WMOC event organisers complain of the cumbersome entry procedure and of the myriad errors in the entry information passed to them by the WMG administration. The organiser’s reports from both 2002 and 2005 describe their difficulties in obtaining accurate entry information from WMG. Those who have worked with the electronic timing systems we use will know how vital it is to obtain accurate entry information in the first place. Corrections later can be very time-consuming.

Some competitors complained last year about having to travel to Sydney just to register (and wait for many hours in the queue) when they only entered for the Lithgow events – a classic example of the inflexible and unnecessary rules imposed by the WMG administration. Lithgow is 150km from Sydney.

In February of 2009 the WMG administration announced that the World Masters Games “Roadshow” would be travelling the country for the next several months. Who was paying for all this?

Is that why the entry fees were so high?

A significant number of orienteers – both home-based and international - choose not to attend WMOC when it is part of WMG. Why is that? In 2002, only 450 home-based Australians took part in WMOC, and in 2009 the number was even lower – only some 200 Australians entered for WMOC 2009. We get closer to 1000 Australian entries to any of the major carnivals we stage in the eastern States each year.

There’s no question about the high quality of the Orienteering events at these WMG carnivals, but it’s the organisational difficulties imposed on orienteers by the WMG administrators which detract from their enjoyment of the experience – like waiting for up to five hours in a queue simply to register in Sydney.

Isn’t it time that the IOF recognised this problem as inevitable whilst WMOC remains part of the WMG program, and acts to take back control of WMOC?? When WMOC is organised solely by orienteers, such as in Austria (2006), Finland (2007) and Portugal (2008) in recent years, everything runs smoothly and the quality of the experience for competitors is excellent.

Common complaints from orienteers taking part in the WMG were: • the hopeless registration process in Sydney (of course); • the exorbitant entry fees – compare these “early bird” entry fees – WMOC 2009 (Sydney) - $242; WMOC 2008 (Portugal) - $172 (Euros 110); WMOC 2006 (Austria) - $148 (Euros 95); and entrants to WMOC 2009 who paid after July 2008 were charged $275; • price-gouging of accommodation costs by the WMG administration;

16 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 2010

In 2005, less that 200 home-based North Americans entered WMOC and just over 800 internationals attended. Compare this to approx 4,500 at WMOC 2006 (Austria) and WMOC 2008 (Portugal). Masters orienteers love to travel to events in other countries but are many boycotting WMOC when it is part of WMG?

WMOC is our yearly WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS for Masters Orienteers. The World Masters Games doesn’t even pretend to be a highly competitive and serious Championships event.

Statistics from the WMG 2009 Press Office show clearly that it is just a fun carnival staged mainly for locals. Of the 28,292 WMG2009 competitors, 11,635 (41%) came from NSW and only 8,094 (29%) from all other Australian States. There were 23,437 medals given to event placegetters. Does this sound like a World Championships event? The answer has to be a resounding NO. It seems clear that the integration of WMOC into WMG carnivals has not been a success and is severely affecting the popularity of WMOC amongst Masters orienteers. It would be far better to stage

WMOC independently of WMG, probably in another country, when Orienteering can control its own destiny and benefit independently from the publicity that a well-attended WMOC carnival can attract.

When will the IOF recognise this and make the decision to withdraw from involvement with WMG??

Not yet it seems …… In December the IOF’s Foot-O Commission recommended to an IOF Council meeting that the link between WMOC and WMG events should be abandoned. However, the IOF Council voted to reject the recommendation and, in the process, awarded WMOC2013 to Turin, Italy, to be held as part of WMG2013.

Some relevant opinions from people who attended WMOC (WMG) 2009 clearly praise the Orienteering event organisation but are not nearly so complimentary, sometimes scathing, about the abilities of the WMG administration: Neil Schafer (GO-NSW, and medallist at WMOC2009)

A

s an Orienteering competitor in the WMG2009 I felt in the Games but not part of it.

At WMG2002, since the Orienteering was centred on Bendigo I never got to see Melbourne as accreditation was done in Bendigo – so much for Games Opening and Closing Ceremonies.

And I did not attend either Ceremony in 2009 as, from my view, they were irrelevant to Orienteering. I would prefer that WMOC not be part of WMG. ••••••••••••••••••••• Ann and Frank Ingwersen (PO-ACT)

T

hanks for the opportunity to express our opinion on WMG for orienteers.

We attended the WMG “in” Sydney last year. From this experience and that from the WM Games in Victoria in 2002, we feel that orienteers are basically given a “bum steer” in WMG. 1.The registration fees are exceedingly high and because our events are mostly out of town (and thus the places we stay are remote from the main Games facilities and special deals) we gain very little advantage from the connection to WMG

regarding special events, special deals etc. I know of many experienced and committed orienteers who did not participate in the Games because of the high registration fee. When the Orienteering community is solely responsible for the organisation of WMOC the fees are significantly lower and they go directly to the O community.

2.Although we don’t know the details of how the finances of WMG are run, we know that they have tight control of the purse strings leaving the Orienteering event organisers with their hands tied behind their backs. They don’t need this added stress in the organisation of an international event. We understand that this inability to control the O finances and organisation resulted in there being too few toilets at the O events in 2009.

As Australians, we were greatly embarrassed that international competitors had to suffer the long queues.

3.The WMG organisers apparently insisted that all competitors collect their registration packs and accreditation from their centralised point. We have never had to queue for 4 hours when the orienteers organise their events

(probably the longest queuing has been 10 - 15 minutes, and we have been to a number of WMOCs).

•••••••••••••••••••••• John & Jeffa Lyon (TT-SA)

4.What do we as orienteers gain from being under the auspices of WMG? Supposedly, there is the higher profile within the larger community as the words “Orienteering” appear in any calendar or timetable and the results. And this, presumably, is designed to encourage non-orienteers to try the sport. But who, apart from orienteers notices the publicity? I suspect that there were no non-orienteers among the competitors in 2009.

In summary: •R egistration fees are excessive;

T

here were so few Australians (in 2009) reflecting the very high charges and the fiddle faddle required by the WMG company who is in it to make money. Let’s ignore IOF and not go down this path again. What is there to show for all our efforts to get into the Olympics?

The World Games seems an eminent compromise ….. and do we want to be part of this xenophobic media fiasco anyway? Many are now looking forward to the Swiss WMOC. Plan now to go to Switzerland in 2010 and enjoy a proper IOF-only WMOC.

•T he Orienteering organisers are constrained in the organisation and the result isn’t always in the best interest of the competitors;

(reprinted courtesy South Australian Orienteer)

•O rienteering organisations and orienteers appear to gain very little from being attached to WMG, apart from unnecessary stress and expense.

O

Thus, in our opinion, it is to orienteers’ advantage to cut the ties with WMG and run our own World Championships as orienteers have in the past and in the non-WMG years.

•••••••••••••••••••••• Bill Edwards (NZ, and gold medallist at WMOC2009) ur first experience of the World Masters itself was turning up to register.

According to the program, there was no registration at the Orienteering events. As part of the World Masters Games, every competitor in every sport had to go to a particular building in Sydney Olympic Park to register and get their pass and all the bits and pieces that go along

MARCH 2010 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 17

WORLD MASTERS ORIENTEERING CHAMPIONSHIPS

with events like this. Problem was, someone hadn’t done their maths. 24 desks taking 3-4 minutes per competitor gets you through about 400 people an hour. Sounds like plenty, but when you’ve got to get through 30,000 people in 3 days, it just doesn’t add up.

And it didn’t. We spent two-and-a-half hours in the queue, and we were very lucky - having three small children about to tear the place apart was a bonus for once. There were people who spent 6 hours in that queue without ever reaching the front! Susan nearly exploded when we stood in another queue for a further 10 minutes only to discover all we were getting was a certificate to tell us we’d competed in the World Masters Games!

So, not a good start……….

Looking back a few weeks later, WMOC 2009 was overall a very enjoyable event, despite the cold.

Good areas and planning throughout, smooth organisation, and plenty of Kiwi success stories.

But the main issue is why does WMOC have to be part of the World Masters Games? All that the World Masters Games contributed was extra expense for competitors, huge additional pressure on accommodation and that ridiculous registration process. Oh, and apparently not as many toilets as were needed that’s right, you have the WMG organisers to thank for those lengthy toilet queues!

So we’d definitely recommend WMOC wherever it is (and particularly 2010 as the Swiss Jura is an orienteering experience not to be missed). Though maybe give it a miss when it’s combined with the World Masters Games - sorry Turin 2013.

(reprinted courtesy New Zealand Orienteering Tales) •••••••••••••••••••••• Mike Edwards (UK)

I

n 2009 the World Masters was organised by the World Masters Games, who charged a hefty registration fee ($AUD110) for what turned out be a 1-week travel card for Sydney, a cheap rucksack and a discount booklet – oh, and the opportunity to queue for 4 hours to register for your travel card and pick up your rucksack with booklet. And don’t forget the Opening and Closing Ceremonies. Having attended the last (2005) WMOC which was conjoined with the World Masters’ Games, it was immediately apparent that the Canadians were much better organised than our friends down under.

Still this fee and faff were the only two downsides for what proved to be an outstanding trip. Oh, and the weather, of course - Aussies are always talking about drought; don’t believe them!

In one race I was out for 3 hours and 31 minutes and it rained for 3 hours and 29 minutes (15.4Km and 630M climb). Overall this was a tremendously enjoyable trip and I would recommend Orienteering down-under to anyone - roll on WMOC2010 in Switzerland! (reprinted courtesy CompassSport) •••••••••••••••••••••• Janice Nisbet (Scotland)

F

our intrepid ESOCers made the long trip to Australia to take part in WMOC. ... It was part of a huge multi-sport festival with around 31,000 competitors, all descending on Sydney for the same week. And I think it is safe to say that Sydney probably wasn’t ready for us..... The first competitive hurdle was to collect our photo passes ... However, nobody in the

18 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 2010

central organisation had sat down and added up the time it would take to photograph 31,000 people. We were quick off the mark and waited just under two hours.

Eleanor and Ian queued for nearly 5 hours the following day, and had just about reached the top of the queue when they gave up on the idea of photographs and started to hand out blank passes.

Fortunately, from then on the Orienteering events were handled by local clubs, who were organised and efficient. (reprinted courtesy Capital-O – ESOC newsletter) •••••••••••••••••••••• John Harding (BS-ACT)

T

he primary goal was to organise a successful World Masters Orienteering Championships that met IOF standards and the expectations of international and local participants. This has been met, aside from the debacle at registration at Sydney Olympic Park.

The performance of the SWMGOC in organising registration/accreditation was overly bureaucratic compared with previous WMG and this resulted in a queue of over 800 metres and waiting time of 5 hours in the queue in wet weather on the day before the start of the Games. This resulted in well deserved anger and criticism from international participants who described it on the evening news bulletins as ‘third world standard organisation’.

SWMGOC insisted that all 29,000 participants must preregister at Sydney Olympic Park.

The cost of entering in the SWMG for Orienteering was about three times higher than for a normal major carnival such as the Australian Championships carnival held two weeks earlier. The all up cost of

participating in both the 9-day Championships carnival and 9-day SWMG was prohibitive for many Australian Masters competitors who could not afford that amount of time away from work, if employed. Hence there were over 500 Australian Masters at the Australian Championships but only just over 200 at the SWMG. The World Masters Orienteering Championships had also been held in 2000 in New Zealand (2500 participants) and in 2002 in Victoria as part of the World Masters Games in Victoria in that year (about 1600 participants). The SWMG attracted just under 1300 Orienteering participants, with cost the major issue.

In 2008 there were over 4000 participants in the World Masters Orienteering Championships in Portugal.

Most of the Games Orienteering events were held in highly technical Sydney sandstone bushland north-west of Lithgow.

Hence Orienteering participants were not able to take part in many of the week long social activities in Sydney that would have provided increased valuefor-money for Sydney-based sports participants.

The fractured relationship of Orienteering with WMG is not new – it’s been going on ever since WMOC was first combined with WMG. Here John Colls (YV.V) reflects on his time as WMOC 2002 Event Director for the twoand-a-half years up until he resigned due to frustrations with the WMG-appointed event company M2002.

M2002 fell far short on both counts, and the recent Sydney (WMOC 2009) experience appears to have fallen short at least on the latter – unless, of course, 5-hour queues to register at a location two hours’ drive from the main venues are to be adopted in future as goals to which other Orienteering events should aspire!!

WMOC and WMG

• negative impact on competitors

John Colls

A

s Event Director of WMOC 2002 for two-and-a-half years (before resigning rather than condone further betrayal of ‘ordinary’ orienteers), I am taking up your invitation to comment on this topic. It is unfortunate a similar opportunity was denied seven years ago by the magazine’s editorial policy at that time!! Had it been otherwise, many of the issues that have since dogged WMOC as part of WMG might have been avoided.

A key point to note is that, for the first THREE YEARS of its gestation, WMOC 2002 was envisaged as a ‘stand alone’ Orienteering event under a WMG umbrella. In other words, all key decisions affecting WMOC – both ‘in-forest’ and ‘outof-forest’ – were to be made by orienteers (not by WMG).

This was the only basis on which the VOA and OA were prepared to accept the IOF’s invitation to stage the event.

It was formally agreed in a written document signed by M(elbourne)2002’s CEO (on behalf of WMG) and by myself (on behalf of VOA and OA).

Sadly, both OA and VOA later gave in to ‘bullying’ by M2002 and by the IOF, and agreed to set aside critical ‘out-of-forest’ safeguards built into the formal agreement. These included a specified $ upper limit on entry fees (later ignored and exceeded) and arrangements made with Bendigo Tourism to oversee WMOC accommodation (later ignored and superseded by M2002’s price-gouging ‘inbound operator’).

At one point I met the CEO of Vicsport (the State Government’s umbrella sports body) as a potential mediator in a fruitless attempt to have M2002 honour the terms of the agreement it had signed. She accurately predicted the attitude of M2002’s chairman as: “I don’t care what we’ve told these stupid bastards in the past, this is what we are telling them now.”

Similarly, it emerged that the IOF had given no real thought to the implications of staging one of its designated Championships as part of a multi-sport festival. Unfortunately, the IOF’s priority then proved to be to sacrifice its own event guidelines on the altar of political expediency.

In particular, the IOF ignored the advice of its own Guidelines for WMOC that ‘out-of-forest’ activities need at least as much attention as ‘technical’ matters if an event is to be successful. At its most basic level, this is the “Quality Assurance Guarantee” on which we all rely when entering major Orienteering events around the world. In other words, we rely on the fact that, behind the scenes, our interests as competitors will be protected by experienced people who share the same attitudes and values that first attracted us to the sport and subsequently have kept us involved with it.

Shifting such key responsibilities to a third party does not in itself create problems. But it is a recipe for disaster if the ethical and/or operational standards of the third party fall below those routinely expected (demanded?) by committed orienteers.

Far from enhancing our great sport, it seems to me that the link between WMOC and WMG is damaging it in two major respects:

the fact that all three WMG-linked WMOCs to date have been held at venues remote from the ‘mass markets’ of Europe tends to obscure the position, but I would suggest considerable evidence has built up that large numbers of orienteers worldwide are opposed to the philosophy of the WMG-link and are now boycotting the event. When I was promoting WMOC2002 in Europe nearly a decade ago, many prominent Scandinavian orienteers were highly sceptical of the (at the time) new link to WMG. I had an open mind initially, but later events have put me firmly in the camp of the sceptics;

• negative impact on volunteer officials from 1,200 hours of my own time devoted to WMOC 2002 I know only too well the frustrations of trying to manage WMG cultures and values that are incompatible with what we expect in our own sport. They take two forms: First, our officials’ time and expertise (overwhelmingly given ‘free’) – along with that of their counterparts in other sports – is abused by a parasitic WMG overlay for its own commercial benefit.

Second, there is the dilemma of ‘defending the indefensible’, where a decision or action by WMG is clearly ludicrous when viewed in a normal Orienteering context – such as the registration process in Sydney or comparable farces in Melbourne.

Even more worrying is the apparent lack of any articulation by the IOF of what the link between WMG and WMOC seeks to achieve (beyond massaging a few egos, of course).

If, for example, an aim is exposure to a multi-sport environment, then why isn’t the same logic applied to the inclusion of WOC (ie the elite World Championships) in the World Games? The answer (presumably) is that trying to fit the requirements of WOC into the World Games’ framework would require too many compromises on the integrity of the event. So why is WMOC different? It is just as much a ‘Championship’ as WOC, albeit with a ‘participative’ rather than a ‘selective’ focus.

Similarly, both Melbourne and Sydney WMGs had nearly 30 different sports on offer – but only two of those (of which Orienteering was one on both occasions) designated the competition as their ‘world championship’. Why? Does it mean that the vast majority of these sports do not hold ‘world championships’? Or that they have concluded that the internal standards expected for their world championship cannot be met as part of a multi-sport festival?

Worst of all, the IOF’s own Foot-O Commission has recently recommended to IOF Council that, based on the experiences of the past decade, the link between WMOC and WMG should be abandoned forthwith – only for Council to reject the recommendation (for reasons not yet made public)!! So, where does that leave the Foot-O Commission’s credibility? Or, more pertinently, is it the credibility and modus operandi of IOF Council itself that is at stake?

MARCH 2010 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 19

SPORT PSYCHOLOGY

Better Orienteering: Keep your mind on the job Lisa Lampe

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.

In a previous article it was suggested that a first step in improving performance might be to analyse current performance, identifying both the strengths that could be built on, as well as the weaknesses that might be targeted. Areas that might be the focus of such an examination include training, getting to events, the pre-start and the actual race.

Psychological factors have an important role. For example, motivation is a key variable. If we are highly motivated to reach a goal then we are more likely both to look for and find ways to overcome apparent barriers. Most people lead busy lives with multiple competing demands on their time. Decisions about how to allocate the precious resource of time will be influenced by a number of external factors, such as commitments to work and family, but a high level of motivation may facilitate discovery of creative solutions and compromises.

Motivation It is now recognised that motivation is not a unitary, static phenomenon. Key contributors to level of motivation include an appraisal of the importance of a desired activity or change in behaviour, but also the level of confidence about being able to complete the activity or make the change. The case of smoking provides a good illustration of this. Studies consistently show that about 75% of smokers would like to quit, the majority because they believe it is bad for their health. However, only about 30% of smokers make an attempt to quit each year.

When asked why they would not attempt quitting, a third of smokers who would like to quit say that they are not really committed to quitting. The majority quote reasons such as feeling that life is too stressful at the moment or worries about coping with the perceived negative consequences of quitting, such as weight gain, missing the habit, or not coping with cravings. Hence, it is not just as simple as convincing people that a particular change or behaviour is important; confidence that a goal can be reached is also important.

SMARTER goals

Confidence

o assuming that the analysis has been completed, the next step is to make a list of goals for the future. In line with recommended practice these goals should be SMARTER, that is, Specific, Measurable, Accepted (as worthwhile, realistic and attainable), Recorded (write them down somewhere), Timeconstrained (set a time frame), Evaluated (use your measures to track and record progress) and Reversible (they can be changed or put on hold if need be).

Some factors affecting confidence have been discussed previously.

These include previous experience, level of preparation, emotional factors, environmental stresses and challenges, and the contribution of personality, temperament and coping style.

These factors, or their impact, can be affected and distorted by cognitive processes. ‘Cognitive biases’ refer to habitual ways of interpreting information in the internal and external environment.

Think of the brain as an information processor, receiving inputs about the internal and external environment from the senses.

The interpretation of these inputs is heavily dependent on the ‘software’ we’ve installed: we write the programs that direct out brain as to how information should be interpreted.

S

Examples of specific goals might include: •T o get to at least 6 State League events this year (evaluate this by keeping a record); •T o average at least two training runs per week (including an Orienteering event) over the next six months (evaluate this by keeping a training diary; you could also record type, length and duration of run to monitor progress); •T o develop a routine in the pre-start (you would need to develop a measure of success for this, which might depend on the problem that was being addressed, e.g. feeling anxious or distracted in the prestart leading to feeling unsettled at the start of the race.

For this, a measure might be a simple rating of ‘how calm/focussed do I/did I feel at the start?’ rated from 0-10 and later recorded. A date would be set to review the effectiveness of the strategy); •T o develop a strategy for the first control (e.g. if analysis revealed that the first control was consistently a problem through any number of reasons such as, perhaps, running too hard from the start, not being focussed or failing to plan the leg, then the goal would be to develop a routine strategy. A measure of success might be time to first leg as a ratio of the winner’s time which could be recorded for each event over a set period of time before reviewing the effectiveness of the strategies).

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John Walker, Red Roos, ACT

To better illustrate this, imagine that as you sit reading this article you smell smoke. Before you are even consciously aware that you can smell smoke, your brain is already analysing the characteristics of the smoke – is it a barbeque or is something burning that shouldn’t be burning? If the conclusion is drawn that it’s a barbeque, you may find yourself just vaguely thinking ‘Oh, so and so must be having a barbeque’. On the other hand, if the conclusion is that something is burning that shouldn’t be, you will find yourself instantly alerted to the possibility of danger through the flight or fight response. But how did your brain know the difference? Because of ‘programs’ written as a result of previous experience of different kinds of smoke and their sources.

Notably, this process of learning from experience and drawing the conclusions that inform our ‘programs’ happens automatically and outside of conscious awareness.

Clearly, it is helpful to be able to distinguish the characteristics of different types of smoke. However, many ‘programs’ can be unhelpful. Proponents of rational emotive behaviour therapy (REBT) and its close cousin cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) talk of ‘cognitive errors’. These are unhelpful patterns of thinking that have been observed to be associated with emotional distress or discomfort. (See http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/ publishing.nsf/Content/2A24B141E32953B ECA256F1900133822/$File/man10.pdf for an introduction to CBT and an outline of cognitive errors). Cognitive errors that may be relevant to the orienteer include:

such as from 0-10 to assess the level of importance an individual attaches to the goal, but also the level of confidence that the goal can be achieved. If level of importance is low, then this requires some thought – just like smokers, if there isn’t real commitment to change then it won’t seem worth the effort.

If confidence is an issue, then consider breaking the goal into smaller steps (nearly always a helpful strategy in any case), and look a little deeper into potential reasons for having little confidence, as this may be remediable. Finally, cultivate awareness of potentially self-defeating cognitive errors so that these, too can be addressed. Think of them as unhelpful habits that can be changed over time with consistent effort.

Conclusion Psychological factors are important in influencing sporting achievement and enjoyment from participation. Unhelpful habits of thinking about ourselves, our interactions and the outside world can be identified and changed. Goal-setting is an important aspect of improving performance, and motivation to engage in a program of change will be dependent on how much a goal is desired, as well as the level of confidence about being able to achieve it.

•F ortune telling: predicting a negative outcome in the future; e.g. ‘I’m not going to do any good out there today because……’

•F ocussing on the negative: e.g. an orienteer focuses only on the mistakes they made, or the terrain they have problems with, ignoring all the legs or events they ran well.

•D iscounting the positive: ‘Yeah, I did the rock controls OK but what really matters is being able to run well in the bush’.

•G eneralising: extrapolating one experience as if it determines skill or performance generally; e.g. ‘I lost 5 minutes on the boulder control … I’m hopeless at rock features’. Using words like ‘always’, never’.

•C atastrophising: ‘It was terrible’; ‘I had an awful run’ •E motional reasoning: basing our assessments or actions on how we feel; e.g.

‘I don’t really feel up to it so I don’t think I’ll do any good today’ •P erfectionism: ‘If my run wasn’t perfect then it’s no good at all.’

Cognitive errors can affect how a race is viewed after the event. If this view is negative, it can lead to a negative memory, which in turn can negatively bias thinking about the next event coming up and erode confidence.

Developing a plan Using the concept of SMARTER goals, the orienteer could identify two or three goals to work on over the next 6-12 months. It may be helpful to make some assessment of the level of motivation to achieve these goals.

CBT therapists often use simple rating scales,

Photo: Neil Barr

MARCH 2010 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER

21

Forest for a 13km leg for the Short and an 18km leg for the Long course.

Matthew Schepsi, Luke Haines and Rob Preston on the Long Course for Open Men looked set for a titanic battle as they exited the transition with just 7 seconds separating them. While on the short course for Open Men Sam Valentine had opened up a handy break.

Sam was utilizing extensive local knowledge having been a student at Black Hill and living close to the western end of the Yarrowee Trail.

As the riders began to emerge from the north following the mountain bike stage it was apparent that Rob Preston had made a decisive break and he led all-comers into the final shorter run leg into the hills in Ballarat North. He was not headed and scorched over the finishing line in just over 99 mins. To record a 4 minute win over Haines on the Long Course.

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he first Silva DuO race in the Ballarat area on Australia Day was judged an outstanding success by competitors and officials alike.

The wide open space for the event centre situated within the Ballarat suburbs proved to be an excellent base with spectators able to track runners and riders as they approached controls in various corners of the area.

On the Short Course Valentine made a few errors on the bike leg and narrowly trailed fellow Eureka member Stephen Balharrie onto the final run, but quickly made up ground and went on to win by over 5 mins. While in the Open Women’s category Louise Hall got stronger as the event unfolded and won by over 15mins.

In an after race interview Rob Preston indicated that he “found the bike tracks very fast in the dry conditions and took full advantage of some long down hill options”.

The run/ride/run concept kept the competitors on their toes right from the outset with runners heading to all 4 points of the compass on the first scatter leg as they tried to calculate what would be the fastest route in and around Black Hill and the Yarrowee Trail. The coursesetters, Blake Gordon and Mark Valentine knew that it didn’t matter too much because either way there was a climb to get back to the transition area.

Series organiser, Dion Keech from Melbourne Forest Racers, summed up the feelings of many when he said, “this event had a bit of everything, short sharp tracks, pine forests, shady areas along the Yarrowee, little pockets of urban bush and some street running to test tired muscles as well”. He thanked Eureka Orienteers for kicking off the 2010 series with a well conceived event and urged all to get their entries in for the next two events in the Silva DuO series.

After this 3.5 km run for the Short course and 5km for the Long course runners swapped to the Bike leg and headed north into the Nerrina

A full set of results and event photos can be found at www.silvaduo.com

Rob Preston on his way to winning the Silva DuO race at Ballarat. Photo: Mike Brown / Photoworx

April McDonough jumping clear on the run leg. Photo: Mike Brown / Photoworx

22 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 2010

HEALTH

The travelling Orienteer: preventing Travel Fatigue and dealing with Jet-lag Steve Bird

Travel fatigue and jet-lag

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ravel, whether it’s a long-haul flight to a destination in a different time zone or just a long drive in the car, can have a debilitating effect on our sense of well-being and affect our performance. This is because any prolonged journey can cause travel fatigue through enforced and prolonged sitting with a lack of physical activity, as well as a probable disruption to eating habits and hydration. In addition to these effects, if the journey is a long-haul flight with a destination in a time-zone that is more than a few hours different from that of its origin, the fatiguing effects will be exacerbated by ‘jet-lag’. Jet-lag specifically refers to the effects of your body’s circadian (daily) rhythms being out of synchrony with your destination time zone, as occurs with transmeridian (East-West or West-East travel). As a general note, flights that are primarily North-South or South-North, and do not cross more than a couple of time-zones, may cause travel fatigue, but do not cause jet-lag, whereas long-haul flights that do cross more than three time zones are liable to cause both travel fatigue and jet-lag.

Travel fatigue Many orienteers will drive for several hours to an event, and on occasions fly inter-state. This can be fatiguing, particularly if it’s associated with a disruption to our usual eating, hydration and sleeping habits. Additionally, being confined for several hours with little physical activity can cause a sense of stiffness. So take plenty of breaks that enable you to walk for a few minutes and stretch. If a flight is involved, the possibility of dehydration is increased due to more water vapour being lost in exhaled breath because of the dry air and hypoxia associated with the reduced air pressure of the cabin. On longer flights that cross the equator your body will also have to deal with changes in seasons, ambient temperature, humidity, and daylight hours, as well as possible differences in local pollens and pollution that you may not be familiar with.

event, make sure that you can get them, perhaps by visiting the local supermarket as soon as you arrive or taking them with you if necessary.

Of course, the extent to which you do this will depend on where you are along the spectrum of your performance being your priority or immersing yourself in the local culture if overseas.

And in the case of the latter, it is important to check on issues concerning food hygiene before you travel, as some countries may present more of a risk than others. Key things to check are whether you can drink the local water or need bottled water, and if that’s the case remember to not have ice in your drinks. For the same reasons be careful of salads or fruits that may have been washed in the local water and, as a precaution, don’t eat the peel of the fruit.

Jet-lag - what is it?

Jet-lag is caused by rapid travel across time zones that results in desynchrony between a person’s body clock and their new local time. Symptoms include a general malaise that can last for several days, as well as falling asleep at times inappropriate for that of the new location. A common example being returning to Australia from Europe, and for a few days feeling sleepy in the mid-afternoon, when it would be the early hours of the morning in Europe, and a time that you’d be accustomed to having been asleep for many hours. Other symptoms can include gastro-

So, to prevent travel fatigue we need to plan ahead, and pay special attention to our eating, drinking and physical activity, and try to keep them as normal as possible. On long journeys be wary of eating more snack and junk food, and drinking more sugary drinks than usual. Likewise, when you arrive at your destination, try to avoid too many dietary changes, and if you have a preference for particular foods for breakfast, or pre/postMARCH 2010 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 23

intestinal disturbances, such as constipation or hunger at times not coinciding with meal times in the new time-zone.

The body-clock A number of our bodily functions work to a daily or ‘circadian rhythm’, which means that they peak at certain times of the day and hit a low ebb at other times. These include fluctuations in body temperature, the circulating levels of certain hormones such as adrenaline, and the activity of the sympathetic nervous system.

The purpose of the body clock is to ensure that we are in the right physical and mental condition for being active during the day, when we are most likely to need to be active, and conversely, that we are in a condition that enables us to sleep at night. The peaks and troughs of these functions are internally regulated by our body clock, which is located in the hypothalamus at the base of our brain, and is primarily comprised of the suprachiasmatic nuleus (SCN) 1.

If allowed to run unchecked, our circadian rhythm would run for a little over 24 hours, but it is kept in synchrony with our 24-hour daily cycle through the input of Zeitgebers (“time-givers”) 1.

These include our activity levels over a 24-hour cycle, and very importantly our exposure to bright light, which suppresses the secretion of melatonin, a hormone that induces sleep (hypnotic/ soporific). Melatonin is produced by the pineal gland. Under normal circumstances its circulating levels are low during the day, whilst we are awake and active. The levels then increase in the late evening in preparation for sleep, and elevated levels are maintained throughout the night as we sleep. They then begin to fall in the hours prior to our awakening, which prepares us to be alert and ready for activity when we wake up.

This daily cycle is kept in synchrony with our environment by our exposure to bright light, which hits the retina of the eye and sends signals to the SCN, which then suppresses the production of melatonin by the pineal gland 2. Additionally, since the SCN has melatonin receptors 1 it is likely that melatonin levels have some further influence on the body’s circadian rhythm, in a complex interaction that has yet to be fully elucidated.

In the context of sport, a number of studies have indicated that the daily variations in body temperature, heart rate, blood pressure, etc. may cause our strength, power, reaction time, perceived exertion and cognitive tests, to peak in the midafternoon/early evening8. However, since most of these studies have used artificial environments or simulated competitions it is quite possible that the arousal of a real competitive situation will more than over-ride the relatively small daily fluctuations attributed to our circadian rhythm.

Jet-lag and our body clock As indicated above, our body clock and the resultant rhythms in body temperature and various hormones are intrinsic. So if someone lives in an environment with constant lighting etc, they will still occur without external stimuli, albeit to a cycle that is a bit over 24 hrs (24.5 – 27 hours depending on the individual).

Under normal circumstances the circadian rhythms are kept in synchrony with our daily environment by its light/dark cycles, our 24 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 2010

exercise habits, eating times and other activities. The reason that we get jet-lagged is because our circadian rhythms are somewhat resistant to change and do not adjust the instant we arrive at a new destination. Instead, the adjustment is gradual over a number of days. Consequently, after a flight that results in the rapid change of time zones, our body clock will be out of synchrony with the new environment for a few days. With, for example, our body secreting and reaching peak levels of melatonin, and lowering its temperature, thereby preparing our body for sleep, at times that correspond with our previous location and time zone, but not the new one.

At a new destination/time-zone, zeitgebers such as bright light, and possibly physical activity that input on the body clock will eventually synchronise the circadian rhythms in melatonin and temperature. But the consequences of failing to adjust instantaneously can be seen, when flying from Australia to Europe, and arriving around mid-day, when our body clock is still operating on Australian time, and considers it late at night and time for sleep. And this tendency to want to sleep at inappropriate times will be confounded by the travel fatigue caused by the likely lack of sleep during the journey, when being on a plane is less conducive for sleep than being in a comfortable bed.

Ironically, when you do go to bed at night in your new timezone, you may struggle to sleep, as your body clock will still be on Australian time and be reducing the circulating levels of melatonin and raising your body temperature in readiness for being active. Not surprisingly, your exercise performance may be impaired until you have got over the travel fatigue and your body clock has adjusted to the new time zone, and in studies using tests or simulated competition, performance decrements of up to 10% have been recorded following trans-meridian travel, but these detriments may be less in real competitions.

Resynchronising your body clock and issues of travelling east vs west The severity of jet-lag will depend on the individual, the number of time zones crossed, and to some extent the age of the person.

Older people appear to adjust less well to the time differences than younger people 1. Another reported factor is the direction of travel, and the general consensus in the literature, is that jet-lag tends to be worse after travelling east than it is when travelling west across the same number of time zones 1,3. This is attributed to the aforementioned fact that the natural tendency for the rhythm of our biological clock is somewhat longer than 24 hours, which means that it’s easier to delay and extend the cycle beyond 24 hours, as occurs when travelling west and your day is made longer, than it is to shorten the cycle, as occurs when travelling east.

Another difference resulting from the direction of travel and linked to the shortening vs lengthening of our day, is that having travelled east there tends to be a difficulty in getting to sleep at bedtime in the new time-zone (which is earlier than our body clock is prepared for) and then having difficulty waking in the morning, whereas the consequences of travelling west are feeling

sleepy early in the evening and then waking too early (as our body clock is ahead of the new time-zone).

The reported consequences of this in the context of recovering from jet-lag, is that having travelled west, your body clock cycle will adjust extending its cycle by 90 minutes for each day in the new time zone, until it matches the new environment, whereas when travelling east, it will only shorten by 60 minutes for each day in the new time zone. Therefore, when travelling east it can take 50% longer to get over the jet-lag than when travelling in the opposite direction. So in the case of an 8-hour time zone difference, recovery may be 5-6 days when travelling west but up to 8 days when travelling east.

So in accordance with this it may be beneficial to time your journey so as to take advantage of this natural phenomenon.

For example, if travelling west, aim to arrive mid afternoon, so that you are more likely to want to stay up for a few additional hours until nightfall, thereby naturally extending your day, and coinciding your behaviour with the tendency of your circadian rhythm to delay. Conversely, if travelling east, aim to arrive at nightfall, so that you’ll be more inclined to go to bed at the time according to the new time zone, albeit less than 24 hours since you went to bed in your previous time zone, but by doing so it will naturally shorten your day and coincide with your circadian rhythms’ tendency to accelerate 4.

The tendency for our body-clock to adjust to the new local time following westbound travel by delaying the circadian rhythm appears to work for time-zone differences of up to 12 hours, but for eastbound travel the tendency to adjust the cycle via acceleration only works for time differences of up to 9 hours1. For eastbound journeys resulting in greater than 9-hour differences in time-zones, the circadian rhythm appears to want to adjust by delaying rather than accelerating, probably due to its innate tendency to run for longer than 24 hours and how the old cycle is affected by the times when we are exposed to daylight at the new destination. Therefore, if travelling east across more than 9 timezones the same strategy as that used for westbound travel may be more effective.

Strategies to minimize the impact of jet-lag

timing of its ingestion appears to be critical for it to be effective.

To delay and extend the circadian rhythm after westward travel with a time difference of 11 hours it should be taken at 20:00 on the first day, and an hour later on each subsequent day (i.e. at 21:00 on day 2 and 22:00 on day 3, and finally 23:00 on day 4), or if the initial time difference is less than 11 hours, on the first day it should be taken an hour later than 20:00 for each hour less in initial time difference and then add an hour for each subsequent day until it’s being taken at 23:00 1.

In countries such as Australia and the UK, melatonin is only available on prescription 1,8. It is more readily available in the USA, but the preparations are not subjected to strict quality control and therefore their purity is unknown and may have serious risks associated with their use. The use of melatonin without medical guidance and prescription is not recommended 9.

Exercise during daylight hours is also commonly advocated for promoting body clock synchrony with the environment, however, if indeed it is effective and, if so, whether it works by elevating body temperature and/or through exposure to daylight remains unclear, and again is likely to depend on its timing and whether seeking to accelerate or delay the body-clock 7.

Take home message • Plan your journey and food drink requirements; • Drink to prevent dehydration; • Take breaks and the opportunity to walk and stretch; • If taking a trans-meridian flight, be aware of the consequences of travel fatigue and jet-lag; • Maximise your sleep to prevent fatigue from sleep deprivation; • Coincide your behaviour with the destination time as soon as possible; • Expose yourself to daylight at the destination to help resynchronize your body-clock; • Only use melatonin if advised to do so by a medical practitioner.

Professor Steve Bird is at RMIT University, Melbourne. Steve worked with the Great Britain National Orienteering Squad for over 10 years and is now assisting the Victorian Junior Squad.

References 1. Waterhouse J, Reilly T, Atkinson G (1997) Jet-lag. The Lancet; 350: 1609–14.

2. Vander A, Sherman J, Luciano D (2001). Human Physiology (8th Edition), Biological Control Systems page 154.

To minimize the impact of travel fatigue and jet-lag, key factors include ensuring adequate sleep both before and during your journey, and once in transit trying to ensure that exposure to bright light coincides with the destination time-zone. And since some of the post journey malaise may be travel fatigue due to inadequate sleep per se, sleeping as much as possible, throughout the journey regardless of the time is also an effective strategy for some travellers. Additionally, changing your watch to the destination time as soon as you get on the flight and trying to match your eating and sleep/activity accordingly is often recommended.

3. Hymes EM and Wells CL (1986). Environment and Human Performance. The travelling athlete, page 121 – 126. Human Kinetics: Champaign, IL.

Since melatonin is known to be a key factor in our body-clock, some authorities suggest that taking additional melatonin can be effective in promoting sleep, and if the aim is to promote sleep at the new destination per se and regardless of the direction of prior travel, it should be taken a couple of hours before bedtime.

However in the context of melatonin’s effectiveness in alleviating jet-lag, rather than travel fatigue, the results from a number of studies are equivocal 5, 6. This may be related to the fact that the

7. Atkinson G, Edwards B, Reilly T, Waterhouse J. (2007). Exercise as a synchroniser of human circadian rhythms: an update and discussion of the methodological problems. Eur J Appl Physiol. Mar;99(4):331-41

4. Brooks GA, Fahey TS and White TP (1995). Exercise Physiology: Human Bioenergetics and its applications. Exercise, atmospheric pressure, air pollution and travel pg 476-477, Mayfield Pub Co: Mt View, CA. 5. Atkinson G, Drust B, Reilly T, Waterhouse J. (2003) The relevance of melatonin to sports medicine and science. Sports Med: 33(11):809-31.

6. Edwards BJ, Atkinson G, Waterhouse J, Reilly T, Godfrey R, Budgett R. (2000). Use of melatonin in recovery from jet-lag following an eastward flight across 10 time-zones. Ergonomics. Oct;43(10):1501-13.

8. J Waterhouse, T Reilly and G Atkinson (1998). Melatonin and jet lag.

Br. J. Sports Med.;32;98-99.

9. Reilly T, Maughan R and Budgett R (1998). Melatonin: a position statement of the British Olympic Association. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 32: 99-100.

MARCH 2010 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 25

NATIONAL JUNIOR SQUAD

How many kilograms of bananas are needed to run a National Junior Training Camp?

Valerie Barker

2010 began with 19 members of the National Junior Squad and the Junior Development Squad converging on ‘The Hut’ at Belango, following the Christmas 5-Days event. Accompanying the juniors were the management and coaching team of Roch Prendergast and Valerie Barker, assisted by Aislinn Prendergast, Morten Neve and Russell Blatchford, presenting a wide variety of fitness and technical exercises, and training opportunities and options. Of course, the social component of training camp was not forgotten either.

I

T took over 21 kilograms of bananas to fuel the squad – along with a wide range of other healthy foods, prepared in turn by the groups of athletes. Who can forget Mary cutting up onions, Ian heating the bolognese sauce, the huge salads, bowls of fruit, icy-poles on a hot day (and hot chips on the cold day…) and those delicious pies from the famed Robertson Pie Shop?

Managing the nutritional needs of hungry athletes was only one facet of the camp. The coaching team presented a very varied program, to cater for the range of abilities and experience, and the various states of fitness of camp participants: at least two of the squad were recovering from injuries (mountain bikes had taken their toll) which had to be carefully managed. And so, the week unfolded…

DAY 1: Canberra Airport - Valerie and the bus met those who had flown in from various parts of the country on a hot morning (and after a very late night for some). We arrived at ‘The Hut’ in the early afternoon and settled in – some chose to sleep in tents rather than the dormitory accommodation, although they then had to fight the spiders. Callum arrived without any luggage at all apart from QANTAS’ complimentary overnight kit. Katie sent her thoughts to us from Switzerland where she is enjoying the summer (well, winter!). What a great turnout given the short preparation time. The introductory get-together took place outdoors in the shade, to provide the right sort of ambience for the week. The first exercise involved straight-line Orienteering with parts of the map blanked out, in the pine forest ‘Further out the Back’. Dinner was a highlight of the day (as it was every day) which had been a long one for those flying from as far away as Tasmania – huge pots of rice, to accompany the chicken, salad and fruit (and chocolate cake).

We finished the day with a Night-O activity (Michele’s approach: ”I don’t like Orienteering at night, so I just run really fast!”).

Several runners arrived back asking why the bulldozer resting quietly at one control site had not been mapped – it was a little spooky, given past associations with this area.

DAY 2: The traditional camp 3km time trial on the not quite so traditional forest track circuit was held – there are no football or sports ovals anywhere near The Hut. Times were not as fast as they would have been on a track but everyone worked hard.

Today’s feature was the traditional trip to the beach: down the escarpment to Kiama in pouring rain; some very dodgy routefinding to get to the beach (how not to find the quickest and shortest route!); Lilian did a great job asking for directions at a local fish and chip shop; the thunder and lightning at the beach was spectacular and made for great photography; and most people even had a swim. Sarah, of course, goes nowhere without finding water to swim in! By the time we got back up the 26 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 2010

escarpment to Robertson, the sun was out again, and we loved the icecreams at the Old Cheese Factory. Oh, and we are very grateful that the former practice of dropping off juniors to run up the 8km of the Macquarie Pass has had to be discontinued on safety grounds. The evening talk was on technical matters, playing with the computer graphics to pare down some of the interesting legs from yesterday’s activity to their basic and essential elements.

DAY 3: Training was getting serious now. We travelled to ‘Baronga Creek’ for the morning session, with pairs working on a map memory exercise. In the afternoon we practised control picking techniques on ‘The Piggery’ map just over the road. Dinner that Sunday evening was at the Moss Vale RSL where we entertained the locals, Rob Preston arrived on the train from Falls Creek, and Oscar celebrated his 18th birthday. Rob and Roch gave us more food for thought later in the evening - Rob alerted us to the perils of drugs testing: asthma sufferers beware! We had another invaluable evening talk, encouraging us to focus on setting and planning for goals, over the next few months and years.

DAY 4: Max has almost mastered the art of wrapping his lunch in clingwrap without including himself in the package. The morning’s training emphasis was on relay skills and mass start practice on Russell’s map (‘Soapy Flat’). In the afternoon, Roch’s triathlon and swimming coaching tactics were put into play. We all went to the Bowral Pool where the session began with a 100m swim, followed by other exercises for cross training. Josh came for the day, bringing the icy poles. It was yet another drizzly and misty day, the third in a row – so much for the sunshine we left in Canberra. Morten’s Murder game proved very popular in our spare time (imagine 20 people sitting around a room, most with their eyes shut as they re-live yet ‘another dark and bloody night’ for an hour or so). Morten led the evening’s session, discussing preparation for JWOC. His athlete’s perspective was most engaging and supportive.

DAY 5: No camp is complete without the Camp Champs – Morten had supervised the Start Draw the previous evening.

‘Soapy Flat’, just out of Mittagong, was again the venue, with plenty of challenges – and some sun for the occasion. Cleaning up took longer than expected but some of the boys demonstrated their expertise with brooms (in the absence of a vacuum cleaner); others demonstrated just how long it can take to pack up a tent.

The final team talk, out under the trees again – what a great time we’ve had! The new year has meant that many of us have now set goals for the year, have promised to maintain training diaries, and have made new friends from interstate. We actually managed to fit 19 people and all of their luggage into the bus to go back to the Canberra Airport.

And what did some of the juniors have to say?

has made my pathway to my many goals easier to find and negotiate.

Ian Lawford (ACT)

Callum Fagg (Tasmania)

All of the training sessions were interesting and particularly useful as there was always a focus on one or two certain skills used while orienteering. However, what I found most beneficial were the night sessions when training techniques and schedules and expectations for JWOC were discussed, as this is information that you can’t just learn when you’re running in the forest.

Of course, there were a lot of great experiences on camp including Morten’s murder game, but the standout would have to be Valerie’s pesto and pumpkin pasta :).

Sarah Buckerfield (Tasmania) and Belinda Lawford (ACT)

The Campzilla!! Well, a not so awesome start for the camp when all my gear got lost in transit between Melbourne and Canberra.

Luckily Max has the same shoe size and Oscar is the same clothes size. This meant I could run in actual Orienteering gear rather than the complimentary PJ’s provided by the ever reliant Qantas.

The camp it self was brilliant! Not being physically up to a super duper hard camp I was happy to find that the majority of the work was focused on the technical aspect of Orienteering. Having the combined technical experience of Morty, Roch, Valerie and Aislinn was a huge highlight when it came to the nightly chit chat about Orienteering. And Roch’s coaching and training experience was more than helpful in getting me back into the swing of training, sleeping, eating, racing and planning and everything else that is involved with being a mad arse super athlete.

Highlights for me included the weather changing with energy levels, the beach when we finally arrived after making every navigational error known to orienteering kind, the training and the time trials’ ability to show you exactly how fit you are and where you need to be, and Lachy’s and Olle’s music which did give us all the funnies at one point or another.

Rebecca Freese (Queensland) Not only was the training camp a great deal of fun, it has given me a range of experiences including the different terrain and meeting all of the down-to-earth people. Also it

The training camp was great fun, informative, and very motivating.

One of the many highlights was Sarah’s elusive thong finding itself atop of a very high tree. All in all the training camp gave opportunity for some very entertaining ‘Anchorman” [a popular movie] quotes.

Oscar Phillips (Tasmania) I enjoyed the camp, everyone was fun, it was well organised, training was good and I loved the food. I was pleased with my win in the time trial but it has motivated me to work harder. I also found out that I am not as hopeless a swimmer as I thought, (but I am not about to take up triathlon any time soon.) I have now spent two birthdays at national camp - including my 18th !! Dedication or what?!

I found the Night-O really useful as running around looking for things doesn’t work at all. However it was creepy, especially when we found a bulldozer randomly in the forest, and I was quite glad to find Lilian looking for the same control.

We then proceeded to run along a track and totally miss the turn off.

(Sarah) There were lots of massive scary spiders around the tents, which freaked me out for the rest of the camp (Bun)

being able to plan our future goals in Orienteering with the help of Coach Roch. I was personally able to refine my orienteering skills and incorporate new techniques into my process through various training exercises such as a simulated relay event, night Orienteering and control picking.

After my first taste of being in the National Junior Development Squad I am eager to experience more of the camaraderie and training assistance.

The Coaching and Management team

The 3km time trial along forest tracks was much more interesting than running round an oval. (Sarah) The relay training on the 3rd day was really good training for headto-head racing. (Bun)

Lilian Burrill (Queensland)

This camp was organised at very short notice so we were delighted with the turnout, with some continuing on from the Christmas 5-days, and others travelling some distance to participate. The commitment and enthusiasm exhibited by the Squads was significant, as was the will to learn, the strategic thinking, and the building of strong relationships amongst both squads. Thank you to those who assisted and supported us in so many different ways; we all had a great time ourselves!

Michele Dawson (NSW) Some extreme weather, intense training, a mysterious arrow found in Belanglo forest, enjoyable social aspects and one GIANT spider created the perfect recipe for our first training camp of 2010. The camp was thoroughly enjoyed by us all, offering a great way for both teams to bond and get to know one another as well as our

Oliver Poland preparing for the Night event

MARCH 2010 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 27

Choosing Vegetarianism?

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ANY people these days are turning more towards a vegetarian style of eating for a variety of reasons – the latest perhaps being environmental sustainability. Whatever the reason for eating a mainly plant-based diet, there are a few things to watch out for in the training athlete.

The first concern would be iron requirements – iron being a crucial mineral involved in oxygen transport during physical activity. If you simply take meat off the plate and don’t replace it with a good iron-source, then body iron stores will be degraded.

The best plant sources of iron include wholegrain breads and cereals (especially iron-fortified varieties), legumes (baked beans, chickpeas, lentils etc.), nuts and green leafy vegetables. Generous servings of these foods need to be eaten daily.

However, plants only contain what we call ‘non-haem’ iron, which is affected by inhibitors and enhancers. So it is important to include a vitamin C source (enhancer) with your plant ironrich foods, for example, capsicum, tomato, broccoli, cabbage or citrus fruits. This will increase the absorption of the iron at least 2-3 times what it would otherwise be. It is also a good idea to avoid drinking tea, coffee or cola drinks with your meals as these contain polyphenols which block iron absorption (inhibitors).

Wait for half-an-hour after the meal or drink between meals.

Athletes often think they need larger amounts of protein than others who do not regularly train for sport. However, this is not really true, especially in Australia where our average protein intake is high. A vegetarian diet will easily include enough protein, especially if dairy foods and eggs are included. If they are not (as in the pure vegan diet) then suitable substitutes need to be found – eg soy milk and tofu for the dairy. Legumes and nuts will be a good replacement for eggs in terms of protein supply. Grain foods also contain protein – rice, pasta, breads and cereals, so if the diet includes all of these, then protein will not be a concern.

Zinc is another mineral usually sourced from meat, but it is also found in nuts, seeds, legumes and wholegrains as well as dairy foods, so should not be a problem.

NUTRITION Gillian Woodward

One possible problem created by a plant-based diet, could be the increase in dietary fibre. Whilst very healthy, it may create gastrointestinal discomfort for some individuals and may increase trips to the bathroom. In itself this is not a problem, but if it happens to occur during training sessions, then its impact may be negative.

In order to avoid this it might take some manipulation of the meal pattern – eg eating white (low fibre) bread at lunch before an afternoon training run or eating less whole fruit at lunch and drinking a fruit juice instead. These are just some of the ways to reduce this negative side effect, which may only be a problem for a few.

The total vegan (no animal products consumed at all) must include a source of vitamin B12 (which is only found in animal foods). Some foods are fortified with B12 eg: soy milks, vegetable extract spreads and vegetarian ‘meat analogues’. If none of these are eaten, then a vitamin B12 supplement should be taken to prevent deficiency (which may develop after a few years after body stores run out).

So what would I suggest you eat if choosing the vegetarian way? Here are a few ideas: Breakfast: Iron fortified cereal OR muesli with lots of nuts, seeds and dried fruit OR wholegrain toast with baked beans + glass of fruit juice or piece of fresh fruit to help iron absorption.

Lunch: Wholegrain sandwich or roll with lentil/tofu burger or egg + salad OR pita bread with falafel, tabbouli and hommus OR baked bean jaffle OR minestrone soup with wholegrain roll.

Dinner: include tofu or legumes (at least ½-1 cup) with each meal plus lots of vegetables or salad including some higher vitamin C varieties plus potato or brown rice or wholemeal pasta for those essential carbohydrates.

Snacks: fresh or dried fruit (especially apricots and prunes for iron) and nut mixes, muesli bars, fruit and nut bars; milk /soy based drinks, or cheese/bean dips and whole grain crackers.

To the above, add either three serves of dairy or fortified substitute foods, for adequate calcium supply.

From this you can see vegetarianism is not simply a matter of leaving meat off the plate! Careful choices and planning are necessary to maintain an adequate nutrient intake.

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.

28 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 2010

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.

I

Bring Back 5-year Age Classes

support the views of Neville de Mestre (Letters, AO-December 2009) regarding the retrograde move in some States (including the ACT) for championship events to have 10-year groupings for masters competitors. I consider such a move to be inherently unfair to the older runners in these extended age groups and believe that it is of little or no benefit to event organisers.

As anyone who takes an interest in athletic performance knows, athletic ability declines with age, generally from the late 30’s. In middle and distance running and Orienteering the decline is around one percent per year until around age 60 after which the rate of decline accelerates. This decline is inevitable – even a world class runner who continues to train intensively into his/her masters years will experience it - and proof can be found by reviewing world masters age grouping records for a range of different running events (see http:// www.world-masters-athletics.org/records). A 64 year-old running against 55 year-olds in M55-64 thus has a significant handicap to overcome before he even picks up his map.

(According to the age performance factors well tried in ACT Orienteering a 64 year-old male will be around 16% slower per km than a 55 year-old over the same course!)

The degree of unfairness coming from 10-year age groups is further exacerbated if there is a series of races on consecutive days, as is often the case these days. The recovery time required by an athlete after a maximal or near maximal effort increases with age. A 64 year-old will not recover as quickly as a 55 year-old even though both are trained to the same level.

Clearly we cannot completely eliminate these age related factors from Orienteering. But with 5-year groups the theoretical maximum difference within groups is greatly reduced.

Finally, I could understand the desire of State Associations to switch to 10-year groups if it meant some significant benefits in terms of course setting and/or event organisation.

However, as far as I can see the switch to 10-year groupings brings little advantage to event organisers. My guess is that the shift to 10-year groupings was driven by a desire to make our sport look better by increasing the number of competitors in some thinly populated classes. I do not believe this is a valid reason for making the change and strongly urge a return to the much fairer 5-year age groups.

Wayne Gregson (Red Roos, ACT)

From UK orienteer Andy Hemsted – WMOC2009 M60 World Champion (reprinted from CompassSport)

Cheating in Orienteering

A

t the World Masters Event in Australia, we were given a booklet about drugs testing. I believe that Orienteering is free of drugs. However, we cannot be smug, as our sport has many cheats - the experienced competitors who ask “Where am I?” or, even worse, snatch a map from another orienteer at a control.

I am not referring to children in distress, who may not have the skills to follow a safety bearing or to relocate. Neither do I think that there is a problem at local events - if a person asks for help, then we should not point to their location, but could take time to explain how to relocate.

At more important events, unfortunately, cheating continues.

Because we generally like to help others, cheats are shown their position, avoid big time-losses, and of course never declare themselves non-competitive at the finish. Many of these may be poor navigators, but it is certain that at times a highly-competitive orienteer has run into a complex area, asked for help, and gained a medal or a good result. Runners who ask for help are not just ‘poor lost souls’; they are people who are so concerned about the result that they don’t want to take the time to relocate. They are clearly trying to cheat.

At the World Masters the organisers were quite specific - in the event details they reminded competitors that it was not permitted to ask another runner for help. However, in the Final I was approached for help. I replied “No” and continued my run. Among my group of friends, Carol Sands, Mike Hampton, Eddie Harwood and Nick Barrable were all asked for help in the qualifying events (and refused to give such assistance); perhaps the cheats gained a place in the A-Final after being helped by someone else, displacing others who relocated on their own and so lost time.

My wife Penny suffers more than we faster competitors, however, because she walks and looks kind she is regularly bothered by requests. In the World Masters Final she was obstructed and stopped by a fellow competitor who shouted “Have you seen 337? Have you seen 337?” This completely disturbed Penny’s concentration, and her performance inevitably suffered as a result. How many other people have had their runs spoilt by this type of selfish behaviour?

This is not just a problem in events overseas. At BOC08 in Culbin, as well as at other British events, Penny’s runs have been disrupted.

These personal experiences have shown that rules that forbid asking, plus polite requests in event information, are just not enough - the more important the event and the more complex the terrain, the worse the problem. For this reason we need a concerted campaign at national and international levels to greatly reduce this cheating and, hopefully, drive it out completely.

National Magazines and Club Newsletters can publish an article explaining about safety bearings and relocation - this is an integral part of our sport. The article should ask everyone not to give help in more important events. Always say “No!” firmly if someone approaches you. If you really feel that they are in difficulties and that you can’t ignore the request completely, then please only show them a sensible safety bearing; don’t help them to ‘relocate’.

Have a change in the rules, if necessary, to allow an official to randomly wander the forest during a competition, dressed as a competitor. If this official is approached then they will take the offender’s number or name. As with a positive MARCH 2010 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 29

LETTERS

drugs test, that competitor would then receive a suitable punishment.

The threat of such an official is necessary, I believe, because otherwise no cheat will ever be identified; in my experience no-one has ever been reported to officials, and no-one has ever been sanctioned for asking for help in the forest.

If such a scheme were introduced with appropriate publicity then I believe that this form of cheating would be vastly reduced. Once a few cheats have been identified, named, and punished, then the asking would cease and we could have our runs undisturbed in future.

I am also sending this letter to the British Orienteering Federation Rules Group and to the organisers of WMOC2010.

One letter, however, is unlikely to change anything. If you agree with me, please send a letter or email to your Rules Group. In addition, make sure that these ideas are given publicity in your club magazine.

Please come to BOC in the West Midlands in 2010, but be careful! If you see Penny in the forest, don’t ask for help … she may well have volunteered to be the very first official cheat-catcher!

(With support from Penny Hemsted, Eddie Harwood, Carol and Tim Sands, and Mike Hampton.)

and juxtaposed against differing surrounds. In principle, one could fold the legend against each of the colour areas to identify them, but doing this on the move, while trying to keep the map oriented, is a demoralising prospect.

Barbara suggests that the green/yellow distinctions could be improved by adding blue to the greens. This sounds plausible but I doubt that it can be effective. Orienteering maps are printed using CMYK dyes (not RGB as implied in the article).

CMYK printing has a more limited spectrum than RGB colour and has no true blue dye; even the plain (mixed dye) blue printed on maps is rarely a strong colour. I would expect that trying to make the greens more blue would just add an extra layer of complexity for the controllers who must approve maps, and add a minor variation to the murkiness for the colour-blind.

I think a simpler first step would be to print the yellow as yellow. CMYK (obviously) includes a yellow dye and CMYK printing on good paper can produce vivid yellows. However the current OA-recommended OCAD colour printing scheme blankets yellow with almost 30% magenta, leading to the current murky yellows. The logic escapes me.

I try to stay calm when event officials say “Well, it’s sort of yellow”, but it’s hard.

Ian Fletcher (LOST-WA)

(Ed – this problem of cheating and harassment in the forest was covered in AO-Sept’08 pp16-18 in an article about the Principle of The Silent Forest. It seems the IOF and member federations have done nothing since then to curb the practice and the problem continues. It’s high time the IOF took action to stamp it out. It must surely be having an adverse effect on their push for Olympics recognition.)

Map Colours

A

s one of the many colour-blind orienteers, I was encouraged to see Barbara Junghans’ article in The Australian Orienteer (Dec. 2009). Perhaps we will now see a more methodical approach to resolving the problems that continue with digital colour map printing.

Unfortunately, the article perpetuates one often used (and usually dismissive) response to our colour problems, namely that having a legend printed on (or with) the map permits colour-blind orienteers to “…at least read the map’s presentation of the subtly different shades of [colour] against the mapped features … whichever way they read the map”.

This is rarely true for many of us. It does not resolve the dominant problem, and is a grossly inefficient solution for the other major one.

The dominant problem, alluded to earlier in the Defective Colour Vision article, is that some of the colours can be indistinguishable. Having an equivalent set of indistinguishable coloured rectangles in the legend can do absolutely nothing to alleviate this. I’m told that Barbara’s illustrations demonstrate this problem reasonably well, despite the biases introduced in each stage of the print-scanprint process used to present them.

The second class of problem exists when several of the colours can be distinguished, but only as variants (darkness variants, not colour variants) of a single murky colour. In such cases, the orienteer must try to establish, and remember for some time and across the visual space of the map, some darkness hierarchy for that set of shadings. This is a difficult visual exercise for more than a few shades, at any time. It is almost impossible when the areas of colour vary in size (as Barbara notes) and even worse when the areas are scattered 30 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 2010

FOR STOCKISTS CALL 1800 209 999

www.victorinox.com

VICTORINOX AWARD The Victorinox Award goes to Ian Fletcher for his letter on colour vision in Orienteering. Ian will receive a Victorinox Handyman which includes 24tools and features, retail value $119.

Bring back Contour Slope Lines

A

re there any orienteers who have never read contours the wrong way, or at least wondered what was up and what was down? Not many, I’ll wager.

This problem comes about because some cartographers don’t (or hardly ever) use slope lines, which I find are sorely lacking on most maps. So rare have they become that I recently met an experienced orienteer who didn’t know what they were.

Maybe there are some people who consider that slope lines make things too easy, and that Orienteers should be forced to figure it out for themselves. However, I haven’t met such a person. During my cartographic career I used slope lines liberally wherever confusion was possible. Many maps required none at all, but others required dozens and, in some cases, over a hundred. Many people expressed their appreciation and nobody ever said it made things too easy.

I expect the lack of slope lines on maps these days is simply because cartographers don’t even think about putting them on. So please, folks, give it some thought next time you draw a map and use slope lines whenever there may be confusion.

Trevor Sauer (Sunshine Orienteers, QLD)

Orienteering Australia – National Training Centre

O-Spy 2009 Zatopek & AUS 10,000m Track Championships

T

hree orienteers competed in the 2009 Australian Women’s 10,000m Track Championships held last December at Melbourne’s Olympic Park as part of the Zatopek championships. Hanny Allston placed 10th in the race whilst Lauren Shelley and Kathryn Ewels had a ‘ding-dong’ tussle a little further back.

1. Eloise Wellings (NSW) 32:19.08 2. Lisa Weightman (VIC) 32:20.14 3. Lara Tamsett (NSW)

32:20.39

4. Rebecca Lowe (NSW) 32:24.70

ORI ENT EERING P U B L I CATIONS IOF Publications

Australian Publications

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

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

Prices include GST and postage within Australia for single copies.

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

5. Nikki Chapple (VIC)

32:29.92

6. Cassie Fien (VIC)

33:16.16

7. Melinda Vernon (VIC)

33:22.70

8. Jessica Trengove (SA) 33:38.09 9. Benita Willis (VIC)

33:58.69

10. Hanny Allston (TAS) 34:25.74 11. Tamara Carvolth (QLD) 34:44.49 12. Lauren Shelley (WA) 34:49.84 13. Kathryn Ewels (VIC) 34:50.49 14. Clare Geraghty (QLD) 35:09.59 15. Lisa Flint (NSW)

36:11.70

How many Countries?

I

ngvar Braaten from Norway has now orienteered in 100 countries.

Recently he took part in events in Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore, San Marino and Mauritius, with Mauritius being his 100th country.

3000 courses

Y Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority

our Editor, Michael Hubbert (BK.V), can only claim a paltry 19 countries in which he has orienteered, but he is well on track to completing 3000

Orienteering courses since he started in the sport in 1969. At time of going to press he had completed 2980 courses and should reach the 3000 mark late in March.

(If you have tallied up the number of countries and/ or Orienteering courses in which you have competed, we would love to hear from you. Contact the Editor at mikehubbert@ozemail.com. au ).

Bomb Squad

I

couldn’t resist reprinting this item from the OAWA Split Times, Jan 2010: One Saturday afternoon last summer, in the grounds of a well known Perth university, some of the alumni were bemused when a strangely dressed man dashed up to a lamp pole outside their building and fixed on to it a brightly coloured board about 30cm across. “Oy. `Ere”, one of the watchers cried, as university staff are wont to do when surprised.

“Wot’s your game?”

Instead of explaining that he was putting out controls for a Nav Dash event, our man, feeling pressed for time, just called back, “Can’t stop. Got to go,” and ran away carrying more of the suspicious boards. This did nothing to reassure the anxious onlookers who were even more worried when they noticed our man-in-a­hurry had also left behind a small but sinister metal box (SI station).

Security officers were duly called to deal with this Dangerous Electronic Device and it took some quick talking to dissuade them from evacuating the surrounding buildings and sending for the bomb disposal squad. Our man was so rushed that he nearly had an SI station blown up as a safety measure...

MARCH 2010 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 31

CLIMATE CHANGE

Hottest decade on record

A

USTRALIA experienced its hottest decade on record from 2000 to 2009 due to global warming, the Bureau of Meteorology has confirmed. The average temperature in Australia over the past 10 years was 0.48 degrees C above the 1961-1990 average, and 2010 is forecast to be even hotter.

see this paradox -- the country, particularly in the north, is getting wetter but is also warming up.” (Reuters)

“We’re getting these increasingly warm temperatures, not just for Australia but globally. Climate change global warming is clearly continuing,” said Bureau climatologist David Jones. “We’re in the latter stages of an El Nino event in the Pacific Ocean and what that means for Australian and global temperatures is that 2010 is likely to be another very warm year -- perhaps even the warmest on record.”

Heavy snow brought travel chaos to north China, stranding thousands of truckers for two days on a Beijing highway and 1400 rail passengers in Inner Mongolia. The snow blanketed the region for a whole weekend and the national weather centre said the mercury dipped to minus 15.6 degrees Celsius - the lowest temperature in more than two decades.

The year 2009 will be remembered for “extreme bushfires, duststorms, lingering rainfall deficiencies, areas of flooding and record-breaking heatwaves”, said the Bureau. In fact, 2009 was Australia’s second warmest year on record, with the annual mean temperature 0.90 degrees Celsius above the 1961-1990 average, driven by three record-breaking heatwaves that caused Australia’s most deadly bushfires, killing 173 people.

Outback Australia was warming more quickly than other parts of the country, with some inland areas warming at twice the rate of coastal regions, said the Bureau.

But as Australia warmed, with large tracts of the country battling a decade-long drought, the northern part of the country was becoming wetter. In January floods covered large parts of northern New South Wales and Queensland.

“Australia as a whole has been getting warmer for about 50-60 years and it’s actually been tending to get wetter,” said Jones. “You

Meanwhile, in January in the northern hemisphere ……..

The freezing weather continued for several days in Beijing, nearby Tianjin and Inner Mongolia, with temperatures falling as low as minus 32 degrees Celsius. On the outskirts of Beijing, truck drivers were forced to sleep in their vehicles for two nights on a highway when snow made the road impassable, causing a 20 kilometre back-up, the Beijing News reported.

And blizzards brought Britain to a snowy halt as transport chaos caused by heavy snow and freezing temperatures swept south after gripping northern England and Scotland. Blizzards hitting northern parts of Britain halted transport and football matches, and closed airports and hundreds of schools. Official warnings of extreme weather preceded freezing condi­tions in central and southern parts of England, with as much as 40c­ms of snow in some areas. Heavy snowfalls forced Britain’s second-biggest airport, Gatwick, which serves London, to close.

But the freezing conditions allowed one sporting event to be staged in Scotland for the first time since 1979. It had been more than 30 years since the Royal Caledo­nian Curling Club had held a grand match - or bonspiel - a mass curling competition in the Scottish Highlands. About 2000 curlers converged on 250 rinks specially cut in the ice on a frozen loch near Stirling. “Anyone who has been to one will remember it for the rest of their lives”, said one competitor.

Gaia strikes back again: The blizzard conditions extended into most of Europe bringing trade, commerce and transport to an abrupt halt. A low of minus 42 deg C was reported in Norway. That was about the same time as Melbourne recorded plus 44 degrees and Adelaide suffered their fifth day above 40 deg. Add to that an earthquake over 6 on the Richter scale in California which shook Governor Schwarzenegger and a 7.0 quake which destroyed much of Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince where some 200,000 perished, and we have good evidence of Gaia striking back once again.

January 11 saw Melburnians sweat through the hottest night in more than 100 years. The temperature dipped to a minimum of 32.3 deg C just before 6am after a sweltering maximum of 43.6 degrees. Commuters faced widespread train disruptions as extreme heat took its toll on the metropolitan rail network. As the 32 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 2010

ORIENTEERING AUSTRALIA

National Merit Badge awards

temperature passed 43 in the city, and nudged 45 in outer western suburbs and Geelong, 110 trains had been cancelled across the network by 6pm.

Police said the heat was more dangerous than fires and urged people to leave work early or wait until after 7pm to ease the strain on the public transport system.

Ambulance Victoria urged friends and family to pay close attention to infants, the aged, pregnant and nursing mothers, and those suffering illness. “During hot weather people should look out for neighbours and family and friends, and check on older, sick and frail people who may need help to cope with the heat,” said a spokesman. “Heat stroke and heat stress are serious conditions and can lead to death. The most important thing to remember is that heat exhaustion and heat stroke can be avoided by taking some simple precautions.” These include limiting outdoor activity, drinking plenty of water, taking a cool shower or bath, and watching for signs of heat stroke or heat exhaustion.

Ed: Extreme weather conditions are not new, but when they occur so often and on such a grand scale we must surely conclude that this is evidence of abrupt climate change. And so we search for a cause.

This reminds me of a book entitled “The Sixth Winter”, by a writer named Orbell. His book was a work of fiction (we hope).

He described the sudden appearance of great swathes of ice on land masses where ice should not be. They were perhaps 10km wide and some hundreds of kilometres long. In each ensuing winter there was more of them. Eventually weather scientists concluded that the jet stream was becoming unstable. When it dipped to earth it created these swathes of ice. Soon there was ice on ice and sea levels dropped dramatically. Our scientific heroes were able to walk from Russia to Alaska over where the Bering Sea had once been.

Then came the sixth winter when weather conditions reached their extreme. The final scene describes how a man appears on the observation platform atop the Sears Tower in Chicago (once the world’s tallest building). The man climbs over a railing, lands on the snow and skis away.

The National Merit Badge Awards aim to recognise orienteers who achieve a consistent orienteering standard relative to their age-group peers and to be a fund raising activity for Australian Teams to World Championships. An orienteer can qualify for a Badge when three Badge credits have been earned within a two-year period.

Badge credits can be earned at all Championship and Badge events, including AUS 3-Days.

For further information contact: John Oliver, 68 Amaroo St, Wagga Wagga 2650 Tel: 069 226 208; e-mail: oliver.family@bigpond.com. au Ken Brownlie WO.W M60 Carol Brownlie WO.W W55 Paula Ashforth WA.S W45 Tom Bullock WA.S M55 Jenny Casanova WA.S W21 Susanne Casanova WA.S W21 Peter Clark WA.S M45 Peter Cutten WA.S M70 Robyn Cutten WA.S W65 Peter Kreminski WA.S M65 Andrew Mogridge WA.S M17 Jim Rathjen WA.S M65 Regina Reuter WA.S W45 Greg Rowberry WA.S M55 Phil Stoeckel WA.S M55 Fern Tomas WA.S W21 Frank Tomas WA.S M65 Jenny Bourne AO.A W50 Belinda Lawford AO.A W20 Geoff Lawford AO.A M50 Ian Lawford AO.A M16 Grant McDonald AO.A M45 Heather McDonald AO.A W20 Mary McDonald AO.A W50 Robert McDonald AO.A M17 Ann Scown AO.A W55 John Scown AO.A M50 Murray Scown AO.A M21 John Shelton-Agar AO.A M35 Jay Truscott AO.A M14 Steve Truscott AO.A M35 Ben Thompson AO.A M14 Jamie Thompson AO.A M10 Sue Bament OH.S W55 Jennie Bourne OH.S W60 Margaret Bourne OH.S W21 Michelle Chamalaun OH.S W35 Craig Colwell OH.S M50 Evelyn Colwell OH.S W45 Lance Fairclough OH.S M80 Lauren Gillis OH.S W17 Vern Hembrow OH.S M55 Heinz Leuenberger OH.S M55 Margrit Leuenberger OH.S W45 Catherine Loye OH.S W21 Vincent Loye OH.S M55 Andrew McComb OH.S M45 Bryn McComb OH.S M14 Rory McComb OH.S M17 Teri McComb OH.S W45 Ben Rattray OH.S M21 Kerrin Rattray OH.S M21

Gold Gold Bronze Bronze Silver Gold Bronze Silver Bronze Gold Bronze Gold Bronze Bronze Bronze Bronze Silver Gold Gold Gold Gold Gold Silver Gold Silver Silver Gold Silver Bronze Bronze Gold Gold Bronze Bronze Silver Bronze Gold Silver Silver Gold Gold Bronze Bronze Bronze Silver Silver Gold Gold Gold Silver Gold Gold

Al Sankauskas OH.S M55 Silver Max Sankauskas OH.S M17 Bronze Zita Sankauskas OH.S W55 Silver Darrin Smith OH.S M21 Bronze Bryn Soden OH.S M21 Bronze John Soden OH.S M35 Silver Zara Soden OH.S W35 Gold Carol Such OH.S W45 Bronze Nicole Such OH.S W21 Bronze David Tilbrook OH.S M60 Bronze Adrian Uppill OH.S M55 Gold Robin Uppill OH.S W50 Gold Simon Uppill OH.S M21 Gold Ian Winn OH.S M45 Bronze Robert Bradley WH.N M35 Silver Lynn Dabbs WH.N W55 Gold Maureen Fitzpatrick WH.N W45 Silver Matt Hackett WH.N M21 Bronze Barry Hanlon WH.N M70 Gold Janet Morris WH.N W70 Gold Ted Mulherin WH.N M65 Gold Kevin Williams WH.N M55 Silver Patrick Watts WR.T M18 Gold Callum Fagg WR.T M20 Gold Zoe Dowling WR.T W10 Silver Anna Dowling WR.T W12 Gold Pat McGuire WR.T W65 Silver Riordan Dose TT.S M16 Gold Henry Hazell TT.S M15 Bronze Luke Hazell TT.S M16 Silver Mike Hicks TT.S M65 Bronze Helen Mason-Fyfe TT.S W17 Bronze Jeanette Paterson TT.S W55 Bronze John Brammall EV.T M65 Silver Valerie Brammall EV.T W65 Gold Anthony Brown EV.T M17 Gold Christine Brown EV.T W45 Gold Ian Brown EV.T M50 Silver Nigel Davies EV.T M55 Gold Miles Ellis EV.T M35 Silver Kerrin Gale EV.T W21 Silver Tom Goddard EV.T M17 Bronze Roger Harlow EV.T M55 Bronze Bob Healey EV.T M60 Silver Catherine Hewitt EV.T W17 Silver Peter Hoban EV.T M60 Bronze Peter Hoban EV.T M60 Silver Christopher Horne EV.T M17 Bronze Susan King EV.T W55 Gold Maureen Lefevre EV.T W50 Bronze Sarah Mitchell EV.T W16 Gold Brodie Nankervis EV.T M14 Silver Paul Pacque EV.T M50 Gold Brea Pearce EV.T W20 Gold Arabella Phillips EV.T W10 Silver Carol Phillips EV.T W45 Silver Jessica Phillips EV.T W17 Gold Oscar Phillips EV.T M17 Gold Rebecca Phillips EV.T W16 Gold Simon Phillips EV.T M45 Gold Jemma Webb EV.T W14 Bronze Samuel Webb EV.T M16 Gold Caryl Woof EV.T W70 Silver John Sutton RR.A M65 Gold Rick Armstrong AW.V M60 Silver Alastair Buchan AW.V M45 Bronze Ian Herbert AW.V M60 Gold Leigh Privett AW.V M60 Silver Rob Simmons AW.V M60 Gold Liz Wood AW.V W55 Bronze Nicholas Burridge UG.Q M10 Gold Daniel Gray UG.Q M10 Bronze Lachlan McIntyre UG.Q M10 Silver Aidan Tay UG.Q M12 Gold Jack Oakhill UG.Q M14 Gold Michael Jamieson UG.Q M16 Bronze David Tay UG.Q M16 Gold Aaron Breed UG.Q M17 Gold Ian Anderson UG.Q M21 Silver Andrew Warwick UG.Q M17 Bronze John Anderson UG.Q M45 Silver Neville Cobbold UG.Q M65 Gold Ray Kelly UG.Q M80 Gold Isabella Burridge UG.Q W10 Gold Stephanie Cantwell UG.Q W12 Silver Heather Burridge UG.Q W14 Gold Tahlia Kinrade UG.Q W14 Silver Emily Cantwell UG.Q W16 Silver Bridget Anderson UG.Q W17 Gold Katelyn Effeney UG.Q W17 Bronze Jodie Chia UG.Q W35 Silver Alicia Ng UG.Q W35 Silver Noelene Anderson UG.Q W55 Bronze Gary Panter AR.V M35 Silver

MARCH 2010 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 33

ORIENTEERING AUSTRALIA

Bruce Paterson AR.V M35 Silver Adam Scammell AR.V M21 Gold Lee Andrewartha AL.T M21 Silver Nick Andrewartha AL.T M21 Silver Wendy Andrewartha AL.T W55 Bronze Elizabeth Bicevskis AL.T W55 Gold Karl Bicevskis AL.T M16 Gold Martin Bicevskis AL.T M55 Bronze Mark Bryce AL.T M45 Silver Amy Buckerfield AL.T W17 Gold Janet Buckerfield AL.T W-O Bronze Mark Buckerfield AL.T M50 Silver Sarah Buckerfield AL.T W20 Gold Janet Bush AL.T W60 Gold Bill Butler AL.T M45 Silver Claire Butler AL.T W20 Gold Liz Butler AL.T W45 Bronze Rebecca Butler AL.T W16 Silver Mike Calder AL.T M55 Bronze Emma Campbell AL.T W16 Gold Robyn Chapman AL.T W55 Bronze Isobel Cusick AL.T W17 Silver Jane Cusick AL.T W45 Bronze Peter Cusick AL.T M50 Bronze Jess Davis AL.T W21 Silver Judy Davis AL.T W50 Bronze Renny Duckett AL.T M55 Silver Bert Elson AL.T M55 Gold Jasmine Elson AL.T W21 Gold Louis Elson AL.T M21 Silver Kari Eronen AL.T M55 Silver Marc Gluskie AL.T M16 Gold Rachel Gosnell AL.T W40 Gold Helena Griggs AL.T W65 Bronze Wayne Griggs AL.T M65 Silver Jan Hardy AL.T W55 Silver James Laver AL.T M60 Silver Sonia Lawrie AL.T W21 Bronze Stuart Lawrie AL.T M17 Gold Terry Liggins AL.T M70 Silver Christine Marshall AL.T W45 Gold David Marshall AL.T M55 Gold Nicola Marshall AL.T W14 Silver Tom Marshall AL.T M20 Silver Jon McComb AL.T M35 Silver Sue Mount AL.T W70 Gold Tony Mount AL.T M75 Gold Janet Palfrey AL.T W45 Bronze Tom Palfrey AL.T M17 Gold Lindsay Pender AL.T M55 Bronze Kristin Raw AL.T W21 Silver Rosanne Rutledge AL.T W45 Silver Sally Salier AL.T W60 Gold Graham Sargison AL.T M60 Bronze Andrea Schiwy AL.T W45 Bronze Peter Shaw AL.T M60 Gold Barbara Tassell AL.T W55 Gold Luke Topfer AL.T M21 Bronze Gayle West AL.T W40 Gold Jake West AL.T M12 Gold Jessie West AL.T W16 Gold Luke West AL.T M10 Gold Mark West AL.T M40 Gold Alex Davey WR.N M50 Silver Briohny Davey WR.N W21 Gold Debbie Davey WR.N W50 Gold Pauline Moore WR.N W60 Bronze John Oliver WR.N M60 Silver Kelly Bertei TE.S M17 Gold Susi Bertei TE.S W45 Bronze Lachlan Hallett TE.S M21 Gold Jon Potter TE.S M60 Bronze Susanne Casanova TE.S W21 Gold Sussan Best EV.T W21 Silver John Brammall EV.T M65 Silver Valerie Brammall EV.T W65 Silver Ron Briggs EV.T M65 Bronze John Brock EV.T M65 Gold Christine Brown EV.T W45 Gold Ian Brown EV.T M50 Gold Nigel Davies EV.T M55 Gold Miles Ellis EV.T M35 Gold Debbie Gale EV.T W60 Gold Tom Goddard EV.T M16 Gold Bob Healey EV.T M60 Gold Catherine Hewitt EV.T W17 Silver Christopher Horne EV.T M20 Bronze Susan King EV.T W55 Silver Shaun McDonough EV.T M16 Silver Sarah Mitchell EV.T W16 Silver Ashley Nankervis EV.T M14 Silver Brodie Nankervis EV.T M16 Gold

Paul Pacque EV.T M55 Gold Brea Pearce EV.T W21 Gold Arabella Phillips EV.T W10 Gold Carol Phillips EV.T W45 Bronze Catherine Phillips EV.T W45 Bronze Jessica Phillips EV.T W20 Bronze Oscar Phillips EV.T M20 Gold Rebecca Phillips EV.T W16 Silver Simon Phillips EV.T M50 Silver Katherine Whitmore EV.T W17 Bronze Caryl Woof EV.T W75 Gold Seb Woof EV.T M21 Bronze Walter Cavill DR.V M80 Bronze Debbie Dodd DR.V W45 Silver Ian Dodd DR.V M50 Silver Peter Grover DR.V M65 Bronze Louise Hall DR.V W40 Silver Pam King DR.V W55 Silver Allan Miller DR.V M70 Bronze Patricia Miller DR.V W70 Silver Denise Pike DR.V W55 Silver Asha Steer DR.V W12 Gold Janine Steer DR.V W45 Silver Lanita Steer DR.V W14 Gold Martin Steer DR.V M40 Gold Ilze Yeates DR.V W55 Bronze Peter Yeates DR.V M60 Bronze Penny Hearn SO.Q W55 Silver Gordon Howitt SO.Q M75 Gold Meredyth Sauer SO.Q W55 Silver Trevor Sauer SO.Q M55 Silver Russell Bulman YV.V M50 Silver Graeme Cadman YV.V M75 Gold David Colls YY.V M21 Bronze Sheila Colls YV.V W60 Gold John Dempster YV.V M75 Bronze Tim Dent YV.V M65 Gold Margi Freemantle YV.V W50 Silver David Goddard YV.V M65 Bronze Hannah Goddard YV.V W12 Gold Ruth Goddard YV.V W60 Gold Barry Hart YV.V M60 Bronze Peter Lada YV.V M55 Silver Kathy Liley YV.V W60 Gold Barbara McCrae YV.V W65 Silver Barry McCrae YV.V M60 Silver John Meeking YV.V M65 Silver Libby Meeking YV.V W60 Gold Christine Sinickas YV.V W60 Gold Vincent Sinickas YV.V M60 Bronze Alex Tarr YV.V M65 Gold Janet Tarr YV.V W65 Silver Kathryn Tarr YV.V W35 Silver Sandra Tarr YV.V W35 Silver Blair Trewin YV.V M21 Gold Ted van Geldermalsen YV.V M55 Gold John Hodsdon SH.N M70 Gold Val Hodsdon SH.N W60 Gold Lyn Malmgron SH.N W60 Bronze Dave Meyer SH.N M21 Gold Glenn Meyer SH.N M21 Bronze Peter Meyer SH.N M55 Silver Garry Stewart SH.N M45 Silver Sandra Stewart SH.N W45 Bronze Stephan Wagner SH.N M35 Silver Liz Abbott PO.A W50 Gold Graham Atkins PO.A M40 Silver Bruce Bowen PO.A M55 Gold Kate Bowen PO.A W14 Gold Scott Bowen PO.A M20 Gold Darryl Erbacher PO.A M65 Gold Sue Garr PO.A W45 Silver Tony Garr PO.A M50 Silver Kay Grzadka PO.A W45 Silver Chris Helliwell PO.A M40 Silver Andy Hogg PO.A M21 Gold Cathy Hogg PO.A W21 Gold David Hogg PO.A M65 Gold Anna Hyslop PO.A W35 Gold Rebecca Hyslop PO.A W10 Gold Richard Hyslop PO.A M16 Gold Rohan Hyslop PO.A M40 Gold Thomas Hyslop PO.A M10 Gold Ann Ingwersen PO.A W65 Gold Frank Ingwersen PO.A M65 Bronze Patrick Kluth PO.A M35 Bronze Susie Kluth PO.A W35 Gold Ciaran Lane PO.A M12 Gold Greg Lane PO.A M35 Silver Heather Lane PO.A W10 Gold Barbara Martin PO.A W45 Silver Pat Miethke PO.A W60 Bronze

34 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 2010

Colleen Mock PO.A W35 Bronze William Monaghan PO.A M55 Bronze Kris Nash PO.A W45 Bronze Sandra Oliver PO.A W21 Silver Geoff Stacey PO.A M21 Silver Jill Walker PO.A W45 Silver Kristen Walker PO.A W17 Gold Phil Walker PO.A M50 Bronze Arthur Watson PO.A M65 Silver Geoff Wood PO.A M55 Silver Vicki Redden KO.W W55 Gold Craig Dermer KO.W M55 Silver Geoff Adams BK.V M45 Bronze Helen Alexander BK.V W70 Gold Stephen Bird BK.V M50 Silver Nicholas Collins BK.V M14 Gold Peter Collins BK.V M12 Gold Stephen Collins BK.V M45 Bronze Peter Cusworth BK.V M55 Bronze Ann-Cathrin Degn BK.V W21 Bronze Prue Dobbin BK.V W50 Silver Thorlene Egerton BG.V W21 Bronze Mary Enter BG.V W45 Silver Liliia Glushchenko BK.V W21 Silver Murray Hanna BK.V M60 Bronze Jane Harries BK.V W40 Bronze Elizabeth Hatley BK.V W45 Bronze Tim Hatley BK.V M50 Gold Judi Herkes BK.V W65 Gold David Knight BK.V M35 Silver Philippa Lohmeyer-Collins BK.V W45 Silver Ian Mack BK.V M55 Bronze Suzanne O’Callaghan BK.V W45 Bronze Jun Okabe BK.V M35 Gold Stephen Peacock BK.V M55 Bronze Phillip Poulton BK.V M35 Silver Angus Robinson BK.V M14 Bronze Anne Robinson BK.V W45 Bronze Vic Sedunary BK.V M50 Silver Jenny Sheahan BK.V W60 Bronze John Sheahan BK.V M70 Silver Jonathan Sutcliffe BK.V M21 Bronze Charles Zerafa BK.V M55 Bronze Tim Apelt TF.Q M45 Silver Beverley Brunner TF.Q W65 Silver Douglas Brunner TF.Q M55 Bronze Fiona Calabro TF.Q W55 Gold Lorenzo Calabro TF.Q M21 Gold Pam Cox TF.Q W65 Gold Russell Creed TF.Q M55 Bronze Donnita Dougall TF.Q W45 Bronze Jamie Dougall TF.Q M21 Bronze Tara Dougall TF.Q W21 Bronze Rebecca Freese TF.Q W16 Gold Mark Gregson TF.Q M21 Silver Julie Irvine TF.Q W35 Bronze Roy Kalecinski TF.Q M55 Bronze Julie Leung TF.Q W50 Silver Tom Leung TF.Q M45 Bronze Simon Mee TF.Q M17 Silver Reid Moran TF.Q M55 Gold Mark Nemeth TF.Q M21 Gold Geoff Peck TF.Q M55 Gold Gayle Quantock-Simson TF.Q W45 Silver Jennifer Schulz TF.Q W55 Bronze Neil Simson TF.Q M35 Gold Robin Simson TF.Q M70 Silver

Scott Simson TF.Q M35 Silver Johanna Tavner-Corner TF.Q W55 Silver Tom Tollbring TF.Q M75 Bronze Andrew Cumming-Thom WE.A M45 Bronze Emily Quantock WE.A W70 Gold Gordon Quantock WE.A M70 Bronze John Suominen WE.A M65 Silver Hermann Wehner WE.A M85 Gold Kirsten Wehner WE.A W40 Gold Martin Wehner WE.A M45 Gold Christopher Annetts GO.N M14 Bronze Peter Annetts GO.N M40 Silver Ross Barr GO.N M60 Gold Mark Brindley GO.N M21 Bronze Ian Cameron GO.N M45 Silver Bryony Cox GO.N W60 Bronze Tim Cox GO.N M65 Bronze Aidan Dawson GO.N M14 Gold Barbara Dawson GO.N W45 Bronze Graeme Dawson GO.N M45 Silver Michele Dawson GO.N W16 Gold Lloyd Gledhill GO.N M70 Bronze Michael Hanratty GO.N M21 Bronze John Havranek GO.N M40 Silver Melissa Havranek GO.N W35 Bronze Barbara Hill GO.N W35 Gold Daniel Hill GO.N M12 Gold Joanna Hill GO.N W10 Gold Matthew Hill GO.N M16 Gold Tony Hill GO.N M40 Silver Mike Isbell GO.N M70 Bronze Carol Jacobson GO.N W60 Silver Ken Jacobson GO.N M65 Bronze Beverley Johnson GO.N W70 Bronze Barbara Junghans GO.N W55 Bronze Ron Junghans GO.N M65 Gold James Lithgow GO.N M50 Gold Airdrie Long GO.N W45 Silver Jim Merchant GO.N M60 Gold Christa Schafer GO.N W65 Gold Neil Schafer GO.N M80 Gold Anne Stewart GO.N W70 Bronze Mike Weller GO.N M45 Bronze Su Lin Weller GO.N W45 Silver Huon Wilson GO.N M17 Silver Chris Yuan GO.N M16 Bronze Eric Morris BN.N M21 Gold Wayne Pepper BN.N M40 Bronze Melvyn Cox BN.N M50 Gold Robert Spry BN.N M55 Silver Gordon Wilson BN.N M55 Gold Terry Bluett BN.N M60 Silver Stephen Flick BN.N M60 Gold Bruce Dawkins BN.N M65 Silver John Porter BN.N M70 Silver Frank Assenza BN.N M75 Silver Kathryn Cox BN.N W45 Silver Judith Hay BN.N W60 Gold Dominic Crosato RR.Q M14 Bronze Oliver Crosato RR.Q M20 Gold Ben Hiley RR.Q M35 Silver Robert Crosato RR.Q M45 Silver Richard Nottle RR.Q M55 Bronze Glennie Nottle RR.Q W17 Gold Nicole Thomas RR.Q W21 Bronze Felicity Crosato RR.Q W45 Gold Lyn Thomas RR.Q W55 Bronze

MOUNTAIN BIKE ORIENTEERING

Bike Riding in South Australia Kay Haarsma

and maps on display at the trailhead. Prospect Hill at Kuitpo is mostly in pine forest and is 45 minutes south. Ten minutes south of the CBD Mitcham Council has established a small network of trails in a bush area accessed from Beagle Ave, Lynton.

If you have a little more time to drive three hours north to the historic town of Melrose there is a fantastic 30km of tracks on farmland starting just 200 metres from “Over the Edge” bike shop in the main street (www.otesports.com.au). Bikes can be hired here. Additionally there are also 50 kms of tracks on Bartagunya estate, just 5mins drive away. And you could also walk up Mt. Remarkable which sits at the foot of Melrose and has a well designed trail to the top. Wirrabara Forest, just south of Melrose has some good riding and an MTBO map is available. The town of Orroroo (50 kms east from Melrose) has a sweet 7km XC track also

Bike paths and rail trails

While you are over here for the Foot-O nationals, or at any other time, some of you may wish to explore South Australia by bike. From mountain bike trails through South Australia’s Outback to leisurely rides through metropolitan Adelaide, SA has an expanding network of cycling trails. Here is a wrap-up of places to ride.

MTBO MTBO wise there is an opportunity to pre-order some maps and try the terrain out. The best local area is the undulating “Gumeracha Goldfields” NE of Adelaide in Mt Crawford, halfway between Gumeracha and Williamstown. Across the road is “Portuguese Bridge,” which is a flatter area. South of the city, near Meadows is the “Kuitpo Forest” map which has a convoluted track network and also includes most of the “Prospect Hill” XC course.

There are also MTBO maps of our two top XC areas “Eagle Park“ (8km from Adelaide off the old freeway, near Crafers) and “Fox Creek” (between Cudlee Creek and Lobethal). However these are quite hilly areas and require good course setting for enjoyable MTBO.

XC Mountain Biking tracks These exist mostly east and south of Adelaide. Eagle Park (15 mins from city centre) is quite technical on the actual quarry face but there are nice contouring tracks in the native bush in the eastern part. Fox Creek (45 minutes travel) is located on a ridge and has a myriad of tracks to suit all levels including an easy-medium level contouring loop. It has some tracks signposted

Adelaide roads are notorious for having narrow bike lanes that disappear before intersections. Recently councils have developed some excellent separate bike paths that are well worth searching out. Family groups love the River Torrens Linear Park - a 35 kilometre long shared cycling and walking trail that runs from the sea at Henley Beach to the Adelaide foothills at Athelstone.

It follows the River Torrens and goes through the centre of town and generally has tracks on both sides of the river. The beachside trail from Glenelg to Outer Harbour is very scenic, sometimes even riding on boardwalks above the sand dunes. This route, but on the adjacent roads, is the training track for many “group” roadie rides, especially on Saturday mornings. The “Crafers” bike path is a solid 10km uphill slog that starts at the toll gate at Glen Osmond, goes adjacent to the new South Eastern freeway for a little way before turning off and utilising the old freeway past Eagle on the Hill to Crafers. From there it’s about 2km to Mt Lofty summit if you wish for more climb and the reward of good city views. This path is surprisingly busy with pain-seeking roadies.

My favourite is the “Coast to Vines” 34km Marino to Willunga trail that starts south of the city. It is also signposted through the streets from Glenelg to Marino, but that section isn’t too easy to follow but you just have to keep near the train line. You can always test yourself out on the 3km Willunga hill climb, made famous by the Tour Down Under bike race each January.

This continues up the main street on a minor road with little traffic. The Southern Expressway bike path starts near Flinders University in the suburb of Darlington. It has a steep 2km climb initially and runs adjacent to the road with many small rises and joins the sea to vines trail after the end of the expressway.

The first 5km section of the Amy Gillett bikeway from Oakbank to Woodside in the hills has just been opened. Eventually this rail trail will extend 32kms in length to Mt Pleasant. 75 minutes south of Adelaide, the Encounter Bikeway is an on-road and shared path that links the towns of Victor Harbour and Goolwa.

The trail takes riders through the picturesque seaside towns of Port Elliot and Middleton and is 22 kilometres in length. Belair National Park situated in the foothills to the SE, has recently released a management plan that allows cyclists on roads, major tracks and a few prescribed single tracks within the park. This is flat near the main entrance but has some steep hills further east.

A Foot-O map exists of this area and basic maps are accessible on the web.

The Riesling rail trail in the Clare Valley wine region is a good choice for people looking for a flattish ride. The 35 kilometre trail passes rolling vineyards, historic townships and a winery cellar door or two. It connects the townships of Auburn, Leasingham, Watervale, Penwortham, Sevenhill,Clare and White Hut. The trail starts in Auburn, around 90 minutes drive north of Adelaide.

MARCH 2010 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 35

RIDING IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA

Mawson Trail

Riding at Orroroo

Eagle Park

Mawson ride

Epic rides Doing “the Mawson” requires a bit of time as this mountain bike trail goes from Adelaide 900-kilometres north past Wilpena Pound in the Flinders Ranges to the outback town of Blinman. It travels through South Australia’s regional, rural and remote areas utilising a variety of country roads, fire trails, farm tracks, road reserves, and specifically made tracks. The trail is divided into three sections, namely - 1) Adelaide to Burra; 2) Burra to Quorn, and 3) Quorn to Blinman. Personally I love the more remote northern section. Nine informative full colour 1:75,000 maps cover the trail and are available from Bicycle SA and most outdoor shops.

The Kidman Trail is a recreational trail for horse riders, cyclists and walkers. The trail extends over 255 kilometres from Willunga, south of Adelaide to Kapunda in the Barossa Valley. It covers some of the Heysen, Mawson, Lavender Federation and Battunga Trails.

There are five maps in total comprising the following sections 1) Willunga to Echunga; 2) Echunga to Nairne; 3) Nairne to Mt. Crawford; 4) Mt Crawford to Stockwell; 5) Stockwell to Kapunda.

Maps again available from Bicycle SA and outdoor shops.

Road rides From Adelaide there are numerous options to escape into the hills easily via the Gorge, Montacute, Norton Summit, Greenhill and the Crafers bikeway. Best to avoid the returning Sunday afternoon traffic, if possible.

36 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 2010

Melrose

MTBO Bike shops

Websites:

Bicycle Express in Halifax St in the CBD has the most stock, while Lifecycle on Kensington Rd, Norwood is largish and has easy parking. There are six outdoor shops all located conveniently on the eastern end of Rundle St in the city. Mention you are an orienteer to get a discount at Thor, a supporter of SA Orienteering.

www.adelaidemtbtrails.com Has a location map and good info about XC and DH riding.

Bike hire

www.southaustraliantrails.com

BicycleSA www.bikesa.asn.au

Phot-O No flies on John’s bike. John Scown has a creative solution for stopping insects getting splattered on his bike when being transported by car.

Photo: Kay Haarsma

Adelaide Mt Bike club www.amtbc.com www.recsport.sa.gov.au/ recreation-sport-fac/recreationaltrails.html

Adelaide has an excellent free bike scheme which offers basic bikes for daily use (9am-4:30pm) from about six city locations, coordinated by BicycleSA (www. bikesa.asn.au). These would be suitable for the linear park and beachside trails and for exploring the city. Hybrid ($25) and mountain bikes ($50) can be hired daily or cheaper for longer term.

Bikes can also be hired along the Riesling Trail and in some other country towns.

Ian Fehler, the reigning SA MTBO champion, runs Escapegoat Adventures. They offer mountain bike skills sessions, tours and trips to the Flinders Ranges, Melrose, wineries and guiding around Adelaide and South Australia escapegoat.com.au/

More information

Recommended refuelling stations Maxwell’s cafe, 1.5km from the Glenelg jetty on Maxwell Terrace next to the train line

To order MTBO maps that can be picked up at event registration preferably contact Andrew Slattery at mapper@bigpond. com . If unavailable or for more information try Bruce Greenhalgh on 08 83423330 or Kay Haarsma on 08 83370522 / kayhaarsma@ hotmail.com

Melanie Simpson shows her homemade bike box cover which preserves the cardboard bike box she uses. Cardboard boxes are good because they are cheap (free?) and light weight.

Photo: Kay Haarsma

They’re off. One of the start groups heads off from the Summer MTBO event at Eltham in Melbourne.

Photo: Peter Cusworth

Scenic Hotel, 12km east of the CBD at the top of Norton Summit road, or else accessed via a 90 minute walk through Morialta Park; Cudlee Creek cafe, near Cudlee Creek - Lobethal turn-off on the way back to Adelaide from Fox Creek Meadows bakery near Kuitpo forest Cafe Allegria, 307 Payneham Rd, Joslin, 5kms east of the city.

(Great pizzas and pasta – book.)

Norwood Parade – variety of eateries.

MARCH 2010 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER

37

MOUNTAIN BIKE ORIENTEERING

2009 National Rankings Blake Gordon, OA MTBO Statistician

I

n 2009 Australia staged twelve ranking events (eight Long Distance and four Middle Distance) over the States. The decision of the OA MTBO Committee, confirmed at the Australian Championships, was to base the rankings on the best two races for each rider who rode in more than one State or rode the two ranking races at the National Championships. No short distance race results were used to rank riders as small differences in time distort the time-behindthe-winner calculations. This resulted in far fewer riders being ranked nationally in 2009, but the committee agreed this reflects the new status of National Ranking. Participation at three rounds of the National MTBO Series, selection trials for MTB WOC and JWOC, and increased interstate travel should see the number ranked increase in 2010. Some interesting notes from the 2009 rankings The number of riders ranked in the top three: VIC (17), SA (9), NSW (3), ACT (3), TAS (2), QLD (1) with the Nationals staged on the SA/ Vic border; Winners to repeat their top 2008 ranking were Adrian Jackson (M21E), Robert Prentice (M50A), Rick Armstrong (M60A), John Sheahan (M70+A), Kathy Liley (W60A) and Joyce Rowlands (W70+A). With the 2010 National MTBO Series including the Masters Series, as well as the Elite Series, the already keen Masters competition should be enhanced; The margins between first and second place was 0 to 5 points in nine out of the thirteen classes – showing the level of interstate competition is ramping up in many classes; No junior women are ranked in 2009 as they have not participated in sufficient events.

2009 Ranking Criteria 1. A rider must complete two Championship races in 2009 – the final ranking calculated by averaging the best two results that come from either the two National Championship (Al, Am) races or two State Championships (one counted race must come from an interstate race outside one’s home State).

2. The winner of a race earns 100 points with all other riders ranked higher (above 100) in comparison with the winner.

3. No Sprint race results to be used in the calculation of National MTBO rankings in 2009.

4. Though international riders (NZL) participated in several championship races and raised the competitive standard of the events, they were not included in the National Ranking lists.

38 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 2010

Best 2 Events Results *=winner M-14A 1 Angus Robinson BKV 100.00 Al*Vl* 1 Jack Allison ..S 100.00 Am*Sl* 3 Timothy Jackson MFV 110.89 AmAl 4 Aiden Sullivan YAS 137.19 AmAl 5 William Stockdale TTS 250.00 AmAl M-16A 1 Marc Gluskie ALT 100.00 Am*Al* M-20A 1 Heath Jamieson CHV 100.00 Am*Al* 2 Chris Firman ENQ 102.79 Ql*Nl* 3 Ben Davis ..S 174.17 AmSl M21-Elite 1 Adrian Jackson MFV 100.00 Al*Am* 1 Alex Randall YVV 100.00 Ql*Nl* 3 David Simpfendorfer RRA 106.20 NlVl 4 Jamie Dougall TFQ 112.21 QlVl 5 Paul Darvodelsky BFN 114.23 AlAm 6 Anthony Darr BFN 119.00 QlAm 7 Jamie Goddard MFV 131.65 AlAm 8 Joel Young PLQ 139.01 VlQm 9 David West MDN 140.84 AlAm 10 Dion Keech MFV 144.14 AlVl 11 Martin Boland BKV 158.79 AlQm M40-A 1 Robert Davis BKV 100.00 Al*Vl* 2 Rudi Afnan YAS 102.81 Sl*Al 3 Steve Sullivan YAS 108.41 AlAm 4 David West MDN 112.89 Ql*Nl 5 Peter McInulty BKV 116.37 AlVm 6 Bruce Paterson BKV 119.54 AmVm 7 Andrew Moore ..S 125.76 AlAm 8 Cormac McCarthy YVV 128.07 AlAm 9 Geoff Robinson BKV 132.46 AlVl M50-A 1 Robert Prentice SHN 100.00 Nl*Vl* 2 Darryl Smith WRT 100.69 AlAm* 3 Phill Giddings NEV 103.46 AlVl 4 Tim Hatley BKV 103.60 AlVl 5 Lee Merchant TJS 106.55 VmAm 6 Alan Davis YVV 107.80 AlVl 7 Norm McCann AWV 108.76 QmVl 8 James Lithgow GON 110.26 AlWl* 9 Peter Cusworth BKV 111.33 AlAm 10 Heinz Leuenberger OHS 114.10 VlAm 11 Ted Van Geldermalsen YVV 114.59 AlAm 12 David Firman ENQ 119.23 AmQm 13 Peter Young PLQ 119.56 QmVl 14 John Scown AOA 125.54 AlAm 15 Gerry Velatis YAS 126.05 AlSl 16 Steve Williams TJS 136.42 AlSl 17 John Allison ..S 177.98 AlAm M60-A 1 Rick Armstrong AWV 100.00 Al*Am* 2 Peter Hill BGV 101.43 AlVm 3 Leigh Privett AWV 102.79 Vl*Al 4 Ray Sheldon YVV 103.30 Qm Ql* 5 Keith Wade TKV 109.85 AlAm 6 Tim Hackney NCN 113.43 AlCl* 7 Peter Mayer YAS 113.51 Sl*Am 8 Blake Gordon EUV 113.94 QmVm 9 Robert Smith TTS 117.24 SlAm 10 David Tilbrook OHS 128.12 SlAl 11 Ken Dowling EUV 132.69 VlAm 12 Barry Hart YVV 149.23 AlVm 13 John Williams TJS 151.30 SlAm M70+A 1 John Sheahan BKV 100.00 Vl*Al* 1 Eino Meuronen BSA 100.00 Am*Cl* 3 Graham Cadman YVV 117.91 AmVl

W21-Elite 1 Mary Fien BFN 100.16 Nl*Cl 2 Melanie Simpson NCN 101.49 Qm*Nl 3 Carolyn Jackson MFV 101.56 Vm*Al 4 Thorlene Egerton UGQ 102.00 AlQm 5 Diana Mittag BKV 120.22 AlQm W40-A 1 Kay Haarsma TTS 103.78 Vm*Al 2 Michelle Chamalaun OHS 126.95 Sl*Am 3 Janelle White ..S 131.93 AlAm W50-A 1 Anthea Williams TJS 105.67 Sl*Al 2 Ann Scown AOA 106.78 AlCl 3 Peta Whitford YVV 106.94 Vl*Al 4 Andrea Harris PLQ 119.16 QmVm 5 Carolyn Strong TTS 139.59 SlAl 6 Carolyn Cusworth BKV 143.25 VmAl 7 Margi Freemantle YVV 170.79 AlAm 8 Margrit Leuenberger OHS 181.41 SlAl W60-A 1 Kathy Liley YVV 100.00 Al*Am* 2 Helen Smith TTS 105.16 Sl*Am 3 Dale Ann Gordon EUV 123.92 AlAm 4 Jenny Sheahan BKV 127.84 VlAm 5 Jackie Sheldon YVV 140.81 AlAm W70+A 1 Joyce Rowlands NEV 100.00 Al*Am*

2009 International Rankings Adrian Jackson finished the year with a Top-3 world ranking on the back of his two World Championships wins in August.

Rank Points Athlete 1 7684 LasseBrun Pedersen DEN 2 7483 Ruslan Gritsan RUS 3 7460 Adrian Jackson AUS 4 7425 Jiri Hradil CZE 5 7372 Torbjørn Gasbjerg DEN 6 7363 ErikSkovgaard Knudsen DEN 7 7252 Beat Oklé SUI 8 7239 Beat Schaffner SUI 9 7156 Anton Foliforov RUS 10 7153 Victor Korchagin RUS

MOUNTAIN BIKE ORIENTEERING

National MTBO Series

2009 National MTBO Series Results

Blake Gordon, OA MTBO Convenor

Men 21-Elite 1 Adrian Jackson 2 Alex Randall 3 Paul Darvodelsky

National Series Success Victoria, South Australia, and Queensland staged the 2009 National MTBO Series where the competition was hot but the weather was not!

In Round 1 at Woodend, Victoria, the national selection trials helped to attract good fields in the elite classes (21 in M21, 8 in W21). But the weather was really ordinary (wet, windy and cold) as the riders survived but the bikes suffered. The results showed the Victorians coped best with the conditions with double victories to Adrian Jackson (M21E), Carolyn Jackson (W21E), Heath Jamieson (M-20E) and Jasmine Sunley (W-20E). With a perfect score of 72 the VICs were off to a good start with Queensland (28) second, and NSW (26) third.

Round 2 in Mt Gambier, SA, was without a doubt the best competitive atmosphere of the series with an exciting Sprint race around the township of Nelson, a physically-taxing Long Distance in the sandy tracks and pine forest north of Nelson, and wrapped up with soggy, windy Middle Distance final in the pines west of Portland. With a strong contingent of 31 Kiwis to add international flavour to the event, the Victorians continued their good form to maintain their grip on first place with 149 points, Queensland 71, NSW 68, SA 27, ACT 9, and Tasmania 3.

Round 3 in Beerburrum, north of Brisbane, again saw the riders challenged not only by the courses but heavy showers before and after the events that caused extended “bike cleaning” time on the weekend. With the Jacksons winning medals at the MTB WOC in Israel, Victoria’s Alex Randall won both races to finish one point overall for the year behind AJ; Melanie Simpson (NSW) narrowly won the W21E crown from Thorlene Egerton (QLD/VIC); Heath Jamieson (VIC) finished second in both races but won M-20 convincingly. The final combined points for the four Elite class totals: Victoria (195), QLD (117), NSW (92), SA (27), ACT (9).

State Best 5 Vic Vic NSW

142 141 113

Women 21-Elite 1 Melanie Simpson 2 Thorlene Egerton 3 Carolyn Jackson

NSW Vic Vic

135 135 111

Men-20 Elite 1 Heath Jamieson 2 Chris Firman 3 Joshua Neumann

Vic Qld Qld

150 135 54

Women-20 Elite 1 Jasmine Sunley

Vic

60

Teams Men 21-Elite Riders Total 1 Victoria Nuggets 12 59 2 NSW Stingers 5 45 3 Queensland Cyclones 18 37 Teams Women 21-Elite 1 Victoria Nuggets 2 NSW Stingers 3 Queensland Cyclones

6 4 2

59 47 41

Teams Men-20 Elite 1 Victoria Nuggets 2 Queensland Cyclones 3 SA Arrows

1 3 1

59 39 10

Teams Women-20 Elite 1 Victoria Nuggets

1

18

Total Elite Points (M/W-20, M/W21-) 1 Victoria Nuggets 20 195 2 Queensland Cyclones 23 117 3 NSW Stingers 11 92

So how can we improve the National MTBO Series in 2010 and 2011?

1. T he Orienteering Australia Conference in December 2009 voted to give our juniors the opportunity to compete in MTB JWOC, Portugal, in early July. This should increase the number of juniors competing across the States in 2010 with a clear pathway now set down for international representation.

2. T he OA also approved the extension of the National MTBO Series to the Masters Classes. Increased representation of these very competitive classes (with the first Masters MTB WOC to be held in Gdansk, Poland in 3-6 June 2010) should see Australian Masters given the chance to win medals.

3. T he IOF Council has just confirmed the 2011 MTB JWOC will be held in Italy in conjunction the MTB WOC. 4. W ith more than 40 Kiwis coming to the 2010 Australian MTBO Championships in central Victoria we have the chance to build the already strong competition which should raise the standard of MTBO down-under.

2010 National MTBO Series The 2010 Australian MTBO schedule will focus on three rounds of the 3rd National MTBO Series.

2010 Australian MTBO Squads

Round 1: NSW - Selection Trials for MTB WOC & MTB JWOC in Portugal Event 1 - Sunny Corner, Sat 20 March - Middle Distance Event 2 - Jenolan East, Sun 21 March - Long Distance

MEN

Round 2: Queensland – Queensland MTBO Championships Event 3 – Maryborough, Sat 4 September – Middle Distance Event 4 – Maryborough, Sun 5 September – Long Distance Round 3: Victoria – Australian MTBO Championships/ New Zealand Challenge Event 5 – Castlemaine, Sat 23 October – Sprint Event 6 – Castlemaine, Sat 23 October – Middle Distance Event 7 – Daylesford, Sun 24 October – Long Distance

Masters & Junior classes added The 2010 National MTBO Elite Series (M21E, W21E, M-20E, W-20E) and the newly-approved 2010 National MTBO Masters Series (M40-, M50-, M60-, M70-, W40-, W50-, W60-, W70-) will contest the seven events. Junior (-14, -16) classes will be featured to increase the participation in these classes as they develop MTBO riding and navigating skills.

*not available for selection for 2010

High Performance Squad Adrian Jackson, VIC Senior A Squad Paul Darvodelsky, NSW* Alex Randall, VIC David Simpfendorfer, ACT Senior B Squad Steven Cusworth , VIC Anthony Darr, NSW* Aaron Dodd, VIC Matt Hope, TAS Grant Lebbink, VIC Joshua Roberts, NSW* Ricky Thackray, WA Damian Welbourne, NSW*

Junior A Squad Chris Firman, QLD Heath Jamieson, VIC Kurt Neumann, QLD Luke Poland, ACT Alex Massey, NSW Junior B Squad Jack Allison, SA Mark Gluskie, TAS Oscar Phillips, TAS Michael Poland, TAS WOMEN Senior A Squad Cath Chalmers, WA Thorlene Egerton, VIC Mary Fein, NSW Jen Graham-Taylor, WA Carolyn Jackson, VIC Melanie Simpson, NSW

MARCH 2010 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 39

TOP EVENTS 2010 Australian Orienteering Championships 25th September to 3rd October Peter Cutten – Carnival Coordinator

C

ome to South Australia this year to enjoy the delights of the Adelaide Hills and Barossa Valley. There are many attractions in the areas for tourists.

All events, except the Relays, will be close to the centre of the Barossa and just over an hour from Adelaide. The Relays are about 30mins further east, but on the way home to the Eastern States.

We have chosen areas to provide different terrain from one event to the other. The Long Distance Championships are on a plateau overlooking the Barossa Valley. The area has been re-mapped and includes some areas never used before. The vegetation is quite open, making for pleasant running, but a proliferation of boulders and cliffs interspersed with

Barossa Valley

Adelaide

0

50

100

Scale (Km) 40 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 2010

small gullies and even waterfalls will require intricate orienteering. The event should provide a challenge to most competitors.

The Middle Distance Championships are mainly in an area previously not available to our use. The map covers the abandoned Lady Alice Goldfield and associated derelict township, with most of the buildings being merely foundations and broken down walls.

Although now re-vegetated, the area is very runnable and should provide a unique experience.

The carnival concludes with the Australian Relay Championships at Rock Oyster – typical mallee terrain with an intricate creek network. Competitors will have the experience of running on rock oysters and coming face to face with a wombat. All other events will be held on challenging areas as described in the entry form.

A B.Y.O barbecue and informal night event will be organised on the night of the Schools Relays — Wednesday 29th September, near Williamstown.

On Saturday 2nd October dinner at the Vine Inn in Nuriootpa will provide an opportunity to meet with friends. Prebooking via the entry form is required.

A wide menu catering for all tastes and price range will be available.

The Barossa Valley and Adelaide Hills have a number of caravan parks with cabins, motels, hotels and B&Bs, but booking early is advisable due to school holidays in S.A. Further information is available from the event website - http://www.sa.orienteering.asn.au/ auschamps2010/

Advertise your event in this space You can have a 6 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

TOP EVENTS Sep 25 Oct 3

2010 April 2 - 5

Australian 3-Days – ACT aus3days2010.orienteering.asn.au

April 30 May 5 June 3 - 6

Asian Orienteering Championships Nagoya, Japan WMOC/MTB Championships Gdansk, Poland www.harpagan.pl/worldcup

June 19 - 20

Jukola Relays Kytäjä, Finland www.jukola2010.net

June 26 July 10

June 27 July 4 July 4 - 11

July 5 - 10 July 11 - 17

July 12 - 17

July 24 - 30

July 24 - 31

July 31 Aug 7 Aug 7 - 15

Aug 22 - 27

Sept 4-5

North American Orienteering Festival Washington State (US) & British Columbia (Canada) www.us.orienteering.org/ 6 Days of Tyrol Karersee, Austria / Italy www.tyrol2010.com JWOC Aalborg, Denmark www.jwoc2010.dk Kainuu Orienteering Week Puolanka, Finland World MTBO Champs & Junior World MTBO Champs Montalegre, Portugal, http://mtbwoc2010.fpo.pt Fin5 Ruokolahti, Finland www.fin5.fi O-Ringen Örebro, Sweden www.oringen.se/987.php Tour O Swiss www.tour-o-swiss.ch WMOC Neuchatel, Switzerland www.wmoc2010.org WOC Trondheim, Norway www.woc2010.com Lakes 5 Coniston, Cumbria, England www.lakes5.org.uk Qld MTBO Champs/Nat MTBO #2 Middle & Long Distance

Oct 16-17 Oct 23-24

Dec 27 - 31

AUS Champs Carnival Barossa & Adelaide, 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 Armidale NSW www.nsw.orienteering.asn.au

2011 April 22 - 25

June 18 - 19

July 1-9

Dates tba

July 1 - 8

July 23 - 29

July 30 – Aug 6 July 31 – Aug 6 Aug 13 - 20

Aug 20 - 28

Oct 1-9

Dec 27 - 31

Australian 3-Days West Australia www.aus3days 2011.orienteering.asn.au Jukola Relays Virolahti, Finland JWOC Wejherowo, Poland www.jwoc2011.pl Fin5 Lohja, Finland www.fin5.fi WMOC Pecs, Hungary www.wmoc2011.com O-Ringen Halsingland, Sweden www.oringen.se Swiss O Week 2011 Flims, Switzerland www.swiss-o-week.ch Scottish 6 Days Oban & Lorn www.scottish6days.com WOC Savoie Grand Revard, France www.woc2011.fr World MTBO Champs & Junior World MTBO Champs Vicenza, Veneto, Italy Oceania, Australian & Schools Championships VIC, NSW 7 ACT Xmas 5-Days NSW www.nsw.orienteering.asn.au

MARCH 2010 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 41

ORIENTEERING AUSTRALIA

Executive Matters John Harding – OA Executive Officer

T

owards the end of 2009 a major focus of both the OA Board and the Annual Conference was the Crawford report into Australian sport. The Australian Sports Commission is currently by far the largest corporate sponsor of Orienteering in Australia, contributing $86,000 a year annually to support our High Performance program, and the Australian government’s response to the Crawford review in 2010 will determine whether this funding is expanded or reduced, and whether the scope of the funding is expanded.

For those interested, the report can be found at www. sportpanel.org.au What Crawford found was quite disturbing: the lion’s share of funding for sport has been going to Olympic sports with the focus being winning Olympic and Commonwealth Games medals, and apart from the goal of finishing high up in the Games medal counts, there did not seem to be a national sports vision or policy, especially one which recognised the contribution to health and wellbeing of non-Olympic lifetime participation sports. Crawford also recommended that sports policy and funding promote inclusiveness for disadvantaged groups.

The Minister for Sport Kate Ellis asked national sporting organisations to provide comments on the Crawford report and its recommendations. The key points in the Orienteering Australia response were as follows: •A national sports policy and vision is needed and the role of the smaller non-Olympic sports in that policy and vision must be articulated. This role was not covered in the Crawford Report.

•S maller non-Olympic sports such as Orienteering perform well on the world stage with high performance funding support but could achieve more with a more equitable share of the government’s high performance budget.

Orienteering Australia is hopeful the government will listen to Crawford and address the funding inequities between •O lympic and non-Olympic sports for high performance support; •H igh performance funding and funding of grass roots sport and recreational activity that predominantly contributes to improved health and wellbeing in the community.

At the grass roots and recreation sports base, the Crawford report challenged sports to increase their membership and participation levels through: • I ncreased targeting of the large recreational participation population e.g. those engaged in running, cycling, swimming and walking; • I ncreasing the participation of nine inclusion groups, namely women, masters sport age groups, children, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, the time poor, the disadvantaged, people with disabilities, migrants, homosexual and transgender people; • New competitions, clubs and programs in regional centres; • I nnovative programs to attract people who do not participate in the particular sports.

The OA Annual Conference in December workshopped how we might do this in Orienteering. A major conclusion was that an increased marketing effort was needed, supported by additional resources. In the next few months we are quietly hopeful that the government will announce a new national sports policy which will provide opportunities for Orienteering to apply for funding to run programs that will develop the sport further in these Crawford priority areas.

•M any smaller non-Olympic sports such as Orienteering collectively contribute greatly to the health and wellbeing of the population through lifelong participation and inclusion policies.

•T he national sports budget is currently heavily biased towards high performance achievement, with 80% going to the Olympic sports. The Crawford Report highlights the need for improved health and wellbeing outcomes for groups such as rural and remote populations, Indigenous people and people with a disability.

Sports need development funding for programs for these groups; the priority for government funding should be for sports without access to substantial incomes from television rights and large corporate sponsorships who can demonstrate they can deliver effective programs.

42 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 2010

Orienteering Australia Annual Conference, 5-6 December 2009. Back row (L to R): Rob Preston, Julian Dent, Robert Spry, John Toomey, Mike Dowling (down low), Eric Morris, Paul Prudhoe, Reid Moran 2nd row: John Harding, Ian Dodd, Bruce Arthur, Blair Trewin, Dave Meyer, Geoff Wood, Rohan Hyslop, Peter Mayer. Front row: Liz Bourne, Richard Matthews, Craig Steffens, Bill Jones, Hugh Cameron, Robin Uppill, Jenny Casanova. Photo: Christine Brown.

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MARCH 2010 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 43

ORIENTEERING AUSTRALIA

2009 National rankings – non-elite Rankings in non-elite classes have been determined based on results in the Australian Easter 3-Days (E1, E2, E3), Australian Championships (AS, AM, AL) and the Victoria Long Distance Championships (SA).

Points are awarded for each event completed on the basis of 100 points for first place and lesser points for other competitors. An orienteer’s best three events count towards their rankings. The first ten orienteers ranked in each class are published here. State secretaries have lists of all orienteers ranked between 50 and 100 points inclusive.

When more than one orienteer in a class achieves 100 points, the first ranked orienteer is determined by the average of their three best winning margins.

Some points of interest in the 2009 rankings: • The winner by the largest margin was Jenny Bourne (AO.A), winning by 18.11%.

• In one class (W50) two orienteers earned maximum points (separated by winning margins): Liz Abbott (PO.A) and Anthea Feaver (LO.W).

• 30 clubs had members in the first three places of their respective classes: AL.T (8); EV.T (7); PO.A, UG.Q (6); GO.N, WR.T (4); AO.A, BK.V, BS.A, RR.A, TF.Q YV.V (3); BF.N, EU.V, IK.N, LO.W, NC.N, TT.S, UR.N, WE.A, WH.N (2); BN.N, BO.W, DR.V, MF.N, MF.V, NT.N, SH.N, TJ.S,WR.N (1). The most successful states were: Tasmania (19), NSW (18); and ACT (17).

• Families with two or more members in the first three places were: Lawford/Bourne (Ian M16, Geoff M50, Jenny W55); West (Luke M10, Jake M12); Tay (David M14, Su Yan W45); Wehner (Martin M45, Herman M85); Lyon (John M70, Jeffa W75); Mount (Tony M75, Jeffa W75); Dowling/Hancock (Zoe W12, Anna W14, Sue W45).

• NSW orienteers filled the first 5 placings in the W40 class.

Darryl Erbacher, OA Statistician

Class M10 1 Sam Rogers 2 Luke West 3 Noah Poland 4 Thomas Hyslop 5 Nicholas Burridge Class M12 1 Daniel Hill 2 Jake West 3 Oliver Mill 4 Patrick Jaffe 5 Scott Charlton 6 Noah Howlett 7 Nathan Berkholz 8 Jesse Piiroinen

100.00 E1E2E3 AL.T 95.63 E2E3E1 BS.A 93.19 ASAMAL PO.A 92.98 ALE1E3 UG.Q 78.25 SAALAM GO.N AL.T RR.A MF.V NC.N LO.T NC.N BS.A

98.82 ASSAAL 98.71 E1E3E2 97.52 AMALAS 91.70 ALASAM 79.36 ALASAM 78.02 E2E3E1 70.85 E2SAE3 70.16 ALASSA

Class M14 1 Jack Oakhill UG.Q 100.00 ASAMAL 2 Joe Dowson BO.W 99.14 E1E2E3 3 David Tay UG.Q 98.57 E3SAE1 4 Henry McNulty LO.W 96.21 AMALAS 5 Matt Doyle EN.Q 85.81 SAASAM 6 Ashley Nankervis EV.T 72.62 ASALSA 7 Aidan Dawson GO.N 59.03 ASAMSA 8 Dominic Crosato RR.Q 58.56 E3ASE2 9 Nicholas Collins BK.V 57.83 ASAMAL 10 Brodie Dobson-Keeffe YA.S 56.92 ALE1E3 Class M16 1 Ian Lawford 2 Karl Bicevskis 3 Marc Gluskie 4 Brodie Nankervis 5 Oliver Poland 6 Oscar McNulty 7 Todd Neve 8 Tom Goddard 9 Bill Mann 10 Matthew Hill

AO.A AL.T AL.T EV.T BS.A LO.W MF.V EV.T BO.W GO.N

99.71 E1E3E2 98.35 E2ASAM 95.46 AME2SA 92.79 E1SAAM 92.44 E2ALE3 92.17 SAAMAL 90.93 ALAMSA 89.05 ASAMAL 85.45 ASSAAM 80.54 ASSAAL

Class M35 1 Jon McComb 2 Jun Okabe 3 Peter Lada 4 Miles Ellis

AL.T BK.V YV.V EV.T

Class M40 1 Stephen Craig 2 Paul Liggins 3 Neil Simson 4 Rohan Hyslop 5 Tim Rogers 6 Graham Atkins 7 Martin Steer 8 Paul Marsh 9 Tony Hill 10 John Baker

BF.N 100.00 E1E2E3 MF.V 99.56 ALSAAS TF.Q 88.62 AMASAL PO.A 86.49 AMASAL 86.15 E1E2E3 PO.A 83.85 ASAMSA DR.V 81.53 AMSAAL BF.N 81.04 ASALE2 GO.N 80.70 AMASAL EN.Q 79.62 ASAMSA

Class M45 1 Martin Wehner 2 Mark Nemeth 3 Bernard Walker 4 John Whittington 5 Peter Charlton 6 Bruce Paterson 7 Peter Mallen 8 Andy Simpson 9 Ari Piiroinen 10 Ross Stewart

WE.A 100.00 E1E2E3 TF.Q 94.46 AMSAAL WR.T 90.69 E2E1E3 WR.T 86.75 E3E2E1 NC.N 84.76 ASALAM BK.V 83.92 ASAME3 NE.V 82.85 ASE3AM BF.N 82.49 E1E2E3 BS.A 78.31 ASALSA BS.A 78.03 E2ASE3

Class M50 1 Geoff Lawford 2 Eoin Rothery 3 Russell Blatchford 4 Michael Dowling 5 Grant McDonald 6 Alex Davey 7 Darryl Smith 8 Geoff Todkill 9 Melvyn Cox 10 Andrew McComb

AO.A 100.00 E1E2E3 LO.W 87.30 ASALE3 NC.N 82.51 ASAMAL WR.T 80.03 ASALSA AO.A 79.48 ASAMSA WR.N 79.43 E2ASE3 WR.T 78.75 E3E2E1 NC.N 78.60 ASALE3 BN.N 74.56 E2E3E1 OH.S 73.84 ALE3AM

44 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 2010

100.00 E1E2E3 93.07 ASAME2 71.79 AMASSA 64.78 E2E1E3

Class M55 1 Paul Pacque EV.T 100.00 E3ASAL 2 Ted van Geldermalsen YV.V 97.06 E1AME2 3 David Marshall AL.T 90.27 AMALSA 4 Nick Wilmott UR.N 90.02 E1E2AL 5 Adrian Uppill OH.S 89.43 E1ASAM 6 Chris Norwood EU.V 89.41 SAALAM 7 Nigel Davies EV.T 85.99 ASSAAM 8 John Scown AO.A 84.85 E2E1SA 9 Roch Prendergast EU.V 84.40 E3E1AS 10 Gordon Wilson BN.N 82.05 ASE2SA Class M60 1 Hugh Moore 2 Paul Hoopmann 3 Greg Chatfield 4 Tony Simpkins 5 Rob Simmons 6 Ross Barr 7 Rob Rapkins 8 Jim Merchant 9 Paul Elam 10 Peter Hill

RR.A 100.00 E1E2E3 TJ.S 97.86 ASAME2 UG.Q 94.33 ASALSA LO.W 93.80 ASSAE2 AW.V 89.49 ALAMSA GO.N 83.37 ASAME1 EN.Q 83.03 E2E1E3 GO.N 82.21 SAASAM TK.V 80.42 AMSAAS BG.V 79.63 SAALAM

Class M65 1 John Brock 2 Tim Dent 3 Darryl Erbacher 4 Mike Howe 5 Ron Junghans 6 David Hogg 7 Blake Gordon 8 Dick Ogilvie 9 Ted Mulherin 10 Phil Dufty

EV.T 100.00 ASAMAL YV.V 92.38 E3E2E1 PO.A 91.89 AMALSA LO.W 87.84 E2E3E1 GO.N 87.21 E2E1E3 PO.A 82.49 E1AMSA EU.V 82.39 E1ASE3 UR.N 82.01 E1ALSA WH.N 77.77 E1E2E3 BO.W 77.05 E1AME3

Class M70 1 Clive Pope 2 John Hodsdon 3 John Lyon 4 Pauli Piiroinen 5 George Reeves 6 Barry Hanlon 7 Terry Liggins 8 Peter Cutten 9 Ken Moore 10 John Sheahan

UG.Q 100.00 E1E2E3 SH.N 98.70 SAE3E2 TT.S 96.86 AMSAE1 BS.A 93.88 ALSAAM TT.S 85.48 AMSAAS WH.N 78.79 SAALAM AL.T 69.95 E1E3E2 WA.S 62.94 E1E3AL TK.V 62.74 SAE1AS BK.V 56.86 SAASE1

Class M75 1 Ian Hassall 2 Eino Meuronen 3 Tony Mount 4 Ron Larsson 5 Don Bajenoff 6 Rod Crockart 7 Graeme Cadman 8 John Dempster

IK.N BS.A AL.T TT.S SH.N UG.Q YV.V YV.V

Class M80 1 Neil Schafer 2 Ray Kelly 3 Tom Norwood

GO.N 100.00 E1E2E3 UG.Q 98.99 AMSAAL EU.V 82.52 E3ALE2

Class M85 1 Hermann Wehner

WE.A 100.00 E1E2E3

Class W10 1 Rebecca Hyslop 2 Arabella Phillips 3 Heather Lane 4 Joanna Hill 5 Annabelle Mill

PO.A EV.T PO.A GO.N RR.A

Class W12 1 Asha Steer 2 Zoe Dowling 3 Hannah Goddard 4 Georgia Jones

DR.V 100.00 ASAMAL WR.T 93.03 E3E2E1 87.35 E1E2E3 UR.N 77.79 E3E1E2

Class W14 1 Nicola Blatchford 2 Anna Dowling 3 Shea-Cara Hammond 4 Nicola Marshall 5 Tahlia Kinrade 6 Lanita Steer 7 Heather Burridge 8 Olivia Sprod 9 Melanie Fuller 10 Rhiana Roberts

NC.N 100.00 E1E2E3 WR.T 94.82 ALAMAS BS.A 92.25 AMSAAL AL.T 84.92 AMALE1 UG.Q 77.54 AMASSA DR.V 73.80 ASAMAL UG.Q 73.68 AMSAAS TT.S 62.19 AMASSA TT.S 61.91 ASAMSA NC.N 54.04 ASALSA

Class W16 1 Rebecca Phillips 2 Michele Dawson 3 Rebecca Freese 4 Emma Campbell 5 Jacqui Doyle 6 Katie Doyle 7 Emily Cantwell 8 Katherine Whitmore

EV.T GO.N TF.Q AL.T EN.Q EN.Q UG.Q EV.T

100.00 E1E2E3 98.91 ASSAAL 97.09 E3SAE1 87.41 E2E1E3 79.62 SAALE2 70.97 E3E1E2 63.66 AMALSA 62.68 ASSAE1

100.00 E1E2AS 92.11 E3E2SA 84.31 E1E3E2 73.61 SAAMAL 73.53 E3E1E2

99.25 E1E3AS 96.93 AMASAL 96.66 ALASE3 94.34 ASE2SA 94.10 SAAMAS 92.52 ALAMSA 90.51 ASAMSA 90.26 E2E1E3

9 Jessie West 10 Sarah Mitchell

AL.T 86.76 ALASE1 EV.T 79.67 E1E3E2

Class W35 1 Belinda Allison 2 Suzie Kluth 3 Martina Craig 4 Anna Hyslop 5 Anitra Dowling 6 Mary Enter

RR.A PO.A BF.N PO.A EU.V BK.V

Class W40 1 Jenny Enderby 2 Barbara Hill 3 Linda Sesta 4 Karen Blatchford 5 Nic Plunkett-Cole 6 Anita Scherrer 7 Kirsten Wehner

NC.N 100.00 E1E2E3 GO.N 95.09 ASSAAM UR.N 90.89 E3E1E2 NC.N 80.24 AME2AL BF.N 72.61 E3E1E2 RR.A 64.64 ASE2AL WE.A 61.32 AMSAE3

Class W45 1 Sue Hancock 2 Su Yan Tay 3 Christine Brown 4 Christine Marshall 5 Felicity Crosato 6 Toni Brown 7 Sue Garr 8 Carol Harding 9 Janine Steer 10 Lisa Lampe

WR.T 100.00 E1E2E3 UG.Q 98.62 SAE3AM EV.T 96.18 E2ASAM AL.T 95.84 AMALSA RR.Q 91.38 ASE2SA BS.A 77.55 ASSAAM PO.A 75.09 E2SAE3 BS.A 74.31 ASE2SA DR.V 71.68 ASAMSA UR.N 65.69 ASE3AL

Class W50 1 Liz Abbott (11.39) 2 Anthea Feaver (5.31) 3 Debbie Davey 4 Robin Uppill 5 Carolyn Jackson 6 Hilary Wood 7 Julie Leung 8 Julia Prudhoe 9 Margi Freemantle 10 Liz Bourne

PO.A 100.00 E1E2E3 LO.W 100.00 ASALSA WR.N 94.33 AMALSA OH.S 91.28 E1E2SA MF.V 89.39 AMSAAS CC.N 72.13 E1E2AS TF.Q 70.47 SAASAM CC.N 67.88 E3E2E1 YV.V 56.83 AME3SA BB.Q 52.05 ALSAAM

Class W55 1 Jenny Bourne 2 Sue Key 3 Lynn Dabbs 4 Carol Brownlie 5 Jacqui Rand 6 Jennifer Binns 7 Barbara Tassell 8 Helen Edmonds 9 Valerie Barker 10 Fiona Calabro

AO.A 100.00 MF.V 81.89 WH.N 78.08 WO.W 76.12 UG.Q 61.57 LO.W 59.64 AL.T 53.93 NE.V 52.19 BS.A 51.06 TF.Q 50.34

Class W60 1 Jenny Hawkins 2 Debbie Gale 3 Judith Hay 4 Carol Jacobson 5 Ruth Goddard 6 Christine Sinickas 7 Kathy Liley 8 Val Hodsdon 9 Jitka Kopriva 10 Sheila Colls

NT.N EV.T BN.N GO.N YV.V YV.V YV.V SH.N UR.N YV.V

Class W65 1 Ann Ingwersen 2 Judi Herkes 3 Dale Ann Gordon 4 Valerie Brammall 5 Penny Dufty 6 Christa Schafer 7 Janet Tarr 8 Dianne Searle 9 Carolyn Chalmers 10 Helena Griggs

PO.A 100.00 E1E2E3 BK.V 99.55 ASAME3 EU.V 91.92 SAE3E2 EV.T 81.11 E2E3AL BO.W 77.49 ALAMSA GO.N 74.09 E3E2E1 YV.V 73.78 SAALAS BG.V 66.34 E2AME3 NC.N 65.49 ASSAE2 AL.T 53.51 SAE3AM

Class W70 1 Helen Alexander 2 Sue Mount 3 Janet Morris 4 Pat McGuire 5 Patricia Miller 6 Janet Fitzwater

BK.V 100.00 AL.T 99.45 WH.N 93.08 WR.T 90.00 DR.V 82.44 NE.V 55.73

E1E3SA E2AMAL ASALSA ALE3E2 SAASE2 SAALE2

Class W75 1 Maureen Ogilvie 2 Caryl Woof 3 Jeffa Lyon 4 Joyce Rowlands 5 Sue Healy

UR.N EV.T TT.S NE.V NE.V

E2AMAL E3ASE2 E1E3E2 E1E2E3 E2E1E3

100.00 AMALSA 94.49 E3E1E2 93.64 E1E3E2 90.33 SAAMAL 77.54 ALAMSA 64.96 SAE1AL

E1E2E3 E3ASE2 E3ALSA ASSAE3 E3E2E1 ASALE3 ASE3SA ALE3SA ASSAAL ASALSA

98.58 E3SAE1 96.62 ALE1E3 96.33 ASALE3 94.04 E1ASAM 92.36 E2E1E3 90.70 E3E1AL 90.6 1E3E2 89.89 ALE1E3 89.77 E3SAE1 85.22 E3E1SA

100.00 95.09 93.57 77.22 70.81

ORIENTEERING AUSTRALIA

Jenny Bourne wins 2009 SILVA Medal

T

he SILVA Medal for 2009 has been won by Jenny Bourne (W55 - AO.A). The SILVA Medal award is based on points for participating and placing in the following events: Australian 3-Days (each day considered as a separate event); Australian Sprint, Medium Distance and Long Distance Championships; and the State Championship associated with the Australian Championships carnival. Each orienteer who completes six of the above events in M/W16 and above is eligible for the SILVA Medal. Maximum points available is 24. There were three orienteers who achieved maximum points and a countback system based on winning margins has been used to separate those on maximum points. In effect, Jenny has performed relatively further ahead of the field in her age class than the others who also gained maximum points.

2009 SILVA Medal award 1. Jenny Bourne

AO.A 24 26.06

2. Geoff Lawford

AO.A 24

7.48

3. Jenny Enderby

NC.N 24

6.06

4. Sue Hancock

WR.T 23

5. Ann Ingwersen

PO.A 22

6. Ian Hassall

IK.N

7. Clive Pope

UG.Q 22

8. Helen Alexander

BK.V 21

9. Kathryn Ewels

CH.V 21

10. Belinda Lawford

AO.A 20

11. Simon Uppill

OH.S 19

12. Maureen Ogilvie

UR.N 17

13. Karl Bicevskis

AL.T

14. Max Neve

MF.V 17

22

17

15. Aislinn Prendergast EU.V

17

16. Paul Pacque

EV.T

17

17. Belinda Allison

RR.A 17

18. Bridget Anderson

UG.Q 16

19. John Brock

EV.T

16

20. Joshua Blatchford NC.N 16 21. Leon Keely

BG.V 16

22. Judi Herkes

BK.V 16

23. Debbie Davey

WR.N 15

24. Sue Key

MF.V 15

Darryl: Jenny, you have had a fabulous year. Seven wins from seven starts in national competition together with wins in both Sprint and Long Distance events at the World Masters Orienteering Championships. Congratulations somehow seem inadequate.

25. Rebecca Phillips

EV.T

26. Ian Lawford

AO.A 15

27. Eino Meuronen

BS.A 15

28. Jenny Hawkins

NT.N 15

Jenny: Thanks. I was relieved that I ran well at the big races.

I had been making mistakes at the local races so was getting worried about my form coming into the big ones.

29. Sue Mount

AL.T

OA Statistician, Darryl Erbacher, interviews SILVA Medal 2009 winner, Jenny Bourne.

D: We all make mistakes. Yours must be tiny. Last year’s wins makes five WMOC Championships. How do you do it?

J: I think I am lucky that I have found the thing I’m good at.

Everybody is good at something but not everybody finds what that thing is. I found Orienteering and it really suits me. Also I think luck comes into the race situations as well (especially Sprint races) and I have been lucky there too.

Some of my “rivals” have not been so lucky with unfortunate things happening to them.

D: To what do you owe your success? Is it (husband) Geoff’s coaching?

J: Geoff did coach me in my early days of Orienteering and he made it possible for me to spend an extended period (18 months) in Europe back in the early 80’s. I learnt a lot from that. Also I think I have the right combination of physical ability, bush running technique, spatial skills and determination. And, most importantly, I enjoy it.

D: Geoff came second in the 2009 SILVA Medal award, (daughter) Belinda and (son) Ian are also in the list. The only family with multiple listings this year. Do you train together as a family?

15

15 Jenny at the World Masters last year. Photo: Bob Mouatt

J: We rarely do our running training together (I’m too slow for everybody else). But we do technical training together, setting up our own training sessions. It’s a big advantage for all of us that we are all keen so we are all motivated to go to events and to do technical training. Being fit and going Orienteering is part of our lifestyle. Also, having other family members going out training is a great motivator on those days when you are feeling lazy.

D: You have been consistent across a wide variety of terrains this year. Are your techniques different for each terrain?

J: Not really. I use the standard techniques such as generalizing, using big features and checking direction often.

But I have to work at keeping things “under control”. I tend to rush, especially in pressure situations, so I have to tell myself to slow down.

D: Your slow must be fast compared to my fast.

Congratulations again, Jenny.

MARCH 2010 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 will be more awards 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.

WINNER – OLIVER CROSATO Range Runners Orienteering Club (Queensland) Unfortunately, since Easter last year I haven’t had much luck health wise. I have had glandular fever and Barmah Forest virus. As such, my recent training program is rather unimpressive (average 1 run per week...). I was feeling quite fit coming up to the Adelaide NOL though, so I thought I’d share what I was doing then. I look forward to getting back into full training again soon.

I love living in Crows Nest (that’s near Toowoomba in Qld, not Sydney, NSW), but small towns have disadvantages; like having a very limited selection of training partners. Dad’s days of running 2:23 marathons are definitely over, and my older brother Victor lost motivation when he went to Uni. My little brother Dominic is too slow, which leaves Mum... she’s ok as a coach, but a training partner? Mostly I go solo.

Photo: Photoworx

Monday: Easy jog (5-6km) through the rough scrub at the pony club grounds. Always a good idea to watch out for snakes, echidnas and angry goannas.

Skills: Route choice on old maps. When I remember I take a map and do this on the run.

Tuesday: Either 6-8km hills or speed work ladder (500m, 400m, 300m, 200, 100 and up again). I do the speed work around the cricket oval so the distances are approximate. At least it’s flat….sort of.

Wednesday: No time to run because of Boys Brigade.

Skills: Catching Features when I get home. I need to get more maps, they tend to get old after running on them dozens of times.

Thursday: 1km reps with Mum. There’s a good stretch on the Blackbutt road with a slight hill in the middle so it always feels like your finishing on a downhill. For a bit of a challenge, I give Mum a 30 second head start but still catch her by the halfway mark. Hope she’s not reading this...

Friday: Easy run round the fire breaks on the 300 acre property behind us. Quite hilly, and nasty underfoot in some sections.

Skills: Route choice, same as Monday.

Saturday: The loneliness of the long distance runner. One and a half hours gets me half way to the next town and back. Not many locals understand the concept of training, and keep stopping to offer me a lift.

Very hard to refuse some days...

Skills: Usually Catching Features again. I love that game.

Photo: Photoworx 46 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 2010

Sunday: Orienteering event. I love it when they’re close (only one and a half hours drive). At least it was easy for me to get my hours up for my P’s.

This year I’m hoping to study biochemistry in Brisbane – I’ll have real training partners!! (Are you sure Mum’s not reading this?).

Sporting-wise, I am aiming for an A Final at JWOC and look forward to maybe making the WOC Team one day.

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 Kay Haarsma for the photos accompanying her “Riding in South Australia” article.

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 MARCH 2010 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 47

FAITH FI0815

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