WORLD MTBO CHAMPS SUCCESS in Portugal RRP RRP $7.50 $7.50 inc inc GST GST
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
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 Councillor: Mike Dowling oa_international@netspeed.com.au 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: Frances Powell, 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: 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 Aust: State Association House, 73 Wakefield St Adelaide SA 5000. Sec: Ken Thompson 08 8351 4757 secretary@sa.orienteering.asn.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: Emily Prichard emily.prichard@nt.gov.au 0407 180 299
NEXT ISSUE DEADLINE
Oct 16; Time-sensitive - Oct 23
ISSN 0818-6510 Issue3/10 (no. 159) SEPTEMBER 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: October 16; Time-sensitive - October 23. Deadline dates for contributions are the latest we can accept copy. Publication is normally planned for the 1st of March, June, September & December. Copies are dispatched in bulk to State associations in the week prior to that date. Regular Contributors: Badge Awards - John Oliver; Competition - Blair Trewin; High Performance - 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 – Claire Davill 0411 065 598 clairedavill@gmail.com 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 WORLD MTBO CHAMPS – PORTUGAL ........... 4 JWOC – DENMARK ................................ 12 SPORT PSYCHOLOGY Orienteering changes your brain
.. . . . . . . . . . . . 1 6
JUNIOR DEVELOPMENT A C T ’ s B l u e S p a r k s.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 8 25TH ANNIVERSARY WM85 ..................... 20 PA R T I C I PA N T ’ S S U R V E Y . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 2 L E T T E R S .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 4 N U T R I T I O N .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 5 COURSE SETTING Orienteering should be fun...................... 26 COACHING........................................... 28 WOC 2010........................................... 31 G R E E N O R I E N T E E R I N G .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 2 TOP EVENTS......................................... 35 O - S P Y.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 6 E X E C U T I V E M AT T E R S.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 8 L AT E N E W S.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 9
Front Cover: Brea Pearce at JWOC 2010. Photo: Erik Borg SEPTEMBER 2010 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 3 SEPTEMBER 2010 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 5
WORLD MTB ORIENTEERING CHAMPS – PORTUGAL
Adrian Jackson wins Gold and two Silver medals at World MTB Orienteering Championships Adrian Jackson was the stand out Australian performer at these World Championships, bringing home another Gold and two Silver Medals to add to his rapidly growing collection. With 5 Gold medals, 2 Silver, 3 Bronze and currently ranked Number 1 in the world again, Adrian remains Australia´s most successful international orienteer. Year after year AJ has demonstrated that he is one of the fastest navigators on a bike despite an ever growing depth in the competition field. And whilst the Australian contingent may have become used to cheering as he steps up to receive his medals, we must remember that there is no other man who managed to achieve a podium position (ie top-6) in all three individual Championship races this year, let alone win a medal in each.
The photo of Adrian in the Long final was taken by British rider, Mark Stodgell (above). “Stodge” also made two terrific headcam videos of the Sprint and Relay. Have a look them on his blog www.stodgell.co.uk 4 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2010
WORLD MTB ORIENTEERING CHAMPS – PORTUGAL
AJ medals three times and podium finish for Junior Relay team Melanie Simpson
The 2010 Australian MTBO team competed in the World Championships in northern Portugal. The team was selected after qualification races near Jenolan caves in March – an area well selected for its estimated similarity to Portuguese terrain (steep and rocky). The Senior Men’s team was an all Victorian crew, consisting of Adrian “AJ” Jackson, Alex Randall, Steven Cusworth and Grant Lebbink. The Senior Women were both from NSW - Mary Fien and Melanie Simpson, and the Juniors were Chris Firman (Qld), Marc Gluskie (Tas) and Luke Poland (ACT). They were helped and supported by Kay Haasma (coach) and Briohny Lebbink (assistant / manager). Training The Team met a week before the championships for a bit of training and to participate in some local races which were an excellent opportunity to experience the terrain, style of mapping and course setting in Portugal. Throughout the week the Team continued to train on local maps with a focus on route choice in steep terrain and how to negotiate the small villages at speed. We also had the opportunity to walk around the town of Chaves, where the Sprint Final would be held the following weekend, and suss out the stairs and alleyways. The training camp accommodation consisted of basic bungalows in a campground near Chaves. Two things to be thankful for were that a) Kay had learnt from the mistakes of the Austrian team who had trained in Chaves earlier in the year and she allocated only 2 or 3 people per bungalow and b) there was air-conditioning, a welcome relief from the near 40 degree temperatures. Fortunately, the weather during the next week in Montalegre (home of 2010 MTB WOC) was warm, but not so hot.
Sprint As the first race of the World Championships, the Sprint always is an adrenalin filled affair, however the Sprint around the historic town of Chaves was made all the more exciting by the presence of pedestrians, cars and blind corners. AJ managed to be the first man to successfully defend his Sprint world champion title, winning the day over Estonia’s Tonis Erm by 18 seconds. Steven also had an impressive ride in his first international Sprint race, although he was disappointed to lose about a minute towards the end of the race but still finished in 22nd place amongst some very experienced riders. Steve’s speed had been on track for a top-10 finish! Alex and Grant were also happy with their rides, although Grant also had difficulty towards the end around the ruined castle. It is worth noting many very experienced riders also had troubles in the same area including Austrian Michaela Gigon who lead a pack of riders on a circuitous route. In the women’s race, Mel and Mary rode steadily and (after Mary’s first control) both girls had clean rides with only hesitations to check the map which was unreadable at speed on the cobble-stoned streets. They finished in 28th and 40th positions respectively. Anna Kaminska of Poland won her first WOC medal, taking the gold a mere 2secs ahead of Christine Schaffner (SUI). The Junior men, all of whom were competing in their first international event, performed well. Chris was the first of the juniors in 28th place in a time of 21min 50sec. He also had difficulty towards the end of the course. Marc was only one place behind in a time of 22:02 and felt that he’d managed to maintain
a speed at which he could still navigate well. Luke made a mistake on the way to the first control and ultimately finished 39th..
Middle Distance Final Adrian Jackson (67:14) again rode brilliantly to snare the silver medal, just being out-pointed by the Flying Finn, Samuli Saarela by 40secs. The large Italian contingent went berserk with joy when it was confirmed that Luca Dallavalle had held on to third, to be Italy’s first ever MTBO medallist. Adrian, not having a top10 world ranking (due to not racing overseas since last year), wasn‘t eligible for a red group start at the end of the field. He thus started midway in the 94 starters and had to endure over an hour wait to see where he would finish. Grant Lebbink unfortunately drew the very first start and was reasonably happy with his navigation, and finished in 48th place in a time of 83:57. Alex Randall was very happy with his ride and was in the top-10 for a long time until slipping to 21st, in a time of 75:07. Steve Cusworth was unhappy when he finished due to many small time losses and some dubious route choices. However his 76:44 time and 25th place showed again what potential he has. The elite women saw Mel place 25th after an early mistake where she headed towards the 5th control instead of the 4th. Mary rode solidly into 27th place. She was pleased with how she rode and navigated, particularly after previous disappointments in this distance at other championships. Austria’s Michaela Gigon again asserted her status at the top of the women’s field with a speedy 60:39, ahead of Denmark’s Rikke Kornvig and Finn Marika Hara.
Junior Middle Distance Final Embarrassingly for the otherwise excellent Portuguese organisation, the JWOC Middle Distance Final had to be re-staged because of a misplaced control on the original courses for both the men and women. This meant that all the Junior riders had to back up the next day and do a second day of racing rather than riding a prologue long distance race. The courses were hastily organised and the maps reprinted overnight to the 1:15 000 scale that is standard for a Middle Distance MTBO race. Unfortunately, the result for the Junior men was a physically demanding course with minimal route choice or decisions. Our Junior men had pleasing rides with Chris finishing 28th and Luke and Marc finishing 39th and 40th respectively. Chris said his race was fairly clean and mistake free. Luke and Marc both made a few small errors, but were still quite happy with their performances in their second hard day of competition in a row. For the Long Distance Final the Junior classes were started in reverse order of their Middle Distance results. SEPTEMBER 2010 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 5
WORLD MTB ORIENTEERING CHAMPS – PORTUGAL
Long Distance Qualification
Waiting for the Relay start
In the WOC classes Adrian, Steve and Alex all finished in the top10 in their heats, but Grant missed out on making the A Final after finishing 24th. Adrian rode a quick pace for around threequarters of the course before easing off to save energy for a tough race in the Final. Stephen had a clean race and was close behind in 10th position in a closely packed A heat. Alex had a good race despite not feeling 100% physically and finished in 10th position in the B heat. Grant rued a late course error and a poor route choice which ended up costing him a spot in the top-20 in his heat. With only 59 women competing and 60 places in the Final, the Long Distance “qualification” is less of a qualification than a means of determining a starting order for the Final race. Mary and Mel rode steadily and (mostly) cleanly with the aim to conserve energy in the steep and demanding terrain. In Heat B, Mary finished in 15th position in 94 minutes. Mel, along with Anke Danowski (GER), stopped to help a seriously injured Czech rider, Hana Doležalová. After being taken to the closest hospital, Hana was airlifted to Porto and operated on the same night for spinal fractures. She is currently paraplegic and the next months will determine what recovery she may achieve after this extremely unfortunate accident. An appeal amongst the teams raised over 5000 Euros and the Czech MTBO federation will also organise a fund to raise support for her rehabilitation. The organising committee kindly decided to adjust the times of Anke and Mel (who completed their courses) to reflect an estimate of what their race time would have been had they not stopped to help. They both started midfield in the Final.
Long Distance Final This aptly named Final was near the town of Morgade, south of the event centre of Montalegre. The elite men had a gruelling 38km with over 1200m of climb. Russia´s Anton Foliforov won his first gold medal in this distance, with AJ again riding excellently to take the silver and Erik Skovgaard Knudsen (DEN) in third. Alex was reasonably happy with his ride finishing in 27th, while Steven was disappointed after several small errors that cost him minutes and he finished in 49th place. The women´s races was substantially longer than predicted with the winner, Christine Schaffner (SUI), taking nearly 20 minutes longer than the expected winner’s time. Mel and Mary rode well, but both had large mistakes towards the end of the race and finished in 20th and 28th position respectively. The Junior men had a similar distance and elevation to the elite women with around 30km and 930m of climb. Marc had his best individual result finishing in 25th position. He had a few mistakes around indistinct junctions, however recovered himself and his fitness really paid off on the physical course. Luke was relatively pleased with his ride and finished in 30th. Chris had some early mistakes and had difficulty recovering his enthusiasm and navigation, ultimately finishing in 38th position.
Relay In the Australian camp, the final day of racing belonged to the Junior men who came 5th overall. Each of them showed a great amount of control and managed stronger rides with more consistent navigation than they had achieved in the individual races. Chris rode first and finished in 5th position which Marc and Luke subsequently held through to the end. Throughout the Championships, the Australian juniors achieved some great results and learnt to reflect on their navigation and races rather than simply contemplating their ranking against riders who were both older and more experienced. They each have at least
6 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2010
a year left in the Junior class and it was a promising start for the development of Junior MTBO in Australia. The senior teams were not so fortunate with their Relay rides. Steven rode solidly to send Alex out in 12th position for the “Australia 1” team. Unfortunately, Alex had a flat tyre on the way to the first control which he managed to fix promptly and continue smoothly through until just before the spectator control where he had a second flat. Despite the fact that two flats is already a distinct disadvantage, Alex was subsequently disqualified for accepting a second spare tube from the spectators. The “mens” Australia 2 team, and now the official team, consisting of Grant, Mary and Mel, all had reasonable rides with minimal mistakes and finished in 28th position overall (out of 35 that started) and 18th official team – not too bad given the (double) gender disadvantage.
Finally A big thank you goes to Kay Haasma and Briohny Lebbink for their coaching and organising and support over the fortnight. Particularly to Briohny who was more or less roped into the task and did a fantastic job of helping out with the washing of clothes, shopping for food and most importantly feeding the tired riders at the end of each race. The Team was a cohesive, friendly group and there was much frivolity and laughter (mostly provided by the Junior members) which lightened the mood of what can otherwise be a stressful, expectation-full week. Next year´s World Championships will be held in northern Italy, not far from where the last of the MTBO World Cup races are to be held in September this year. Mel will be there doing some reconnaissance work.
Luke Poland takes up the Relay tale: Our final race, the MTB WOC Relay Championships, turned out to be an excitement filled day, keeping us all on the edges of our saddles! The morning began with a short ride to the assembly area, and at 10am the Senior Men’s teams began. Steve was the first leg rider for our first team, and Grant took a place on the line too, to ride for the second “men’s” team (which included Mel and Mary). At 10:20 our Junior Men’s Team began with Chris bravely nominating for the first leg. Chris returned in a fantastic time, and Marc headed out, also returning after a great ride. Luke was the final rider and kept up the pace, crossing the line in 5th position, just in front of a frantic Russian. The course was physical, with a big fat hill on the way to most riders’ second control, and another just before the finish. Highlights of the day included Super Bock (local VB) at the finish line, some stellar muddy sections on course, and a great repertoire of Grunge music. And continued by Mel... We were all really proud and pleased to see the Junior men string together three of their better rides to get a podium place in the Relay. Very pleasing for them individually, but also very promising for the future of the sport.
SPRINT
Riders needed to make their way through the moat of this old castle from control 19 to 20
Adrian’s Sprint win now makes it his 5th World Championship Gold medal.
Sprint Gold with AJ
M
Typical General Preparation Training Block
y last urban MTBO WOC Sprint was in Poland two years ago, where although I finished 6th it was a race in which I never felt comfortable with the map and was quite disappointed afterwards. So despite having surprised everyone, not the least myself, by winning the Sprint (my least favourite discipline) last year in Israel, I was once again nervous with the prospect of the very urban terrain facing us in Chaves. This was compounded by the fact that the town was going to be relatively open, with public and spectators wandering and driving through, so an element of luck was going to be involved to avoid having an accident! In the end there were no real problems, with dozens of marshals all around the city controlling traffic as much as possible and warning if two riders were about to arrive at the same corner at the same time! I started in the Red start group (last 10 competitors) by virtue of being the reigning champ, despite not currently being in the top-10 ranked riders. After waiting around for a couple of hours in the arena and warming up on the very dusty running track (we all got much dirtier from the warm up than the race itself!) it was time to hit the streets of Chaves. Straight away on the first control the 1:7500 scale got the better of me and I went straight past the gap in the buildings I needed to take, and despite not going too far past it was enough to lose 20-odd seconds. Another couple of hesitant controls later I saw Lasse Brun Pederssen who had started 1 min behind me on an in-and-out control, and he was probably now only within 30sec. This spurred me on, and for the rest of the course I had no more wobbles, and maybe only lost a handful of seconds in route choice. Once I had the flow going I finally felt able SPRINT to hit full speed now and MEN then and my super fast 1 Adrian Jackson (AUS) 22:08 Schwalbe Furious Freds 2 Tonis Erm (EST) 22:26 3 Anton Foliforov (RUS) 22:30 (tyres) were definitely not 22 Steven Cusworth(AUS) 24:45 slowing me down! 32 Alex Randall (AUS) 63 Grant Lebbink (AUS)
25:30 30:01
WOMEN
1 2 3 28 40
Anna Kaminska (POL) 21:25 Christina Schaffner (SUI) 21:27 Martina Tichovska (CZE) 22:04 Melanie Simpson (AUS) 25:47 Mary Fien (AUS) 28:32 JUNIOR MEN
1 2 3 28 29 39
Grigory Medvedev (RUS) Andreas Konrig (DEN) Krystof Bogar (CZE) Chris Firman (AUS) Marc Gluskie (AUS) Luke Poland (AUS)
17:58 18:10 18:32 21:50 22:02 23:54
After crossing the line I had the fastest time, but given my early mistake I was sure that Lasse or one of the other fast four riders who had started behind me would appear any second. After a few minutes had gone by and all the other riders had crossed the line it was finally time to celebrate my second Sprint Gold in a row.
SEPTEMBER 2010 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 7
WORLD MTB ORIENTEERING CHAMPS – PORTUGAL
1 Samuli Saarela Finland 2 Adrian Jackson Australia
1 66.34 2.55 2.55 67.14 3.07 3.07
2 1.53 4.48 2.00 5.07
3 7.14 12.02 7.40 12.47
4 3.40 15.42 3.32 16.19
5 3.41 19.23 4.01 20.20
6 3.20 22.43 3.12 23.32
7 5.53 28.36 5.55 29.27
8 7.21 35.57 7.45 37.12
9 2.08 38.05 2.00 39.12
10 7.46 45.51 7.07 46.19
11 1.23 47.14 1.23 47.42
12 2.44 49.58 2.38 50.20
13 2.30 52.28 2.28 52.48
14 2.13 54.41 2.18 55.06
15 0.59 55.40 0.55 56.01
16 1.47 57.27 1.45 57.46
17 3.01 60.28 3.03 60.49
Winner’s route shown (red), plus Adrian’s (yellow)where it differs.
Adrian Jackson finishing the Middle race.
Luke Poland during the JWOC Middle final.
Steve Cusworth at the Sprint race in Chaves
MIDDLE MEN
1 2 3 21 25 48
Samuli Saarela (FIN) Adrian Jackson (AUS) Luca Dallavalle (ITA) Alex Randall (AUS) Steven Cusworth (AUS) Grant Lebbink (AUS)
1:06:34 1:07:14 1:10:02 1:15:07 1:16:44 1:23:57
WOMEN
1 2 3 25 27
Michaela Gigon (AUT) Rikke Kornvig (DEN) Marika Hara (FIN) Melanie Simpson(AUS) Mary Fien (AUS)
1:00:39 1:01:12 1:01:55 1:09:52 1:10:13
JUNIOR MEN
1 2 3 28 39 40
Pekka Niemi (FIN) Krystof Bogar (CZE) Mikhail Utkin (RUS) Chris Firman (AUS) Luke Poland (AUS) Marc Gluskie (AUS)
8 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2010
49:47 50:53 51:16 58:44 65:55 66:10
18 1.14 61.42 1.19 62.08
19 2.31 64.13 2.11 64.19
20 1.19 65.32 1.48 66.07
21 0.37 66.09 0.40 66.47
F 0.25 66.34 0.27 67.14
Opening ceremony
Chris Firman in the Long JWOC final. Photo: Pedro Dias
Adrian Jackson, silver in both the Middle and Long races.
SEPTEMBER 2010 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 9
WORLD MTB ORIENTEERING CHAMPS – PORTUGAL
Adrian on the podium with silver for the Long race
Mel Simpson – 20th in the Long. Photo: Stodge
Mary Fien – 27th in the Middle and 28th in the Long. Photo: Pedro Dias LONG
Grant Lebbink finished 7th in the Long B final
MEN
1 2 3 27 49
Anton Foliforov (RUS) Adrian Jackson (AUS) Erik Skovgaard Knudsen (DEN) Alex Randall (AUS) Steven Cusworth (AUS)
1:53:02 1:55:05 1:56:03 2:08:19 2:20:27
WOMEN
1 2 3 20 28
Christine Schaffner (SUI) Ksenia Chernykh (RUS) Marika Hara (FIN) Melanie Simpson (AUS) Mary Fien (AUS)
1:54:05 1:56:42 2:01:13 2:14:04 2:18:45
JUNIOR MEN
1 2 3 25 30 38 Alex Randall 21st in the Middle and 27th in the Long.
Pekka Niemi (FIN) Maciej Gromadka (POL) Vojtech Stransky (CZE) Marc Gluskie (AUS) Luke Poland (AUS) Chris Firman (AUS)
Steve Cusworth on his way to 22nd in the Sprint
Grant Lebbink during the Sprint
10 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2010
1:46:00 1:46:01 1:49:09 2:10:57 2:18:26 2:31:35
Adrian during the Relay.
RELAY MEN
1 2 3 18 Marc Gluskie – one of our very promising juniors Luke Poland bringing home the Junior team in 5th place in the Relay
Russia 1 Denmark 1 Czech Rep 2 Australia 2 Australia 1
2:45:34 2:46:09 2:48:10 3:37:32 disq
JUNIOR MEN
1 2 3 4 5
Czech Republic Russia 2 Finland 2 Denmark 1 Australia 1 Chris Firman 1:03:23 Marc Gluskie 1:02:57 Luke Poland 1:02:13 6 Austria 1
2:57:16 3:02:01 3:02:29 3:03:47 3:08:33
3:32:55
WOMEN
1 Denmark 1 2 Finland 1 3 Czech Republic 1
2:56:56 3:01:46 3:01:58
Performances of note from the Relay include: 1. The Czech juniors who took out both the Men’s and Women’s Relay classes; 2. Danish senior women who at the end of the second leg had a mere 2 or 3sec lead which Rikke Kornvig managed to extend to about 5mins, and the Finnish senior women who pulled themselves from 6th to 2nd in the final leg.
Mel Simpson during the Relay. She joined Mary and Grant in the Mens Relay and finished a creditable 18th place.
3. Mechanical tantrums were greatly entertaining. Second place went to Per Frost of Sweden who, after his second flat, declared that “I hate this f###ing sport, my tube is broken again” all in a swedish accent. However, he was well outclassed by the German first leg rider who ran up to the spectator control with a flat rear tyre apparently ready to complete the last loop on foot. When someone pointed out that he had just run 2 or 3 metres past the (blatantly obvious) spectator control it was the absolute last straw... he commenced to swear and curse, threw his bike at the control, picked it up, threw it over the fence towards the spectators, leapt over the fence and proceded to kick his bike before turning on the nearest tree. I would like to say that I have photos to share of this episode, but Briohny was too scared of her own safety to take any, despite having a truly advantageous view. Mel Steve Cusworth off to a good start in the Relay. Photo: Pedro Dias
Alex’s flat tyre in the Relay
SEPTEMBER 2010 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 11
JUNIOR WORLD ORIENTEERING CHAMPIONSHIPS
The Australian Team for JWOC travelled to Denmark in early July to pit their Orienteering skills against the best Juniors in the world. What follows is a compilation of brief reports from team coach, Roch Prendergast, and others.
Lilian Burrill
JWOC 2010 in Denmark Photo: Erik Borg
Lachlan Dow
Photo: Valerie Barker
Photo: Kell Sønnichsen
Sprint
T
he Championships commenced with the Sprint race at Aalborg University. At last after a week plus some of preparation the event got underway. As each start time determined which bus was to be caught it was the responsibility of each athlete to get themselves organised and to the event on time. On the first bus the driver got lost in the university and needed help to find the drop off zone. An accident in the tunnel caused problems for the organisers but fortunately all our Team managed to get safely to the start area and on time. After being hidden away in a hedge enclosed assembly area, athletes made a 350m trip to the warm up area and then their prestart. After only a 20m run from the prestart runners burst into view only to be confronted head on by about a hundred barrackers yelling their support 14 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2010 12
(even a couple of vuvuzela and a cow bell) even before they had reached the start triangle. All were taken by surprise but most, except for Claire and Brea (who made major errors on the first control), managed to concentrate and have solid runs. Claire and Brea, to their credit, gathered themselves up and made sure the rest of their course was competitive. None claim to have had the perfect run and have told sagas of hesitations, lost time and poor route choices. The home team lived up to the hype and won both Men’s and Women’s classes, a fantastic effort. Rasmus Thrane Hansen won the Men’s class by 19secs from Great Britain’s Kristian Jones with Norwegian Vegard Danielsen and Swede Jonas Leanderson sharing 3rd place. Ida Bobach’s winning margin in the Women’s class was 24secs, an impressive margin over the 2.3km course. Poland had a
SPRINT MEN 2.7km
1 2 3 3 43 57 67 67 85 109
Hansen, Rasmus Thrane Jones, Kristian Danielsen, Vegard Leandersson, Jonas Dow, Lachlan Poland, Oliver Blatchford, Joshua Lawford, Ian Phillips, Oscar Neumann, Kurt
DEN GB NOR SWE AUS AUS AUS AUS AUS AUS
13:04 13:23 +00:19 13:25 +00:21 13:25 +00:21 14:40 14:59 15:13 15:13 15:33 16:30
+01:36 +01:55 +02:09 +02:09 +02:29 +03:26
DEN POL POL AUS AUS AUS AUS AUS AUS
13:36 14:00 14:03 16:02 16:19 16:46 17:25 20:10 21:41
+00:24 +00:27 +02:26 +02:43 +03:10 +03:49 +06:34 +08:05
WOMEN 2.3km
1 2 3 37 44 57 70 99 105
Bobach, Ida Wisniewska, Hanna Gajda, Monika Lawford, Belinda Buckerfield, Sarah Burrill, Lilian Parsons, Georgia Claire Butler Pearce, Brea
Photo: Erik Borg
Photo: Erik Borg
Photo: Valerie Barker
Oscar Phillips
Claire Butler
Sarah Buckerfield Photo: Kell Sønnichsen
Kurt Neumann Photo: Erik Borg
fantastic day with Hanna Wisniewska 2nd and Monika Gajda in 3rd place. ACT’s Belinda Lawford, in her fourth JWOC was the best performing Aussie, finishing 37th, 2mins26secs behind the winner. ACT’s Lachlan Dow was the best of the men finishing 43rd, 1min36secs behind the winner. Oliver Poland 57th and Ian Lawford 67th both had great runs in their first JWOC races. NSW’s Josh Blatchford was equal with Ian in 67th.
Long Distance race in the sand dunes of Svinklov The Long Distance competition day is aptly named as it always turns out to be a long and difficult day both for the athletes and coaches. Once at the start area the problems began. A 10min downpour ensured that everything was wet. On arrival of the second bus an announcement was made that the start
would be delayed for 30min. This meant that Kurt, Claire and Sarah, who had done most of their warm up, had to sit down and start again later. Oh, wait, another meeting. The start is now delayed by 40min. We still don’t really know why. This delay caused some dramas and uncertainty back at the barracks but, to their credit the Team just shrugged their shoulders and got on with the job. The sun came out, the coaches got sunburnt and by 2pm all the athletes were in the forest. The two coaching zones kept Aislinn and Valerie busy looking after the athletes and taking photos. The usual tension and stress of keeping an eye on the clock, wishing the best for all and then concern as to what might have happened to some added to the emotional mix of the day. Eventually the whole Team had crossed the line and it was time for reflection.
LONG MEN
1 2 3 71 75 96 103 108 110
Kubat, Pavel Runesson, Johan Kyburz, Matthias Dow, Lachlan Phillips, Oscar Poland, Oliver Neumann, Kurt Blatchford, Joshua Lawford, Ian
CZE SWE SUI AUS AUS AUS AUS AUS AUS
1:18:48 1:19:32 + 00:44 1:20:48 + 02:00 1:40:49 1:42:18 1:48:28 1:50:20 1:54:46 1:55:26
+ 22:01 + 23:30 + 29:40 + 31:32 + 35:58 + 36:38
DEN SWE FIN AUS AUS AUS AUS AUS AUS
1:01:55 1:03:46 1:04:24 1:21:33 1:27:04 1:32:44 1:39:59 1:54:47 1:58:22
+ 01:51 + 02:29 + 19:38 + 25:09 + 30:49 + 38:04 + 52:52 + 56:27
WOMEN
1 2 3 59 75 86 94 109 111
Bobach, Ida Klintberg, Therese Anttonen, Sari Lawford, Belinda Buckerfield, Sarah Burrill, Lilian Butler, Claire Pearce, Brea Parsons, Georgia
SEPTEMBER 2010 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 13
Photo: Erik Borg
JUNIOR WORLD ORIENTEERING CHAMPIONSHIPS
Photo: Erik Borg
Belinda Lawford Joshua Blatchford Photo: Valerie Barker
Sarah Buckerfield
Oliver Poland
Photo: Valerie Barker
Georgia Parsons Photo: Valerie Barker
MIDDLE MEN A FINAL
1 Steiwer, Gaute Hallan 2 Leandersson, Jonas 3 Boström, Olle
NOR SWE SWE
23:44 24:53 + 01:09 25:10 + 01:26
AUS AUS AUS AUS
26:25 26:35 33:15 41:43
+02:15 +02:25 +09:05 +17:33
AUS
30:24
+05:34
SWE SWE SUI
25:35 26:10 26:51
+ 00:35 + 01:16
AUS AUS AUS AUS AUS
26:46 27:20 32:51 37:02 41:48
+ 01:27 + 02:01 + 07:32 + 11:43 + 16:29
MEN B FINAL
10 12 41 49
Dow, Lachlan Neumann, Kurt Lawford, Ian Blatchford, Joshua MEN C FINAL
9 Phillips, Oscar WOMEN A FINAL
1 Alexandersson, Tove 2 Forsgren, Lilian 3 Jenzer, Sarina WOMEN B FINAL
7 9 30 44 52
Buckerfield, Sarah Burrill, Lilian Parsons, Georgia Pearce, Brea Butler, Claire
14 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2010
Each member of the squad had worked hard and finished the event determinedly all the way to the finish. All runners had some good legs, some average ones and some very poor ones. The general consensus was that a week is not enough to master the intricacies of navigating in this very specialised type of terrain. A large percentage of the course is track running and then each athlete has to master the varying vegetation and sand dune contour detail. Confidence in most cases was a bit battered but all expressed a determination to learn how to be better. Study of splits has shown that the Australians are as fast, and at times as good, as the best and there is a pervading determination to prove this. Belinda Lawford 59th and Lachlan Dow 71st were again the best performing Aussies. Denmark’s Ida Bobach continued to dominate the women’s competition, winning her second gold medal in two
days. Sweden’s Therese Klintberg was 2nd by 1min51secs and Finland’s Sari Anttonen was 3rd. Pavel Kubat from Czech Republic won the men’s class by 44secs over Sweden’s Johan Runesson and Switzerland’s Mattias Kyburz.
Middle Distance Qualification Most enjoyed the courses and the more open terrain than they experienced in the Long Distance. There was an element of disappointment with Ian and Kurt missing the final by 40 and 44 seconds respectively and errors by the others adding to their frustration of not making the Final. Frustrations aside it was impressive how the whole squad bounced back after the disappointment of the Long Distance day and dug in and had a real go at their respective courses. Well done team. No squibs and quitters in this squad.
Photo: Valerie Barker
Girls ready to party
Photo: Erik Borg
Lilian Burrill
Photo: Valerie Barker
Ian Lawford
Photo: Valerie Barker
Photo: Valerie Barker
Photo: Valerie Barker
Boys ready to party
Middle Distance Final The day dawned bright and sunny and brought out some determined Aussies wanting to prove themselves in the even more technical terrain. The courses began with a few controls in an intricate and very difficult clear area and ended with similar terrain to the qualification race. Some mixed results with decent runs from Sarah and Lilian to place fairly well in the B Final, though both were frustrated with errors. Lachy and Kurt also pulled out some tidy runs to finish well up on the board. Other runners were frustrated with errors but most ran well and continued to improve in the tough terrain.
Relays The Relay terrain was very hilly and different to the technical sand dune challenges of the Middle and Long Distance races. The legs of the Relay were
7.4-7.7km for the first two legs in the Men, with a shorter 5.4-5.6km final leg. For the Women the first two legs were 5.45.6km and the final leg 3.1-3.2km. These variances add a little more complexity to the decisions coaches have to make when selecting teams. In the Women’s race Belinda Lawford (AUS1) and Claire Butler (AUS2) finished just 2secs apart in 29th and 30th, 13mins behind Denmark’s Emma Klingenberg. On the second leg Sarah Buckerfield produced her best run of the week to post 13th fastest time and pulled AUS1 team up to 16th place. Georgia Parsons (AUS2), in her first JWOC, jumped three spots to 27th. On the 3rd leg Lillian Burrill was unable to maintain the high position and AUS1 finished in 23rd place and Brea Pearce brought AUS2 across the line in 28th.
In the Men’s race, Lachlan Dow (AUS1) handed over in 23rd with Josh Blachford not far behind in 28th. Oscar Phillips moved through the field to pull AUS2 up into 25th, with Ian Lawford falling a little to 27th. On the final leg, Kurt Neumann AUS1 leapfrogged Oliver Poland AUS2 with the teams finishing 27th and 31st respectively. The Scandinavian nations continued their dominance of the Championships with Denmark winning the Women’s and Norway winning the Men’s Relay. With 10 of the 12 Team members eligible to return to Poland in 2011 I am already looking forward to working with them. Thanks Team for your support of Valerie and myself and I hope we were able to go some way towards offering you the help and support you needed. Bring on Poland!! Roch Prendergast SEPTEMBER 2010 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 15
SPORT PSYCHOLOGY
Orienteering
changes your brain* 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.
*Probably. There is good reason to think that regular Orienteering might result in structural and functional change in the brain. In 2000, Eleanor Maguire and colleagues1 published a study in which they had measured brain size in a group of London taxi drivers. Their findings were exciting and widely reported in the press at the time. What Maguire and colleagues found was that a particular area of the brain (the posterior hippocampus) that is believed to be highly involved in spatial memory and navigation, was on average significantly larger than in a control group consisting of non taxi drivers of the same mean age.
T
hey also found that the longer the individual had been driving his taxi, the greater the difference in size from controls. Whilst the posterior hippocampus seems to be especially involved in the retrieval of previously learned spatial information – such as ‘The Knowledge’ of London’s streets that taxi drivers there are required to memorise – there is still an element of navigation involved in planning to get from point A to point B that suggests that these research findings may be of relevance to orienteers. This information might simply seem to be the structural demonstration of something we all know already – that practice makes perfect. However, it’s really much more exciting than that. Until very recently it was taken as fact that the human brain grows for the first two years of life and after that it’s all downhill. It was believed that we steadily lost brain cells that could never be replaced. The net result for most people would be a gradual decline in John Walker cognitive ability, but for those with a sudden catastrophic loss of cells, such as through an accident or a stroke, only a very modest degree of recovery was to be expected. The London taxi drivers – for whom the mean age was 44 years – had been driving (including the training period during which they studied ‘The Knowledge’) for periods of as little as 3.5 years, meaning that some of them would have already been in middle age when they started, and proving that this increase in brain size can occur well past the first bloom of youth. The capacity of the brain to grow and reorganise is referred to as ‘neuroplasticity’. Greater functional recovery is now being demonstrated in a range of fields, including that of spinal injury: Christopher Reeve was on exactly the right track and his approach is now being incorporated into rehabilitation programs. Interesting how often a motivated non scientist is able to exploit an open and enquiring mind to make discoveries that those with preconceived ideas wouldn’t consider! Norman Doidge gives many examples of recovery in his interesting and readable book, ‘The Brain that Changes Itself’. Neuronal loss can occur via many mechanisms. Traumatic brain injury, aging and neurological conditions such as Parkinson’s disease will be fairly well known causes. It is also known that a number of psychological conditions can be associated with neuronal loss and reduced brain volume, including chronic stress, schizophrenia and depression. It is now known that cell loss 16 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2010
can be reversed to varying degrees. Antidepressant treatment of depression has been shown to increase brain volume, suggesting that it may be reversing cell loss. Research into brain activation in anxiety conditions has shown that non pharmacological treatment, such as cognitive behaviour therapy, can achieve similar neurobiological effects to antidepressants. And of particular interest to orienteers is research into the effects of exercise. Animal experiments have shown an improvement in the mouse equivalent of Parkinson’s disease after intense exercise. The changes were mediated by two brain neurotransmitters, dopamine and glutamate. Gizelle Petzinger2 and colleagues in the United States recently applied these findings to human volunteers and found a number of changes including increased gait velocity, stride length, and improved weight distribution in sit-to-stand following three sessions per week over 8 weeks of high intensity walking on a treadmill (body weight was supported to allow the subjects to reach a high intensity). It is certainly true that brain volume does decrease over the lifespan. Joshua Goh and colleagues3 suggest that we should be asking why older people function as well as they do, given all this cell loss! The answer appears to lie with the ability of the older brain to expand its sites of activity, recruit additional processing resources and perhaps even grow new cells to cope with demand.
Our brain is able to rise to the challenge! It appears that the ability to recruit new circuits and compensate for brain-related decreases in function is enhanced by continuing to be actively involved in stimulating and new situations, engaging in new learning and participating in regular exercise. As noted above, exercise helps increase dopamine levels, and this may help to counter reductions in this neurotransmitter which appear to be part of the aging process. Exercise and training has also been shown to be associated with increases in brain volume.
A
•
D
R
FORD
The take home message: no matter how old you are, frequent practice will increase your skill, probably by contributing to growth in the areas of the brain responsible for carrying out that activity. The more practice the better. If you are older, then the complex and physically active nature of Orienteering may help protect you against cognitive and physical decline. Happy Orienteering!
VICTO
AYLES
IA
Gottfried Schlaug and colleagues4 looked at the brains of children, mean age 6.5 years, who were divided into groups that practiced a musical instrument either 1-2 hours per week or 2-5 hours per week. Function magnetic resonance images (fMRI) were obtained at baseline and after about 2.5 years and compared with children who had not had any music tuition or practice. The musicians show significant increases in the size of an area of the corpus callosum (important for communication between different sides of the brain) compared to controls, and the higher practice group showed more change than the low practice group. This demonstrates some neurobiological underpinning for the effects of practice.
AM S P
• CHE
Malcolm Gladwell, in his book ‘Outliers’, has estimated that it takes 10,000 hours of practice to become an expert. Playing an instrument is a complex task which, because it involves both cognitive and motor activity (much like Orienteering), engages both sides of the brain at once, and requires high functioning connections so that the different parts of the brain can coordinate well.
LIAN
Of course, many orienteers are well below the age at which cognitive decline is a concern. In the younger age group, neuroplasticity is more about enhancing performance when a skill is practiced repeatedly. For the very young, consistent practice at an activity results in preferential development of the brain pathways associated with that activity. Little used circuits may be ‘pruned’. Hence, neuroplasticity acts more in the direction of growing skill.
• CH
Finally, more complex tasks, requiring greater cognitive processing, may promote greater neuroplastic change than simple tasks. In this way it can be seen that Orienteering ticks a number of boxes for the type of activity that may slow the cognitive changes of aging: it is complex and requires considerable cognitive processing resources, it presents novel stimuli (every event is different), and it incorporates exercise which can be of as high intensity as the participant chooses.
USTRA
•
W TON
2010 australian mountain bike orienteering championships Chewton & Daylesford, Victoria – 23 & 24 October
T
he 2010 Australian MTBO Championships will take place in Victoria in October. The Middle and Sprint races will take place in Chewton on Saturday 23rd with the Long race taking place near Daylesford on Sunday 24th. Both the Middle and Long races will be World Ranking Events for the M/W elite classes. The Championships will also be the final round of the 2010 National MTBO Series for all age classes. The Sprint race will be using a mainly urban area with some hilly eucalypt bush forest and gold mining areas with some single track. The Middle race will feature hilly terrain with tracks varying from unsealed roads to rocky vehicle tracks and some single track; gold mining areas with eucalypt and pine forest, and some urban area. The Long race will be mostly eucalypt forest with tracks varying from unsealed roads, through bush tracks and some single track. Three clubs – Bayside Kangaroos, Yarra Valley and Melbourne Forest Racers are sharing organisation and course setting duties. Cormac McCarthy (YV) is setting the Sprint with Dion Keech (MFR) the Middle and Jon Sutcliffe (BK) the Long. New maps have been made by Andrew Slattery (Sprint and Middle) and Jon Sutcliffe (Long). It will be good to see our Australian team members fighting out for the National titles and WRE points as well as the juniors who did so well in Portugal. Again this year we have a large group of our Kiwi friends coming over to join us and give us some really good competition. The Saturday evening Presentation Dinner in Hepburn Springs is sure to be a great night. For more info and online entry, go to www.vicmtbo.com and click on the Aust Champs link. Contact organiser Peter Cusworth on 03 9762 5667 or pcusworth@bigpond.com
References: 1. Maguire EA, Gadian DG, Johnsrude IS, Good CD, Ashburner J, Frackowiak RS, et al. Navigation-related structural change in the hippocampi of taxi drivers. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2000; 97:4398-4403. 2. Petzinger GM, Fisher BE, Van Leeuwen J-E, Vukovic M, Akopian G, Meshul CK, et al. Enhancing neuroplasticity in the basal ganglia: the role of exercise in Parkinson’s disease. Movement Disorders 2010; 25 Suppl 1:S141-145. 3. Goh JO, Park DC. Neuroplasticity and cognitive aging: the scaffolding theory of aging and cognition. Restorative Neurology & Neuroscience 2009; 27:391-403. 4. Schlaug G, Forgeard M, Zhu L, Norton A, Norton A, Winner E. Traininginduced neuroplasticity in young children. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 2009; 1169:205-208. SEPTEMBER 2010 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 17
JUNIOR DEVELOPMENT
ACT ’s
BLUE SPARKS
orienteering ACT Chris Mill
B
lue Sparks is a group of primary school aged kids (5 to 12 years old), and their parents, that has formed in the ACT with the goals of those involved getting to know each other, having lots of fun and learning more about Orienteering. It has been a very successful way of getting young kids and their families that are involved in Orienteering to get to know each other, particularly those new to Orienteering or new to the ACT. One of the drivers was that when we came to the ACT we found it difficult to link into the local Orienteering community. It was quite different from where we came from where it was easy to get to know others through our club. We had young kids (both under 3) and found doing Orienteering and not knowing anybody else all too hard. We gave up Orienteering for a couple of years and had a go at other activities. In the end we decided to come back to Orienteering and work at getting to know others more diligently and using alternative ways of doing this. The result is that the whole family enjoys Orienteering in different ways, and knows lots of others in the sport. It started in 2007 when a couple of dads, David Poland and Chris Mill, got together to work out how to better engage 5-12 year olds in Orienteering. The result was Blue Sparks. The main focus is the ACT’s Saturday League during winter, but we also have done activities at three Easter events (Dubbo, Launceston and Canberra) and some other events. Every year we have an annual weekend away and the occasional social activity separate from Orienteering. The name was thought up by one of the Blue Lightning squad members. Blue Lightning is the ACT high school training squad.
18 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2010
For those of you that love numbers here are some figures. We have interacted with about 150 kids and their families at ACT Saturday events and about 70 kids and their families at other events (e.g. Easter ‘08, ‘09 and ‘10). Many of the families we interact with at ACT events have little other interaction with Orienteering as they are quite new to Orienteering or new to the ACT and are not club members. Currently we email 77 families regularly; again many of these do not have much other formal interaction with Orienteering, as they are new to the sport. A core group of about eight families from across ACT clubs know each other much better. Outside of organised events we have provided opportunities to over 600 other people, mainly kids, their parents and teachers, to learn more about and try Orienteering (e.g. local school, scout groups, other community groups and local fete).
Support from Orienteering ACT Orienteering ACT has provided fantastic support for Blue Sparks and has provided funds to help purchase gear and subsidise the first batch of Orienteering tops for Blue Spark members. The tops are bright yellow and it is great to see these yellow streaks of young kids getting round their courses. We have also raised funds of our own by catering for events and other activities. Some of the gear we have is: • Banner (this is really important and stands out at events) • Large groundsheet • Shelter • Compasses and stop watches • Soccer ball
I went that way
Rob Preston shows the way to Isabella Burridge
Kathryn Ewels and admirers-Gudgenby
We are still to get some park controls and punches, but do have a private set that we use at the moment.
Activities that we do On Saturday mornings we coordinate a range of activities for an hour or so. If the weather is wet we do not do activities. This year they are from 11.30am to 12.30 which means people can do their events and then do the Blue Sparks activities afterwards. The activities are varied, and we are always looking for new ideas. Here is a sample of some of the activities so far: • Specially prepared large-scale 1:2,500 maps at some events; • Older kids setting a small course and the kids going round (and round and round); • Playing an Orienteering memory card game; • Group or individual map drawing or colouring‑in; • Porridge Orienteering – one of our most popular activities (intrigued – send an email to the editor if you want more information); We also do a range of other non-Orienteering activities depending on the location of the event: • Soccer • Treasure hunts
David Poland & Chris Mill
It is coordinated by a weekly e-mail (address blueparksact@gmail. com) to those involved letting them know about the upcoming event and other activities planned. Sometimes this is to people quite new and it allows them to learn more about Orienteering in an easy going atmosphere. Each year we have a weekend camp. This has proved very popular for both parents and kids. Activities at the camps included socialising, doing a mini rogaine, various skills activities, swimming in the river, water Orienteering, platypus spotting and bushwalking.
Easter 2010 Some of you will remember that Blue Sparks hosted an afternoon of activities at the Easter 2008 and 2009 Carnivals for kids and their parents. In 2010 we did kids activities at the event for five out of the seven events. The kids that took part had a great time and got to know each other better. And kids from interstate joined in too. Some other things that worked well at Easter 2010 was when a number of elites came over and helped with the activities (a big thank you to those involved as it was a huge week of Orienteering for you guys). We also had an activity book and some large-scale maps at some of the events for a range of activities.
• Sausage sizzle
Summary
Some members of the ACT’s Blue Lightning high school squad take time out to engage with the Blue Sparks. One memorable activity was when each Sparkie paired up with a Lightning team member to do a star course with a special 1:2,500 map. The Sparkies really look up to the older kids and everyone had a great time.
Blue Sparks has been a lot of fun and is achieving its goals of young kids and their families involved in Orienteering getting to know each other better, have fun and learn more about Orienteering. We have learnt a lot along the way and met many fantastic people. SEPTEMBER 2010 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER
19
WORLD ORIENTEERING CHAMPIONSHIPS
25th Anniversary WOC 1985 in Victoria Twenty-five years ago this month Australia staged the first World Orienteering Championships ever held outside Europe. It was the culmination of nine years of planning and organisation. Victoria was the host State but volunteers came from all over the country. The Individual Championship races were held at Mt Kooyoora, west of Bendigo, and the Relays were held at Wattle Gully, south of Castlemaine. Team Manager, Peter Stevens, has provided a wealth of information including news clippings and photos. The following extracts from press reports at the time give a good impression of the excitement of the competition: Huge Crowds of Orienteers invade City Travellers seeking overnight accommodation in Bendigo last night were greeted only by “No Vacancy” signs glistening through the rain. The city has been besieged by more than 2000 Orienteering devotees speaking more languages than were ever heard during the gold rush days. Bumper stickers proclaiming Orienteering to be “cunning running” and “the thought sport” abound and the number of visitors would be equalled only by the Easter Fair.
Finn’s Scintillating World Orienteer Title Granite and green were the memories of new World Orienteer ing champion, Finland’s Kari Sallinen, after he clocked an `unbeatable’ 88 minutes 8 seconds in the Individual event. The 1985 World Orienteering Champion described the course in Mt Kooyoora State Park as better than other championship courses, and very similar to the granite of Finland. Green areas on Orienteering maps indicate thick scrub and slow running - there was enough green on (mapper) Steve Key’s Championship map to make any Irishman blink. Sallinen made only one mistake on the difficult 15.2 kilometre course - he overshot the 19th control descending from a saddle high on Mt Kooyoora. Sallinen is Finland’s first Men’s Champion with a previous best world placing of fifth. He was accompanied for the final 200 metres past cheering crowds by team-mate Pasi Raukko bear ing the national flag. Finnish team manager Lasse Niemela described Sallinen’s win as terrific, and partly attributed the win to Australian conditions, neutral ground outside Europe. Second and third places were taken by lanky Norwegians Tore Sagvolden (90mins 01secs) and Egil Iversen (90:42). Former champion Morten Berglia was over three minutes behind Sallinen’s winning time. Sagvolden started three minutes behind rival Swede Jörgen Mårtensson, who finished fourth. Sagvolden lost two minutes in the middle of the course, but said the map was excellent. “I only looked for controls,” he said when asked if he saw anything interesting in the Australian bush. Iversen said the course was technically difficult but not extremely physically 20 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2010
Australian Team: (standing l to r) - Peter Stevens (Manager), Christine Marshall, Madeleine Sevior, Jenny Bourne, Sue Key, Carolyn Jackson, Kay Haarsma (Coach); (seated) – Clive Roper (Coach), Robert Plowright, Terry Farrell, Michael Dowling, Robert Vincent, Maurice Ongania, Duncan Sullivan (Team Doctor).
demanding. “It’s fantastic Orienteering terrain and an excellent map. You had to read the map all the time. I made a few minimal mistakes and had minor problems between controls one, two and three. It’s not like Norway.” Australia’s performance was the best ever, with Rob Vincent (103:03) finishing 21st of 71 competitors; Terry Farrell (103:13) 22nd; rookie Rob Plowright (110:38) in 36th and team captain Maurice Ongania (115:15) in 45th place. Ongania was the first Australian man away but lost a valuable eight minutes nearing the final controls. “I was going well early, but made one big mistake and lost a bit of time. I lost contact with the map on the way down. But it’s fantastic: really beautiful terrain.” The event was Rob Plowright’s first world event and the 22-year-old showed much promise for the future. Champion woman, for the third successive time, was Sweden’s Annichen Kringstad. Despite making “many mistakes”, Kringstad finished clear of Norwegian Brit Volden and fellow Swede Christina Blomqvist. Kringstad finished the 8.3 km women’s course in 54:14.
WOC 1985 in Victoria – Results WOMEN’S INDIVIDUAL 1. Annichen Kringstad (Sweden) 2. Brit Volden (Norway) 3. Christina Blomqvist (Sweden) 4. Kerstin Maansson (Sweden) 5. Karin Rabe (Sweden) 6. Ada Kucharova (Czech) 17. Madeleine Sevior (Aust) 19. Sue Key (Aust) 26. Carolyn Jackson (Aust) 35. Jenny Bourne (Aust) WOMEN’S RELAY 1. Sweden 2. Norway 3. Switzerland 4. Denmark 5. Czechoslovakia 6. Finland
Madeleine Sevior (149) was best placed Australian at 17th.
54:14 55:07 57:11 59:03 59:41 60:35 67:29 69:13 72:37 81:46 181:21 181:31 201:31 204:23 212:04 212:55
MEN’S INDIVIDUAL 1. Kari Sallinen (Finland) 88:08 2. Tore Sagvolden (Norway) 90:01 3. Egil Iversen (Norway) 90:42 4. Jörgen Mårtensson (Sweden) 91:12 5. Pekka Nikulainen (Finland) 91:50 6. Urs Fluhmann (Switzerland) 92:43 21. Robert Vincent (Aust) 103:03 22. Terry Farrell (Aust) 103:13 36. Robert Plowright (Aust) 110:38 45. Maurice Ongania (Aust) 115:15 MEN’S RELAY 1. Norway 2. Sweden 3. Switzerland 4. Hungary 5. Finland 6. Czechoslovakia 8. Australia
232:44 234:20 243:33 245:31 250:30 256:59 269:16
Robert Vincent (64) was best placed Australian male at 21st
Australia’s Sue Key (69:13) was second starter and finished 19th of 67 competitors. “I beat a couple of runners I hadn’t beaten before on a very fast course,” she said. “The most important thing was it was in Australia.” For top-placed Australian Madeleine Sevior - 17th with a time of 67:29 - the most important thing was finding her way home. Madeleine fell near the fourth of 14 controls and broke her compass, but disappointedly battled on without, using pure navigation techniques to find her way about. “Who knows where she would have finished if it hadn’t happened,” Australian team manager Peter Stevens said after the event. Other Australian women were Carolyn Jackson (72:37) in 26th and Jenny Bourne (81:46) in 35th place. The Australian team was ecstatic with its result, but nothing could match the jubilation of the Finns. The quiet new World Champion said at a press conference last night he would probably celebrate by “going and having a few beers”.
Nordics Dominate Relays Orienteers may “run the country” but the Swedes and Norwegians run the sport. The World Championships Relay events were won by nations which have dominated the world titles since their
Men’s Relay – 2nd change – Robert Plowright hands on to Michael Dowling.
inception in 1966. The Swedish women’s team retained the title it has held since the 1981 Switzerland championships, and the Norwegian men’s champions of 1983 won their third successive world relay event. The Swedish women held off a Norwegian challenge by 30 metres after the lead had changed several times through the courses. Winning margin was 10 seconds, and the Swedes’ elapsed time for the four 7km legs was 181min 21sec. World Champion Annichen Kringstad held Norwegian Ellen Olsvik at bay in the final run to the finish line, but the greatest margin between the two teams for the entire event was one minute. Switzerland won the bronze medal from Czechoslovakia in another tight finish.
Women’s Relay – Sue Key hands over to Carolyn Jackson.
The Swedish men began strongly, checking early Finnish challenges from world individual champion Kari Sallinen who was unable to match Swede Lars Palmquist on the first of four 11km legs. Former Norwegian world champion Oyvin Thon began the last leg two minutes behind Swede Jörgen Mårtensson. Spectators first sighted the tremendous battle as the orienteers emerged from a bushy area on a ridge above the finish area. Thon gained a minute on Mårtensson and as he reached the last control the entire Norwegian relay team joined him for the sprint to the finish. In jubilation, Thon took time to turn around and run across the finish line backwards. SEPTEMBER 2010 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 21
PARTICIPANTS SURVEY
Orienteering NSW Surveys Participants
Benefits of Orienteering In addition to commentary that Orienteering is quite simply ”FUN”, the survey identified three major reasons why athletes orienteer. These are to: 1. Keep fit and healthy; 2. Enjoy the environment; and
Barbara Hill (OANSW Promotion Director)
3. Stimulate the mind.
Background to OANSW Survey
Other popular benefits of Orienteering that were nominated included:
At the November 2009 Association meeting of NSW clubs, broad support was expressed for the Orienteering Association of NSW (OANSW) to increase the marketing and promotion of the sport. However, prior to committing funding to the venture, clubs felt that an overall marketing and promotion plan as well as a budget should be developed. As a first step towards developing a plan, it was agreed that the Association should survey both experienced orienteers and new athletes to the sport. The objectives of the survey would be to identify opportunities for growth of the sport as well as to gain a better understanding of limitations on participation. An additional potential benefit of surveying orienteers was to gather participant profile data that would be useful for targeting marketing and sponsorship proposals.
• exploration of the local region; • discovery of new areas; • to see family and friends; and also • to participate in a competitive sport.
Constraints on Participation A busy schedule of competing commitments was identified as the single largest constraint on participation. Summarised in Figure 2 are survey results from this question.
The online survey tool, SurveyMonkey, was the platform used for the survey and a questionnaire was developed. Benefits of SurveyMonkey include ease of use, the ability to include a variety of question formats and powerful result analysis tools. A link to the survey was placed on the OANSW website and also emailed to existing members and recent participants of the Sydney Summer Series (midweek Street O) that were not club members. Members were also encouraged to distribute the link to acquaintances and related organisations (such as Rogainers) were also asked to distribute the survey link. To encourage participation and honest feedback, respondents were able to contribute to the survey anonymously and OANSW agreed to fund two $150 random prizes for Orienteering equipment. The survey remained open during April 2010. Over this period, 310 responses were submitted.
Profile of Survey Respondents Responses were received from a broad cross-section of current and potential orienteers. A summary of respondents is included as Figure 1. Q: WHAT REGION DO YOU LIVE IN? Answer Options Sydney Newcastle or Hunter Central Coast Central West Northern Tablelands Southern Highlands Illawarra Riverina Other region in NSW Not in NSW
Q: WHAT IS YOUR AGE?
Response 67.1% 11.0% 3.5% 4.5% 3.2% 1.0% 1.6% 2.6% 1.9% 3.5%
Answer Options Response Under 18 years of age 3.1% 18 to 25 years 3.4% 25 to 49 years 55.0% 50 to 69 years 34.7% 70 years and over 3.8%
Q: HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN ORIENTEERING?
Answer Options Response Have never tried it 1.3% Less than 1 year 8.4% 2 to 5 years 28.4% 5 to 10 years 12.9% 10 to 20 years 18.7% 20 + years 30.3%
Q: WHAT IS YOUR PRIMARY SPORT?
Answer Options Response foot orienteering 58.4% mountain bike orienteering 4.8% rogaining 3.5% running 12.9% mountain biking 5.2% adventure racing 2.9% other 12.3%
22 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2010
Event Preferences Survey questions were also directed at gaining a better understanding of satisfaction levels with existing event formats. Midweek Street O score events gained the highest satisfaction ratios with 86% of respondents “satisfied” or “very satisfied”. Sprint events and State League events were also relatively popular. Least popular were the local “Come and Try It” and Night events. Event satisfaction levels are summarised in Figure 3.
Night events in the bush polarised commentary from respondents. Whilst some noted nervousness at the prospect of being in the bush at night, others expressed a preference for the NSW Night Championships to return from urban parkland to bush locations. Not surprisingly, participants prefer events close to home with enthusiasm dropping off as distance to the event increases. A significant proportion of respondents expressed a wish for more events no more than two hours drive away. There was a noted desire for the continuation of weekly summer score events and demand for sprint events on a weekly basis. State League events, local line events and mountain bike events seemed most popular on a monthly basis. The majority of respondents felt that Night events could be infrequent. As illustrated in the chart included as Figure 4, Sundays were generally accepted as the best day for Orienteering events. However there are also a considerable number of orienteers that are available to participate on Saturdays (Saturdays just pipped weekday evenings as the second most popular time slot for events). There appears to be little seasonality in interest levels.
Further analysis of non-club members illustrated that this segment was younger and more likely to be single or unmarried with no children. These orienteers were also highly educated with 45% having post graduate qualifications and a further 42% an undergraduate degree as their highest level of education. Income levels of non-club members are also high with 61% earning at least $100,000.
OANSW actions It is clear from the survey that orienteers are very busy people. As a result, a high priority for the Association will be assisting clubs to consistently provide quality events that offer value for both time and money. • Specific actions that have been initiated include: • A review of how event information is displayed on the OANSW and member club websites and how it may be displayed centrally and clearly; • Consideration of changes to the format of event information so that event details are more easily understood by newcomers; • Review of electronic event entry and membership options as well as electronic payment; • A review of event conduct so that events can be made less intimidating and more beginner friendly; • Commitment to a Level 1 coaching course and coaching weekend for all orienteers;
Orienteering NSW and Club Services Approximately 70% of respondents felt that OANSW could improve its marketing and promotion of the sport with 31% saying that this should be a high priority for the Association. Other OANSW areas that were identified as potentially benefiting from improvement were coaching services, event information, online entries and electronic payments as well as school development services. The website and, in particular, difficulties with event information and results generated significant commentary. A further theme amongst survey comments was that event information and conduct should be more first-timer friendly.
Orienteer Profile Questions were also included in the survey to gather data for future marketing opportunities. These questions highlighted that orienteers tend to be both well educated and remunerated. Graphs for club members aged 25 years or older highlight this (see Figure 5.).
• Establishment of a Board sub-committee to consider the 2011 event calendar. Event timing and format preferences will be considered during the planning process at the NSW level; and • Distribution of survey results to clubs to incorporate the information in their own planning. As the 2011 calendar is settled and event information becomes more readily and consistently available, marketing and promotion activities are expected to be expanded. A marketing and promotion plan, budget and funding proposal will be presented to NSW clubs for consideration. The role of development officers and opportunities with schools and other organisations is also evolving and will need ongoing review. All actions are being considered in association with a review of the services that the OANSW office undertakes on behalf of NSW clubs. The Board is keenly aware that the many members that run Orienteering across NSW are also volunteers and will be looking for opportunities to lighten their load and maximise the effectiveness of their valuable input. The survey has been a critical early step in a broader restructuring of OANSW and specifically of its marketing and promotional activities. As changes are made, a primary goal will be to ensure that we keep Orienteering FUN whilst also spreading the word of the many benefits of the sport so that it can continue to grow in future years. SEPTEMBER 2010 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 23
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.
Managing the Magazine In The Australian Orienteer, June’10, p38, Orienteering Australia Executive Officer, John Harding, writes about budgeting for the national magazine. There is a simple way of tackling this task; it is what was done when I was editor in the years 1997 - 2004. A basic strategy was to be financially responsible and business-like. First, a benchmark should be set - the cost to produce four issues a year, say two of 28 pages and two of 32 pages. This figure is the basis for fixing the member subscription rate. Advertisement income is an extra, enabling The Australian Orienteer to have extra pages; because this income is uncertain it is not included in the benchmark calculation. Second, since costs tend to relate to the Consumer Price Index, the rate charged for the magazine will be reviewed once a year against the CPI. For example, if the CPI has increased by three per cent, then the subscription rate for the magazine will probably go up by three per cent.
There are realistic alternative courses of action: as always one should test and experiment to see whether the exercise is practical and productive and to learn from the experience. First, place copies in a few selected outlets such as outdoor equipment, sports and bicycle stops in areas where Orienteering is relatively strong, e.g. Canberra and Bendigo. Second, place copies of the (updated) Orienteering introductory brochure in the same outlets as well as circulating to fitness centres and selected sports clubs. Readers need to be told how to get further information and how to sample Orienteering. All this can be implemented at State and club level. It can be done now. OA says that an obstacle to circulating The Australian Orienteer by the web is that it would be impractical to incorporate O maps of any quality. Reference to the web site for the recent MTBO World Championships demonstrates that the maps there are clear and legible; the OA web site itself has two map sections on the home page. I was pleased to read of the intention to conduct a fresh reader research by December 2010. As The Australian Orienteer editor I found the conclusions of reader research carried out in 2001 helpful in formulating editorial policy. The more orienteers who complete the questionnaire, the more reliable and more useful will be the results. Ian Baker (Victoria)
Third, the magazine fund may hold a reserve; this builds in years when the magazine operates at a surplus and is drawn on in a year with any unanticipated costs and to “smooth” any sudden cost increases. Smoothing is a normal business procedure; it benefits both the producer and the customer. This overall policy makes budgeting simple for the editor and production team, as well as for States and members. In 2009 The Australian Orienteer had expenditure $51,386, income $49,512: a deficit of $1,873. The OA accounts for 2008 (2009 figures were not on the OA web site when I looked in June) showed equity $29,646. Deducting the deficit of $1,873 in 2009, equity seems now to be $27,773; there should also be interest earnings to be credited. The equity is more than half the annual cost of the magazine. It is time to release some of the equity (reserve) to contain costs to States and members and to make constructive use of the reserve: that is what it’s for. OA also talks of seeking to sell copies of The Australian Orienteer through newsagents to attract new orienteers. This suggestion is a bit of a chestnut, often talked about but little done. There are practical considerations: • There are so many newsagents, usually one in every shopping strip: about seven thousand in Australia, as well as lots of other outlets such as milk bars. How can we determine which ones to target? How many? •T he Australian Orienteer would have to print many more copies of the magazine; an extra 10,000 copies of one issue would cost about $15,000: $60,000 in a full year. • Magazines are on sale or return. My local newsagent tells me unsold copies are returned to the distributor/wholesaler for credit; the distributor may pulp them. • Is the volume projection likely to appeal to a publication distributor? Are there minimum quantities required? • Does The Australian Orienteer appeal to a casual reader who is yet to sample Orienteering? I believe the whole concept is substantially flawed; member funds should not be invested in an ill thought out venture. 24 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2010
FOR STOCKISTS CALL 1800 209 999
www.victorinox.com
VICTORINOX AWARD The Victorinox Award goes to Ian Baker for his letter. Ian will receive a Victorinox Handyman which includes 24 tools and features – retail value $119.
The truth behind Nutrition claims H
ave you ever gazed in bewilderment at the food packages in the supermarket, wondering what all those ‘claims’ really mean? Things like 99% fat free, baked not fried, no added sugar, 50% of your daily requirement, etc,.etc.! Well you wouldn’t be alone. If you haven’t the time to read on and see behind the manufacturers’ hard sell tactics, then in summary, take it from me that most of these claims are pretty meaningless. The only way to tell the truth about the packet contents is to interpret the Nutrition Information Panel (or NIP) – that is if you have a magnifying glass handy to see the small numbers… Let’s look at how misleading the claims can be: 1. ‘All Natural’: Usually means there are no artificial colours, flavours or preservatives. It doesn’t mean that it is the best choice, as the product may still be high in fat, sugar and/ or salt. Alternatively, if you see the word ‘Natural’ in a list of ingredients, it actually represents a food additive (otherwise known as annatto or bixin or 160b). It is used to give a creamy colour to the product – biscuits or ice-cream or yoghurt. 2. ‘Creamed’, ‘Toasted’ or ‘Oven-baked’: These processes usually add more fat and more kilojoules to the original product, as is the case with toasted mueslis. 3. ‘Baked not fried’ does not mean there is less fat in the product. Biscuits may be labelled this way, but they can still be up to 24% fat. 4. ‘97% Fat –Free’ – this does actually mean that the product is low in fat, because by law, a product must contain less than or equal to 3 gram of fat per 100 grams to be labelled low fat. However, just because it is low in fat, it may still be 97% sugar, which is not highly desirable either, as a high sugar product is often low in nutrients of value (vitamins and minerals). 5. ‘Light’ or ‘Lite’: Does not necessarily mean less fat or lower in kilojoules. For example, ‘lite’ potato chips are thinly sliced and ‘lightly’ salted but are still high in fat. Light oils are light in colour and flavour (due to being further extracted), not lower in fat. All oils contain at least 98% fat.
NUTRITION Gillian Woodward
fat per 100grams, ie only 2 grams less fat per 20 gram slice. Sometimes we tend to eat more of the light product, thinking we will reduce kilojoule intake, whereas in fact we can easily end up consuming more energy. 8. ‘No Added Sugar’: The product contains no added sugar, but may contain plenty of naturally occurring sugar—e.g. fruit juices. One glass of juice can contain about 5 teaspoons of sugar, which results from the sugar in the original fruit. 9. ‘Low-joule’ or ‘diet’: These terms indicate that the product is lower in kilojoules than a similar product—usually due to the addition of artificial sweeteners. 10. ‘Carbohydrate Modified’: These products contain sugars other than sucrose (cane sugar). Sugars like sorbitol, mannitol, and xylitol are often used. These sugars are similar to sugar, i.e., same calories, and are not suitable for diabetics. They can also cause diarrhoea if too much is consumed in a short period of time. 11. ‘Salt reduced’ means that the salt content has been reduced, usually by about 25%. To be labelled ‘Low Salt’ the product must contain less than 120mg per 100grams of food. 12. ‘High fibre’ indicates that the product contains at least 2-5 grams of fibre per serving. Remember that we adults need at least 25-30 grams of fibre per day, so no one high fibre product will deliver this large amount on its own. So as I said at the outset, go to the NIP for the really useful information. There are some rules to follow there also, but we will leave those until next time………..
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.
6. ‘No Cholesterol’ or ‘Cholesterol Free’: This does not mean low fat. Foods made with vegetable oil will have no cholesterol, as cholesterol only comes from animal based foods, but can still be high in fat. e.g., a bottle of vegetable oil has no cholesterol but is still nearly 100% fat, much of which may be saturated or ‘bad’ fat (as in the case of palm or coconut oil). 7. ‘Reduced Fat’: Indicates that the food contains less fat than standard products, but may not necessarily be low in fat. Usually there is 25-33% less fat than the standard counterpart. For example light cheese is about 24-25% fat, compared to full-cream cheese which is around 33% fat, so there is only 8-9 grams less SEPTEMBER 2010 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 25
COURSE SETTING
Orienteering should be fun! Rex Niven – Nillumbik Emus
M
aybe the past is not as good as we like to remember, but I certainly feel course setting is not improving. This is despite the introduction of SportIdent and convenient tools like CONDES. Often Orienteering courses appear to focus mostly on the course length being correct, with so much use of common controls that there is great variation in the quality of individual legs. How do we decide quality Orienteering - isn’t it just subjective? Some view Orienteering as purely a forum for physical competition and probably want their courses to be a gruelling fitness test without too much chance of losing time with navigational errors. Others value the map-reading aspect and want the course to be complex but in easier terrain to allow a longer course with more navigating challenges. Après-O comments can vary from “horrible road leg” to “nice to stretch the legs there”. How do we keep both sides happy? I have a simple philosophy – Orienteering should be fun!
Control #3 This has two problems. Most runners will use the track, making for a bad dog-leg, and secondly making a trackrun leg with very little navigation challenge. The dog-leg means that later runners will meet earlier ones leaving the control, which makes it very easy for some. Control #4 No track route this time, and even some route choice, but the track just behind the control makes it quite easy to find by “bouncing” off the track. The collecting feature has become the attack point. Control #5 The course setter has tried to offer several routes through the complex terrain, but they are very unequal. The southern track route is clearly faster, and not very technical. It is also a severe dog leg.
A good course is not an army assault course nor is it hide-and-seek. It is challenging, interesting, absorbing, fair and (again) fun. In general a course is a series of legs, each more or less independent. A good leg: • requires complex contour features map reading, with at least three navigating challenges; • often has route choices, preferably at least three options of varying types; • is as long as possible whilst still obeying the first two rules; • may be short with minimal navigation if needed to set up a long high-quality one before or after, or avoid a dog-leg (see below). Looking at a bad Orienteering course may make this clearer – just look at Course Mal below (named after an Australian ex-Senator). Control #1 It is a pure compass run with nothing to re-orient from. Even experienced runners cannot be expected to hold a given compass direction with more than basic accuracy. This is a “bingo” control, with luck you might hit it, or you might not. (Late in the day you should just follow the elephant tracks, as a large group of orienteers seem to be able to run on a bearing quite accurately). Control #2 This time there is plenty to orienteer from! However the fence line and track remove all challenge from the leg, with 90% of the running distance requiring minimal navigation. This is called lost-distance, in other words only 10% is good Orienteering. 26 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2010
Course Mal
Control #6 This leg requires reading contours, but finding the large saddle is just too simple. A good contour leg should involve at least three separate map reading challenges along its length. Control #7 This leg is tempting competitors to cheat by using the out-ofbounds area to save time. Also, although the runner crosses a good variety of interesting terrain, the leg ends on a very easy-to-find spur. Control #8 Here course setter Mal has tried to set up an over-or-around challenge, but it does not work. To be effective, the climbing saved by going around should be offset by an extra distance
Map Reading (max 30%) Simple 0%; Standard 10%; Hard 20%; Complex 30%. (none of our bush maps would be 0%, and a leg may vary along its length) Best Route Choice (max 50%) None 0%; Cutting corner between paths 10%; Crossing a block between tracks 20%; Simple contouring 30%; Contour use in easy area 40%; Complex 50%. (bear in mind that by UK standards Kooyoora would be at least 60% ) Control (max 20%) Dogleg or no purpose -10%; Simple 0%; Medium 10%; Hard 20%.
Course Gut
equal to 12 times the height saved, i.e. about 180m. The route through the northern saddle is quite direct so few people will go over. Most orienteers can see this by “eye” without carrying twelve-times tables with them.
Once you have an overall assessment value, multiply by the leg distance to get the evaluation score for that leg. Then add all the evaluation scores together, assuming naturally that the course is the correct length. Comparing different course options allows you to identify weaknesses. For example, taking Kathy’s leg of 95mm, the map reading is consistently hard, best route choice is complex and the control is appropriate, so evaluation score is 90% x 95mm = 86 for that leg.
Lastly, why put the Start so far from the Finish? It is just unreasonable for competitors on short courses.
This method does not reward a course with multiple route choices, but you can compare the various options, and it is useful in thinking about minimising the boring bits.
Now, compare this with Course “Gut” (ironically) named after the same ex-Senator:
Next time(s) maybe:
The first control is moved a short distance but is now positioned behind a row of features allowing map reading technique to get to the flag. The second offers several routes, all involving several changes. The fourth (designed by Kathy Liley) is very good with multiple route choices and complex contour features to navigate through. The direct route is the most navigationally complex as it should be. Could this leg be made even longer? The route choice along the big valley might become too tempting. The last leg shows a better overor-around choice with several variations.
• Choosing start/finish; • Optimising route choice options & unexpected optimum routes off the map; • Using steep areas; • Using areas with strong track network; • Courses for older competitors; • Courses for juniors; • Hiding controls, attack directions, doglegs; • Map artwork - circle breaks, line breaks, positioning text; • Control descriptions; • Course climb.
Can we measure O-quality objectively or even numerically? The O-factor! The British Orienteering Federation once came up with a way to assess the value of an Orienteering course, and to improve your own courses it is worth revisiting: For each leg develop a score composed of these three components-
SEPTEMBER 2010 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 27
COACHING
A view from the 19th… Russell Blatchford (Newcastle OC)
Case in point: Sunday June 8, 2008. My AP log reads: Orienteering race 2:39:19 [3] **** 9.3 km (17:08 / km) +210m 15:24 / km , spiked: 3/12c ‘Limekiln Creek for Big Kids’. In a moment of intense despair, as I was walking on the safety bearing, confused and absolutely shattered, I wondered how to log to-day. Decided at that time to just write “forget it and move on”. It helps to talk I guess. Actually really enjoyed the first seven controls, and the feeling of finding controls on long legs through good reading of the contours. Got sloppy in circle 6 and 7, but got it together on #8. Knew exactly where I was half way to #9 -don’t know what happened then. It was like a switch got turned off in my head.
… as an Orienteer I make a reasonable ‘B’ grade golfer
J
anuary 2009, and a state of panic pervades the family study. Classic role reversal. This time the teacher has an assignment to complete - during school holidays! Having committed myself to a Level 2 Coaching Course in the ACT, an email from course organiser Dave Meyer has my pulse thumping. The facilitator for the Level 2 Course will be Paul Pacque from Tasmania, and in a bold bid to squeeze everything in to one weekend, Dave’s email informs us that participants will be expected to deliver a seminar presentation on an allocated topic. The source of my anxiety - I have been allocated ‘Mental Techniques During an Orienteering Race’. Paul has got to be kidding!! An avid reader of the ‘Peanuts’ cartoon strip as a kid, right at that moment I recalled a scene in which Lucy is providing counselling advice from her ‘booth’. Charlie Brown is setting himself up for yet another fall as he seeks wisdom from Lucy. Lucy informs Charlie Brown that life is like a cruise ship. Some people sit up the front on their deck chair - they like to see where they are going. Others prefer to position their deck chair at the rear of the boat and contemplate how far they have come. Lucy poses a question. “On the cruise ship of life Charlie Brown, where is your deck chair?” Charlie replies “I haven’t managed to get mine unfolded yet”. As far as my seminar topic is concerned, I don’t even have a deck chair, let alone have it unfolded!
Lost map contact in vague/green area and panic set in. A bit later panic became frustration, and I was gone from a thinking point of view. Then came that pathetic “woe is me” and I started walking. Then started walking the safety bearing - I am ashamed to admit it, but at that moment I had given up. Then, quite unexpectedly, I fluked a relocation, gave it another go and finally got #9 - 58 minutes after punching #8! But then couldn’t get #10 cleanly - pathetic response mentally again straight to frustration mode and just not thinking. Relocated 3 times before finally getting the bloody thing - 22 minutes! In summary-half way to #9 through to #10 was a straight line distance of approx 900 metres, and it had taken me 80 minutes!!! I was so into the map one minute, then completely lost the next, and couldn’t make head nor tail of anything. Just couldn’t think. Now it is time to move on. My June 8 experience accounts for my apprehension. How can someone so
28 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2010
capable of complete mental disintegration speak at a Level 2 Coaching Course on Mental Techniques in competition? I conclude that Paul Pacque either has a wicked sense of humour, or believes that I might have something valuable to share as a product of my continual ineptitude in the forest. The latter appeals more - Paul has paid me a compliment (cough) and I can proceed with the preparation of my presentation with confidence!! But I just can’t get started. My earlier sporting life was in the team environment of cricket and AFL. There had been modest successes in the country, and surely there must have been instances of Mental Techniques that enhanced performance in competition. Can I adapt some of these experiences? Perhaps I can, but can I string things out for 15-20 minutes - I don’t think so. Post team sport life has revolved around Orienteering, obviously, and golf. Modest success at best, but a fire in the belly for both will, given good health and good luck, never be extinguished. Golf - my early improvements once I joined a club and commenced playing competition were quite significant. How could that be? I rarely practiced due the time factor and might get to play three times a month if the going was good. As I continue to be reminded - Golf is not the most family friendly of sporting pursuits!
I put together. At least I will have had a go, and the best possible outcome if I don’t survive as a contributor is that there will be more time for golf!
FOR THE GOLFER IN ME * Develop a pre-shot routine: Skill - the ability to achieve a pre-determined result. My goal has always been 80 effectively achieved pre-determined results in a round of golf. However, the achievement of the desired result with each shot fluctuates markedly. Early reading of golf instructional material suggested the need to create a foundation for greater predictability and consistency. In golf it is referred to as a pre-shot routine - visualisation (2), alignment (3/4), commit to the shot/ pull the trigger/swing (5).
Thinking about that initial rapid improvement I finally hit upon an idea. Technology in golf has changed the game immensely, and for the better, as far as ‘weekend warriors’ such as me are concerned. I purchased a set of clubs that did not look out of place on a golf course in the year 2006 and beyond. But more significantly, I read about golf and I read, and I read, and I read. Magazine subscriptions, internet sites, browsing in newsagents (found in all good shopping centres, thank goodness). Golf magazines are full of so much instructional material. I filtered out that which was not applicable to my limited ability level, and committed myself to putting theory into practice. My improvement as a golfer was most significantly between my ears - I started to play smarter. Mental techniques and strategies that really did work. And many of these techniques and strategies apply equally as well to Orienteering. The similarities are quite astounding. My Level 2 presentation was born. Much has been written in these pages on the Editorial policy of our magazine, and comparisons with quality golf publications have been part of the debate. Quality golf publications have instructional segments in every issue, pitched at different subgroups within the golfing population. For example, instruction on the basis of handicap/ability level (A, B and Ç grade), instruction for women, instruction for seniors and instruction for juniors. I am intending to have a go at providing some instructional information in a few editions of The Australian Orienteer. I am not a great orienteer, but I think there is content in my Level 2 presentation from January 2009 that the B and C grade orienteer such as me might be able to identify with. I hope that I can offer something for less experienced juniors also. Perhaps other readers might pitch some instructional content at the A grade and elite level orienteer, or for the senior orienteer, or for women.
The advice to golfers of all standards was clear. If you have a pre-shot routine, use it every time. If you don’t have a pre-shot routine, then get one now! So I got my own pre-shot routine. A little three-quarter loosen up swing beside the ball prior to visualisation from behind the ball. Then proceed as pictured above - a last minute single waggle of the club became the trigger to swing.
If the Editor is willing, then I intend to present A View From the 19th for a few editions. The Orienteering membership is intelligent, articulate and brutally honest at times. I have no doubt I will quickly come to realise whether there is an interest in what
Obviously situations dictated minor variations, most evident on the green where the routine commenced with visualisation, then move beside the ball for one or two rehearsal strokes, then position putter, align body - and no trigger in the form SEPTEMBER 2010 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 29
COACHING
of a waggle. But importantly to improvement, the routine was embedded in my game, usually between 85 and 90 times a round.
If I had that time again, I would have attempted to offer an acronym. Twelve months on, and based on further personal reflection following additional mental disintegrations and some modest successes, discussions with fellow competitors, listening to other coaches and elite level performers, a pre-leg routine which works for me would read MARSECT. Strange word, but serves the purpose, and works for me as a B grade competitor.
The pre-shot routine became a foundation for consistency, introducing a platform upon which to build predictable shot outcomes. Suddenly strengths in my game became apparent, as too did problem areas during a round. I was able to play to those strengths, and I was able to target the problem areas through further reading - and lessons with a PGA professional.
M – map orientation, A – attack point, RS – route simplification, E – exit direction, CT – commit / trust yourself. The NSW Junior Training Squad has had a lot of fun developing acronyms at squad camps from time to time. Recently retired, highly respected squad coach, Mark Darvodelsky, continually challenged squad members to develop an Orienteering process, to embed that process in competitive situations, and keep that process under control at all times. The acronym was to represent their process.
FOR THE ORIENTEER IN ME * Develop a pre-leg routine: It is interesting to look at the slide produced for my Level 2 presentation in January 2009.
3 Orientate the map 3 Have a plan 3 Check compass 3 Exit direction – what will I see?
Some in the squad developed acronyms of JK Rowling proportions, and five minutes later the author had either forgotten what each letter represented, or was too out of breath to keep repeating - out loud anyway. Of course, some acronyms were very short and simple, to the point that the effectiveness could be questioned - but hey, if it gets the job done! What works for the individual concerned is the important thing. Following Easter Twenty10 the NSW Junior Squad trained and stayed together until the Snow E Treble races were completed. JWOC Coach Roch Prendergast addressed the squad one night, and spoke about the Orienteering process using the acronym CARE. C – control feature, A – attack point, R – route choice, E – exit direction/entry direction.
What acronym might readers of AO come up with? As is the case in golf, a pre-leg routine in Orienteering provides a foundation or platform for successful skill execution. The routine will allow strengths to be identified, and utilised. The routine will allow an individual to recognise areas requiring further attention and development. It is interesting to consider the time investment in the pre-shot / pre-leg routine. Slow play in Golf is frowned upon. The preshot routine should take no more that 15 seconds, and slow play attracts stroke penalties, whether it be a club weekend competition or on the USPGA Tour. In Orienteering, the time invested in the pre-leg routine is difficult to put a value on. To some the time investment might be regarded as time lost and places lost if the commitment is excessively pedantic to the letter of the acronym. Others may well say that an extra five to ten seconds pre-leg could equate to minutes saved later on in the leg.
Photo: Erik Borg
During the recent, highly enjoyable and successful Easter Twenty10 / Snow E Treble carnival, I had 132 controls to find across seven races. Within those demands I know that the need to attend to the detail of my MARSECT process to the letter of the law fluctuated markedly. The tap-in putt in golf becomes the short compass leg across a hill side (but respect the challenge), or the last control below as you run down hill into open farmland. But the confidence emanating from what can become a very automatic, and at times abbreviated process is crucial to further enjoyment and success in our wonderful and uniquely demanding sport.
30 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2010
WORLD ORIENTEERING CHAMPIONSHIPS 2010
Australian Boomerangs in Trondheim, Norway Blair Trewin & Andy Hogg
SPRINT: The Sprint Qualification terrain was a mixture of simple urban and complex forest. Australians fared well. Shannon Jones qualified with 13th place while Grace Crane went one better in Heat 2. Jasmine Neve finished 24th with only 15 to qualify. Julian Dent qualified in 15th with just 23secs to spare. Simon Uppill also ran strongly but was just 10secs outside the qualifying time in 17th, while Rob Preston finished 25th. In the Final, Grace Crane was the leading Australian with 30th place, equalling her previous best Sprint result. Shannon Jones was another 39secs back in 41st place. Julian Dent came 35th after losing some time early.
MIDDLE DISTANCE: Four Australians qualified for Final. Simon Uppill was the most impressive performer qualifying in 10th place. David Shepherd had a few nervous moments but made it through in 13th. Vanessa Round’s time initially looked like she might struggle to make the cut, but she qualified reasonably comfortably in 11th. Grace Crane, one of the last starters in her heat, was 13th. The big surprise was the failure of Julian Dent to qualify. He lost 4 mins at #1 and another two at the #5 to put himself out of contention, finishing 23rd. Jasmine Neve was perhaps the day’s hard-luck story, missing out by two places despite running much of the race with one shoe (the other one having fallen victim to the local marshes).
LONG DISTANCE: Anna Sheldon was the only Australian to qualify for the Final. Despite some time lost on the last long leg, she had a solid run qualifying with a little under 2mins in hand, in 13th. Kathryn Ewels lost more than 10 mins at #3, and while she was fourth-fastest from there to the finish, the deficit was too large to make up and she missed out by two places in 17th. Shannon Jones mispunched though her time would not have qualified in any case. Rob Preston ran steadily without ever really threatening to break into a qualifying position, finishing at the back of a close bunch in 27th. In the Final Anna Sheldon finished 38th while Switzerland’s Simone Niggli won a record 17th gold medal.
RELAYS: A solid first leg by Grace Crane brought our women through in 19th. Vanessa Round immediately made up time on surrounding teams, at one stage up to 15th and finishing in 17th. Kathryn Ewels came good at the right time as she caught and then outsprinted Poland and Estonia to bring the team to 13th place. Simon Uppill didn’t disappoint, finishing 11th on the first leg and still in touch with the leading pack of runners. David Shepherd held steady to hand over to Julian Dent in 12th. The race didn’t break apart until half-way through the final leg, when France (Thierry Gueorgiou) and Russia (Valentin Novikov) edged away. But an uncharacteristic mistake from Georgiou (who didn’t punch #17 costing him 6 mins and dropping France from 1st to 8th) left Russia the eventual victors from Norway and Switzerland. Meanwhile Dent started the final leg well, up to 11th at one stage, but faded to finish in 17th. There will be more detailed coverage in the December issue of The Australian Orienteer Simon Uppill competing in the Middle final. Photo: Erik Borg
Simon Uppill was the best Australian in the Final finishing in 34th place. He struck difficulty on the final loop which cost him some places, but not to the same extent as David Shepherd, who lost four minutes on a control and finished 45th. Grace Crane made a slow start and although she did not do a lot wrong after that, 37th place was the best she could manage, while two significant errors in the first half kept Vanessa Round to 41st. SPRINT - Women - 2.62km 1 Niggli, Simone SUI 16:06,2 2 Jansson, Helena SWE 16:06,9 3 Andersen, Marianne NOR 16:12,1 30 Crane, Grace AUS 18:53,7 41 Jones, Shannon AUS 19:32,4 SPRINT - Men - 2.74km 1 Mueller, Matthias SUI 16:10,9 2 Hertner, Fabian SUI 16:13,2 3 Tranchand, Frédéric FRA 16:13,3 34 Dent, Julian AUS 17:52,3 MIDDLE DISTANCE - Women - 4.53km 1 Kauppi, Minna FIN 30:01 2 Niggli, Simone SUI 30:21 3 Andersen, Marianne NOR 30:57 37 Crane, Grace AUS 39:06 41 Round, Vanessa AUS 40:52 MIDDLE DISTANCE - Men - 5.47km 1 Kaas, Carl Waaler NOR 30:33 2 Öberg, Peter SWE 30:40 3 Gueorgiou, Thierry FRA 31:12 3 Hubmann, Daniel SUI 31:12 34 Uppill, Simon AUS 37:54 45 Shepherd, David AUS 43:27
LONG DISTANCE - Women - 9.88km 1 Niggli, Simone SUI 1:12:49 2 Andersen, Marianne NOR 1:15:02 3 Claesson, Emma SWE 1:15:07 38 Sheldon, Anna AUS 1:41:29 LONG DISTANCE - Men - 15.11km 1 Lundanes, Olav NOR 1:32:41 2 Nordberg, Anders NOR 1:33:21 3 Gueorgiou, Thierry FRA 1:36:21 RELAY - Women 1 Finland 1:59:04 2 Norway 1:59:15 3 Sweden 2:00:19 13 Australia 2:26:39 Grace Crane 36:09 19 36:09 Vanessa Round 54:40 18 1:30:49 Kathryn Ewels 55:50 16 2:26:39 RELAY - Men 1 Russia 2:09:51 2 Norway 2:10:34 3 Switzerland 2:11:03 17 Australia 2:26:00 Simon Uppill 29:45 11 29:45 David Shepherd 57:23 14 1:27:08 Julian Dent 58:52 21 2:26:00
19 17 13
11 12 17 SEPTEMBER 2010 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 31
GREEN ORIENTEERING
2011 Scottish Six Days at Oban The Greener Orienteering alternative Ross Lilley - Oban 2011 Co-ordinator
www.scottish6days.com
T
hinking of coming to Oban 2011? If so, you can expect six days of Scottish Orienteering at its best. Superb technical areas in inspiring natural landscapes; high quality courses; and chance to compete against top class international competition. But the Scottish Six Days is not all about Orienteering. It’s a holiday, an experience, a social gathering, a chance to explore parts of Scotland you may not have been to before. Oban 2011 offers you all of that and something else as well – a greener conscience ! Just about everyone is advertising their event as ‘Green’ these days. It’s fast becoming an over rated term. Often the ‘green’ credentials amount to tokenism such as the provision of a recycling bin or two. So what do we mean by the term at Oban 2011? Here are some of our credentials for you to think about;
Green – Carbon efficient Yes, some competitors will be travelling far to reach Oban, many will include a flight in their itinerary. Travel outstrips all other activities with regard to CO2 emissions especially air travel. But there are ways of improving your carbon efficiency when travelling to Oban. There is only one major road link between Oban and the Scottish Lowlands – so think about the potential to share your car for the last 50 miles of your journey? Oban is served by a regular, carbon efficient, public transport service including a train and bus from Glasgow at least twice a day (which can even drop you off 3 miles from the event centre). And if you really must fly then why not take the sea plane direct from the centre of Glasgow to Oban bay. Low altitude flying without need for carbon costly airports at either end. Once you’ve got here? Well you won’t need to travel more than 15 miles from the event centre to each day’s event. Indeed four out of the six days are within 5 miles of the event centre. 32 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2010
Green – less impact on the local environment We are entering into negotiations with the GRAB trust - a social enterprise set up by the local authority with responsibility for promoting energy efficiency and waste reduction, recycle and re-use. All being well we intend to offer paper, tin, glass and bottle recycling facilities at the event centre and at each day’s assembly fields. All six day areas involve environmentally sympathetic landowners involved in wildlife management schemes. Of course, Orienteering can adversely impact on sensitive wildlife. But here, in the west, the most sensitive period for birds will be mostly over by the end of July. Far from damaging our wild woodland habitats, with sympathetic planning, orienteers can help improve wildlife habitats in some competition areas by trampling bracken, creating micro bogs (insect niches) and through our re-investment of part of the competition fee back into the land manager’s pocket. This will, in its small way, all help to sustain the low intensity grazing that keeps the woodlands in good heart year round.
Green – more sustainable local economy less reliant on imports In this case you, the competitor, are the import. Once you are here you can purchase much of the food you intend to consume sustainably harvested, minimally packaged, and grown and processed by local labour. Fresh fish, seafood, lamb, beef, venison, pork, dairy products, seasonal vegetables, beer and whisky are all harvested or processed within 20 miles of Oban. Many of Oban area’s hotels, restaurants and shops sell these products and wise, socioeconomically conscious visitors can contribute much to local sustainable development by their purchase power. We hope to bring local food producers direct to the assembly field and event centre too.
And then you can visit the cradle of Scottish Gaelic Culture, Music, Politics and Christian heritage by visiting places like Iona, Kilmartin Glen and Dunstaffnage Castle (on the Day 1 map). Trace an ancestor at Inverary Jail museum from where many an innocent unfortunate left the auld country for a new life in Australia! Finally, we intend to continue to push an already internet savvy Orienteering fraternity further into the IT age by setting up internet access boosters at the event centre/campsites and using a state-of-the-art GPS tracking screen on Day 3 to enliven the elite spectacle. The former will mean we can cut down on paper information in favour of more communication with participants by electronic means. All-in-all we hope you will find our Oban 2011 event worth signing up for. An experience that will excite your Orienteering fervour, appease your environmental conscience and enrich your cultural soul. Please come! You can download a copy of the Oban2011 leaflet as a PDF here: www.scottish6days.com/documents/2011/ Oban2011-leaflet.pdf
Green – experience the power of nature, culture and landscapes to re-invigorate the soul! Oban has it in buckets and spades! Come and experience Scotland’s most biodiverse region. You can have the opportunity to view Sea Eagles, Porpoises, Seals, Otters, Underwater reefs, Oak woodlands with biodiversity that matches the rainforest, Checkered Skipper, Marsh Fritillary, even medicinal leeches and all this within 20 miles of Oban! In your carbon efficient travels you will pass through Sites of special scientific interest (you will be running through one on Days 2 and 3), National Scenic Areas (you will almost be running in one on Day 6!) Island scapes, woodland, mountains, sea and lochs.
SEPTEMBER 2010 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 33
TOP EVENTS
A
• CH
LIAN
USTRA
•
AM S P
R IA
FORD
• CHE
D
VICTO
AYLES
•
W TON
2010 australian mountain bike orienteering championships Chewton & Daylesford, Victoria
23 & 24 October 2010
IOF WORLD RANKING EVENT NATIONAL MTBO SERIES – # 3
es
sprint,middle and long distance rac for more info and online entry go to
w w w. v i c m t bo. com
click on aust champs link
34 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2010
TOP EVENTS
2010
2012 Sept 5
WOC25 Kooyoora, Victoria www.vicorienteering.asn.au
Sep 25 Oct 3
AUS Champs Carnival Barossa & Adelaide, SA www.sa.orienteering.asn.au Puglia 5 Days 2010 Rodi Garganico, Italy www.orienteering.it SA MTBO Champs (Long & Mid) Nelson – Vic/SA border Aus MTBO Championships – Vic Nat MTBO #3, WRE, Chewton & Daylesford. www.vicmtbo.com Venice Orienteering Meeting Italy. www.orienteering.it Xmas 5-Days Armidale NSW www.nsw.orienteering.asn.au
Oct 3-4
Oct 16-17 Oct 23-24
A
• CH
LIAN
USTRA
•
AM S P
R
IA
• CHE
FORD
D
VICTO
AYLES
•
W TON
Nov 13-14 Dec 27 - 31
April 6-9
June 16 - 17
July 1-8
July 7-8
March 12-13
April 22 - 25
June 17-21
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
Nov 12-13 Dec 27 - 31
A Weekend of Orienteering in Canberra. Middle, Sprint & Long www.act.orienteering.asn.au Australian 3-Days West Australia www.aus3days 2011.orienteering.asn.au MTBO World Cup & World Masters. Dalarna, Sweden www.mtbosweden.se Jukola Relays Virolahti, Finland www.jukola2011.net 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 Venice Orienteering Meeting Italy. www.orienteering.it Xmas 5-Days NSW www.nsw.orienteering.asn.au
WMOC Bad Harzburg, Germany www.wmoc2012.de JWOC Kosice, Slovakia
Dates tba (July 6-13)
Tour O Swiss 2012 www.tour-o-swiss.ch
July 14-22
WOC Lausanne, Switzerland www.woc2012.ch MTBO WOC & MTBO JWOC Veszprem, Hungary WMOC/MTB 2012 Australian Championships, Tas
Aug 19-25
2011
Australian 3-Days, Queensland www.aus3days2012.orienteering. asn.au Jukola Relays Vantaa, Finland
Dates tba Dates tba
Orienteering Australia – National Training Centre
AMAZING New Zealand
tales
New zealand orienteering in full colour drama % action % passion % thrills & spills magazine subscription via www.nzorienteering.com or email nzof@nzorienteering.com
annual subscription (4 issues) = 31.50 NZD ≈ 13GBP or 28AUD SEPTEMBER 2010 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 35
Breathe Deeply
O-Spy National Schools Champions from WA In the Dec’09 issue of AO, the report on the 2009 Australian Schools Championships stated that Oscar McNulty was the first Western Australian to win an individual title. In fact, he was the first Western Australian boy to win an individual title. Erin Post won the Junior Girls’ event in 2000.
Hanny Allston to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS in Kenya Hanny would like to share some really exciting news. On October 7 - 18 she will be joining riders from the UK and Switzerland to cycle across the most remote areas of Kenya in a bid to raise money for their overwhelming HIV/AIDS sufferers. “100% of the profits raised will go to the communities which we cycle through” said Hanny, “so we will be able to see first hand where the new clinics, schools and programs will be established. I am hoping that this will also open my eyes to the future possibilities for Find Your Feet’s involvement in Kenya and perhaps lead tours back to Kenya to either cycle or run with the local athletes whilst helping in the communities. Ambitious but an amazing opportunity. Therefore I am asking all my friends to dig deep into their pockets to assist Find Your Feet in the development of this program. Email me at hanny@findyourfeet.com.au “. “My other means of raising funds for Kenya is to cycle from Zurich to Vienna via Germany from 19
August to 17 September, collecting donations along the way. Then on the 19th September I will be participating in the International Triathlon Federation Olympic Distance Federation Triathlon in Mombassa, Kenya. Following the ride I will move on to Kaptagat near Mt Kenya to live with Kenyan 800m running champion Reuben Kosgei at high altitude, work in the school which he established, and learn as much about the Kenyan way of training as I can to put back into Find Your Feet on my return. Any funds remaining from the ride will be put back into Reuben’s endeavours in Kaptagat.”
Please use the unmarked tracks At a recent event organised by SWOT (South West Orienteering Trekkers), who are known in the west for their casual eccentricity, part of the instructions on the map read: “IMPORTANT NOTE - this area is crossed by many tracks. Although they are not shown, you are asked to use them wherever possible.”
Australian Doctor (June 4, 2010) mentions that at the 110th General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology held in San Diego, it was reported that the soil bacterium ‘Mycobacterium vaccae’, which you are most likely to inhale or ingest whilst you are in the natural environment, had been studied. It was found that, at least in mice, it decreases anxiety and makes navigating through mazes twice as easy for those infected with the bacterium as those not infected. These findings surely could be applied to motivating/ improving future and present orienteers? Go into the terrain and inhale deeply before starting in an event. Peter Kreminski, Wallaringa Orienteers
RadiO 2011 Asia Pacific Championships to be held in Victoria It has just been confirmed that the 2011 Region 3 (Asia Pacific) ARDF Championships will be staged in Victoria late next year. ARDF = Amateur Radio Direction Finding. Events involve locating controls which emit radio signals whilst navigating on an Orienteering map. The control positions are not marked on the map.
At least the control sites were shown, although the markers were not easy to find in thick scrub on sand dunes.
Difficult to Believe Seen recently in an advertising feature in a major Melbourne newspaper - “Winter is the time of year that many people start thinking about laser lipolysis to remove unwanted stubborn fat deposits that won’t budge without diet and exercise.” So ……. why not try diet and exercise ??????? Some gentle Orienteering would help.
36 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2010
Don’t Trust the GPS A tip for travellers: if your GPS system leads you into a forest, forces you to unlock gates and move rocks blocking the road, chances are something is amiss - unless, of course, you’re going to an Orienteering event. South Korean tourists travelling from
Brisbane to Rockhampton had to be rescued from a remote track in a forestry reserve in southeast Queensland after they tried to follow the directions given by their car’s GPS system. The three followed gravel roads, then dirt roads, then went through a couple of gates, and ended up bogged in a gully in Cordalba State Forest, near Childers. The men, who did not speak English, ignored danger signs and moved rocks blocking a road, to get to an isolated point that was practically inaccessible. When their sedan became bogged the men tried to walk out, further endangering themselves. Bundaberg Police received a 000 call about 1am. A council worker found the tourists’ vehicle six hours later. The forest has form, a month earlier backpackers also got lost there after following their GPS too faithfully. Police advise travellers to learn how to use their GPS, and turn back if something looks wrong or signs don’t match.
End of an Era
For the past 40 years SILVA has supported The Australian Orienteer magazine with paid advertisements and product placements. For most of that time Tom Andrews’ Orienteering Service of Australia held the SILVA agency and when ownership of SILVA passed to Fiskars Brands they continued to support the magazine. Now, however, Fiskars Brands has decided to discontinue their support. We thank SILVA for its invaluable support over those many years and hope that, some time in the future, the relationship may be re-instated.
TOP OF THE WORLD
L
ike boulder terrain? You’d just love the Stone Forest near Kunming in south-west China: kilometres of karst limestone in bewildering patterns. Our photo was taken by Ian Baker (Vic.) who toured Yunnan province in April this year. Xin Zhang (Lotus), the guide, said she had got very fit from walking the tourist tracks several times a week with her tour groups. For the past ten years there has been an annual tour to Yunnan led by former double world champion Jörgen Mårtensson. As a result there is a series of excellent maps in Yunnan, including the tourist destinations of Lijiang and Dali.
Orienteering on Top of the World
Much of the area is high above sea level and you might be orienteering at 3,000 metres (10,000 feet); you could run out of breath even sooner than usual! Cans of compressed oxygen with nose tubes are sold in many places.
Part of the orienteering map of the Old Town in Lijiang. The area has many streams and small canals presenting navigational challenges.
Lijiang has a beautiful, perfectly preserved Old Town.
Ian says it was very cold in Tibet and he had to buy a fur jacket to keep warm. Perhaps it came from the uncle of this yak!
SEPTEMBER 2010 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 37
ORIENTEERING AUSTRALIA
Executive Matters John Harding – OA Executive Officer
ASC funding bids In June the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) invited National Sporting Organisations (NSOs) to submit bids for additional funding for high performance activities and for increasing participation. High Performance (HP) Director Eric Morris put together a very professional bid for $362,000 per year for additional HP funds. OA Board Director of Special Projects, Robert Spry, and myself attended an ASC briefing on the bid templates and parameters. The ASC argues that NSO (and State Association) Strategic Plans should have four broad elements: Exposure; Engagement; Development; Excellence, grouped into a Participation Plan covering Exposure and Engagement, and a HP Plan covering Development and Excellence. Funding available to NSOs for increased participation was for: • more registered members. Proposals must estimate increased numbers achievable in the 4-year funding period; • increased retention of existing members and increased numbers of new members; • increased capacity building eg. more clubs, coaches, officials, volunteers. Objectives include: 1. More people doing organised Orienteering; 2. More inactive people becoming active by participating regularly, especially children, women, etc; 3. Opportunities for marginalised or disadvantaged groups. Funding is NOT available for: • exposure activities, such as “Come & Try It” days, school, corporate or scout activities with once-off participation, or any activity where people just try Orienteering once but don’t ‘engage’ by committing to regular participation; • existing development and participation programs. We must provide documentation on development activities currently funded in States and Territories, the dollar value and regions covered - $116,000 across Australia in 2009. To check that no sport is rorting their bid, the ASC will copy bids to State and Territory sport and recreation departments. A good aspect of the checking process is that it creates a second opportunity where some State departments may agree to fund good proposals not funded by the ASC. To assess proposals and rank bids from the ~60 sports applying the ASC will give points based 40% on excellence, 30% on relevance, and 30% on effectiveness. Excellence examines membership growth in the last 3 years and how well proposed programs will increase numbers above our normal growth trajectory. Relevance compares membership numbers (9300 in 2009) with other sports. Effectiveness covers governance and financial management. The ASC ranks us highly on effectiveness with good governance and financial management but poorly on relevance - many other sports with compulsory membership report tens of thousands of members. The ASC defines members as full members of a club plus those who sign up to participate in multiple Orienteering events, eg. Sydney Summer Series, all the Park & Street Series in Melbourne, Saturday morning community program in Canberra, WA Sprint Series, Hobart Corporate Series, etc. We shoot ourselves badly in the foot for government and private sponsorship by not counting hundreds of people in these Series as 38 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2010
members. We must include the many who only have the time, transport, family support, etc, to do that kind of Orienteering. The issue is not just failure to count - the most effective way to encourage these participants into other events such as bush O and into full membership is to include them on the membership database and in the information loop through weekly State Association ENews bulletins. In mid-June State and Territory Associations were advised that the ASC would invite bids for participation projects. After the ASC briefings OA asked for recommendations on priority projects. Fortunately some excellent up-to-date research had been done by Barbara Hill in NSW (the OANSW survey reported in this magazine) and Peta Whitford in Victoria (part of a $44,000 VicHealth grant) and most Associations had held strategic planning workshops. This enabled priority projects to be identified for the ASC bid, plus others which had great merit but did not comply with the bid conditions, including a high need to improve websites and results systems and get out commercial and social media information. Orienteering Tasmania is creating a paid Communications Officer position and other States are looking at part-time paid support. Common feedback was that Orienteering is very labour and volunteer intensive and volunteers are really stretched organising current event programs. However, if we just carry on as usual, we will definitely go backwards (e.g. the decline in bush Orienteering participation in the last 15 years). Thus funding bids must include paid support for new projects which should have low labour requirements to be sustainable. A draft bid submission prepared by Robert Spry and myself was circulated to State Associations and the ASC. This prompted further very good proposals, while refining or deleting others. We then had to clearly show how some projects would increase membership numbers and retention, and estimate the increases. The final bid asked for $461,300 over 4 years (2011-$136,800; 2012-$94,000; 2013-$118,000; 2014-$112,500). Very high priority projects included: • a comprehensive organisers’ manual for rolling out Park & Street Orienteering programs; • new metropolitan programs in Southern and Western regions of Sydney; • new regional programs in the Northern Rivers and Coffs Harbour areas of NSW, Cairns and Rockhampton in QLD, and Hamilton in Victoria; • MTB/run DuO Orienteering in NSW; • online self coaching resources (videos, competition & training guides) for bush, park & street, sprint and mountain bike Orienteering); • travel assistance to attend Level 1 and 2 coaching and officiating courses for people from Darwin and from regional centres more than 300kms from State capitals; High priority was given to a Trail O pilot in Tasmania for wheelchair participants, followed by roll out in other States (with paid organisers) if successful. Roll outs are staged over 4 years to avoid overload. In 2009 there was $116,000 in funding by State departments and the ASC (Active After schools Program) for development and participation projects throughout Australia, plus ~ $40,000 of user charged projects to schools and corporate groups. So there is a lot of funded development activity already, mainly in the exposure category. What chances of success for the HP and participation funding bids? The funding pies will be divided among the ~60 sports applying, according to the merits of the bids and the criteria of excellence, relevance and effectiveness. The election may change that but we have fingers crossed for success.
LATE NEWS
A Special Birthday for a Special Queensland Lady
W
armest congratulations from all of her O friends to OQ life member Joan Bourne who celebrated her 90th birthday on August 27th. Orienteering Queensland has just acquired its first nonagenarian. Joan is quite a lady. She last competed in the Queensland Championships in 2009 in her home territory in the Granite Belt and continues now helping out and giving support at BBB events. Joan is also extremely creative and is constantly working on beautiful handcrafts which are now proudly owned by many of her family and friends. Gardening, bird watching and extensive reading have been amongst her many passions and to visit the Bourne home at The Summit is a real treat. Joan and her husband John joined Orienteering in its very early days. The pair of them worked tirelessly for Orienteering and produced a family of champions with way more than their share of talent and hard working ethos. They were rightfully very proud this year when the Bourne dynasty reached yet another pinnacle with a granddaughter and a grandson both in the Australian JWOC team. A special memory I have of Joan, which says something about her personal qualities, was when I drove her to the Warwick Hospital when she injured her leg after falling on some rocks at a Cherrabah Orienteering event. When we first arrived at the hospital the staff at the Emergency department were rather curt, but Joan quietly talked to them in her usual unassuming, no-fuss fashion about where she had been and what she had been doing. By the time the doctor had examined her wound and finished inserting fifty-four stitches they regarded her with the utmost respect tinged with awe. For birthday greetings her address is P.O. Box 49, The Summit, Qld 4377. Barbara Pope
WORLD MASTERS ORIENTEERING CHAMPIONSHIPS
Five Australian medals in World Masters Sprint gold for Bourne and Wehner
T
here were five Australian medals in the World Masters Orienteering Championships, held at the beginning of August in western Switzerland, all of them going to regular visitors to the podium. The most widespread successes came in the Sprint through the city of Neuchatel, in which both the Australian wins came. Neither Jenny Bourne (W55) nor Hermann Wehner (M85) are any strangers to WMOC success, and both had comfortable margins, in the 45-second range (a large margin in a Sprint). The other two medals went to Natasha and Warren Key, who both narrowly failed to defend titles won in 2009. Natasha won a silver medal, seven seconds behind in the strongest W35 field for many years, while Warren was third in M50. Two other Australians made the top ten, with Geoff Lawford ninth in M55 and Maureen Ogilvie tenth in W75. The competition then moved to the limestone terrain of the Jura for the long distance events, culminating in the final at Le Cernil, the area for the WOC 1981 Relay (in which Warren Key and Jenny Bourne both ran). Numerous sinkholes made for complex contours and the forest was very rough underfoot – sufficiently so that it was often worthwhile going double the distance (or more) to take advantage of the numerous tracks. The Australian contingent found the going tougher there, but Jenny Bourne still managed to add a second medal for the week. This time it was by the narrowest possible margin as she finished tied for third in W55. Hermann Wehner (fourth in M85) was the only other Australian who got close to the medals, although a number of others were on the outer edges of the top ten, including Tracy Marsh (eighth in W35), Warren Key (eighth in M50) and Paul Pacque (ninth in M55). Blair Trewin Long Distance Finals classes where Australians finished in the top-20 (winner, followed by the Australians): M45-B: 1. Hallett, Clive GBR 0:47:25, 4. Simpson, Andy AUS 0:54:36 M50-A: 1. Zuzanek, Zdenek CZE 0:47:21, 8. Key, Warren AUS 0:51:40 M55-A: 1. Dahli, Sigurd NOR 0:45:41, 9. Pacque, Paul AUS 0:54:11, 13. Lawford, Geoff AUS 0:54:55 M60-C: 1. Helle Edvin, NOR 0:50:17, 4. Uppill, Adrian AUS 0:51:33 M65-B: 1. Kellenberger, Ruedi SUI 0:45:09, 13. Erbacher, Darryl AUS 0:54:00 M65-D: 1. Eriksen, Jan A NOR 0:47:41, 11. Meeking, John AUS 1:04:04 M70-C: 1. Vikane, Per NOR 0:33:09, 19. Sheahan, John AUS 0:54:32 M85-A: 1. Isaksson, Rune SWE 0:39:24, 4. Wehner, Hermann AUS 0:57:46 W35-A: 1. Gunell, Yvonne FIN 0:43:02, 8. Marsh, Tracy AUS 0:49:01, 12. Key, Natasha AUS 0:50:46 W40-B: 1. Champtiaux, Isabelle FRA 0:40:41, 16. Troedson, Alexa AUS 0:53:15 W55-A: 1. Wolf, Ursula SUI 0:40:26, 3. Bourne, Jenny AUS 0:41:14 W60-B: 1. Norgaard Mona, DEN 0:39:29, 3. Hay, Judith AUS 0:46:25 W75-A: 1. Pokh, Lilia UKR 0:38:39, 17. Woof, Caryl AUS 1:36:52 W75-B: 1. Ogilvie, Maureen AUS 0:43:40, 6. Lyon, Jeffa AUS 1:12:27
WORLD UNIVERSITY ORIENTEERING CHAMPS 20 to 23 July RESULTS LONG DISTANCE Men 1. Mattias Merz 2. Erik Rost 3. Johan Runesson 23 Simon Uppill 70. Murray Scown 71. Matthew Parton 86. Evan Barr
SUI 71:16 SWE 75:52 SWE 76:30 AUS 82:26 AUS 98:39 AUS 99:22 AUS 111:48
Women 1. Sara Lüscher SUI 2. Saila Kinni FIN 3. Silje Ekroll Jahren NOR 18. Vanessa Round AUS 52. Aislinn Prendergast AUS 53. Rachel Effeney AUS 58. Laurina Neumann AUS
60:09 60:47 62:11 70:52 81:36 84:28 87:18
SPRINT Men 1. Jerker Lysell 2. Scott Fraser 3. Severin Howald 29. Simon Uppill 59. Matthew Parton 60. Bryan Keely
SWE GBR SUI AUS AUS AUS
13:58 14:07 14:25 15:52 17:20 17:21
Women 1. Anelie Chataing FRA 2. Caroline Cejka SUI 3. Michaela Guizzardi ITA 25. Rachel Effeney AUS 54. Aislinn Prendergast AUS 64. Vanessa Round AUS
13:30 13:37 13:55 14:58 16:26 17:20
MIDDLE DISTANCE Men 1. Mattias Merz 2. Patrik Karlsson 3. Graham Gristwood 41. Simon Uppill 61 Murray Scown 83. Bryan Keely 98. Oliver Mitchell
SUI SWE GBR AUS AUS AUS AUS
30:48 31:24 31:44 37:28 40:47 45:11 53:11
Women 1. Radka Brozkova CZE 2. Sofia Haajanen FIN 3. IInes Brodmann SUI 13. Vanessa Round AUS 38. Laurina Neumann AUS 76. Rachel Effeney AUS 83. Aislinn Prendergast AUS
30:05 31:38 31:45 34:56 39:02 47:49 54:14
RELAY Men 1. SWEDEN 122:01 2. CZECH REPUBLIC-2 122:47 3. FRANCE 124:39 32. AUSTRALIA: Simon Uppill, Murray Scown, Matthew Parton 145:48 38. AUSTRALIA 2: Bryan Keely, Evan Barr, Oliver Mitchell 161:45 Women 1. SWITZERLAND 124:04 2. FINLAND 126:55 3. CZECH REPUBLIC 127:05 24. AUSTRALIA: Vanessa Round, Laurina Neumann, Aislinn Prendergast 149:42
Joan Bourne
Jenny Bourne Gold medallist in W55 Sprint SEPTEMBER 2010 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 39
Marc Gluskie crossing a river during the Long final of the MTBO Junior World Champs in Portugal. Photo: Pedro Dias
The Australian Orienteer
the national magazine of Orienteering Australia w w w. o r i e n t e e r i n g . a s n . a u / a u s t r a l i a n o r i e n t e e r /