The Australian Orienteer - June 2012

June 2012

Easter Carnival 2011 Athlete of the Year Trail O explained

RRP $8.50 inc GST

SILVA National Orienteering League Event Program 2010

Round

Date

Location Ballarat, Victoria

March 10, 2012

Sprint: Ballarat University Middle Distance: Surface Hill, Smythesdale

March 11, 2012

Long Distance: Chinaman’s Reef, Linton

Round 2

April 6-9, 2012

Australian 3-Days, Stanthorpe, Queensland

Round 2b

April 14-15, 2012

Brisbane, Queensland

Round 3

May 12-13, 2012

WOC trials, Newcastle, NSW

Round 4

August 10-12, 2012

Darwin, Northern Territory

Round 5a

Sept 22-23, 2012

Australian Middle Distance Champs, Tasmania Tasmanian Long Distance Championships

Round 5b

Sept 28-30, 2012

Australian Sprint, Long and Relay Championships, Tasmania

Round 1

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

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

SILVA Athlete of the Year 2011 Orienteering Australia has named Grace Crane as the 2011 SILVA Athlete of the Year.

From Tasmania, Grace Crane was honoured for her outstanding performances at the 2011 World Orienteering Championships, held in France, when she finished 24th in the Sprint final, 27th in the Middle Distance final and was 7th fastest on her Relay final leg amongst many of the best women orienteers in the world.

JUNE 2012 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 3

Winning PartnershiP

The Australian Sports Commission proudly supports Orienteering Australia The Australian Sports Commission is the Australian Government agency that develops, manages and invests in sport at all levels in Australia.

Orienteering Australia has worked closely with the Australian Sports Commission to develop orienteering from community participation to high-level performance.

AUSTRALIAN SPORTS COMMISSION 4 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER JUNE 2012

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 President: Director High Performance: Director Finance: Director Technical: Director Special Projects: Director Communications: Director International IOF Council: Executive Officer: High Performance Manager: Badge Applications:

PO Box 284 Mitchell BC 2911 orienteering@netspeed.com.au w: 02 6162 1200 Blair Trewin oa_president@netspeed.com.au h: 03 9455 3516 Grant Bluett oa_highperformance@netspeed.com.au Bruce Bowen oa_finance@netspeed.com.au h: 02 6288 8501 Robin Uppill oa_technical@netspeed.com.au h: 08 8278 3017 m: 0419 037 770 Robert Spry rbspry@gmail.com Craig Feuerherdt craigfeuerherdt@gmail.com 0438 050 074 Mike Dowling oa_international@netspeed.com.au John Harding orienteering@netspeed.com.au 02 6162 1200 m: 0427 107 033 Kay Haarsma kayhaarsma@hotmail.com 08 8337 0522 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: Anthony Darr, 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: Don Fell, voa@netspace.net.au OA South Aust: State Association House, 105 King William St Kent Town SA 5067. Sec: Ken Thompson 08 8351 4757 secretary@sa.orienteering.asn.au OA Western Australia: PO Box 234 Subiaco WA 6094. Secretary: Carol Brownlie Ph. (08) 9446 3457 carolnken@ozemail.com.au Orienteering Tasmania Inc.: PO Box 339, Sandy Bay, TAS 7005. Secretary: David Marshall, Ph. (03) 6260 4300 secretary@tasorienteering.asn.au Top End Orienteers (Northern Territory): PO Box 39152 Winnellie NT 0821. Secretary: Zoe Radford topendorienteersNT@gmail.com

NEXT ISSUE DEADLINE

July 13. Time-sensitive: July 20

ISSN 0818-6510 Issue 2/12 (no. 166) JUNE 2012

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: Bruce Bowen Printer: Ferntree Print Centre, 1238 Burwood Hwy Upper Ferntree Gully.

Contribution deadline: July 13; Time-sensitive - July 20.

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: Competition - Blair Trewin; High Performance - Kay Haarsma; 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 – Maggie Jones: onsw.communications@sydney.net 0415 214 503 ACT – Philip Purcell philippurc@hotmail.com SA – Erica Diment: diment@adam.com.au ; tel (ah) 8379 2914 Vic, WA and Tas – vacant 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 pa. Overseas: Asia/Pacific (inc. NZ) $A49, Rest of World $A58 pa.

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Opinions expressed in The Australian Orienteer are not necessarily those of Orienteering Australia.

CONTENTS THE PRESIDENT’S COLUMN........................ 6 EASTER CARNIVAL................................... 7 N AT I O N A L L E A G U E.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 1 H I G H P E R F O R M A N C E R E P O R T .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 3 INTRIGUED OR INSANE? ......................... 14 M O N I TO R I N G T H E B E AT.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 6 CZECH RELAYS...................................... 17 MAPSPORT’S SWISS KNIFE...................... 18 C O U R S E S E T T I N G W I T H G P S.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 0 INTRO TO TRAIL- O................................. 22 E L E C T R O N I C T I M I N G S Y S T E M S .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 7 ORIENTEERING FOR SCOUTS..................... 30 2012 CHRISTMAS 5-DAYS........................ 32 TOP EVENTS......................................... 34 V I C T O R I A N M T B O C H A M P S .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 6 N U T R I T I O N – Av o idi n g w in ter w eig h t g ain . . . . . . . . 4 2 L E T T E R S .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 4 T H E T H U M B C O M PA S S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 5 O - S P Y.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 6

Cover photo: Kellie Whitfield (SWOT–WA). Photo: Tony Hill

JUNE JUNE2012 2012THE THEAUSTRALIAN AUSTRALIANORIENTEER ORIENTEER 5

ORIENTEERING AUSTRALIA

The President’s Column Blair Trewin

I

t is a pleasure to take over the reins at Orienteering Australia (even if it proved to be just a scurrilous rumour that the position came with a fresh pair of legs), and to lead many enthusiastic people who are doing their best to make Orienteering in Australia all that it can be.

Even though, as most of you will know, I come from a background in elite competition, I see our highest priority as being to build our participation base. This isn’t just because the Australian Sports Commission is providing very generous support to us to do this; it would still be worth doing even if it were an end in itself. A stronger participation base means that more people are taking part in what readers will know is a great sport. It also strengthens the resources available to the sport and our attractiveness to those who might support us, both in government and amongst possible sponsors.

I also don’t see an emphasis on building participation as being in conflict with high performance, as it will eventually give us a stronger pool of people competing for places in our national teams – I don’t think it’s any coincidence that, a few years after an Australian Championships carnival had only a handful of entrants in the youngest junior classes, we’ve ended up with thin fields contesting places in the Junior World Championships team. It would be great to see a future when we go into a season where there are twenty, rather than eight, realistic candidates for places in the national team.

The majority of readers will come from a background in ‘traditional’ bush Orienteering. Strengthening that is important, but equally important will be introducing the sport to new audiences for whom travelling an hour or more into the bush is much too high a hurdle to clear for a first try of the sport. Part of that will be introducing the sport to new regional centres, something which is part of our ASC-funded programs, and part of that will be promoting non-traditional forms of the sport that may appeal to a broader audience. Urban events are part of that, both the Sprint variety and the Park & Street events that have long been part of the scene in Melbourne, as they can give opportunities for people who aren’t fortunate enough to live close to the bush to participate close to where they live. Some of the people in those events cross over into bush Orienteering, most of them don’t, but all of them are involved and that can only be a good thing.

I hope to get around to most, if not all, of the States during the course of this year, and will be interested to hear as many ideas as possible as to what can be done to advance Orienteering in Australia. I would be particularly interested in hearing ideas from people irrespective of whether or not we currently have the resources (human or financial) to implement them – if we don’t know that we want to do something, then we’re certainly not going to be in a position to chase the resources to implement it.

I look forward to seeing many of you at upcoming events.

Until then, may your compass point north and your controls not prove too elusive.

6 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER JUNE 2012

EASTER CARNIVAL

… and grass seeds

AL I AUSTR

EA

Easter 2012 3 Days

IP S NSH IO

Granite, Grapes

3 DARY2C01HAMP N 2 A STE

Granite & G ra pes S TA NTH ORPE QLD

2012 Australian 3 days

A photo of Evan Barr’s socks on the last day. He was second starter so got covered in seeds.

The Trewin Report Blair Trewin

E

aster 2012 saw Australia’s orienteers return to the Stanthorpe region for the first time at a national carnival since 2000. The region has a reputation for having Queensland’s best Orienteering terrain (at least of areas which have been mapped – there are some other areas which would be great for Orienteering which are tucked away in remote corners of the State), and the chance to do battle with the rocks (and each other) drew a good crowd to the events. Three of the four days of the weekend featured granite rocks in not-excessively-steep terrain, whilst Sunday took place in gully-spur terrain west of Warwick and introduced unsuspecting southerners to the dubious pleasures of lantana.

The open women had a strong field, especially with Grace Crane back in the country after several years in Britain. She got the weekend off to a good start with a win in the prologue, but on the Saturday, Vanessa Round continued her excellent recent record in Middle Distance races to move into the lead, on a day otherwise notable for a breakthrough result - Bridget Anderson’s second place.

The Long Distance day is often when Easter sorts itself out in the elite classes. 2012 was no exception, on a day which was particularly designed for sorting people out – long, hot, dry and sometimes thick. Rachel Effeney won the day, her most significant non-Sprint result, but did enough damage to herself in the process to force her out of the final day. Round fell off the pace after dropping ten minutes on the epic long leg (although some of that was spent retrieving a junior from some lantana), and Crane was close enough to the lead on the day to inherit a four-minute break at the end of it. She held that advantage through the last day; behind her, Susanne Casanova achieved her best result at this level after four consistent days, with Round recovering to take third place.

JUNE 2012 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 7

EASTER CARNIVAL

Alison Burrill.

Photo: Tony Hill

Evan Barr.

Photo: Tony Hill

Murray Scown.

Photo: Tony Hill

The men’s elite events looked to be a race in three and that was the way it played out for the first two days. Simon Uppill took out the opening Sprint, but Matt Crane was just behind and then took the lead the next day with a good Middle Distance, with Dave Shepherd not too far behind. Again, the Long Distance day was decisive here – partly because Crane did not finish it, and partly because Uppill pulled out a seven-minute break over Shepherd with a strong run which set him up for overall victory.

That was always likely to be too big a gap to run down on the last day, and although Shepherd won the last day and Uppill had a couple of time losses over the last five controls, he still had more than two minutes in hand. Bryan Keely completed the placings, a result set up by being only a minute behind Uppill on the Long Distance day. He headed an encouragingly strong group of younger competitors, including Murray Scown, Evan Barr, Matt Parton and Josh Blatchford, who suggested that the recent shallow ranks of Australian men’s teams might be in the process of becoming a bit deeper (although Blatchford’s WOC 2012 chances ended two days later when he broke his leg in a midweek event).

8 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER JUNE 2012

Oliver Poland took the honours in M20.

Photo: Tony Hill

Oscar McNulty had produced two spectacular performances in the March National League events and started in similar vein with a prologue win in the junior event, but thereafter it was Oliver Poland’s weekend as he swept to a comprehensive victory after winning the last three days. In the past the Middle Distance has tended to be his specialty but this year it was the Long Distance day where he set the result up with a five-minute win, and in the end the margin blew out to nearly 20 minutes after McNulty made several significant errors on the last day, dropping behind Ian Lawford in the minor placings.

A good Sprint set Lilian Burrill, competing on home ground, up for a comfortable overall victory; after three dominant days, a seven-minute mistake at #5 on the last day cut her lead in half but she was never seriously threatened. Amy Buckerfield recovered from a poor Sprint to put together three consistent days and take second with a bit to spare. The battle for third was closely contested with three, each of whom won a day, separated by only a minute. In the end Heather Muir, who had struggled with illness over the weekend and lost a lot of ground in the Middle Distance,

Peter Collins.

Photo: Tony Hill

Joanna Hill.

Photo: Tony Hill

Rachel Effeney.

Photo: Karen Blatchford

Jenny Bourne won all three days in W50.

Photo: Karen Blatchford

The next generation – Aston Key. Photo: Karen Blatchford

finished well enough to take the honours narrowly over Jacqui Doyle and Michele Dawson.

The only A class which went right down to the wire this year was W45. Su Yan Tay won the first day but dropped off the pace on the second (and ended up punching a wrong control on the last), leaving the race to be fought out by Nicola Dalheim, Anita Scherrer and Christine Marshall. Dalheim took a lead of just over a minute into the last day but trailed Scherrer for much of it, only regaining the lead by two seconds at the second-last control.

She then opened that lead up by another 20 seconds on the last control and won by 26secs.

Whilst the margins may have been a bit larger, other classes saw some high-standard duels, most notably in M45 and W16 where the remainder of the field was incidental to the leading pair.

M45 featured two mainstays of national teams of the late 1980s and early 1990s, Jock Davis and Eddie Wymer. Wymer was three minutes ahead on the first day, but Davis overhauled that over the last two days, starting the last day a minute behind, but winning by three after Wymer lost several minutes at #7 and #9. W16 was fought out by two members of last year’s Australian team for the

Oceania Championships, Anna Dowling and Heather Burridge, with the Tasmanian’s four-minute opening-day win ultimately proving decisive.

Davis was one of seven who came from behind on the last day (although two of those seven were the result of mispunches).

More dramatic were the swings in M50. Warren Key, who went in as a clear favourite, looked like he had thrown away his chances on the Sunday when he lost 15 minutes at #6 to leave himself eight minutes behind with a day to go, but leader Mark Nemeth reciprocated by dropping nine minutes at #9 on the final day and the Victorian came through as the overall winner. Robin Uppill (W55) and Pauli Piiroinen (M75) both converted narrow deficits into large victories on the final day after two days of dicing with Carolyn Jackson and Clive Pope respectively. One comeback which fell short was in W75, in which Sue Mount conceded 19 minutes to Maureen Ogilvie on the opening day but got all but two minutes of it back over the last two.

Winning all three days of an Easter carnival is a reasonably uncommon feat which was achieved by seven this year. It came as no surprise that Jenny Bourne (W50) was one of them, setting JUNE 2012 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 9

EASTER CARNIVAL Aidan Tay, Robin Uppill and Nicolas Collins. Photo: Tony Hill Heather Muir.

Photo: Karen Blatchford

Elite Men podium: Dave Shepherd (2nd), Simon Uppill (1st), Bryan Keely (3rd). Photo: Peter Yeates

Elite Women podium: Suzanne Casanova (2nd), Grace Crane (1st), Vanessa Round (3rd).

Photo: Peter Yeates

Grass seeds kept competitors busy after each race.

Photo: Karen Blatchford

things up with an eight-minute win on the first day and only being seriously pushed by Anthea Feaver on the second day. Carol Brownlie (W60) also dominated the first day and prevailed more narrowly thereafter, while it was the other way around in W65 for Toy Martin, one of the earliest generation of Australian orienteers and now returning to the scene after many years away. M65 was close for two days but Terry Brighouse stretched his lead over Terry Bluett from four minutes to ten on the last day, while others to achieve a clean sweep were Neil Schafer, providing Hermann Wehner with his first competition for a while in M85, Winnie Oakhill (W14) and Anna Hyslop (W35).

Several other classes were also set up on the first day, a rather long one for many of the mid-range courses. Geoff Lawford got a ten-minute break there in M55 before swapping narrow margins with Darryl Smith over the last two days. Alex Tarr also ensured his M70 win over Yarra Valley clubmate Tim Dent there (the flat Saturday terrain wouldn’t have been ideal for Dent’s compass-free style), and Tony Mount did similarly in M80. M60 provided a wider mix of results, but David Marshall’s wins on the last two days saw him recover from a slow start to take the class, 10 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER JUNE 2012

while Adrian Uppill overhauled Bert Elson for second on the last day. Perhaps the hard-luck story of the weekend was from Ann Ingwersen, who missed the last control on the first day and thus missed out on what would have been an easy win in a W70 class eventually taken out by Janet Tarr.

The Sledge competitors, as usual, provided some colour for the occasion (the positioning for the finish-chute split on the first day was especially entertaining). On the course, Justin Woolford ran away from the field in the first-day mass start, and although Simon Mee won the last two days Woolford still prevailed overall (not that the overall result was the prime consideration for a lot of the participants).

There was a final act of Easter for most – extraction of lots of grass seeds. For those whose only experience of Queensland orienteering was in winter, spring or drought years, the quantity of vegetation that they took off the course with them would have come as a shock. (Some of us decided it was too much work, threw the socks out and bought new ones).

NATIONAL LEAGUE

A new contender in the SILVA National Orienteering League Blair Trewin

T

he race for the SILVA National League has a new contender, with the Queensland Cyclones’ women making a strong bid for their first title. With some help from having six rounds on home turf, they finish the first phase of the season with a four-point lead over the Victorian Nuggets, who have been the dominant team of recent years. The Southern Arrows, another team yet to win the League, are also in contact with the pace, although Vanessa Round’s impending move overseas will test them.

Grace Crane.

Photo: Karen Blatchford

Oliver Poland leads Alison Burrill and Nicola Blatchford. Photo: Tony Hill

The Canberra Cockatoos have a runaway lead in the men’s competition and it is hard to see them being challenged. The winning team of last year has been further strengthened by the addition of Matt Crane, who has a win and four minor placings from seven starts, while the loss of Julian Dent has damaged the NSW Stingers’ chances. The Nuggets are in second place but too far away to pose much threat to the leaders unless something unexpected happens, with the Stingers in third.

In the junior competition, there is a well-contested three-way race amongst the men between the Cockatoos, the Nuggets and the Tassie Foresters. The Queensland Cyclones junior women have not been quite as dominant as in the last few years, but still have a comfortable lead over the Foresters.

The individual competitions are still sorting themselves out, with some of the favourites having races in hand after missing the post-Easter weekend. Rachel Effeney has been perhaps the leading performer of the early season. She had her first National League win in the opening Sprint in Ballarat, showed that she was not just a Sprint specialist by taking out the Long Distance day at Easter, and then added two more sets of maximum points on the post-Easter weekend. She heads a tight bunch of six within 30 points of the lead.

Dave Shepherd, one of the few men to have posted nine scores from nine starts, holds an apparently comfortable 39-point lead, but several with races in hand may challenge later in the season.

Of these, Simon Uppill is currently in the best scoring position, but a major highlight of the season has been the emergence at this level of junior Oscar McNulty, who has won three times. Two of these wins have been in Sprints, and the third in a memorable pack sprint finish in the multi-loop mass start race in Ballarat where he won in a five-man leading group. He will be a serious challenger for the senior title if he can post enough scores.

Oliver Poland’s domination of Easter has put him at the head of the junior men, while Heather Muir has the edge on the junior women’s field.

David Shepherd. Photo: Tony Hill JUNE 2012 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 11

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Lilian Burrill.

Photo: Karen Blatchford

Vanessa Round.

Photo: Karen Blatchford

14 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER JUNE 2012 12

Oscar McNulty.

Photo: Karen Blatchford

HIGH PERFORMANCE

HP NEWS Kay Haarsma High Performance Manager

W

ell attended and successful national coaching camps have been conducted in Victoria recently, with Rob Lewis leading foot orienteers in a March pre-NOL training near Ballarat and Ian Dalton an April pre-selection trial MTBO one at Castlemaine. Jenny Bourne and Geoff Lawford will mentor some juniors in NZ in June and Jim Russell will conduct two days of training immediately after the NOL races in Northern Territory in August. Evan Barr (VIC) has been appointed manager to the 12-person team to compete at the World University Championships in Spain in July. Peter and Carolyn Cusworth (VIC) have been appointed joint managers of the World MTBO Championship team.

After leading from the front for some years in the High Performance Manager and HP Operations Manager role Rob Preston has taken on a permanent full time job elsewhere.

We thank him sincerely for his vital input and advancement in this area, particularly in the organisation of the National Orienteering League and hands on coaching camp organisation. We look forward to Rob continuing to be a force in the ranks of the elite men.

Tom Quayle has been appointed as co-coach to the WOC team, with Wendy Read.

Tom represented Australia internationally at World Championship level from 1993 to 2004, initially at three JWOCs and then at five WOCs and numerous World Cup races. This was also in an era when Australian men’s orienteering was probably at its strongest, with immense depth.

Tom made an important breakthrough for Australian orienteering when he became the first Australian to podium in a World Championship with his Long Distance 4th in Poland at JWOC in 1994. This success was recognised by all the other nations present who were rapt to see Australia emerge as a top orienteering nation. Tom repeated his 4th at JWOC 1995, this time an agonising two seconds from a medal, and he was also placed 17th in the Sprint final.

In WOC 2001 Tom stood upon the elite podium with an outstanding 6th in the Relay, and was in ultra-competitive relay teams in WOC 2003 (9th) and WOC 2004 (10th).

Tom’s best individual result was 13th in the Long Distance in Sweden, 2004. He competed in Park World Tour events and all the major European international fixtures with good success. Although Tom has had a coaching position with the Bushrangers in the past, now that he has finished his elite career he is keenly looking forward to spending more energy and time on coaching.

Tom has lived in Sweden with his wife Anna, also an excellent orienteer for over ten years now, apart from 2005/2006 with a break living in Canberra. They now have a son Linus who is nearly 2 years old.

Tom states: “I hope that over the next couple of years we can continue to improve and achieve results that will motivate all of us to take Australian elite Orienteering to a higher level. A passion of mine has always been the Long Distance race at WOC. It would be great to see more people focussing on that!

I ran at WOC in Switzerland in 2001 and have run several World Cup races in the region of this year’s WOC. The terrain may be special in some aspects but it is not a terrain that we should be afraid of. With the popularity of Orienteering in Switzerland booming it should be a real spectacle.”

Representing Australia WORLD UNIVERSITY CHAMPIONSHIPS

Aaron Breed (Vic) Oliver Crosato (Qld) Bryan Keely (Vic) Oliver Mitchell (Qld) Matt Parton (NSW) Murray Scown (ACT) Bridget Anderson (Qld) Ilka Barr (Vic) Rachel Effeney (Qld) Lauren Gillis (SA) Laurina Neumann (Qld) Aislinn Prendergast (Vic)

Early Bird discounted entries close June 30

The Championships will be held in Alicante, Spain, from 2 - 6 July (see http://sd.ua. es/orienteeringchampionship/).

JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

Men: Kasimir Gregory (NSW) Ian Lawford (ACT) Oscar McNulty (WA) Alex Massey (NSW) Brodie Nankervis (TAS) Oliver Poland (ACT) Res: Aaron Breed (VIC).

Women: Amy Buckerfield (TAS) Lilian Burrill (QLD) Michele Dawson (NSW) Heather Muir (QLD).

JWOC will take place in Kosice, Slovakia, from 7 -14 July.

WORLD MTBO CHAMPIONSHIPS Elite Men: Steve Cusworth (VIC) Oscar Phillips (TAS) Alex Randall (VIC) – subject to fitness Ricky Thackray (WA) Elite Women: Melanie Simpson (NSW) Junior Men: Chris Firman (QLD) Marc Gluskie (TAS) Tom Goddard (TAS) Heath Jamieson (VIC) Karl Withers (QLD) WMTBOC will take place in Veszprem, Hungary from 20-25 August.

JUNE 2012 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 13

COACHING

Intrigued or Insane?

Hanny Allston

F

ollowing my last article in The Australian Orienteer, I asked individuals to suggest themes for my future articles. In March I received an email from a Tasmanian orienteer who attended a camp I hosted for adult orienteers back in 2006. Although an experienced orienteer, she still strives to improve her performance and enjoyment at events. In her email she asked about specific techniques to improve her skills and concluded by saying, “I simply keep trying to improve my orienteering by reading and talking to people, and hope with time to get better results. At least my time in the sport has assisted me to run a bit better and gain more fitness”.

there. Take this opportunity to think about how you approach each Orienteering event and your developmental pathway as an orienteer. Many of us may be horrified to realise that we are bordering on insanity.

In order to guide your thinking, I have developed the following questionnaire. It will help you to uncover your strengths, weaknesses, bad habits and actions giving you the edge over your competition.

Whilst it is easy to judge great orienteers by their results alone, I believe that what differentiates superior orienteers from orienteers is a sixth sense – the sense of intrigue. A great orienteer, such as my Tasmanian correspondent, will, irrespective of age or ability, be intrigued by the sport and their ability to adapt to its challenges. They become incessantly intrigued by factors such as: topography and how it can be mapped; a course setter’s ability to utilize the terrain; how to enhance technical skills; and how technical errors can be erased. Intrigue generates questions that further our knowledge and skills.

If intrigue is so important in Orienteering, how can we foster it?

I believe the answer is simple. We need to look beyond outcomes and start assessing success by the effectiveness of the pathway that got us the result. Often it is easier to fall back into the same traps, day in and day out, partaking in activities and strategies without any real thought as to how we can do them better. As Albert Einstein, a man who lived by intrigue, stated, “insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results”.

Therefore, we should analyse with intrigue the strategies, activities and motives behind each step of our Orienteering pathway so that we avoid insanity in races. And we all know what it is like to run around aimlessly and hoping to stumble across the controls!

I now encourage you to take a moment to be intrigued by where you are currently at with your Orienteering and how you got

Hanny Allston, AIS Residences PO BOX 176, Belconnen, ACT 2617. m: 0409 176 967 www.hannyallston.com.au 14 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER JUNE 2012

Photo: Clive Roper Photography

ORIENTEERING INSANITY QUESTIONNAIRE

ANALYSIS

Answer True or False to the following statements.

Total the number of ‘TRUE’ responses to determine your level of insanity as well as areas of strength and weakness.

True

Training

I constantly seek new advice through coaches, training camps, reading material and other athletes to find an edge in my training.

I use periodisation to structure my training.

I use reflection and a training diary to make alterations to my approach to training.

I use training as an opportunity to try new skills, techniques and sessions to get an edge on my competitors.

I enjoy mixing my training up and creating my own Orienteering sessions.

I enjoy following the elite orienteers around the world and learning from their successes and mistakes.

Life Balance & Time Management

I constantly aim to be more organised and find a life balance between study, work, family, social, recreational, training and competition.

False

0 – 8 : You are hovering on the brink of insanity. You could benefit from looking at aspects of your lifestyle and Orienteering to improve your performance. Perhaps you may even enjoy utilising the experience of a coach to assist you in this process.

9 – 15 : You are currently fighting off insanity but you should continue to develop an elevated sense of intrigue and selfassessment.

16+ : You show heightened intrigue and self-awareness. Keep enjoying finding the edge on your competitors.

How did you go? If you want to develop greater self-awareness, try keeping a diary, reading widely, analysing great orienteers’ strategies, or employ the experience of a coach. You may also benefit from assessing your Orienteering microscopically, thinking through each aspect of the routines that you use during an event.

Finally, don’t stop after reflecting on your Orienteering, take a close look at every aspect of your lifestyle including employment, social, family and relaxation. The more balanced you are in your way of life, the faster you will develop as an orienteer.

I encourage you to share your thoughts by writing to the editor or to me personally at hanny@findyourfeet.com.au

I adopt new techniques and technologies to improve my time efficiency.

When an aspect of my life frustrates me I look for a way to change or rectify the situation.

I follow the lead of impressive leaders around me and try to take control of unsettling situations.

Nutrition & Hydration

I love to try new recipes and make sure my nutrition is balanced. I look for healthy alternatives and adjust my nutrition to suit my lifestyle and training needs.

I enjoy everything in moderation.

I monitor my fluid intake and ensure that I adjust it to suit my exercise or climate stresses.

Pre-Race Approach

I enjoy the build up to big races and adopt new methods to keep my composure.

I use small races to try new pre-race strategies to improve my performance.

I monitor my level of arousal and adjust my behaviours to stay in the zone that suits me.

I adopt a plan to keep myself organised and ensure that I arrive at the Start prepared.

Race Skills & Approach

I have a plan for my race but alter it to suit the situation that I find myself in.

I have a strategy for planning each leg but constantly monitor it to meet my developing strengths.

I am aware of potential distractions and adopt methods to block them.

I have used a compass for many years but still remain aware of how accurate I am.

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Ph (03)9017 4835 or email info@osoa.com.au JUNE 2012 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 15

TRAINING

Monitoring the Beat Many orienteers wear devices capable of measuring their heart rate. But what is the value of knowing how fast your heart is beating ?

Y

our heart is your engine of life. Treat it well and you will most likely enjoy a long and happy one. Your heart can become stronger and more efficient with training resulting in improved health and fitness for your entire body. One good indication of your level of fitness is to measure how quickly your heart rate recovers after strenuous exercise. You would want to see a significant drop in heart rate in the first few minutes, say 20 – 30 beats drop in the first minute and gradually tailing off as you recover.

For most athletes, finding their pulse is easy, but if you can’t find it or if you prefer a hi-tech method you might try the Instant Heart Rate app for iPhone and Android. Hold your finger on the phone’s camera and it sees the change in colour of your fingertip between heartbeats. It is said to be quite accurate and gives you a real time measure of your heart rate.

Measuring your heart rate whilst you are exercising is more difficult but many orienteers wear heart rate monitors during both training and competition so they can obtain an instant measure of their heart rate.

Why is measuring your heart rate so important?

Many years ago Australia’s top swimming coaches defined a heart rate level below which most training sessions were ineffectual.

Broadly, that level was two-thirds of an athlete’s maximum heart rate. So, for a swimmer with a measured maximum heart rate of 210 beats per minute (say), for a training session to be effective at improving fitness it had to produce an average heart rate of at least 140 in the swimmer. It was common to see swimmers stop at the end of the pool and immediately have their pulse rate checked. The same rough measure was soon applied to other sports as well.

Nowadays many coaches define training zones for their athletes which are based on a percentage of their maximum heart rate.

There is a variety of zones – typically 50-60% is a comfort zone where no real improvement in fitness is obtained; 60-70% is good for fat burning and improving your endurance; 70-80% is aerobic and good for high quality endurance training; 80-90% is anaerobic and builds intense effort fitness but requires frequent recovery intervals (typical interval training); and 90-100% is maximum effort (but only briefly, like a flat out sprint).

How to measure maximum heart rate? It’s the highest rate your heart can safely reach and the safest way to measure it is in a medically supervised cardiac stress test. However, for most of us it doesn’t matter (and is probably a lot safer) if we don’t reach our absolute maximum so a flat out sprint would probably give you a close enough measure. If you want to check whether you are close to maximum, a rule-of-thumb formula for men is 207 minus (your age x 0.7) and 206 minus (your age x 0.88) for women.

16 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER JUNE 2012

Wearing a heart rate monitor can give you that ‘maximum’ measure and can then be used to check that you are within the chosen zone whilst training and competing.

Measuring your heart rate at rest is another way of following your improvement (or otherwise) in fitness because as you get fitter your resting heart rate will drop. It is said that Australia’s great middle distance runner, Herb Elliott, had a heart rate of around 35 beats per minute whilst walking about town. Later in life Herb became an orienteer with the Red Kangaroos in Victoria.

The heart rate monitor is held in a band around your chest and typically transmits to a display unit on your wrist (or on the handlebars if you are a MTB rider). The monitor will give you continual feedback on your training progress, on your performance during competition, and assist in determining your rate of recovery and your resting heart rate.

Of course, all this applies not only to those who run, but also to those who ride and to those who walk.

TRAINING

Czech Relays The UK magazine CompassSport, Feb 2012, brought to our attention a method for navigation training known as a Czech Relay. We don’t know where the term originated but it’s fair to assume that the idea was developed in the Czech Republic.

T

he training course is set up for pairs of runners and the course itself zig-zags across a major track or track system running through the map. Each control should be positioned reasonably close to the track but it’s best if controls are not visible from the track so positioning will depend a lot on the type of terrain and on visibility through the undergrowth and forest.

could be told to turn back earlier without having to reach the Finish circle. This will reduce the distance they have to run and keep up the navigation quality focus.

A map memory feature could be added by each pair having only one map so the runner on the track has to memorise the position of the next crossing point before handing over the map to the next terrain runner.

The system could work equally well in a Park & Street environment, particularly one with a region of complex alleyways and linear parks.

So, try out this idea for training and let us know how you found it. Both CompassSport and The Australian Orienteer would like to hear of your experiences.

Each pair starts together with orienteer #1 immediately heading off into the terrain to control #1, to punch and then come out onto the track at the point where the purple line from control #1 to control #2 crosses the track.

Meanwhile, orienteer #2 runs along the track to this meeting point and waits.

When orienteer #1 arrives the roles are reversed and orienteer #2 sets off into the terrain to control #2 whilst his/her partner runs along the track to the point where the purple line from control #2 to control #3 crosses the track.

When they meet again the roles are reversed again, and so on until both arrive at the Finish circle.

On the return journey back to the Start the roles are reversed again with each orienteer visiting each control they did not punch on the way out whilst their partner runs along the track to each crossing point.

The exercise can be turned into interval-style training with the orienteer in the terrain going “flat out” and his/her partner using the track run as a recovery interval.

Part of the recovery could be a mandatory number of press-ups or other exercises whilst waiting for the orienteer in the terrain to appear. The “flat out” sections in the terrain will create a feeling of tension and urgency in the runner while improving speed and agility through the terrain.

In a training group of orienteers with different ages and abilities some slower (or younger) pairs JUNE 2012 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 17

MAPPING

MapSport’s Swiss Knife

Ken off to map

O

CAD AG of Switzerland, the latter also famous as the home of Cadel Evans, recently appointed MapSport Cartographic as Australasian reseller for its cartography softwares. MapSport’s Ken Dowling, a long time OCAD user, believes OCAD 11 has potential to penetrate sectors additional to the strong base of Orienteering. The map sports sector is well served by OCAD AG from a distance, but MapSport can improve on delivery and induction.

“We are targeting map sports, cartographic studios, trail managers, local government and tertiary education”, says Ken. “We can point to OCAD success in these sectors in Europe. Additionally we can lead by

example as in a recent contract to produce a tourism trail map for a shire”. Indeed, the cartographic version of the famed Swiss knife.

The speedier delivery of OCAD from stock will principally be valued by some commercial buyers. But Orienteering and Rogaining should benefit from the opening bonus of an OCAD Course Setting license with every new OCAD license or major upgrade.

Ken is paying attention to Orienteering’s professional mappers. “I wouldn’t want to see another of Rob Plowright’s calibre go. They enjoy the work but still have to earn more than a crust”, he said. “OCAD 11 Professional can considerably ease

their task so if I can make it a tad easier to acquire, then great.”

Ken says that MapSport will also be capitalising on its recreation map productions over the years by offering trail and recreation map services to local governments and trail managers.

Eureka Orienteers’ venture with MapSport into commercial trail maps should provide a great reference when marketing in the trail manager sector. As for the tertiary education sector, “I don’t think Geography 101 will give me entree there”, says Ken. “Perhaps three years as a surveyor might count for something — as long as I don’t mention it was for a gun battery.”

Selective updates in January a

sable object (tree or gate) idden route / uncrossable object

18 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER JUNE 2012

Apex Lake is a small map from Mark and Gillian’s next book “Family Rides in South East Queensland” to be published some time during 2012. The book will contain more than 200 maps of recreational trails suitable for any rider. The trails are mostly concrete or bitumen with some dirt, generally in scenic flat terrain alongside creeks, lakes and beaches, rarely alongside roads and almost never crossing roads.

The book’s motto is “It’s all about the ice cream”. Almost all of the maps will be 1:10,000 with no contours. You can see all of the draft maps online at www. organisedgrime.com.au/families.php.

MapSport has moved its mapping resources, including the guides to digital map printing, from mapsport.com.au to ocad.com.au. The latter will focus on trail and tourism mapping as well as OCAD sales and mapping resources. Ken can be contacted at 0410 481 677.

More information at www.ocad.com.au Ken Dowling, MapSport. (03) 5348 3792 ; 0410 481 677 ; ken@mapsport.net.au PO Box 12001, A’Beckett St, VIC 8006

Recap: The maps are typical of non-O maps produced by orienteers. A spin-off of orienteering mapping. In VIC I am currently working on an A2 size tourism trail map for the township of Creswick for which 3 VIC O clubs have sold OCAD map data usage rights. This will be styled broadly along the lines of Mark’s Apex Lake map.

And Eureka is now licensed by VicMap to produce for sale a series of recreation trail maps that cover an arc centred on Daylesford. These Pretex waterproof maps are based on Cyclic Navigator mtbo maps with style changes to suit public use along the lines of Mark’s Wallaby Creek map.

OR IENTEER IN G SE RI E S Occasional mappers value economy OCAD Frequent mappers relish productivity OCAD • Buy in A$ • Get rapid delivery • Read an Australian blog

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PO Box 12001, A’beckett St, VIC 8006 03 5348 3792, 0410 481 677, info@ocad.com.au

2012 VICTORIAN CHAMPIONSHIPS

Classic technical orienteering in NE Victoria

MIDDLE DISTANCE Yackandandah

Saturday 15 September Time to tackle Rowdy Flat again!

2012 VICTORIAN CHAMPIONSHIPS

and August 2011

Classic technical orienteering in NE Victoria

LONG DISTANCE

Kangaroo Crossing Sunday 16 September

Don’t miss the return to Kangaroo Crossing!

Wallaby Creek is one of the smallest maps in the Fourth Edition of “Where to Mountain Bike in South East Queensland” published late in 2011 by Mark Roberts (orienteer, cartographer) and Gillian Duncan (mountain biking advocate). The book contains 74 pages of brand new detailed maps which Mark spent 9 months creating. Each of the maps has the scale and contour interval which its terrain dictates, so they vary from 1:5,000 / 10m contours (Hennessey Hill in Beerburrum) to 1:150,000 / 100m contours (D’Aguilar National Park). Each map is therefore accompanied by a small graphic which illustrates what various gradients look like on the map. For more details including the legend and larger sample maps see www.organisedgrime.com.au.

In memory of Rex Saye, the orienteering software which he designed and wrote (OTrack and Corpse version 7 with new features) is now available free of charge at

www.o-ware.com JUNE 2012 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER

19

COURSE SETTING

Course Setting with GPS Stuart Watt (BBB – QLD)

Using GPS technology can reduce the effort and improve the speed and accuracy of course setting.

Figure 1

D

uring 2007, I had the opportunity to go back to geological survey after about 20 years away from it teaching.

In the intervening years, GPS use had revolutionised the survey process and I was impressed by the ease of use, the flexibility and the accuracy of the electronics. During a further month of survey in the Simpson Desert in mid-2008, I evolved a system which accelerated my survey immensely, especially in identifying sites of interest from satellite remote sensing, accurately establishing their co-ordinates and then visiting those sites. On returning to my recreation world of Orienteering, I applied a modified method to the next O event for which I set the courses, which seemed to work well. Since then, I have modified the method to improve it. I see no possibilities of competitors using the technology, since their map lacks co-ordinates and the positions of controls are only revealed at the Start, but am highly impressed by the advantages of GPS for the setter. To my method…..

The equipment I use, and am familiar with, is a Garmin E-Trek H hand-held GPS unit (± 3m horizontal accuracy), Gartrip GIS software and Corpse setting software. OCAD may be required to turn the *.eps map file used by Corpse for maps into a *.jpg file for the GIS software. However, I am not a competent enough OCAD user. From discussion with other users, most of the devices and software work in similar ways to my usage, with some differences in terms used.

The first necessary step is to georeference your map. This allows the O map (with no connection to outside areas) to be linked to some overall co-ordinate system. I use the Australian Grid linked to datum WGS84, but only because I grew up using this system in my map training. Any system will do, just as long as you use the same system throughout. In Gartrip the term used is calibrate the map. This is achieved by selecting two (2) identifiable point features on the map, physically visiting these points (plus a **couple of others, which I’ll leave to later discussion), using your GPS to find their co-ordinates, then using the GPS software to calculate co-ordinates for any other point on the map. I normally do this when I go for a general wander around the map looking at possible control sites.

20 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER JUNE 2012

Preliminary Setting Screenshot

There are some important considerations in selecting the two calibration points.

•T he points should be as far as possible from each other for satisfactory accuracy, with maximum separation for both Northings and Eastings.

•T he points should be derived from the photogrammetry (that is, the aerial photography which provides the base map), not the map artwork. Track and watercourse intersections are best, but fence intersections are normally acceptable.

Do not use rock or vegetation detail – the size of a map symbol is often larger than the real feature at the scale of the map. For example, at scale 1:10,000, a boulder symbol 0.5mm in diameter theoretically represents a boulder 5m wide. In practical mapping terms, placing 10 small boulders (all obvious to any runner and totalling 50m of symbol on the map) in the 20m between a ridge line and a watercourse is the mapper’s nightmare. This imposes restrictions on the mapper in representing the ground features realistically on paper and the map artwork becomes a little subjective, particularly on high slopes with lots of rock feature.

Take multiple measurements of the two points and average the Northings and Eastings. This (hopefully) leads to greater accuracy in the calibration points. I often then plot the collected measurements and this “average” point on a blank sheet to see that the average lies in the middle of the uncertainty cluster. Use these averaged points as your calibration points.

Now back to those other **couple of points I mentioned earlier. They should be away from the calibration points, but still on distinct point features.

How close to their symbols they plot on your calibrated map gives you some idea of the accuracy of your calibration – useful to know whether your control points are accurate to 3m or 30m when you are in the bush. Some programmes also allow the use of these extra points for fine tuning of the calibration. This is most useful if your electronic base map has been scanned (scanners, map folding and use all introduce distortion) or if the original photogrammetry available was patchy or of poor resolution.

boundaries) by turning on yourTrack Recording while noting the details in your notebook. Back at base, upload the correction waypoints and tracks to your GPS software, so you know precisely where they are.

Figure 2 Accurate Setting Screenshot

Now it is time to transfer your courses to your GPS software.

I find it is easiest in Corpse to keep your controls in numerical order by flag number in your Master course. The GPS software can be set to sort waypoints the same way, so your listings in split screens are in the same order.

To transfer your controls to the GPS software, construct a split screen (See Figure 1) with Corpse (Master course, Map + IOF view) to one side and GPS software with map on the other. Both can be at fairly small scale. On your GPS software, approximately add waypoints with the <Add new waypoint here> command, naming each with the flag number you wish to use in that position. Then keeping the screen setup the same, change to much larger scales on both maps (See Figure 2) and accurately position your waypoints with the <Move waypoint to here> command. I am told OCAD can do all this automatically, but have no personal experience.

You can organise Routes in a number of ways in your GPS software, but the one I find most useful is with the controls in some logical order for hanging or collecting (See Figure 3).

Now download your waypoints and routes to your GPS, print your map and your Master control descriptions list.

I would add a further note of caution. Do not expect that your electronic device removes all problems of locating your chosen control feature in the bush.

The combination of minor uncertainties from mapping subjectivity, map distortion and instrument inaccuracy can produce disturbingly large variations in accuracy.

Mostly, my E Trek places me within 5m of the control feature so I can see it clearly.

However I have had inaccuracies of between five and 30m (on the same map, I might add) for quite understandable reasons. This, unfortunately, is no consolation when you are looking for a 1m boulder or the middle part of a small gully in the middle of a very green patch of Melaleuca stypheloides.

You still need your O-basics – maintaining good contact with your map.

On balance, though, my view of the above method is that it • s aves effort – only one person required, with the GPS doing the checking; • s aves time when hanging controls - accurate navigation and control placement without waste of time (and no mental debates with yourself whether you have placed the control in just the correct spot).

I would welcome any discussion around modifying the methods we use, to further improve the effort and accuracy needed to set challenging courses email: swatt7@westnet.com.au

By following the routes, your GPS will tell you the number of the flag you are approaching (and how far you are from it) and give you an accurate position for the control.

The map will give you the surrounding features to check control placement and the Master control descriptions give you somewhere to record the details of controls which the map doesn’t show (height, width, flag placement).

You still need to keep good contact with the map and take a field notebook. As you move along your route hanging controls, mark any map corrections with waypoints or linear features (such as new tracks or changed vegetation Figure 3 Route marking JUNE 2012 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 21

TRAIL O

Technical Introduction To Trail Orienteering For Experienced Foot Orienteers Many orienteers in this country seem to regard Trail Orienteering as something devised for handicapped competitors.

While it is true that this form of Orienteering is very well suited for handicapped people Trail Orienteering is far more than that. It provides as much of a challenge to able-bodied orienteers and, most importantly, allows ablebodied and handicapped participants to compete on equal terms. Not many other sports can make that claim.

This article by Brian Parker, member of the IOF Trail Orienteering Commission, first appeared in CompassSport magazine earlier this year, and is reproduced here with their permission.

1. A sport for all

T

rail Orienteering is open to all comers regardless of age, gender or physical mobility. Many active and experienced foot orienteers take part in Trail Orienteering and benefit from it in a number of ways. They find it improves their skills of map reading and terrain recognition for competition in foot Orienteering. Those who make maps find it assists with nuances of terrain interpretation.

Those who control and plan major events find it aids flag placement and control descriptions. And if these specific benefits were not reason enough, there is another that encourages experienced foot orienteers to take part in Trail Orienteering. They are attracted to the intellectual challenge that the discipline offers.

In order to assist experienced foot orienteers who wish to try Trail Orienteering and who would like to gain some familiarity with the format before stepping out on a course, this document has been prepared. It describes the procedures followed in typical Trail Orienteering competition and illustrates some of the principles of course setting and solution by means of a Trail photo-O exercise.

2. Background Trail Orienteering is one of the four disciplines of international Orienteering, the other three being foot, ski and mountain bike Orienteering. Originally developed from the long-established discipline of foot Orienteering, Trail Orienteering is a form of the sport in which competitors are confined to paths and tracks (hence the name Trail-O) and make judgments about control flags placed on features in the terrain. Thereby, physical contest is eliminated to allow participation by 22 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER JUNE 2012

Control 21 on Day 1 at 2009 World Championships, Miskolc, Hungary

competitors with impaired mobility, including those in wheelchairs.

Trail Orienteering permits equal competition between the able-bodied and mobilityimpaired, including those with severe physical disability. It is one of the few sports in which such level competition can take place.

Although contested physical performance is absent from this discipline, it does take place outdoors over some distance in terrain which is not always flat. So some physical effort is required to get round the course, but physical assistance is provided, where necessary, for those in hand-propelled wheelchairs.

As competitors move round the course, they meet orienteering problems that have to be solved by careful reading of the Orienteering map and matching it to the features in the terrain. At introductory level the problems set are not complicated and previous Orienteering experience is not essential. At higher levels of participation more and more orienteering skills are brought into play and at the highest level, in international competition, the courses are extremely testing and require enhanced skills normally beyond those needed for foot Orienteering.

When Trail Orienteering was originally designed for disabled competitors, it was necessary for the focus of attention to be on encouraging disabled participation. This initially gave rise to a common misconception that competition was confined to those with physical disability. That there is no such restriction, with Trail-O being open to all, is now widely understood. Today the majority of participants in Trail Orienteering are ablebodied with a broad range of experience and ability, even including world champion foot orienteers, all attracted to its particular technical challenge.

The World Trail Orienteering Championships (WTOC), first held in conjunction with the World Orienteering Championships (WOC)

in Sweden in 2004, are open to all comers (provided they are selected by their national federations), irrespective of age, gender or physical ability. There is also a closed â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Paralympicâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; class restricted to those with eligible disability and with medically-certified IOF approval.

Those entering Trail Orienteering with experience of foot Orienteering have little difficulty in adjusting to the format. The maps are the same, the language is the same and the problems to be solved, although different in some respects, clearly belong to Orienteering, as they know it. The most important difference, apart from not visiting the control flags, is that the flag placement is more precise than in footO (hence the alternative name of PreO in Scandinavia).

So, those interested in learning about Trail Orienteering are invited to follow the example course then enter a real event. But be prepared to find it more testing than expected!

3. Outline of a trail orienteering course How Trail Orienteering works is best explained by going through the routine of participating on a course. Much of this will be familiar to foot orienteers, but there are critical differences.

Registration has the same function as at foot Orienteering events. After the usual check-in procedures you will be given some means of recording your choices at the controls. Currently this is a control card, much larger than the traditional foot-O control card, because it has to provide multiple punching choices at each control. Electronic tag punching, as in widespread use in foot Orienteering, is being adapted for Trail Orienteering events.

You will need to take on the course a standard Orienteering protractor compass and a watch.

The watch is essential because there is a time limit to the course. As you might readily

expect, optical aids (such as binoculars and range finders), position-fixing aids (such as GPS) and telecommunication aids (such as mobile phones) are devices which could give unfair advantage and are forbidden.

Report to the Pre-Start at the time allocated at registration or when ready, depending on the system in operation. If the course contains timed controls (see discussion later), one or more of these may be between the Pre-Start and the Start.

At the Start your starting time is recorded. You will have been told the maximum time you are allowed for completing the course. You will need to calculate and remember your latest finish time. Later than this will result in penalty points. Although Trail Orienteering events are not races, they cannot be open-ended in time.

Sometimes disabled competitors are given an extra time allowance.

At the Start you will be given the Map. This map, with its course markings, will appear identical in style to foot Orienteering maps.

The scale of the map will probably be 1:5,000 or 1:4,000 drawn to conventional (ISOM) or Sprint (ISSOM) specification with the symbol sizes enlarged to 150% (sometimes 200%) compared with 1:15,000 scale maps.

The Control descriptions are the same as those used in foot Orienteering, except that the control codes are replaced by the number of flags at each control and direction of view arrows may be given in Column H. There is one very important difference in the way the map is used. In foot Orienteering the straight lines linking control circles can, if the terrain permits, represent a possible route to be followed. In Trail Orienteering this is absolutely not the case. It is forbidden to enter the terrain off the tracks and paths (except where marked routes are laid out). To do so results in the risk of disqualification.

The straight lines on the map are simply a means of sequencing the controls to remove, or reduce, the chance of missing one.

Your task is to approach each of the control points as close as the track allows and solve the problem set there. The route to the vicinity of each control is normally very obvious and without choice. Where there is choice, with another track within viewing range of a control, the intended direction of view of the control from the viewing point is given in Column H. Sometimes it is necessary to place the alternative, or any other route, out of bounds on the map, repeated with barrier tape in the terrain.

At each control there are one or more flags, up to a maximum of five. The competitors are required to decide which flag marks the feature located at the centre of the circle on the map and defined in the control description.

At elite competition level it is possible that no flag marks the centre of the circle, this ‘zero’ possibility adding an extra dimension to the standard of technical expertise necessary to solve problems.

In viewing the controls, competitors may move up and down the permitted tracks in arriving at their decision. The chosen flag has to be identified for recording the answer. This is done from a Decision point (also named Viewing point) marked on the ground (usually

by a numbered stake) but not marked on the map. The coding used is that the flag furthest to the left is referred to as A, the next to the right as B, and so on.

This can be seen in the photograph of a set of three flags at the top of a steep sandy slope: In this case the control description would contain the information ‘A-C’ in Column B.

A

B

C

Note that there are no identifying marks on the flags. Having made your decision you move away from the viewing point a short distance along the course to a Recording point, currently consisting of a pin punch.

This is used to mark the appropriate lettered box on the control card. The ‘no flag at the control point’ option is recorded as a zero (Z) answer. The control card is double layered so that the punch marks are duplicated on the second sheet, which is later returned to the competitor.

Once all the controls have been visited and decisions recorded, competitors proceed to the Pre-Finish, where their course completion times are noted.

Following the main course there may be one or more timed controls to be visited. After completion of any such timed controls the competitors then proceed to the Finish where control cards are handed in or electronic tags downloaded.

In the Results list the score that a competitor is awarded is simply the number of correct controls, less any penalty for taking longer than the allowed maximum time. If timed controls are being included, the total times taken are used as tie breaks, to rank competitors with the same points score.

In order that competitors may check any incorrect choices and also to advance their knowledge of Trail Orienteering, the Organiser may issue Solution maps, usually enlarged segments of the competition map, which show the positions of all the flags and the decision points.

To give some idea of the nature of control problems, the following photo-O Trail Orienteering course has been devised.

Of necessity, it is simpler than real Trail Orienteering because only two-dimensional views of each control site are given.

The controls begin at a simple introductory level but become more technical, introducing Trail-O conventions, which may not be familiar to foot orienteers, as the course proceeds.

4. A photo trail orienteering course Map drawn to ISOM specification with 200% symbol size. Scale about 1:4,000.

As can be seen, the map appears identical in form with foot Orienteering maps and is used for terrain interpretation in the same way, except that competitors have to remain on the tracks. The recognition of landform and features has to be carried out at a distance, possibly with reduced visibility.

In this photo-O demonstration course each control has a photograph, taken from the decision point, or closer to the feature, on the same line. The reason for sometimes shortening the range for the photograph is that the flags always appear more distant and less visible in photographs than they do in the terrain. Moving closer to the feature offsets this effect.

Some controls have a second photograph taken from another position along the track, in order to supplement the view from the decision point. This mimics the movement permitted in the terrain and shows why it is often necessary to view the control from different angles.

With each photograph is the solution map, which is an enlargement of a section of the competition map. On the solution map the red cross is the decision point and the red dots are flag positions.

Control 1

A very simple one to start with. The ruin is large enough to be mapped to scale and the centre of the circle is at the flag position relative to the feature as described in Column G. This is marked by Flag B. Flag A is at ‘Ruin, SW corner’.

Control 2 This control is a little more testing for two reasons.

Firstly, despite its size, this boulder is still smaller than the equivalent area in the terrain of the symbol used to mark it on the map.

With such point features the centre of the JUNE 2012 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 23

O-RINGEN TRAIL O However, this example is not as elementary as it first appears. Where does the contour line run across the spur on the ground? Along the foot of the spur or at some intermediate height?

care is needed to identify a furthermost direction. The direction of view from the decision point across the waterhole leads over the path to the edge of the large pit, fixing the S edge of the waterhole as the middle flag (Flag B).

Control 4

circle is always on the centre of the feature, not offset in the description direction in Column G. There is therefore no direction assistance from the map, as with the first control.

The second reason for it being more testing is that the direction of view is to the south, whereas the pictorial description in Column G is to the north, not so difficult with a N-S inversion but more tricky when there are E and W components.

The direction of view from the decision point is S to the centre of the boulder. Flag B is on this direction of view and therefore on the N side of the boulder.

Control 3

Advanced tip: Sometimes, for irregularly shaped features, the Column G flag position direction is not easy to determine but may be confirmed by the Nordic method. This is imagining a wide line advancing on the feature from the direction specified (in the manner of a wave approaching a shore). That part of the feature first reached by the line is furthermost in that direction.

Control 7 This control emphasizes the need in Trail Orienteering to take careful note of the whole of the description, not just that of the feature.

This pit is a point feature, so the circle is centred on the middle of the symbol. Had there been no description in Column G, the control would have been the centre of the feature - Flag A. The description, however, is ‘Pit, SW edge’, which is marked by Flag B, the correct one in this example. Flag C is at ‘Gully, S end’.

Control 5 This control introduces the concept of the zero answer, in this case in its simplest form, with just a single flag. Here the flag is either correct (marked A on the control card) or wrong (marked as a zero).

Inspection of the features in the terrain shows that the flag is at the boulder at the centre of the circle and is on the E side, as described.

Judging contour lines is perhaps the most important skill required for advanced Trail Orienteering. Here is a simple example.

The photograph shows a small spur. The lower flag is at the foot of the spur. The upper flag is near the top of the spur and the centre of the circle on the map is above the contour line and within the spur shape. Flag A clearly matches the description of ‘spur, upper part’ and the centre of the circle on the map.

The simple description ‘Hill’ means the middle of the ring contour or form line surrounding the control point, in this case marked by Flag C within the form line ring.

Otherwise the description is ‘part’. The description of Flag A is ‘Hill, NE part’, referring to the larger ring contour it lies inside. Flag B is on a dot knoll.

Control 6

Advanced tip: There are two ways in which contours may be judged across the terrain. The first is that, if there is good variation in the shape of the contour, it might be possible to estimate its position by eye, from size and depth of view. This skill is achieved through repeated practice. The second method may be used if the contour runs through or by a mapped feature, such as the boulder in the above example. Using the feature as a starting point, the contour may be traced across the terrain. This requires a good sense of the horizontal.

This waterhole, or small pond, is an irregularly shaped point feature and some 24 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER JUNE 2012

Control 8

The description ‘Between’ two features has two requirements for the control point: • It is on the shortest line between the features, simple enough here but sometimes more difficult with area features.

• It is exactly midway between the two features, in this case of point features, between the trunks. With area features it is midway between the edges at flag height.

In the photograph the middle flag can be seen to be on the line joining the two trees, so the first requirement is satisfied. But is it at the halfway point? The photograph suggests

Flag B is off-centre but this is an illusion, due to foreshortening as the left-hand tree is further away. An allowance can be made for the foreshortening but is better if the control can be viewed from a point on the track equidistant from the two features.

Note the direction of view arrow in Column H. This informs competitors that they have to go along the track beyond the control to find the marked decision point.

Control 9

Advanced tip: Look out for parallax errors! When moving from a secondary viewing position to the decision point, the left to right order of the flags may change. In the example above the most distant flag is Flag B when viewed from the decision point but would be labelled Flag A from the secondary viewing point.

Flag C is the same from both positions.

Control 10

Consider the example in the photograph.

The control description has no flag position information in Column G. The default position is therefore the rock face foot at the middle point of its mapped length. At first sight this appears to be marked by Flag B. However, using the size of the marker flags as a guide (30cm square), it can be seen that the right hand flag marks the point where the rock face height falls below 1m. The mid point between this and the left hand end (which is over 1m) is Flag A – the correct answer.

Control 12

This control illustrates the principle of secondary viewing points. The first photograph, taken from the decision point, shows that all the flags are set in the long ditch. It is not possible to see the short ditch.

So it is necessary to find another sighting position from which the second ditch can be seen. This sighting position is known as a secondary viewing point. The path to the south of the control is not prohibited (there is no bar marked over the path on the map).

So it is possible to move along this path and sight along the short ditch to confirm that one of the flags is indeed on the junction.

This control is also solved with the assistance of a secondary viewing point.

This feature is a narrow re-entrant. Permitted flag positions are along the centre line of the re-entrant. The line is divided into three parts; the upper and lower parts (described as such in Column G) and the middle part (no Column G description). If the contour line is traced from the foot of the rock face, it passes near the uppermost flag. The correct flag is one of the other two (or neither).

By sighting the rock face and the flags from further along the track, it is possible to see that the centre flag is opposite the end of the rock face, as is the centre of the circle on the map. Flag C is ‘Re-entrant, lower part’.

Control 11

This example demonstrates the extra dimension of Trail Orienteering at elite level, the unexpected zero control. This is one where the site looks right but isn’t, the flags being placed on similar features parallel to those within the circle.

In the photograph the stream appears to be associated with the gully or small re-entrant to the right of the tree and, although it cannot be seen, it is assumed that the stream runs down this gully to a bend marked by the furthermost flag. The unwary competitor would identify this flag with the centre of the circle. In fact the gully is dry and the stream emerges from an old mine entrance hidden by the tree. Although many of the features in the parallel terrains are similar, there are major differences, which should be spotted by the alert competitor. In this example the give-away features are the fence by the decision point, the bend in the track and the mapped boulder near the centre of the circle.

Advanced tip: In elite competition the first question that a competitor asks at a control is, “Am I looking at the same feature that is circled on the map?” When setting and analysing zero controls the absence of a flag at the feature at the centre of the circle has to be definite.

Minor displacements in flag positions should not lead to zero answers.

If visibility permits, the competitor keeps a continuous eye on the flag while returning to the decision point. If this is not possible, any distinctive features in the terrain next to the flag are noted as markers. This second method can be carried out in the photographs to identify Flag C.

This is where this photo-Trail Orienteering starts to get technical! As a foot orienteer you will be familiar with some rock faces being marked on the map and some not. The IOF recommended minimum for the height of a mapped rock face is 1m. This means that a tapering height rock face is only mapped where its height exceeds 1m. Such a rock face appears longer in the terrain than on the map. This is generally of little significance in foot Orienteering but is much more important in Trail Orienteering.

Control 13 This control demonstrates the technique of sighting lines.

All the flags fit the description of ‘Clearing, E part’. So how are they distinguished from each other? The answer is ‘by sighting lines passing through points identified on the map and also the centre of the circle.’

For a control in an area feature, two sighting lines are needed: JUNE 2012 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 25

TRAIL O prepared to find it mentally tougher than you expect. But, having said that, there have been recent examples where accomplished foot orienteers have tried Trail-O for the first time and have beaten many experienced trailers, much to the latter’s embarrassment. Some say that it is beginner’s luck. It might just be that it is sheer talent!

Good luck!

6. Acknowledgements

One sighting line in this example passes from the E stream/track crossing and the centre of the ruined tower.

The other sighting line passes from the centre of the track bend to the footbridge.

circle. That view is shown in the photograph above: The solving of a timed control problem is to think methodically – and fast! The description is ‘boulder’ so the two flags by the copses, the groups of smaller, thicker trees, can be discounted. But of the three flagged boulders, which is which? The control circle shows only one boulder, at its centre.

The northern boulder which modified the Column C description is well to the left, so ignore that. Two flagged boulders must be unmapped because they are too small. The larger boulder at the rear of the trio looks the best candidate and it is in line with the gap between the copses. So that must be the one.

Check, the flag is on the NW side. Flag B! Time stops. Phew!

At world elite level it has been known for competitors to deliver a correct answer for an easier problem in as little as 5 seconds. Now, that is fast!

Not all problems can be answered quickly but the maximum time allowed for giving an answer at a timed control is 60sec. Failure to produce any answer in that time incurs a penalty. A warning is given at 50secs.

Competitions normally have two timed controls, sometimes three or even four.

5. Conclusion Only one flag is on both lines. From the decision point in the top photograph this is Flag C.

Timed controls At a timed control the competitor is set in a fixed-position, usually a chair. The normal routine is for an official to obscure the view while the competitor settles. Then the official steps aside and points out the flags – Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo – and hands a segment of the map at the scale of the main competition map to the competitor. The time taken from receiving the map to giving an answer is recorded manually by officials with stopwatches, or electronically by the competitor.

Here is an example of the map: The map is oriented in the direction of view from the competitor to the feature at the centre of the 26 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER JUNE 2012

Given an understanding of the techniques described in the photo-Trail-O course, any experienced foot orienteer trying a real Trail-O event for the first time should produce a creditable performance.

So, if you are thinking about having a go, do take the opportunity when one arises. But be

This document has been prepared by Brian Parker (GBR), member the IOF Trail Orienteering Commission. Technical information about TrailO may be found on the IOF website www.orienteering.org ; select Trail Orienteering/Event Organising/ Guidelines The photographs of control sites were taken in woodlands at Burrator on Dartmoor and at Old Mill Creek near Dartmouth, both in SW England. The map is a composite.

Appendix 1. – Example Control Card The actual control card is larger than the image below, the punching box sizes being a minimum 13 mm square. The card has a duplicate underneath, which is returned to competitors to enable them independently to check their answers. The card is of waterproof material. The boxes are split between the two sides of the card to allow the shorter pin punches to be used.

Appendix 2. – Mispunching Your first answer, by voice or by punching, has to stand. Change is not permitted.

Therefore, with control cards, the same punch mark more than once on a row is an incorrect answer for that control. However, with two different punch marks on a row, that with the correct pin code may be accepted, if in the correct box.

Good advice is – do not double punch!

TECHNOLOGY

Electronic Timing Systems for Orienteering Geoff Hudson (Nillumbik Emus – VIC)

In 2001, a small group of Victorian orienteers took delivery of Victoria’s SPORTident equipment and began the work needed to make it operational. The effort required was huge – conversion of stands, preparation of mobile power systems, documentation of both hardware and software, acquisition of a trailer to store and transport the system and training people from each of the Victorian clubs how to run events using the new facilities. In spite of a plethora of hardware and software issues – most of which now seem to be resolved –Victoria and other States have run local and national events using the system.

I

t’s now over 10 years since we first deployed SI and the technology has moved on. In recent years, we’ve played with a few of the alternative technologies and thought it might be of interest to others to see what’s now available, what it can do for us and how much it costs.

Passive RFID Systems RFID stands for Radio Frequency Identification Device. The simplest RFID tags contain a small chip and an antenna. If the antenna is placed close to an RFID reader, it picks up energy radiated from the reader and powers up the chip. The chip then transmits a unique serial number to the reader. If the reader is connected to a computer, the computer can use the serial number to look up the associated name, etc, and record the fact that this person has registered, started or finished.

Most of us will have used such systems already – many access control systems (e.g. credit card sized security cards) may contain such chips.

One standard for such systems is called EM4100; tags containing EM4100 chips transmit a 10 digit number (ie zero to 10 billion) to the reader. We’ve built and used a number of EM4100 systems over the past five years, with the following results: •S uitable for registration; start timing and finish timing (ie any function that can be performed by a central computer/laptop).

•V ery cheap; USB-connected readers are typically about A$10 per unit. Tags can be purchased from eBay for 10-30 cents each. A complete system for 100 orienteers can be purchased for less than $50.

•V ery simple; most of the readers emulate a keyboard. A simple system with registration, start and stop functions can be built with ease.

•V ariety of tag formats; EM4100 chips can be delivered in a variety of formats including wristbands, key-fobs, credit cards etc. All of these are robust, weatherproof and reusable…forever (or until you lose your tag).

What about Split Times?

To get the features offered by SPORTident and other systems such as EMIT – most notably, the ability to record controls visited, the order in which they were visited and leg times we need to provide each runner with a means of recording arrival at controls and the time at which this was done. We’ve tried a number of ways of doing this, including: •G PS Data Loggers: available in quantity for less than $40, we purchased six of these to conduct a trial. With software that allows us to define the location of controls and the ability to download each person’s track, we hoped to automatically determine which controls had been visited by each runner. Sadly, GPS location does not seem to be reliable enough to allow such a system to be used. We got GPS dropouts under trees, near power-lines etc.

• I ntelligent tags: RFID tags that contain memory chips are now available cheaply. This is the approach adopted by SPORTident – and is the type of system that we will cover in more detail below.

•P ortable readers: RFID readers/loggers with inbuilt clocks and rechargeable batteries are now readily available.

Security guards use such systems – by placing EM4100 cards (which cost only 20-30 cents each), at a number of points around their building/organisation. The security guard then carries his “guard tour wand” around the organisation and records the fact that he’s visited each site. Central software then verifies that he’s visited every location as regularly as required.

• Very quick; it takes less than a second to scan such tags.

JUNE 2012 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 27

TECHNOLOGY

Let’s have a closer look at the latter two systems…..

The Russian SFR Event System In contrast to the Chinese who simply reverse engineered SPORTident and copied it – problems and all, the Russians looked at the European experience, thought about some of the issues encountered and developed an approach that avoided many of these.

The Russian controls are sealed units; while full encapsulation means that they are not prone to moisture ingress, it does mean that the batteries are non-replaceable (battery life 5-7 years). They operate in two modes – a rapid-response active mode and a slower mode that requires a button-press to wake the unit up. Being a newer technology than SI, they boast read-write times of 10 mS – ie 5-6 times faster than the fastest SI stick currently available.

The software provided is free of charge and gives one enough facilities to run an event with several thousand competitors.

The software is pretty spartan, not exactly user-friendly and designed to meet their perceived needs – many of which did not align well to the practises adopted in local Park & Street orienteering. Just as many have done with SI, we’ll write our own software – and will produce a simple, self-contained box with an ON/OFF switch and touch screen – to record registration, start times and finish times and then publish these results to our website via a mobile phone or WiFi connection.

The primary reason for choosing the Russian system was cost; a system to support local Park & Street Orienteering requires 20 controls, 200 sticks and at least 2 download controls. The cost comparison is compelling:

Russian Control

loss or vandalising of a control is no matter. At these prices we could easily tag a number of locations in an area and just leave them there. If asked to set a course, just pick any 20 of the 50-60 control locations used previously and check that the tags are still there.

Sadly, the portable readers cost about $70 each at the moment; still too expensive! (ie about $14,000 for 200 participants). While the technology here has dropped in price markedly over the past couple of years, it still needs to come down further - to $20-40 per unit to be feasible for local street-O use.

A Comparison Characteristic

Current Approach

Intelligent Tag

Portable Reader

SPORTident......................... $15,000 (mainly due to cost of SI sticks)

Weight

Minimal

Minimal

70-160 gm

Russian SFR System........... $2,500

Labour

Collect the cards and review punches on each. Enter result into scoring program.

Labour saving > 1000 hours/year

Done automatically.

Cards checked more thoroughly.

Significant labour saving.

Safety

Cards with tear off stubs can be compared to returned cards.

Laborious/slow and error-prone.

Automated system using bar-codes used at some Melbourne events – cost $800 per unit.

Instantaneous – system can identify how many runners still out and who they are.

The best safety solution currently available.

Cost – per Runner

Melbourne’s printed cards with unique numbers or barcodes cost 10-15 cents per person. i.e. about $2,000 per year.

Tags cost less than $1 per person and are reusable.

Allow $500 for 500-600 tags.

$50-70 per reader which could be covered by regulars or included in season tickets etc.

We would need 200 hire units.

Cost – per Control

Current control plates cost about $50 per control.

SFR controls cost about $50 per unit

Controls would use red and white EM4100 tags at each site. Cost – less than $1 per control site (can be as low as 10 cents per site)

Read/Write Times

3-5 seconds at each control

10mS read/ 60mS read/write write

Download Time

N/A

<1 second

Note that this assumes that you purchase the components and manufacture your own tags; currently, we’re sourcing parts from China at 28cents per tag, adding a bit of Velcro and shoving them through a laminator. Fully sealed and waterproof tags cost less than $1 per person! This is particularly attractive for situations where we have large numbers of people or people that might lose tags – it becomes possible to provide electronic scoring for schools championships for $600-800 rather than the $36,000+ that would be required for a SI system.

Guard Tour Wand Systems Running events in suburbia has its risks; while not a frequent occurrence we do lose several controls each year. This risk forces us to put the controls out just before the event and then collect them immediately afterwards – always a hassle.

Technology now provides a solution – by using red and white EM4100 cards at control sites (fastened on by cable-tie or nailed onto a post) and then providing each person with a portable reader (weighing 70-160 grams – for comparison, a Garmin Forerunner weighs about 80 grams). Participants visit each control and record the control details in their portable reader as they pass by.

The units that we imported were very robust and flash, beep and vibrate as the control number and time are recorded in your wand. The units supplied had Bluetooth connectivity to a central reader – when you arrive at the event, it sees that you are there and registers you and when you finish, it downloads the unit and ticks you off as having finished. Nice!

The key advantage of such a system is that the controls placed in the field are cheap – at 10-30 cents per control, the 28 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER JUNE 2012

Via Bluetooth 1-2 seconds

Russian Tags

But What do we Really Need?

Within Victoria we run more than 200 Park & Street events per year (with an average attendance of about 100 people per event); as a result, process changes or savings can be amortised over a very large number of events.

WM-5000V5 Guard Tour Wand: inbuilt clock, records 60,000 controls (ie suitable for even the longest course), rechargeable battery and Bluetooth download.

Download performance: while the individual performance of each tag/reader seems adequate, our Editor (Mike H.) notes that the ability to handle peak loads at the Finish is a critical consideration. At major events in Melbourne, we have 250 participants – about 100 of whom take part in the powerwalking category. Being a score course, most of these people finish within a 3-5 minute period – so the system must be able to handle 100 people in 3 minutes – 180 seconds. The average service-time per customer ….ie “hello there, please put your stick in there, well done – you scored x points”… takes about 5-6 seconds, so we’re already 200-300% over the time budget.

Those of you that have been to major events know how we handle this – multiple download stations, marshals to manage queuing, hand out lollies to keep the masses under control etc. Even with this extra capacity, the system still struggles to cope when it encounters error situations – such as someone that is using the wrong SI stick, is entered in the wrong course or is sure that he did not mispunch. In Melbourne we’ll avoid all of these issues by collecting all cards from finishers and downloading them in bulk – at 1-2 seconds per card, we can easily handle the peak loads expected.

Operate in all weather conditions: the Russian controls are made for the bleakest of weather conditions and operate well. The tags are completely sealed and are unaffected by wet conditions. The central system can be operated from a sealed box, with a single cable running to the download control. Contrast this with the paper mache that is passed back after most wet weather events.

The Business Case We can purchase one set of 30 controls, download controls and 500 tags for less than $3000. If we allow for 2-3 stolen controls per year (about $200) and make allowance for system replacement at end of life (about $400 per year) – we get an initial cost of $3000 and an annual cost of about $600.

The benefits of deploying such a system for our larger series are: •N o cards – cash saving about $800-1000 per year (cards cost about 10 cents each) •R eduction in volunteer labour – manually checking cards is laborious – for one series – about 300-400 hours per year. Most of this time can be saved.

• I ncreased safety – we know how many are still out and who they are.

•B etter service to customers – we can provide real-time scoring and results display, online results, split-times and route-gadget integration for virtually no additional effort.

The conclusion is clear - the system pays for itself over the life of the equipment, provides significant savings to our volunteer workforce, and offers a better service to our customers.

Why wouldn’t we do it?

Contact email – geoff.hudson@gmail.com JUNE 2012 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 29

PROMOTION

Orienteering for Scouts Geoff Hudson (Nillumbik Emus – VIC)

As my sons grew up I took my turn to be the local Scout Leader and thoroughly enjoyed myself for the 7-8 years in which I was part of the scouting movement. Participating in Park & Street Orienteering and then other forms of our sport, made me aware of the opportunities available to both Orienteering and the scouting movement if we were ever willing to ally with one another.

For 7-8 years I had trained scouts in use of compass and basic navigation according to the standard scouting guidebooks. It was only as I took part in Orienteering and Rogaining that I realised that no real navigator uses the techniques being taught by my fellow scout leaders – and that the techniques orienteers used could be the basis of enjoyable and interesting exercises for scouts. When I spoke to Melbourne’s Eastern District Scout Leaders that managed such activities, they were already aware of the issues and were quite enthusiastic about the opportunity to work with someone from our sport. It was agreed – that together, we would run a Scout Adventure Racing Series from scout halls in Melbourne’s Eastern suburbs.

Thanks to the philanthropic support from a number of local orienteers, our first series has been a spectacular success – not just a copy of local Park & Street Orienteering, but the next evolutionary step. The introduction of highly-detailed maps – in many cases, stunningly better than the black & white versions previously available and the deployment of electronic timing with all of its associated benefits (see article in this magazine) has allowed us to run highly-professional events of a standard not generally seen in Melbourne’s Park & Street O community.

What’s in it for us? The scout association has 25,000 kids in Victoria alone; the parents of these children recognise the value

Briefing time.

30 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER JUNE 2012

Everybody loves the Electronic Tags.

of outdoor activities and pay significant amounts so that their children can take part. As part of our PR activities for these events, we notify parents of participating scout-troops and invite them to take part; as an added inducement, we offer a one time free entry to scout parents and families that do come along.

Our PR material uses the “Call to Action” approach in marketing….” Your kids need to see that it’s cool to exercise – and one way to do this is to see that their parents think so too.”

It’s early days yet, but as we present our message to more districts and publish articles in Scouting magazines, the word will get out – Orienteering is a great sport for families and that Scouting and Orienteering associations run a huge number of activities across all suburbs of Melbourne.

We should not view this Scout Adventure Racing Series as a competitor to local Orienteering; it is an additional channel to market for us …a market that we were aware of, but never had the time or resources to address. It offers Orienteering Victoria the chance to communicate with 25,000 families that already recognise the value of an outdoors education. Surely, this can’t be bad? The reality is here – several scouting families have already joined our Orienteering club and when the scout series finished at the end of daylight saving, have migrated across to Orienteering events run by the wider Orienteering community.

How did we go financially? Our objective was not about making money – we are privileged to have been given the opportunity to put something back into our community and have been more than repaid for the small amount of time, effort and money that we have contributed. In spite of letting scouts and guides participate for free and only charging $2 per entry for adults, we still collected more than $1000 for the scout association and about $170 for a charity that asked orienteers for help.

What’s in it for the Scouts? In addition to a free Orienteering series that runs every week during summer, they get high-quality maps of areas around their scout halls; we created 18 high-quality colour maps from scratch and set courses on each of these. By blowing up these maps and adding detail around their scout hall, we’ll create additional maps that can be used to train younger children in a more confined space. All of these maps have been created under a Creative Commons arrangement and will be made available – free-of-charge - to any Orienteering club or community organisation that wishes to use them – our theory is that the more people that use our maps, the more that will learn of our events and the more that will come and join us.

A key benefit to scouting is that our events encourage parents to take part. Some of the parents that do so will enjoy themselves and come regularly – and as a result, they’ll establish closer relationships with existing scout leaders and will, in time, provide assistance and support if they can. It works! This is how I became a scout leader during the 90’s and I then stayed for more than seven years.

The ploy is well understood by both orienteers and scouts; the key to success for all of us is to reach out to parents. Our events are nearby, low-cost, fun-events that support local youth groups and are a great activity for the entire family – one father summed it up after an event, when he came to me afterwards to say that “our maps were amazing and that he had just spent the most incredible hour teaching his son to read maps and had great fun finding our controls”.

From the wider Orienteering community’s perspective, they get our new maps and access to anything that we develop along the way. (Our article in this issue describes our work to automate scoring – as one that has scored Orienteering events every year for the last 12-13 years, I am intensely aware of the potential benefits here).

Our approach has been along the lines of the long-held business tenet - that competition is a critical driver of performance and innovation. It’s been good for all of us. In contrast to the traditional Orienteering strategy of “let’s just do what we did last year” approach, some clubs are now looking to see how they too can improve their maps and run more interesting events for orienteers and their children. If our exercise with the scouts helps people to see what can be done if we’re only prepared to try, then that could be a good thing.

Where to from Here?

We’ve committed to run the activity for the Scout Association for a minimum of three years and were recently thrilled to be contacted by the Guide Association and other Scouting Districts to say that they had heard of our events and asked how they could take part too. Our expectation is that both participation and the range of activities offered will increase over the next two years.

With no funding and a tiny group of enthusiastic helpers we’ve made amazing progress. We’ve done a lot in our first year of operation and will now consolidate our position – we’ve got the infrastructure required to run events and now need to establish a joint Orienteering/Scouting organisational structure that will manage the growth of this activity over the next few years. One of the key issues that we need to address is to build a bridge back

into Orienteering so that it too can benefit from the potential present in this area. The series has already provided benefits to the scouts, to orienteers and Orienteering and to the local community and we fully expect it will continue to do so in the future.

The opportunity is there for other States to adopt a similar approach and a successful initiative in Victoria could encourage the Scout Associations in other States to see the opportunity for them too. The work we’ve done here would not have been possible without incredible support from a number of the District Leaders in our area. At our recent meeting with them, they noted that word of this series – and the enthusiastic response from scouts and guides - has gone out to other districts and other States.

One of the key reasons that we’ve been given this opportunity to work with scouts is that we recognise what they’re trying to do and how we can help. They have a well-defined approach to such activities and we need to integrate our activity with their training program. We’ve begun this process in Melbourne and believe that with the right support every child that goes through scouting will, in time, come out the other end with a little more navigational skill and a better awareness of Orienteering.

Contact email - geoff.hudson@gmail.com JUNE 2012 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 31

XMAS 5 DAYS

2012 Christmas 5-Days

DAY 1 – Thu 27 December Magenta, Chiltern Near the small historic gold mining town of Chiltern, the Magenta map offers fast open running in dry eucalypt forest with moderate hills interspersed with broad subtle flats speckled with mining features.

From December 27 - 31 Australian orienteers will be enjoying the Christmas 5-Days carnival. The annual Christmas 5-Days is a summer holiday in itself – top quality orienteering in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere. This year, the carnival will be the perfect prelude to the Oceania Carnival & World Cup events in New Zealand in early January.

T

his year, the Christmas 5-Days is based in Beechworth, in Victoria. None of the events will be more than 30 kilometres from town. Beechworth is a beautiful and historic town of 3500 inhabitants, nestled in the scenic Mayday Hills.

The town is a tourist centre for “comfortable” tourism – food and wine, and exploring history. Start exploring at www. beechworth.com/index.php. It is also a great starting point for more active holidays in the Victorian Alps – bushwalking, cycling, kayaking and rock climbing for example.

When it comes to Orienteering, Beechworth is renowned in Australia for its challenging terrain, including granite country, gold mining and spur/gully terrain. This year’s 5-Days has outstanding offerings of each of these.

Lake Sambell, Beechworth

Beechworth rocks

DAY 2 – Fri 28 December Barambogie Into the complex granite rocks, with again open eucalypt forest, a bit thicker in the most rocky areas.

Short steep hills with gentle slopes in between.

pm – MTBO Indigo Winery, Beechworth If you just can’t get too much orienteering, why not try MTBO in the early evening? Starting and finishing at a local winery, so don’t get too dehydrated!

DAY 3 – Sat 29 December Kangaroo Crossing More granite today on one of Australia’s favourite maps! You need to keep in contact with the map here as the rocks just keep coming. The open eucalypt forest is mixed in with some thicker areas of native pine forest.

DAY 4 – Sun 30 December Rowdy Flat, Yackandandah This map was new to orienteering in 2011, and has become an instant favourite. It’s only a small area, but the gold mining detail is everywhere. Churned-up wasteland that only an orienteer could love, but you will love it! pm – MTBO Stanley Another MTBO event this evening, this time on the fast track network of a local pine plantation and some adjoining farming land. Not too hilly, just enough to make it interesting.

DAY 5 – Mon 31 December Beechworth Town and Gorge Finish the 5-Days on the edge of town. More granite rock with a blend of eucalypt and native pine forest, as well as some parks and street of the scenic town of Beechworth.

32 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER JUNE 2012

At Christmas time in southeastern Australia, it can be hot. The Orienteering will take place in the early mornings and the latter part of the afternoons, leaving plenty of time for more relaxed activities in what might be the heat of the day.

The 2012 Christmas 5-Days webpage is at http://www. WANGARATTA vicorienteering.asn.au/ events/bush/C5D/ and has links to local tourism and accommodation sites.

CHILTERN

m

eF re e

wa

y

Mt Barambogie

Hu

Beechworth is close to the main highway between Melbourne and Sydney and is around 3 hours drive from Melbourne or 5½ hours from Sydney. There is a regional airport at Albury, around ½ hour from Beechworth.

WODONGA

ELDORADO

Kangaroo Crossing

Indigo Winery

YACKANDANDAH

BEECHWORTH STANLEY Beechworth

Indigo Winery

Advertise your event You can have a 6 x 8 cm event ad for just $50 In colour, if we have room, otherwise black & white Send artwork to The Editor: mikehubbert@ozemail.com.au JUNE 2012 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 33

TOP EVENTS 2012 June 7-9

June 9-11 June 16-17 July 1-8

July 6-8

July 7-14

July 9-14

July 12-27

July 14-21

July 15-20

July 22-28

July 24-29 Aug 4-11

Aug 10-12

Aug 18-19 Aug 20-25

World Trail-O Championships Dundee, Scotland. www.wtoc2012 @britishorienteering.org.uk QB 111 Weekend Armidale, NSW http://ntoc.asn.au Jukola Relays Vantaa, Finland WMOC Bad Harzburg, Germany www.wmoc2012.de ICE-O 2012 Reykjavik, Iceland www.rathlaup.is JWOC Kosice, Slovakia www.jwoc2012.sk Fin 5 Teuva, Finland 2012.fin5.fi Tour de Halland inc O-Ringen 2012 Halmstad, Halland, Sweden, www.oringen.se WOC Lausanne, Switzerland www.woc2012.ch Swiss 5 Days 2012 Lausanne, Switzerland www.woc2012.ch/swiss5days/ CROESO 2012 Aberystwyth, Wales www.croesomultiday.org.uk CROATIAOPEN2012 www.croatiaopen.net Queensland Championships Blackbutt, Qld. www.oq.asn.au/qldchamps Northern Territory Championships & SILVA NOL Round 4, Darwin, NT www.topend.nt.orienteering.asn.au Qld MTBO Champs & National MTBO Series #2, Woodford World MTBO Champs 2012 Junior World MTBO Champs World Masters MTBO Champs Veszprem, Hungary www.mtbo.hu/mtbwoc2012.php

Sept 22-30

AUS Championships 2012, Beaches & Boulders East Coast, Tasmania www.auschamps2012.com

Oct 1-12

Five + Five Days of Sicily Selinunte / Taormina, Italy www.orienteering.it Asian Orienteering Championships Wuxi, Jiangsu, China North American O Champs, Delaware Water Gap, Pennsylvania, USA. www.naoc2012.org AUS MTBO Championships National MTBO Series #3 Taree NSW, mountaindevils.com Istanbul 5 Days Turkey. www.ist5days.com

Oct 14-19 Oct 19-21

Oct 27-28

Oct 31Nov 4

34 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER JUNE 2012

Nov 10-11

Venice City Race

Dec 27-31

Xmas 5-Days Beechworth, Victoria www.vicorienteering.asn.au/events/ bush/C5D/

(check dates for Venezia, Italy.

Acqua Alta) www.orivenezia.it

2013 Jan 4-13

Oceania Carnival & World Cup Wellington & Hawkes Bay areas North Island, New Zealand www.oceania2013.co.nz Mar 29 AUS 3 Days 2013 Apr 1 Bendigo, Victoria June 29JWOC 2013 July 6 Hradec Králové, Czech Republic www.jwoc2013.cz July 7-14 WOC2013 Vuokkati, Finland www.woc2013.fi July 20-26 O-Ringen 2013 Boden, Lapland, Sweden www.oringen.se 25 July – 2013 World Games 4 August Cali, Colombia worldgames2013.com.co July 28-29 AUS MTBO Championships Toolara South, Qld Aug 2-11 WMOC 2013 (part of WMG?) (dates TBC) Torino, Italy (www.torino2013wmg.org/) Aug 26-31 World MTBO Champs Junior World MTBO Champs West-Viru, Estonia Sept 28AUS Championships Carnival Oct 6 ACT Nov 9-10 Venice City Race 2013 (check dates for Venezia, Italy www.orivenezia.it Acqua Alta)

Dec 27-31

Xmas 5-Days NSW

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JUNE 2012 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 35 Arial Black 12pt spärrad +900

18/3/10 11:52:32 AM

2

MOUNTAIN BIKE ORIENTEERING

2012 Victorian MTBO Championships Words: Blake Gordon Photos: Rob Jamieson

The three championship events held in the Maryborough and Newstead area of Victoria incorporated not only State Championships but also Round 1 of the National MTBO Series and selection trials for senior and junior WMTBO teams.

A

fter riders endured a wet and windy weekend last year, the Eureka and Nillumbik organisers decided to select the Maryborough ironbark and Sandon’s rocky, open eucalypt forests north of the Great Divide. The weather was perfect; the courses challenging; a good interstate contingent made the trip; and a good junior contingent from Braemar College gave promise of greater junior MTBO participation!

Learning from several glitches in 2011, the course setters used areas that would best suit the three styles of MTBO: Sprint (high speed requiring riders’ full concentration in a very dense track network); Middle Distance (technically demanding in a dense track network); and Long Distance (physically demanding, testing riders’ route choice over medium to long legs with several short legs at the start and finish). The three scales used (1:5 000 for Sprint; 1: 10 000 for C3, C4 and C5 and 1:15 000 for C1 and C2 for the Middle Distance; 1:20 000 for the Long Distance) tested competitors’ ability to adapt to the different terrains – yet be able to read detail of the track network. One Queensland competitor put it well; “At home we have difficulty finding the tracks in the grass and thick forest. Here we had some difficulty deciding what were tracks and what was the open forest!” On the Sprint and Middle Distance the course planners opted for A4 size maps with an innovative “map flip” two-thirds of the way around the course to reduce the size of map and present the courses at a very readable scale. Finally, the use of dedicated event advisors (Jon Sutcliffe and Peter Hill) for the three events in two days made for a clean, well-managed weekend where all competitors were the winners!

36 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER JUNE 2012

Dion Keech leads Anthony Jones and Tim Dent during the Sprint Champs.

Oscar Phillips (Tas) makes his way through the recently burnt (control burn) Maryborough bush.

Day 1 – Sprint and Middle – Maryborough Competitors started arriving just after 8.30am after a cold, clear night at the Jack Pascoe Reserve (the finish site for Australia’s historic two 3rd place medals at the 2004 World MTBO Relay Championships). But this time they had to ride across town (a 15 minute ride) to the velodrome where the pre-start, start, and finish locations were all centred in the sunshine of a perfect autumn morning. But that is when the fun began. Several elite competitors commented that they were mentally prepared to start slowly - but the sprint start to the Start triangle down a track on the eastern edge of the velodrome stirred them up and suddenly they were “lost” in the complex track and bright yellow areas just north of the Start triangle.

Steven Cusworth won all three M21 titles – pictured here during the Sprint.

Some post race comments showed how much of a shock to the system the first few controls turned out to be. “I just checked the compass and headed in the general direction of the control and hoped I’d find the big tracks”. Even the new Australian coach said, “I just looked for the big dams on several legs – then I knew where I was!” But despite the initial rush of adrenalin most riders soon slowed down enough to navigate and used the shape of the hills and mining detail to ride within the predicted winning time of under 35 minutes on all courses.

In the elite classes, Steven Cusworth stamped his authority on the M21 field with a convincing 3min 45sec win. But in M-20 six minutes covered the top five riders with Tassie Tom Goddard taking a narrow 28sec win over Chris Firman. Thorlene Egerton made a great start to the weekend with a convincing 3min 41sec over smiling Melanie Simpson. So the area which had been rejected by the 2004 Event Adviser as too small for a major competition (there was no Sprint

BRISTOL HILL

VIC SPRINT CHAMPS 1:5000, 5 m contours Course 1 M21 winner, Steven Cusworth’s route shown.

All controls are shown here but competitors had 2 maps.

For clarity we have deleted the lines between controls.

JUNE 2012 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 37

MOUNTAIN BIKE ORIENTEERING

Thor Egerton took out the W21 Sprint title at Maryborough

Heath Jamieson (Vic) gained selection for Hungary – his first Junior World MTBO Champs.

Blake and Dale-Ann Gordon seeing the elite starters off on the Middle race.

BULL GULLY WELLS VIC MIDDLE MTBO CHAMPS 1:15000, 5m contours Course 1 – Map 1

competition for WMTBOC in 2004) proved a formidable introduction to the start to the 2012 National MTBO Series.

was hoping to redeem his fortunes after missing a control on the Sprint.

After checking the instant board results and wondering how they were going to put their route on Route Gadget, the competitors cooled down and headed back across town for a coffee, a snack and then out to 1pm start of the Middle Distance race. Meanwhile the results were being streamed direct to the internet, thanks to Eureka’s Ian Chennell who introduced a new first in Australian MTBO technology – live results. But with the countdown clock signalling the departure of riders every two minutes, the temperature had risen to 20 degrees as over 80 riders prepared to start the Middle Distance event.

But then it happened – Chris rode right past #10 in his haste to post a winning time (his final time was 2min faster than any M-20s) ending his day on a sour note. Meanwhile Marc composed himself and went on to win by almost 5min from Tom Goddard with an improving Karl Withers (QLD) just 14sec behind in third place. Steven Cusworth continued on his way to win his second race by nearly 5min with Phillips second, then evergreen Jim Russell and WA’s Ricky Thackray only separated by 26sec for 3rd and 4th. Melanie Simpson turned the tables on Thorlene Egerton from the morning’s Sprint to take a comfortable 3min win with Carolyn Jackson in 3rd place in W21E.

Again, the course setter presented early in the course - a major six-track intersection 75 metres after the Start triangle. With a maze of horse trails and cross-country jumps (but no horses!) in the first few controls, followed by several long legs into the Bull Gully Wells (an aboriginal water hole) the terrain changed to spur gully with route choices. Both Steven Cusworth (M21E) and Chris Firman (M-20E) started cautiously but by the ‘map flip’ at Majorca Road crossing Steven held a strong 3min 10sec lead over Oscar Phillips who was riding his first selection trial as a M21E. Chris was narrowly 49secs ahead of Tasmanian Marc Gluskie who 38 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER JUNE 2012

Then it was back to campsites and caravan parks for a shower before the dinner and presentations at the golf club bistro. Bruce Paterson’s head cam footage of the Sprint race – complete with comments – entertained us as we ate and Joyce Rowlands’ games kept our minds active before the traditional mugs, glasses and coasters to the top riders. For the first time W80 (Joyce Rowlands) and M80 (Graeme Cadman) prizes were presented to Victoria’s MTBO legends.

Former National coach, Kay Haarsma (SA), now OA High Performance Manager, competing in the Long race.

Tasmania’s Tom Goddard will be heading to Hungary for his second Junior World MTBO Champs.

Just days after the selection races, Mel Simpson headed back to her home in Norway.

Helen Edmonds and Carolyn Cusworth (both W50) making their way on the Middle course.

Joyce Rowlands, W80 – in a class of her own!

Karl Withers (Qld) selected for his first Junior World MTBO Champs.

MOSQUITO FLAT

VIC MIDDLE MTBO CHAMPS 1:15000, 5m contours Course 1 – Map 2

Day 2 – Long – Sandon Forest Blue skies and cool temperatures greeted the competitors at Sandon Forest – site for the Long Distance event. This time the start boxes were in sight of the finish tent and result boards – a nice compact site from the Nillumbik organisers. The tracks were dry and rocky with route choice possible in at least two paddocks where riders could ride the bright yellow or take the longer route around on the tracks. Winning times were again ‘spot-on’ for Long Distance events – thanks to Peter Hill, the event advisor.

The margin in M21E stretched to almost 12min but the winner was the same – Steven Cusworth. Without an injured Alex Randall (broken collar bone) it was good to see last years’ National Series winner Ricky Thackray take second, just ahead of Jim Russell and Oscar Phillips. In the M-20E Chris Firman rebounded to score a convincing 6min win from Tom Goddard (who ran the last three controls with a broken derailleur) with Marc Gluskie in third and consistent Heath Jamieson fourth. Melanie Simpson increased her margin over Thorlene Egerton to win by 14min with Carolyn Jackson third followed by Caitlin Wade (VIC).

The prize presentations – with spot prizes of Easter eggs – were great fun for the organisers. The juniors from Braemar College

(Woodend) had seven juniors finish on the day – a great sign for the upcoming Victorian Schools MTBO Championships. The surprise presentation of the day was announced by Nillumbik President Ron Frederick when he asked if anyone thought they deserved a prize (after riding ‘prize-less’ for the three events) – come up and claim a commemorative coaster. He was almost bowled over in the rush!

But the happiest rider on the day must have been Rob “The Beard” Prentice who managed to win his fourth consecutive Long Distance Victorian Championship in M50.

So the first of the 2012 National MTBO Series ended in Victorian sunshine with everyone looking forward already to Round 2 in Woodford, Queensland, on 18/19 August and Round 3 (the Australian MTBO Championships) in Taree, NSW, on 27/28 October.

Course setter for the Sprint and Middle races, Blake Gordon got to compete at the Long Champs.

JUNE 2012 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 39

MOUNTAIN BIKE ORIENTEERING

Just days after the selection races, Mel Simpson headed back to live in Norway. At least a shorter trip for her to the World Champs in Hungary.

His beard is getting longer, and so is his stash of Victorian titles as NSWâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Rob Prentice took home his 5th Victorian M50 Long Distance title.

SALIGARI SAFARI

2012 VICTORIAN LONG MTBO CHAMPS 1:20 000*, 5m contours Course 1 *map printed here at 92%

Ricky Thackray, 2nd in the Long and selected in the Aussie team.

Sofie van Gunsteren (Vic).

Steve Cusworth picked up time on his rivals with this route choice through yellow between 14 and 15.

M21E 1 Steven Cusworth 2 Ricky Thackray

1 2:52 2:52 BO W 2:59 2:59 BK V

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 5:52 12:32 16:29 26:13 32:28 35:15 38:56 46:11 57:54 1:04:18 1:09:34 1:13:59 1:22:06 1:26:53 1:30:42 1:36:52 1:40:29 1:43:55 1:45:35 3:00 6:40 3:57 9:44 6:15 2:47 3:41 7:15 11:43 6:24 5:16 4:25 8:07 4:47 3:49 6:10 3:37 3:26 5:40 11:54 15:51 25:54 32:17 33:41 37:40 46:22 59:24 1:08:33 1:14:03 1:18:36 1:26:58 1:32:46 1:39:10 1:47:52 1:52:01 1:55:44 1:57:26 2:41 6:14 3:57 10:03 6:23 1:24 3:59 8:42 13:02 9:09 5:30 4:33 8:22 5:48 6:24 8:42 4:09 3:43

40 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER JUNE 2012

SPOT the DIFFERENCE This map was used in a major carnival about ten years ago. Can you guess from which map this small map section is taken?

Answer on page 43 of this magazine.

There are 15 differences in these two otherwise identical map sections. CAN YOU FIND ALL 15 ??

JUNE 2012 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 41

NUTRITION

Avoiding the Winter Weight Gain Gillian Woodward

A

s Stephen Bird indicated in the March 2012 edition of this magazine, we orienteers may perceive ourselves to be a fairly health-conscious bunch. We might exercise/train regularly, drink alcohol moderately, eat well and avoid smoking, but are we vulnerable to the same ‘lifestyle diseases’ of the 21st century as our couch-potato neighbours?

Winter is a time when some of us find it harder to get out in the chilly winds and go for runs or do our other aerobic workouts. It is also a time when it is much more comforting to sit by a nice warm fire with a cup of hot chocolate or a serve of yummy warm dessert like a hot saucy pudding. While it is true, we may need a bit more fuel to keep the body warm in the cold months, it is very easy to overdo the extra intake of calories (kilojoules) without matching it to equal energy output. How can we avoid the winter weight gain without starving? Here are some DO’s and DON’T’s to help you through winter without adding more centimetres to your waistline or hips: 1. DO NOT go on any fad diets! There are plenty out there at present but ALL of them fail to meet the needs of an active person. Most of them strongly restrict carbohydrates – an orienteer’s main fuel source. You won’t be able to put in the kilometres for long without fruits, starchy vegies or the grain and dairy foods. All of these are tightly restricted, if not banned in the popular low carb regimes that abound.

2. DO NOT eliminate any one food group. Make sure your daily intake includes all 5 food groups – meat or alternatives, dairy, fruit, vegetables and grain foods.

3. DO NOT skip meals in an effort to lose weight. This is false economy. Your body will think you are trying to starve it and consequently it will hold onto every morsel of food it can to store it as fat for fear of total starvation. This makes it difficult to lose any weight at all, no matter what you do.

4. DO NOT give in to the hot take-away lunch – deep fried chips, hot pies or sausage rolls. Their high (saturated) fat content will fill you with many extra kilojoules that will inevitably be stored on your waistline or hips if you don’t run them off!

5. D O make a big pot (or slow cooker) full of hearty vegetable soup or casserole with either some legumes or lean meat added for protein. Not only does this make a quick hot dinner at night, but also doubles up as a hot lunch to be reheated at work next day.

Team it with a crusty roll and there you have a

42 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER JUNE 2012

winter-warming meal without all the extra fat and excess energy.

6. D O start the day with a good breakfast. Hot porridge is quick and easy particularly if you soak it overnight in the bowl and microwave it in the morning. You can add some dried fruit to soak in it too as a sweetener or simply top it with a banana after it is cooked. If you don’t have time for this, then even a hot milk drink teamed up with a breakfast bar would be better than nothing.

7. D O make use of frozen vegetables, especially when the fresh ones are out of season. These are snap frozen within 24 hours of picking so are extra fresh when compared with those that are often cool-stored and trucked for long distances before landing on supermarket shelves. They are still a very good source of vitamins and minerals as well as being fast and convenient.

8. D O include healthy snacks in your day. Providing your body with fuel more regularly may prevent you feeling cold and stop the temptation to reach for the hot fatty meals when you are over-hungry. Keep a supply of nuts, dried or fresh fruit, low fat crackers in your work-place and eat these with your cup of hot tea or other warming drink, rather than going for the sweet biscuit tin or the vending machine for potato crisps or chocolate bars.

If you need more hints or suggestions on healthy eating, recipe ideas and keeping fit, then have a look at the website www. healthyfoodguide.com.au . They have a great monthly publication which is in your local supermarket as well. It is full of practical ways for everyday people to implement the latest research on health and nutrition into their lives in easy, non-fuss ways.

And don’t forget that once you have enough layers of clothing on and have put the first step outside of the warm room, moving at a brisk pace (running or walking fast) is the best way to get the blood flowing and to those cold fingers and toes! Exercise will energise you far more than sitting in front of the heater.

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

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Orienteering Australia – National Training Centre

OR IE NTE E R ING PUBLICATIONS IOF Publications

Australian Publications

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

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Prices for bulk orders available on request. Orders should be addressed to Orienteering Australia, PO Box 284 Mitchell BC 2911, with cheques made payable to Orienteering Australia. Email: orienteering@netspeed.com.au ANSWERS SPOT the DIFFERENCE – the map is Glenluce South in Victoria, used during WMOC 2002.

Who, When, Where? – Carolyn Hooper (now Jackson) at WOC 1979 in Tampere, Finland.

O Tragic – it is Michael Hubbert, your humble Editor.

JUNE 2012 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 43

LETTERS

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.

Start System used at Easter 2012

H

ere is the modus operandi used for the starts at Easter 2012. It differs somewhat from systems we have previously observed, and we believe it works well.

1. Leading into the 6-minute box we had a narrow Clear and Check passage that couldn’t be avoided. At the 6-minute box we didn’t check SI numbers. We believe this is completely unnecessary, and it simplifies things enormously. Instead of SI numbers, we had a helper read the names on people’s bibs while the official ticked their names off (This is a good reason to have bibs.)

survey tool”. That’s almost two years ago now. Is it not now time to put the questionnaire to members?

Webmasters should build in counters on their sites to measure the numbers of visitors and what pages they look at. We should adopt the principle of reinforcing success and pulling back from failure.

Ian Baker - BK-Victoria Ian Baker was a member of the Editorial Committee which resurrected The Australian Orienteer in April 1978, becoming Editor in June 1979 and serving until 1984, and then again from 1997 to 2004. Professionally he was a manager in marketing consumer goods and services.

2. The 4-minute box had clues arranged in two lines in the direction of travel, odd numbers on left, even on right, courses numbered in sequence front to rear.

3. The 2-minute box had maps in exactly the same format as the clues: two lines in the direction of travel, odd on left, even on right, courses numbered in sequence front to rear.

This allows faster runners to exit the 2-minute box without impediment. All maps had the course number written on the back. This number should be large (ours were too small).

4. Late starters were assisted by the helper at the 4-minute box to quickly get their clues and their map, and were then started by the official in charge, on the even minute if there was no other person on that course, otherwise on the odd minute. They were all started with an SI unit, but were deemed to have started at their official start time unless the organisers were at fault.

As start coordinators we found this system to be extremely efficient, and trust our description will benefit future organisers.

Trevor & Meredyth Sauer - Sunshine Orienteers (QLD)

I

Objective Data Needed

was pleased to win the random draw prize of $100 as one of the 102 people who took part in the online survey about the Orienteering Australia website.

Only 102. Why,in 2010 there were 8748 (OA Annual Report) individuals registered as orienteers in Australia. So the response rate was less than 1.2% – 1 in 85, in fact.

Orienteering needs objective data to help make decisions about the way it communicates with members. Members can contribute by taking a few minutes to respond to surveys so that their voices are heard and their needs and wishes can be considered.

When I was editor of this magazine I wanted to know what members felt about it: what were we doing right and what were we doing wrong? So we conducted a survey in 2001.

While the response rate was underwhelming it did help as a guide to editorial policy.

In September 2010 a questionnaire was drafted for a reader survey of The Australian Orienteer; I was one of the persons invited to input and to review the draft; it was to be conducted via SurveyMonkey, an “easy-to-use web-based 44 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER JUNE 2012

FOR STOCKISTS CALL 1800 209 999

www.victorinox.com

VICTORINOX AWARD The Victorinox Award goes to Junior MTBO ace Chris Firman for his excellent results in recent MTBO events.

Chris will receive a Victorinox Handyman which includes 24 tools and features – retail value $119.

FROM THE ARCHIVES

The Thumb Compass – an Australian Invention?

From The Australian Orienteer – Aug/Sept 1986

Nobody knows how you like to use your compass better than you do yourself. The commercial models, produced for the masses, may satisfy the majority, but maybe you are a little different (even special) or have the ingenuity to dream up improvements that expert compass designers haven’t thought of yet. This is sometimes how new advances are made. One idea may have been a world-first in its time.

A

s far as can be established, the world’s first thumb compass used for Orienteering was developed by David Miller, South Australia’s leading elite runner for many years and a member of Australia’s WOC1978 team in Norway. The compass (or ‘thumpass’ as his mother first thought it was called) was developed in late 1977 and was first used for a major event at the Australian Five-Days in January 1978.

David was using a compass mainly for orientating his map, then reading his direction from the map without taking any bearings. To improve this technique he felt a need to place the compass right down on the map, so that he could read it at the same time as the map as well as to reduce errors in reading directions.

To achieve this he took the circular housing from a SILVA 7NL compass and, using contact adhesive, bonded it to a holder made from electrical copper wire (non-magnetic!) as shown in the diagram. The ends of the wire were shaped to fit the thumb. The north arrow on the compass housing was aligned to match the direction of travel on the map as the map is normally held for ‘thumbing’.

Distance scales were inscribed onto the needle housing.

The design was totally his own idea.

David took his invention with him to WOC1978 in Norway where it met with some apprehension from European orienteers, including the Australian team coach, Lars Klyve of Norway. Thumb compasses had apparently not been thought of in Europe at that stage.

The novelty was such that David and his compass featured in an article in the Swedish O m ­ agazine, Skogssport.

Some Australians were more receptive to the idea, however, including team-mate Geoff Lawford, who made his own thumb compass to the same design. Geoff still considers it superior in terms of comfort and ease of use to the commercially available models which have since been developed, and are widely used by top orienteers.

David Miller had been absent from the Orienteering scene for a while when this article was written, having recently gotten married. When interviewed, he said, “Apart from finding time less plentiful than it once was, I don’t expect to regain much interest until the current ‘rock terrain madness’ significantly subsides.”

JUNE 2012 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 45

O-SPY World Championships GOLD

A US Schools Championships 2012

O

rienteering Service of Australia will be supporting the 2012 Australian Schools Orienteering Championships to be held in Tasmania.

OSoA is a proud supporter of Australian school Orienteering programs and recognises the importance of developing and encouraging young athletes within the sport. OsoA Director, Ned Macdonald said, “I am very pleased to be associated with the Schools Orienteering Championships later this year and I am sure they will be a resounding success”.

Switzerland’s Simone Niggli dominates the all-time gold medals table with a total of 17 winner’s medals. Thierry Gueorgiou of France is a distant second with 10 gold medals – no mean feat in itself. Niggli is due to return to World Championships racing this year after giving birth to twins in 2011. With Switzerland hosting WOC 2012 in the Lausanne region it’s a fair guess that Simone Niggli will be aiming to increase her medal tally even further on home terrain.

T WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS GOLD MEDALS in FOOT-O Simone Niggli

Switz

17

Thierry Gueorgiou

France

10

Minna Kauppi

Finland

8

Oyvin Thon

Norway

7

Annichen Kringstad

Sweden

6

Marita Skogum

Sweden

6

Andrej Kramov

Russia

6

Petter Thoresen

Norway

5

Orienteering Schools

his is a nice idea to capture attention. A leaflet picked up at WOC in France last year invites people to “Discover the Orienteering Schools”.

Sounds good – there must be specialist schools in France. Then the fine print reveals a nice twist – “in a club of the French Orienteering Federation”.

We could well try a similar approach.

Australia’s Changing Demographics

A

century ago, over one-fifth of all households had six or more occupants and less than one-tenth of all households had a single occupant. Today, it is almost the reverse: way less than one-tenth are big households, and over one-quarter have single occupants! Smaller households are now the norm, with our density down to less than 2.6 people per household compared with over five per household at the time of Federation in 1901.

Who, When, Where...?

By the middle of this century almost 70% of all households (over 15.5 million of them) will have only one or two occupants. (source – IBISWorld).

OSoA is a leading supplier of Orienteering and outdoor equipment which offers a reliable online equipment supply service. You can visit their website at www. osoa.com.au. Support OsoA and support a valuable Championships partner.

I

U pdate on WMOC 2013

t seems there is no update to report as yet. The IOF website calendar still carries the note “exact dates to be confirmed”. And the 2013 World Masters Games website still suggests the Orienteering events will be held in a Torino city park some 90 hectares in area and with 45km of roads and pathways inside.

46 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER JUNE 2012

Water Savings

M

any creek and river management groups are removing willow trees from the stream beds and banks of the waterways they tend. There’s a good reason for doing so.

A CSIRO study has found that more than 5.5 megalitres of water could be saved annually per hectare of willow canopy removed where the trees are in-stream with permanent access to water. According to the project leader, 5.5 megalitres is equivalent to the annual usage of 17 households.

A photo from the archives to test your powers of deduction. She has been a member of several Australian teams to World Orienteering Championships. Of whom, when and where was this photo taken ??? (answer on page 43 of this magazine)

T

E aster 2013 embargoes

he following areas are embargoed to Orienteering training (including off-track running and training with a map) for intending participants in the Easter 2013 Australian 3 Days carnival events: 1. A ll forest areas within 15km of the centre of Bendigo which are not on existing Orienteering maps.

2. T he area covered by the existing (1984) Mount Alexander Orienteering map.

3. T he Edwards Road campus of La Trobe University, Bendigo.

(Normal university activities are not affected by the embargo).

Anatomy of an O Tragic

Who is this?

• Took up Orienteering many years ago in this country.

• Soon moved to the UK for several years.

• Learned Orienteering skills in UK and Europe, participating in UK National Championships, Swedish O-Ringen 5-Days, Welsh Championships.

• Remembers Norwegian Midnatsol Galloppen for the 10pm starts and the incentive to get back before midnight to see the sun swing across the mountain tops.

• Drew maps for major and minor events and was very relieved when the introduction of OCAD made map drawing so much easier.

• Gradually got slower and slower so began crossing out the P in PW.

• Became a keen Park & Street competitor when that form of O took off.

• Has orienteered in 22 countries.

• Retirement created opportunity for more and more events.

• When knees began to complain too much, stopped running and turned to PW - power walking (location clue).

• Had a total hip replacement in attempt to increase speed.

• To June 1st has participated in 3365 events and visited more than 42,600 controls.

• Final clue – took part in the August 1969 event which started it all (that should narrow the field of possibles). (answer on page 43 of this magazine)

• Returned to Australia to find the terrain so hard compared with Europe that new techniques for running had to be learned.

• Kept going back overseas to participate in APOCs, WMOCs, etc.

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