2021 AUS 3-DAYS
Easter 2021 The Trewin Report
© PhotosByTom.com.au
After a year’s hiatus, it was a welcome return to national orienteering competition as the Australian 3-Days took place around Molong in NSW. The turnout was only slightly below what would normally be expected at Easter (despite some last-minute dramas for the Queenslanders).
T
he terrain provided a serious challenge for all concerned. After the prologue Sprint in Orange, the first day was near Molong at Noah’s Ark Ridge, a narrow line of rock which still made for highly complex Middle Distance courses. For the next two days proceedings moved to Gumble, a granite area first used in the early 2000s and made even more challenging as it has become thicker over the intervening couple of decades. It provided a relentless test for sometimes rusty navigational techniques (and, with temperatures in the high 20s both days, a physical test as well). Times were long, especially on Day 2, and tales of large time losses were numerous. The last day was more forgiving with more of the courses in semiopen areas on the northeast side of the map, but most courses were still plunged into one of the most difficult parts of the map to finish; more than one race was won and lost there.
The senior men had a weekend of fluctuating fortunes. Aston Key opened up with a 31-second win in the prologue, a comfortable margin in a Sprint, and retained that lead the next day after he deadLogan Seaman (WR-N)
Grace Crane (ACT)
Family Relays
heated with Matt Doyle, with Patrick Jaffe only nine seconds behind. Brodie Nankervis looked like he might have blown his chances on the Saturday when an erratic run saw him in tenth place, over seven minutes down, but he reversed things dramatically over the Long Distance of Sunday. There he finished over nine minutes ahead of Jaffe, whilst an injury to Key eliminated him from overall contention. That set up a last-day chasing start in which Nankervis led Jaffe by two minutes, with Doyle another two minutes back. Jaffe caught Nankervis in the early part of the course and they opened up a five-minute break on Doyle. It looked like a race in two, but there was another twist to come in this tale; on the first leg back into the heavy forest, the leaders led each other astray, and by the time they finally reached #21, they had lost seven minutes apiece and Doyle had slipped through. That proved to be the decisive moment, as all completed the last part of the course without significant incident. Doyle won by just under two minutes, with Nankervis edging just clear of Jaffe for second, and Alastair George just shading Matt Crane for fourth in an impressive first Easter as a senior.
The women’s race was always going to see a bit of a shake-up of the recent established order because of the absence of two of the stars of recent years (Bridget Uppill after the recent birth of her son, Natasha Key through injury). Shannon Jones turned back the clock with a winning performance in the prologue, then Olivia Sprod, already a National League race winner this year, took over with a win on the Saturday, but rarely has the adage that Sunday is moving day proven more true than this year, with one of the true epics of Australian Jensen Key (Vic)
JUNE 2021 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 13
