Metroleague #4 – Sunday 28 June

The next Metroleague event will be held at Pennant Hills on Sunday 28 June. Starts are from 10.00 – 10.30 for teams and 10.30-11.00 for individual orienteers and those entering on the day.  Our IKO-SHOO teams in divisions 2 – 5 will be pitted against Western Hills (WHO) whilst Division 1 will run against Bennelong (BN).

We need a good turn out of runners to repeat the performance of the last Metroleague event  where IKO-SHOO teams clocked up a win in all 5 Divisions. All club members are encouraged to enter including those new to the Metroleague format. Enter via Eventor at https://eventor.orienteering.asn.au/Events/Show/23836

Tip: You will need to log in to Eventor first & then check the drop down boxes to nominate Illawarra Kareelah Orienteers & select a Division that best suits your ability before proceeding to payment.  Division 6 is entry level and is graded easy, Divisions 3-5 are moderate and Divisions 1 & 2 are hard navigation.  If you are unsure of what division to run in contact our team captain James at jistuart@bigpond.com. Those club members who have previously advised they are available for a team, please let James know if you can’t attend, if you haven’t already done so.

…ON THE DAY…This is a teams event, however you can still pre-enter as an individual runner if you prefer.  You may be approached on the day if teams are short.   Likewise if we have too many entries for teams you may be asked to run up or down a division or you can just compete as an individual runner for that day. You can find out more about the Metroleague at https://onsw.asn.au/events/metro-league

Kings Birthday 3 day (KBIII) wrap up

Thirteen IKO members made their way over the Blue Mountains for the three events held over the long weekend. Each day conditions were ideal for orienteering with the early morning fog lifting and the sun shining by the time the first runners started.

DAY 1– Middle distance event on Baal Bone Junction map.Organised by Garingal Orienteers.

Courses were set in classic Western Blue Mountains eucalypt forest surrounding an old farm. The longer courses had some hefty climbs – 235m climb for hard 3b (M60A, M65A), whilst the shorter courses had several barbed wire fences to contend with. A challenge for the 80+ year olds. Two 1sts, a 2nd and two 3rds were achieved  – congrats to Phil, Vicki, Michael, Peter and Margaret.

DAY 2– Long distance event in Lidsdale State Forest. Organised by Big Foot Orienteers.

Well who doesn’t love a pine forest to navigate through! Today’s courses offered runnable sections of young and established pine forest and a network of tracks popular also with 4WD and dune buggies. Kangaroos, choughs and wrens were out in force. Winners were Phil in 1st place again, Vicki and Margaret in 2nd and Michael and Pippa in 3rd.

DAY 3– Short distance/sprint event on Rydal Showground map. Organised by Illawarra Kareelah Orienteers
A neat little area of open forest, tracks, parkland and of course the showground itself with a smattering of outbuildings, including  one  called “The Old Bar”. This was  used for the download area, alas there was no beer for the finishers. Thanks to Hamish of Big Foot Orienteers for the new 1:4000 map.

Our volunteers embraced the cold misty morning turning up early to help with parking and general setup and with David and Vicki setting out the controls ahead of schedule people were able to start earlier.  

 In true sprint fashion times were quick and the overall results for the 3 days were calculated in good time for the presentation of badges by the Bigfoot team. Congrats to all age class winners. IKO’s in the hall of fame were: Phil 1st, Michael 1st, Margaret 3rd.

A big thank you to organiser Sue, and especially to David and Vicki for controlling and course setting and for all the preparation work undertaken beforehand. It was a great finish to an excellent long weekend of orienteering. Thanks to the 3 clubs involved Garingal, Bigfoot and IKO and to Mark Shingler for being the overall organiser.

Kings Birthday 3 Day event – Lithgow region

Entries close on 31st May for the Kings Birthday weekend 3 day (KBIII) event. You can compete on any one of the days or all three days.  Each event is an NSW State League event, with the Long Distance also being a badge event. Overall results for KBIII will be determined on cumulative time across the three events.

Day 1 (Sat), the middle distance event, will be held near Cullen Bullen. Day 2 (Sun), the long distance  event is in the Lidsdale State Forest, 15 minutes NW of Lithgow, and Day 3 (Mon) the short event at the Rydal Showground.  Detailed information about the events is available at https://eventor.orienteering.asn.au/Documents/Event/23121/1/Bulletin-1

Enter via Eventor using this link https://eventor.orienteering.asn.au/Events/Show/22678

The default entry is for ALL 3 races. If you don’t want to enter all 3 events or want to enter different classes over the 3 days, follow the instructions given in the “How to enter only some days or different classes” document in the same link.

IKO is responsible for organising Day 3 – the short event at the Rydal Showground. Vicki Wilmott is course planner and has been working on setting interesting courses. All club members are encouraged to attend and have a run as well as help with the smooth running of the event on the day. If you can volunteer to help on the day please let Sue Froude, event organiser, know via email at  IKOrienteers@gmail.com

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Chris Wilmott – Inducted into OA Hall of Fame

At the Easter 3 Day event in Tasmania this year it was announced that IKO founding member Chris Wilmott had been inducted into the Orienteering Australia Hall of Fame – General Division. This was in acknowledgement of his significant contribution to Australian orienteering mapping over four decades, through his fieldwork and photogrammetry.

Chris started orienteering in 1973, when the production of coloured orienteering maps in Australia was just beginning. He soon became involved in mapping, an interest that took him to Norway, where he spent three summers and one winter, and was the first non-Scandinavian to make maps in Norway. He returned to Australia in 1978 as a skilled fieldworker and photogrammetrist. Using a stereoplotter and his detailed understanding of Australian terrain Chris commenced production of high-quality base maps for state associations and clubs throughout Australia. Fieldworkers now had access to base maps with well plotted contours and detail which could be used for accurate positioning of complex detail on the ground.

In due course Chris went on to pursue his career as Australia’s only full-time orienteering photogrammetrist, plotting a total of 422 base maps. These included the maps for the 1985 World Championships and several World Cup events. If his name is familiar to you it is probably because you have seen it printed on your orienteering map either as “Base map by Chris Wilmott” or “Photogrammetry by Chris Wilmott”. Whilst new technology has reduced the need for skilled manual stereoplotting, maps bearing Chris’s name are likely to continue to be used for many years to come.

In addition to his mapping activities Chris competed at the elite level. He represented Australia in the 1976 World Championships in Scotland and competed in a number of Australia/New Zealand challenges coming first in M35A in 1986. He was also Australian Champion in the M35A age class in 1988 and in M45A in 1998.

Chris was a founding member of two orienteering clubs. The first being the Uringa Orienteering Club which was formed in May 1974 where he was the inaugural secretary & treasurer. The second club was the Illawarra Orienteering Club which was established in December 1982. Chris was involved in map production for both clubs. He had a reputation for being top notch course setter. 

Chris’s contribution to Australian orienteering has previously been recognised by receipt of the Silva Award for Services to Australian Orienteering in 2017.

State  League and Metroleague events coming up.

Entries close on Sunday 10 May for State League events #5 and #6 being held near Cootamundra on the weekend of 16th and 17th of May.

Wyangala Day 1

Both events are being run on the Split Rock map, last used in 2019 for the Australian Long Championships and Australian Relays. Described by the organisers as one of Australia’s best granite terrains for orienteering. The area is a long, steep escarpment with significant cliffs and huge boulders on one side and more open, undulating land with scattered rock on the other side. You can check out the map here. These events are not to be missed. Further information is  available on Eventor at https://eventor.orienteering.asn.au/Events/Show/22672

Metroleague #3 -Sunday 24th May

Firstly, congratulations to last Sunday’s Metroleague winning teams – well done.

All club members are encouraged to join us on Sunday 24th May at Boggabilla, Lansdowne for Metroleague #3 and help us keep up our winning streak in Divisions 1, 3 and 4 and turn the tide in Divisions 2 and 5. Club members new to Metro League are welcome to come along and give it a try. It is a lot of fun.

Start times: 10.00am – 10.30 for team members. Individual runners, including those entering on the day, can start from 10.30am – 11.00am. Enter via Eventor at https://eventor.orienteering.asn.au/Events/Show/23835 Tip: You will need to log in to Eventor first & then check the drop down boxes to nominate Illawarra Kareelah Orienteers & select a Division that best suits your ability before proceeding to payment.  Division 6 is entry level and is graded easy, Divisions 3-5 are moderate and Divisions 1 & 2 are hard navigation.  If you are unsure of what division to run in contact our team captain James at jistuart@bigpond.com. Those club members who have previously advised they are available for a team, please let James know if you can’t attend, if you haven’t already done so.

…ON THE DAY…
This is a teams event, however you can still pre-enter as an individual runner if you prefer.  You may be approached on the day if teams are short.   Likewise if we have too many entries for teams you may be asked to run up or down a division or you can just compete as an individual runner for that day. You can find out more about the Metroleague at https://onsw.asn.au/events/metro-league