Congratulations to Sue Froude, long time member and secretary for IKO, for winning “course of the year” at Rushcutters Bay in this year’s Sydney Summer Series (SSS). Sue tied with Richard Patterson of Bennelong Northside Orienteers for his St Ives Bungaroo event.
Not only did Sue set an interesting and challenging course amongst the parks, streets and laneways of Woolloomooloo, Kings Cross and Rushcutters Bay but she also mapped the area. Her win was no surprise to those helping out on the day as many of the finishers commented on the quality of the map and the course. The Rushcutters Bay event on 5 January 2022 was the first foray by IKO in the SSS. The club has already been asked to run an event in the series next summer.
The organisers and club executive have made the decision to cancel this weekend’s planned event at Cordeaux Heights (Saturday 2 April). We don’t often cancel events due to weather, but the ground is saturated, local creeks are running high and the paths are dangerously slippery. And the forecast is still more rain!
So stay inside and stay dry, and hopefully we can reschedule this event later in the year.
Thanks to everyone for coming out to support this year’s Illawarra Map Running series. We attracted a great range of competitors from experienced orienteers to keen runners and family groups.
The weather was a mixed bag – we battled the heat at Gwyneville, just about got blown away at Lake Illawarra but finished with some lovely sunny days at Shellharbour and Minnamurra.
Attendance levels rose as the series gained momentum with 25-30 competitors for the first two events and 39-40 for the last two events. Steve takes the prize for the most competitors with his event at Shellharbour, with this event also attracting the most non-club members (13 individuals or groups).
Special mention to our neighbors at Southern Highlands Orienteers who made the effort to come down, seemingly to dominate the long course. Angus from SHOO won the long course in all 3 events he attended, with Doug also taking a win and ranking 2nd or 3rd for the rest of the events. The Shedden boys are doing well to get around the medium and long courses on their own now. Euan won the Medium course at Lake Illawarra and placed 2nd at Minnamurra. Meanwhile brother Rory is taking on the big boys in the long course placing 8th of 19 competitors at Lake Illawarra.
It was great to see lots of new faces at the events, especially family groups. All up we had 18 non-club members compete in the series, with most coming to multiple events. We even had a few lapsed club members signing up again during the course of the series! Shout out to newcomer Austin who won the medium course at Shellharbour in a blistering time of 24 minutes, while enthusiastic newcomer Maggie won the medium course at Minnamurra in 34 minutes.
Newcomers who competed in three events will be offered a complementary membership for 2022. Sue will be in touch with eligible people soon.
Organisers are busy preparing for the 2022 season of Summergong, now rebranded as “Illawarra Map Running”. The locations have been locked in with maps focussing on the south of the Illawarra this year, from Gwynneville to Minnamurra.
The annual series returns to a weekly format this year. Although it has a new name the aim remains the same as previous years – to provide opportunities for people new to orienteering to give the sport a go with some easy navigation around the streets, parks and coastal reserves of the Illawarra.
Three courses will be on offer each week – short (2km), medium (4km) and long (6km). Competitors will need to find the fastest way between each marked control on a map to complete the course and return to the finish a potential winner!
Beginners can participate as a group of family or friends, or test themselves individually. Help is always on hand from experienced club members to get you started. Our park and street events do not require a compass – if you can read a street directory or google maps then you can read an orienteering map!
Week 1: Sunday 30 January at Gwynneville Week 2: Sunday 6 February at Windang Week 3: Sunday 13 February at Shellharbour Week 4: Sunday 20 February at Minnamurra
Special Promotion! As for previous years we are offering a FREE CLUB MEMBERSHIP valid to end of 2022 for any non-members that complete 3 out of 4 of the events. Worth $60 for Seniors or $130 for a family!
IKO’s last local event of the year is approaching on Saturday 11 December at Berry. The event starts at the pavillion in Berry Showground between 3-4pm and will feature a new map around the streets and parks of Berry.
Newcomers to the sport are welcome to come and try orienteering with club members on hand to provide guidance. Three courses will be offered, all suitable for beginners – just choose your length – 1.3 km suitable for kids, 3.4 km, or 5.6 km.
Pre-entry is preferred, or register using contactless payment at the event (new participants only). Full details and registration via this link.
