The fourth and final event of the Illawarra Map Running Series was held on the 3rd March in brilliant sunshine at Shell Cove. There was a good turn out bringing the total number of competitors for the series to 165. As well as enjoying the challenge of the courses set by David Green the finishers eagerly tucked into the free sausage sizzle cooked by master chef Ian Froude. Our thanks to Ken Mills, Stephen Holloway, Vicki Wilmott and David Green for organizing four successful events in the series.
Family fun time at South Wollongong
A warm welcome to all the new members who recently joined the club, including those who competed in 3 or more of the Illawarra Map Running events and took up the offer of free membership. Looking forward to seeing you at our coming events.
We are three down and just one to go in this year’s map running series. How many have you completed? We’ve been pleased with the attendance so far, and its great to see eager new faces showing up to multiple events to have a go at orienteering. Don’t forget beginners can claim a free club membership by competing in at least 3 of the 4 events. That’s a saving of $60 for a senior!
At South Wollongong Ken made sure competitors got their money’s worth in the bushland of Greenhouse Park, with most people doing at least 2 laps of the various tracks. The hike up the hill was rewarding though with rarely seen views over Port Kemba.
Keith was interviewed by local radio at the Kiama Downs event where we had 54 competitors take on the hills of the Downs. Steve made use of every inch of the map, including some tricky turpentine forest which turned out to be much more challenging than it seemed!
Another great roll up at Thirroul today, with 46 competitors, with around 10 of those being non-club members. We are always grateful for the show of support from our neighboring club in the Southern Highlands, even if it is to come down and try and steal first place!
Our final event is on 3 March 2024 when we will be showcasing our newest map at Shell Cove. If you missed the premiere of this map last year make sure you put it in your diary. Afterwards all club members are invited to stay on for our AGM.
View the gallery above for a look at our first 2 events in photos.
2023 was a big year for our club multi-tasking across many event types.
Kicking off early on 18 January we joined forces with the successful Sydney Summer Series that runs from October through to March on Wednesday afternoon/evenings. Our Rushcutter’s Bay map did us and 189 competitors proud, this being the second time the map had been used for a SSS event.
In February/March we continued to run our popular summer Illawarra Map Running Series showcasing many runnable areas around the Illawarra region. The competition is aimed at newbies and regular orienteers alike to spend an hour or so getting to know the local area. It’s a low key fun event for all and our first event kicked off with a “banger ” – with every competitor receiving a sausage sandwich bbq’d by Chef Ian Froude. For newcomers we continued to offer a free club membership if they participated in any 2 out of 3 events. Three newcomers took up the offer.
At the first event of the series President Ken Mills presented Stephen Holloway with the 2022 ONSW Volunteer of the Year award in recognition of his meritorious service to the sport of orienteering in NSW.
Steve receiving his award from Ken
Atrocious wet weather impacted on our middle distance State League event at Belanglo State Forest in April but as always, as organisers, we kept smiling and grew webbed feet for the day. Competitors who took part were keen to compete no matter the cold wet weather and finished their courses literally singing in the rain.
June saw us return to Yeramba Lagoon for #3 in the Metroleague competition. With the map having been extensively updated and re-mapped since 2022, the eastern part of the map was included in the longer courses. Unlike our May event it was a beautiful sunny morning.
In September we hosted an event in the SHOO Forest Series using their Appin map. Again the area was fieldworked by our club members and the map updated. With a good rollup on father’s day many families and groups took the opportunity to stretch their legs. Everyone seemed to enjoy the experience on this warm spring day. Cake for everyone was the reward at the finish desk – a real winner.
Later in September the RFS Cadets Championships was held on the same map. Cadets from all over Australia came to compete against each other in this fun activity. IKO, SHOO and GO members helped to set up and showcase our sport to the 120 keen cadets who took part.
As a joint venture each year in October/November we co-host the River & Bay Orienteering Series with Uringa and Stingers using maps around the Cooks River and Bays in the southeastern suburbs. This year IKO conducted two events in the series at Yarra Bay and Monterey. Our course setters Ewan and Natalya did a sterling job in providing both score and line courses giving seasoned and newcomer orienteers alike a choice in their orienteering experience. We hope to continue participating in this series to help promote orienteering as a fun sport and raise awareness in our local communities.
We also ran local events in March, May, July, August and October in the Illawarra and Sutherland areas. There are many club members to thank for their enthusiasm and volunteer work keeping up with the demands of mapping, course setting, organising and last but not least the important role of coaching in our local schools and other organisations, introducing newcomers to participate in the joy of orienteering.
Club members also took the opportunity to compete at International, Regional and State events including Easter, Kings Birthday and Xmas 5 days.
Metro league 2023 – Club members again joined forces with SHOO in entering five teams in the annual inter-club competition for greater Sydney metropolitan clubs. The best result was runner up by the Division 3 team.
Six members were place getters in their classes in the ONSW Orienteer of the year awards – Elizabeth Leung (3rd W Open B), Natalya Filippova (2nd W35A), Vicki Wilmott (1st W65AS), Julie Shepherd (3rd W65AS), Margaret Duguid (3rd W75A) and Peter Shepherd (3rd M65AS)
Natalya, Vicki and Margaret receiving their badges.
Nine of our club members were also awarded Orienteering Australia (OA) merit badges for their participation in various orienteering events in 2023: Ewan Barnett M21 Bronze, Margaret Duguid W75 Bronze, Ian Froude M65 Bronze, Sue Froude W55 Bronze, David Green M55 Gold, Keith Jay M70 Bronze, Julie Shepherd W65 Bronze, Peter Shepherd M70 Silver, Vicki Wilmott W65 Silver
Planning is well underway for the 2024 season starting with the Sydney Summer series at Cooper Park in January followed by the Illawarra Map Running seriesin February and March. Check Eventor for details.
As in previous years, IKO will be hosting a series of 4 Sunday events in the Illawarra beginning 4 February 2024. The series aims to promote the sport of orienteering in the Illawarra and encourage first-timers to give it a go in a safe and welcoming environment. All courses are based around local parks and streets.
Starts are from 10-11am Sundays and competitors have the choice of short, medium or long courses. Families and groups welcome!
4 February – South Wollongong 11 February – Kiama Downs 18 February – Thirroul 3 March – Shell Cove
Entries are preferred via Eventor as it gives us a good idea of how many people to expect. But enter on the day is possible (card payments only) for beginners.
A special offer to newcomers – compete in at least 3 events and receive a free 12 month membership with our club!
