The finish line at SL11

Ron Pallas christened this the Dust Tour of Belanglo, but as we are one day into the Tour de France I thought I might give it a slightly more french flavour.  Either way it was a weekend of challenging conditions that the weather gods threw at State League 10 and 11.  The sun shone but it was bitterly cold and at times windy, which turned our bare denuded firebreak into a scene from Desert Storm. Our resident meteorologist informed us that on both days the wind-chill factor sent the apparent temperature plummeting below zero in the early mornings.

Aside from that the day seems to have been a success with no injuries (apart from John the first aide guy who injured himself!) and no complaints about misplaced controls.  173 contenders turned up to take on the forest, where conditions were apparently less windy than the finish arena.

Results are now available here on Eventor.

We are  greatly indebted to Ron Pallas and our friends at SHOO for helping us run this event.  Thanks to Natalya, Chris and David for the many days spent in the forest leading up to the event, and to Simon, Ken, Helen, James and Dayle for assisting over the weekend.  Thanks also to Sandra, Garry,  Lyn and Nev from SHOO for their assistance in the finish tent and EOD table.

Simon, Garry and Ron manning the finish tent. The material on the table is protecting the computers from the dust!

Thanks also to Sandra for the photos included here.
Visit SHOO’s Facebook gallery to see a lot more.

Competitors had to battle the wind and dust as they made their way from the final control to the finish.

And lastly, thank you to Simon for the following action shots taken in the forest.

Salme shows us how its done at UOW

I can hear the collective sighs of relief all around now that SL 10 and 11 are over.  Sleepless nights and early mornings were all part of the experience for the organisers and course setters. Great organisation by Keith, David and Kev, and great course setting by Natalya, Vicki and Simon.  There were some lessons learned with some people saying the State League courses were too easy at Cataract, while the easy courses could perhaps have been a little easier.  On Sunday Simon thought his sprint courses were maybe a little long, but it was such a great venue and everyone enjoyed the day that I don’t think anyone noticed!

On Saturday at Cataract we hosted 126 competitors in the State League event (including 8 EODs) and 121 children in the Schools Champs.

On Sunday we had 138 competitors in State League (including 15 EODs) and 113 children in the School Champs.

There were more than 70 different schools represented in the Schools Championships. Greenwich Public School took the honour of Champion primary school, while a continuing strong presence saw Knox Grammar once again take out Champion secondary school.

Channel 9 News turned up to the University around midday on Sunday to interview Ian Jessup and three of the children. All the kids spoke very well about the weekend and what they like about orienteering – what a great experience for them all!  Ian, our media guru, did a much better job than any of us could at selling the sport. If you live in the Illawarra be sure to keep an eye out tonight at 6pm on Channel 9.

Ian Jessup explains the sport of orienteering to Channel 9 cameraman

There were lots of positive comments about the new Wollongong Uni map, and the vibe in the grassy glade where we all assembled was very happy and relaxed.  Easy access to coffee and good food was a definite bonus!

For photos from the weekend see our new Photo Gallery page where you will find an edited down version of those already posted to Facebook.

Ken did a great job of keeping the starters under control

Lots of colour in Murraguldrie State Forest on Day 2 of the carnival

A great time was had by all at the Australian 3 Days orienteering carnival at Wagga Wagga.  A strong contingent of IKO club members were in attendance, both competing and helping the Waggaroos to run the event.  Wagga turned on its best winter weather with sunny 18 degree days making running in the forest quite enjoyable (even for those of us who don’t run!).

Day 1 was on the picturesque property of Connorton where an uphill finish chute provided great spectator views for the arena on the adjacent hillside.  At Murraguldrie State Forest on Day 2 there were plenty of boulders and some very long legs to be navigated. A very convivial dinner at the Riverina Hotel brought us all together on Sunday night before one last sprint around the University campus in the morning.

15 club members competed at the event in which scores are accumulated over the three days. Congratulations to Salme for being overall winner in the W45AS.  Special mention also to Chris Wilmott for collecting the Silva award for Services to Australian Orienteering for his significant contribution to mapping.

Thanks to everyone that helped out over the weekend with packing, unpacking, and helping out in the administration and finish tents.

There are plenty of photo albums on ONSW Facebook.  See the gallery below for some photos of our club members in action (thanks to Ian and Clare Jessop) and some other photos taken by Dayle.

Australian 3 Days 2017

The wildflowers were out and so were the competitors at IKO’s major bush event of the year – State League 12 at Belanglo.  Natalya set some challenging courses which were enjoyed by some, but a little too long and rugged for others.  192 competitors braved the thick scrubby bush, and most made it back in one piece.

Results can be found here on Eventor and a gallery of photos from the day is below.